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

WV ""'pO tuc tcithS tnlDtpNtu ~
his euiOgisD the result OF the We.
mont election would open his eve
to the necessity Of troubling him
self a little about tie keen sea-
dals that have arisen with respect
to Ayers management of She ai
fairs of the war department.. -
Now, although Vermont is ,i,-
most thoroughly Republican STAFF
in the east, it has long been l..
garded by the politicians rs Il
sort OF political weather vanc.
The changes that occur there, the
rise and fall of the Republican
majority, always Indicate the drirt
and tendency of public opinion
Throughout. the country. In 1890
the republican maio:it! fell to
ID, 163. in 1894 it rose to 2S,52I.
In September of the last prcsidcn.
tial year, it rose to 3S,571.
These changes have always reg
istered the fluctuations of public
opinion il. the larger aud more
doubtful states. At the election
i'll Vermont last Tuesday, the re-
publican plurality did not go
many votes hey ond 25,O00-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 IL
victorious war in which the Re
publican party flatters itself that
it has been the real and only he
70, *, indeed, an event sufficiently
amazing to cause the alfable 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 undiminished admira
ton of and confidence i'm William
D. Bryan. In other words, they
stood to their principles and took
no backward step. The Republi.
cans OH 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 democrats have gain.
ed. The event is significant. =
1t shows that the voters of the
country are preparing to deliver
singing rebuke TO the party
winch is responsible for the muir
dcrous system of Acknowledgements
which has sullied the laurels of
victory.
The Republican papers of Yer
mont did not mince matters i'm
crlticising the abuses thai charac-
terlzed the methods of the war
department. The Rutland Hel aid
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.u
This was true enough to cut
down the republican majority and
to give the Democrats surprising
gains i'll 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. MI. Alger went
TO MOntauk Point and said il was
alright. Then he returned with
MIR. Mckinley and they both
said it was alright. Meanwhile
impartial physicians and compe-
tent observers declared that il was
all wrong, and they had the
proofs in their hands. And not
only at Montauk Point, but at ev-
cry other camp established in this
country, and in every movement
of the Cuban campaign by sea or
land nnr cnIl,o,e