St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-11-19

Re.echOeS rOunQ the WOrlu
And, in dark dens where failure mopes
Among the wrecks of ruined hopes,
Fresh banners are unfurled!
This "Thought' is for myself, writ
ten a few hours after the close of the
historic "Citizens' Union" campaign
in New York city. Though wearied
with outdoor speaking; heartburn
dened because a self-evident public
need has been waived aside by party
greed; distraught by the backward
step of a municipality to the fercest
form of fierce partisanship, yet only
hopeful notes will be sounded in this
column.
Since the "Citizens' Union" move.
ment was never called into existence
to perish in one campaign, it is per-
haps wise to enlist the interest of the
open-minded of all parties the coun-
try over, so that its future career
may be hopefully watched. A few
words concerning its purpose are also
needed because partisan papers have
here and there %striven to show that
it was merely a heartless conspiracy
to destroy the old parties. This new
organization, less than a year old,
and yet honored with the votes of
$50, 900 men who could neither be
driven or led, set out to maintain and
will continue to maintain this SELL
evident truth:-that a large city-or
a small one, for that matter-is a
business concern. Its details of light,
cleaning, paving, ventilating with
parks, etc. and general sanitation
are, in effect, municipal housekeep-
ing" Just as with a business nan
seeking an assistant, or a house
keeper seeking Il servant, the in
quiries are not as to the color Of his
hair, nor as to his views on theology,
but rather as to past experience;
so the test-questions in selecting a
mayor are-or ought to be-exclu-
sively confined to those relating to
the welfare of the city. The "Citi-
zens' Union" was further encouraged
to its non-partisan stand by the fact
that the new constitution of the state
of New York recognized the mayoral-
ity absurdities where the choice was
made on national lines, and expressly
provided that cities of the first class
l should forever hereafter have their
t domestic elections on "off" years,
! when there was neither a state sena-
tor nor a president to elect. Fur
thermore the "Citizens' Union" ex'
pressly disavowed any designs on
:. national parties by showing clearly
! that the line of cleavage in a loca
contest must necessarily be different
q from that in a national one, whence
it follows that in local affairs a blacl
:, republican (whatever they may be !!
e could safely have dealings with {
dyed-in. the-wool democrat (also {
t dubiousexpressionD when the health
) welfare and education of his famil,
4 were lettering in the balance OF al
y election, and beyond all this, tn
If statement was clearly made-s'
clearly that a wayfarer, though
y goose, need not have erred therein
O that a national party did notlose it
d existence whenever its legitimat
field was empty. 1t simply lay qui
e escent until national question
,s aroused it again.
S. We therefore called on the oper
ell minded of all parties to sink natione
u differences in the presence of a mutus
- local need, and $50 900 or more r,
sponded, both democrats and reput
s, Leans.
~ Here I approach a danger poir
ot with your readers, according to the
We political leanings, for / must sho'
as how our defeat came about. Yet
do not hesitate, tor I know there a
~ thousands of republican patriots WI
to understand the difference between
re- machine and a party, and an equ
us number of whole-souled democra
We who have no sympathy with o,
We local democratic organization, Gale
of "Tammany Hail." Senator Thom'
on c. Platt, on the republican side, i
OF sisted that Organism was the issu
10 his candidate, General Tracy, I
ed affirmed this in his speech Of accer
ance, and upon that non-existe
issue in a purely municipal electi'
AZ they stubbornly went to defeat the
,ch selves, defeated Seth Low, and pl
il. cipitated for their party the conf