The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1900-12-07
Harris's Melanee.
MONTPELIER, Dec. 3.

MONTPELIER, Dec. 3.
Friend. Harry and old Ordngeites:
From the sadness of sorrowful hours,
the desolate mourners go.''
"The legislature of 700 is dead and rapid
| ly being forgotten Not as rapidly as it
ought to be, but yet as rapidly as condi-
lions Will permit Bu5 old Orange did
have some mighty good boys and clean
legislators here, men who took no dust,
land kept up with the band wagon through
out. Our own Hooker was one, Ham
baldwin was another, "Old Strafford'
was yet another. Mcintyre of Randolph,
Kept that side of the county from tipping
up, and in the Senate! Well, if William
a large brindle dog under the rear axle,
then l don't know. | believe beyond
question that Orange had the two most
personally popular senators in the whole
push. have had some experience with
Vermont legislatures, reaching over a
period OF twenty-five years, but l never
ran against such one before, and unless
such one in the future can outrun me
| never will again. The one which died last
week andwhichhas begun to smell and will
continue to smell for months to come.
had no leaders who led. Those who were
htted to be leaders evaded the RESPONSE
billty. 1t was a regiment with every man
a private. lt:contained good material,
but the material was awfully and hone,
lessly raw. 1t didn't improve much with
age, largely because of lack of direct
ing hand. speak more especially of the
House. That body talked very little, less
than any previous House in all my knowl-
edge, and when anything was said it was,
as rule. badly laundering and ineffect-
i've. Scarcely measure passed or was
killed but what the action could have
been reversed by bright, keen two min
ute speech But at the critical moment
the man was not ready for the emergency
In the words of the litany, it did those
things which it ought not to have done
and omitted to do those thi.gs which it
ought to have done, and there was no
heart in it. And so the House drifted
like rudderless ship before gale, week
after week.
Whatever happened to be done did not
appear to be governed and guided by in
telligence, but impulse. Everything went
helter-skelter in the direction in which it
happened TO be aimed when the speaker
pulled the trigger. Individually the
House was made up of sound, level-head-
ed business men, as rule, who intended
to do the right thing, but they were out
of their element. They did not work in
to compact and effective working force
lfor these reasons, the acts which FORUM
ately or otherwise survived and became
laws are accidents. The sight of them
wien they are published will astonish the
msS who made them, and they will won.
ceFl lOw the dickens it ali happened, any
way,
In the Senate, the company of thirty
were all captains, with possibly two or
three privates. Speechmaking was the
natural element of most of them, and
speeches were continually on top. U.s.
ually not more than two spoke at once,
nhfI nlt
opening. As a matter of fact it was a
Senate of at least average ability, but it
was not well balanced. 1t was shaded |
from conservatism, the bourbonism which |
learns and forgets nothing, to the extreme |
of radlcalism which would break down all |
barriers and reform" in and |
out OF sight in our comprehensive Omni- |
bus bill.
With Senate so made up, of course |
the result was continual scrapping and |
pickering and disagreementS, with an
occasional compromise on some import
ant matter which left it hamstrung and
mutilated. The most utterly lawless and
lndefensible record made by the Senate
was in the matter of the constitutional
OF the four proposed only
One was saved. and that one was of the
east consequence of the lot. All those
kllled were possessed of merit and were
uSt and proper for Submissi On, and more
especially and above all that which pro- +
Vided that an amendment might be pro-
posed at any regular biennial session
hereafter. The butchery of this prevents
,he consideration of any more amend
nents until 1910, and ties the hands of
'very Senate until that time. If they I
lad not decently treated any other
amendment, they might at least have
'iven their successors in the legislative ]
previous to 1910 an opportunity to con- !
ider the wishes of the people and the
public welfare in this regard. The result {
S that they simply perpetuated their '
'ower for evil, and left it as an unavoid-
'ble legacy of evil for ten long years. ]
The last night of the session was a per-
ect type of the many last legislature !
lights that have gone before. The two
Ouses wrangled and quarreled and dis t
greed and took recesses, and the scene t
vas one of sleepy lethargy or wild dis
rider. In comparatively peaceful inter- /
ais beautiful $3.50 watch was presented /
he speaker by the members, a gold-head- c
d cane to the sergeant alarms and a sum /
f money to the long distance telephone a
oung lady. Along toward daylight |