Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1898-09-16
Vermont as a Political Weather
Vane.
AtIanta Constitution.

ot"uita tcustitutiOn.
If Mr.. Mckinley were not such
q patient and conscrva;ir" MAJ.
1--WE adopt the terms employed II,
his eulOgisO the result of the Vr,
mont election would open his c,r>
to the necessity of troubling him
self little about tie keen sc.iu
dals that have arisen with r,.Sprit
to Algcr's management of he AT
fairs of the war department..
Now, although Vermont is Ia.
most thoroughly Republican, siar,
in the east, it has long been l..
garded by the politicians aS II
sort OF political weather vanc.
The changes that occur there, the
rise and fall of the Republican
majority, always Indicate the dIilt
and tendency of public opinion
Throughout, the country. In 1890
the republican majority fell to
Id, 1853. in 1894 it rose to 2S,52I.
In September Of tho last prcsidcn.
tial year, it rose to 3S,57l.
These changes have always reg.
istered the fluctuations of public
opinion liz the larger aud more
doubtful states. AT the election
in Vermont last Tuesday, the re-
publican plurality did not go
many votes hey ond 25,000-a ral!
Of nearly $4,000 from the last pres.
idential year. That the Demo
Gratis should make such large
gains iii the republican state of
Vermont right on the heels of II
victorious war in which the Re.
publican party llatters itself that
1t has been the real and only he
70, *, indeed, an event sufficiently
amazing to cause the all'able Mr..
Hanna to pick his teeth little
more thoughtfully after dinner.
1t must not be supposed that the
Democrats of Vermont made any
concessions in order to gain votes.
They endorsed the Chicago plat,
form in their state convention and
expressed undiminishcd admira
ton Of and confidence in William
j. Bryan. In other words, they
stood to their principles and took
no backward step. The Republi.
cans on the other hand made their
Old declarations with confidence,
aud fully expected that they would
reap some profit from the success
full issue Of the war.
But instead of gaining they have
lost, and the democIa ats have gain
cd. The event is significant. =
1t shows that the voters of the
country arc preparing to deliver
a singing rebulc to the party
winch is responsible for the muir
dcrous system of acknowledgement
which has snllied the laurels of
victory.
The Republican papers of Yer
mont did not mince matters in
crlticising the abuses THAI charac-
tcrized the hodS Of the war
department.. The Rutland Herald
admitted on the eve of the cleo.
ton that the war did not give the
republicans the advantage they
have hoped for, and it added, "the
whole trouble comes straight from
Alger; the abuses have all been in
his department, and he is respon-
sible as the head"
IhlS was TRUE enough to cut
down the republican majority and
to give the Democrats surprising
gains in Vermont, and it will be
even more effective in other states.
The Constitution referred several
days ago to the reaction which has
taken place in the public mind as
the result OF the exposures that
have been made. Nh. Alger went
to Montauk Point and said it was
alright. Then lie returned with
Mr.. Mckinley and they both
said it was alright. Meanwhile
impartial physicians and compe-
tent observers declared that it was
all wrong, and they had the
proofs in their hands. And not
only at Montauk Point, but at ev-
n