Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1900-10-25

choice Law with Gov. Smith. He was
importuned to name at least three
: different candidates, and finally decid'
ed. in Justice to all of them, to GO
outside and confer the honor on some
one who would not be likely to come
up for election later, thus leaving q
fair field and no favors. He first
rendered the appointment to Hon. b.
If. Fifeld of Montpelier, who, fol
personal reasons, declined it, and
then it was offered to Hon,
Jonathan Ross OF st. Johnsbury
at that time chief Judge OF the supreme
court. He accepted it and has served
nearly two sessions in the upper
chamber of Congress, with great credit
to himself, to ex-Goy. Smith and TO his
state.
AS soon as this appointment was
made, the three active candidates, W.P.
Dillingham;, w. W. Grout and c. A.
Prouty, arranged their lines for whatwas
expected TO be, and what in fact has
been, the most determined political
contest ever conducted in Vermont
Gen. Grout was considered by many
as the illogical successor of Senator
Morrill,. He had had the benefit of a
long experience in the lower house OF
Congress, while his rivals were with
out any Congressional experience
whatever. As representative from the
same side of the state as Morrill,, he
seemed to be directly in line for pro-
motion TO the upper house. But,
unfortunately for him, he had opposed
to him a man Of wonderful popularity,
of high ability, with a strong hold on
the heart Of Vermont-eX-Goy. Dill
lingham. His other rival, Mr. Prouty
though he developed a warm following
in certain quarters and proved a
thorn in the flesh to Gen. Grout,
would not alone have caused much
anxiety to the General. As time went
on and Senator Ross took a leading
rank in Congress, there were many
not committed to the other candidates
who thought it would be an act OF
graceful courtesy to him, and possibly
of real wisdom, TO return him for the
remainder of the uncompleted Morrill,
term. Senator Ross consented to be
considered a passive candidate, but
did little to promote his chances. He
saw at a glance that he had entered
the field too late to force the fighting
and that his only prospect of success
lay in the outcome of deadlock, where
his election would be an easy solution
and likely to be looked on with favor
by the friends of the other aspirants,
who would have chance to line up
again in two years. On the other
hand, many considered the return of
Judge Ross inadvisable, as it would
merely postpone the final settlement,
and also because the ultimate winner
would have lost the advantage of two
years experience.
1t must have been apparent to all
very early in the canvass that Gov.
Dillingham; had by far the larger, the
more enthusiastic and aggressive
support among the people. 1t came
from two sources-those who wanted
him and those who did not want Grout
for many Republicans were hostile to
Grout and probablywould have support
ed anybody in preference to him. They
went to Dillingham; as the leader OF
the Grout opposition. However, there
were great number of personal
admirers of the ex-governor, who
could not be classed thus. They not
only wanted to see Grout beaten, but
to see Dillingham; win, believing him
to be the best qualified of all the
candidates.
The first trial of strength came when
county senators were elected. In
majority Of the towns the issue was
made at the caucuses, and when it
was seen that Dillingham; had secured
fifteen senators by county convention
resolution, to only seven instructed
for Grout, there was no real reason to
doubt the final outcome. The remain
ing eight senators were uninstructed,
hut on the first joint ballot Dillingham;
had three, Grout one, Prouty three and
Ross one. Seeing his desperate con-
dition, Gen. Grout only redoubled his
efforts to win, using all those arts of
political cunning that have made him
so much admired and feared His
hope now lay in securing a majority of
the town representatives sufficient to
overcome the Dillingham; lead in the
Senate. He forced the fighting in an