Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-05-24
Az Big as Morrill, or Edmunds

IDldN TO ne utllNCItu lIOIn inc SIuDlOliltS
of some Of his newspaper lieutenants, or
employ a more efficient political censor.
The attacks of Commissioner Prouty were
well calculated to take the Grout poliu-
cal writers off their feet but there was
really no excuse FOR the plumbers com
mitted by them in their desperate efforts
to neutralizc the effects of the Prouty ar
raignment of CIRCUITS record,
one Of the most egregous bunders per-
petratod in Cen CIRCUITS behalf was the
scheme to secure afdavits from members
of Congress as to his ability and eficien-
cy. a project which drew forth the inter
esting and highly significant disclosure
that one OF the most important witnesses
called in behad of the defense was not
acquainted with Gen. Grout in spite Of the
latter's sixteen years in Congress
The most pitiable exhibition of politi
cal foolishness on the part of the Grout
papers however. is their attempt to com
pare his work with that of the lamentcd
Morrill, and ex-senator Edmunds. After
writing for weeks under the Prouty ar
} raignment some Jealous but misguided adj
mirer of Gen. Grout conceived the brill
liant idea that a search of the Congress
sional Record might show him TO not be
alone in having a small number of passed
measures to his credit. Mr.. Edmunds is
alive and is well qualified to speak for
himself, but we do not ina CINE that the
people of Vermont will look with favor
upon this attempt to drag the proud ma
tional record of Justin S. Morrill, down to
Ia t.f.b Of bN
a process of numerical grading.
The resident OF Washington employed
for this work could not accomplish the
purpose expected of him by giving the
results straight, but by juggling with the
the situation he was able to snow that
Congressman Grout has about the
same number of measures of all
kinds including private bills to his credit
as either Morrill, or Edmunds, Grot.- 8
total being seventy. while that of Morrill,
was eighty and Edmundss so far in
cluded, seVenty-three>
In order to bring about this highly edi
flying result and apparently dsprove the
statements made in the Prouty arraiGn-
ment however it WAS necessary for this
authority to apply a certain degree of
legerdemain to the facts in the case, in
Guiding measures referred to committees
and worked over into substitutes and thus
reported by Congressman Grout his
measures. The bald assertion is made
that the record concerning these appro-
priation bills is introduced by the Com
mittee.' but it is fair to credit them TO
Mr.. Grout.' Further along in this dsin-
terested comparison printed in the
Grout papers it is asserted that In the
Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses.
Gen. Grout reported from committee as
substitutes for bills introduced by others,
four bills which became laws"
This political mathematician then pro-
ceeds TO make capital for Gen. Grout
by adding the four substitute bills report
ed by the latter in behalf of committees
and the five appropriation bills which his
fellow members unjustly insisted upon re-
.cording as introduced by the committee"
and the three measures that became laws
by being on the appropriation bills, which
originated in the Senate and the bills
which were really CIRCUITS bills and Sc
cures a grand total of eighteen public
bills originated by him that have become
laws"
It is admitted that Scator Morrilrs bills
were largely of public nature and devot-
ed to the public welfare. During his career
III both Houses he introduced thirty-seven
bills of public nature that became laws.
and he reported thirty-one from commit
tee, which according to the Grout method
of reckoning would make his total number
of public measures that were placed on
the statute books sixty-eght as compar-
ed with CIRCUITS eighteen original,
combined. OF Edmundss seventy
three bills that became laws twen-
ty-sx are classed as public, but the
computer did not have time singularly
enough to ascertain how many bills were
reported from committee, which could be
claimed as his a la Grout. How Congress
man CIRCUITS next friend happened to fail
to compare Grout with Senator Proctor
is mystery, but suffice to say this omis-
sion is the one streak of wisdom about
the entire Illumination. Possibly some Of
the Grout papers will say how it happen
ed
But granting for arguments sake the
business of the Grout method of legisla-
tive computation it proves nothing as re-
CARDS the comparative efficiency and
Statemanshin of Gen. Grout on the one
J hand. and Senators Edmunds and Morrill,
on the other and unless these figures
were published for the purpose of COM
parison TO the advantage of Gen. Grout
the space thus employed was worse than
thrown away and the attempted compari-
, son ineXcusab,e.
There was more constructive statesman
. ship in Morrill's college land grant law
which provided educational facilities for
thousands of young men and women an
nually throughout the country for de-
, cades, than in all of the public measures
claimed for Grout, to say nothing of
, Morrill's numerous other public acts and
|, if the Venerated senator had originated
, no other measure, he would have been
entitled to the gratitude of all future gem
erations throughout our land. In short,
; no one before ever had the hardihood 10
1 compare Grout with either Morrill, or I'd
' munds. Whenever considered in connec-
, ton with those statesmen he has always
= been regarded by way of contrast.
! Even II Congressman CIRCUITS age did