The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-06-12

THE CONGRESSIONAL FIGHT.
THE ARGUMENT AGAINST CIRCUIT
AND FOR MARTIN.

THE ARGUMENT AGAINST GROUf
ANDFOR MARTIN.
Any Other Vernenier Ever Has Been
His Position Compared with That q
Other Republicans 0H Equal Length q
servlce-And With Tnst q Other Yer
Contrast That Maybe Expected From
MIR. Martin In the Future.
Gen. Grout is now serving his l4tl
year and 7th term in, congress. Thi
is the longest term ever given any rep
resentativc from VefEnont except Hor
ace Everett, who aleo served IA years
and If Gen. Grout had proved one O
tho greatest and most influential leg
islators the nation had, 1t would be 1
fair question. under the precedents o.
our politics, if it were not time for.
change. But as matter Of fact he
has proved very commonplace one,
under whom the STATE hHs largely LOST
the prestige and power OF leadership
she held for two generations. With
Bradley and Seymour, Phelps and
Prentiss, Collamer and Foot, Edmunds
and Morrill,, in the senate, Niles and
Chittenden, Fisk and Bradley, Marsh
and Crafts, Rich and Mallory, Everett
and Slade, Hall and Dillingham;. Wal
ton and Baxter, Poland and Willard IN
the house. there has never been time
until within recent years when Yer
mont's representatives were not every
where recognized as among the ma
tion's foremost in statesmanship. How
is il now, so far as Gen. Grout is CON
cerned? He certainly lis not prominent
in debate, and has not shown any
great capacity to construct or infiu-
ence legislation. Looking back over
all these IA years, what great meas
ure of national importance has been
associated with his name? To have
to ask the question ought to be enough
toldeprive him of re- nomination.
iCommittee positions are the decisive
best Of the estimation in which mem
ters are held in congress. Probably
there was never one IN the country. and
certainly there never has been one from
Vermont, who did not get better posi-
tions than Gen. Grout has after an
equal term of service. He is now
chairman of the committee on ey
penditures in the war departments one
of the minor committees. OF the other
committees of this rank those Oh ex-
penditures in the department of agri-
culture, interior, justice. navy, state,
and public buildings, are all held by
men who are serving their fourth
year, and it is almost matter of hu-
initiation to Vermont. after keeping a
man there IA years, that he should he
classed this way. He has, it is true,
been the chairman of the committee on
District of Columbia, and is said could
have had it again in this congress if
he had wished, but that is a good ways
from committee position Of first class
OF the Republicans who have been
in congress the same length of time
that he has, Hit of Illinios, is chair
man Of the Foreign Affairs committee.
Henderson of Iowa, OF the Judiciary,
Dingley of Maine, of the Ways and
Means ;and Boutelle, of the Naval Com
mittees. When it comes TO the chair
manship of any of the leading com
Grout simply is not thought of.
Hepburn of Iowa. with only ten years
service, is at the head of the Inter
State Committee Stone of Pennsyl
vania, with only six years, of the coin
age Committee Walker of Massachu
setts, with only eight years service, of
the Banking Committee. Judge Pow
ers of Vermont now in his sixth year
was placed at the head of one of the
most important committees OF this con
gress, that on the Pacific Railways. If
Gen. Grout were regarded as man of
even ordinary strength by the congress
sional standard, he would have some of
these chairmanships which are now
given to men much younger in the ser
vice than he.
Just compare him With the great !
men Vermont has had in the house in |
the past Rollin G. Mallory, the Me
Kinley of his time. the father of the |
tariff bill of 1898 against
which Calhoun attempted nullifica- |
ion, served only II years He had !
1een IN the house only nine years
when he became the leader in that |
,reat tariff fight. Justin S. Morrill, |
vas in the house only II years and at
he beginning of his fifth, was chair
nan of the Committee on Ways and
Means, the Republican leader guiding
he party with the Morrill, tariff TO the
treat policy of protection which has
'een its glory ever since. a II through
he war when he had served only two
birds of Grout's time, he was a guide
n. director of the legislation that
rovided ways and means by which
he Union was saved. He had been IN
he house only three years when he
arried through the first measure
gainst Norman polygamy In his: first
lx years he carried through the bill
,r public land grants that laid the
for our system of agricul 1
lral colleges, and though President {
buchanan vetued it. Morril's leader.
Zip made it law in 1862. Poland, a
ith only II years service, was, six of
lem, chairman of the House Judiciary
and, was by common rec
ynition of his great ability put in s
large of the great work of codifica d.
on and revision of the Federal Stat I
tes, work, as was said in the Social r
cience convention in Philadelphia. =
/ 1875, entitled to rank with the best !
J history. He was chairman of the !
to investigate the Kuklux e
ltrages, of the Credit Mubiller, the r
rkansas election and other most i'm 4
ortant committees of his time. Will I
am Slade with ony twelve years SER V
ice, and in the first six of them TO- t,
Using the attention of the whole L
,untry op his bold fight against the s
avocracy, Hiland Hall. in ten years
rvice. re organizing the whole post
lice department, making speeches in .,
IS first four years that were circula-
d all through the country, as Whig 10
mpaign documents, carrying single X
L. r 7