The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1902-06-11
"a DIRTY CAMPAIGN" INDEED.

In the course of a two column edi-
torial, with kerosene in the fire box
and smoke stack Mt Pelee in erup-
ton, the Messenger of St Adams
says Now let us look at this mat
ter fairly and calmly" The natter
with the contemporary seems to be
that the showers of boomerangs it
has launched against Mccullough are
flying back on the reckless and wretch
ed furler, shipping, bruising, bang
ing, till in his agony the editor of
the "Squashville Gazoot" means
dirty politics. and whines and
squeals through columns of newspaper
space because of the disastrous con.
sequences to it and its candidate of
the campaign of vilifcation and gen.
eral unrighteousness it and its allies
opened up and have pursued against
Gen. Mccullough. To put it another
way, the Messenger has been hand
ling edged tools to which, for
the undoing of its adversary, it
had given the sharpness of a lance
and it has cut and hacked itself to the
bone, slashed its cuticle, gouged its
flesh, and become the mangled and
bedraggled victim of its own supreme
folly and reckless disregard of the
very amenities in political warfare
whose Punishment from this canvass
it practically decreed by the opening
incidents of its campaign for Proctor,
or rather against Mccullough
The Messenger maintains to the end
the marvellous disregard of fact and
canvass 1t groans about 1.-THE rights
of professional politicians to set the
date for limitation of entries to the
governorship contest, and after the
manner of Satan rebuking sin deplores
the power of politicians to arrange
things political in disregard of the
wishes of the dear people-all i'll de-
lightful obliviousness of the facts and
incidents of the arrangement of the
candidacy of Fletcher d. Proctor in
the city of New York by knot of
politicians and the attempt thereafter
to exploit it in the State as the result
of pressing and spontaneous demand
of the people-nothing of which it
was, as events Immediately proved and
have been disclosing with cumulative
force and clearness in every passing
week since that secret conclave i'll the
city of New York. The Messenger,
like the ostrich, hides its head in the
sand and fain would believe that the
rest of mankind does not see the hulk
ing mass of fuss and feathers, contra.
dictions and inconsistencies, that
looms above the plain.
In respect of Fletcher D. Proctor S
eleventh hour" entry into this can
vass, to which the Messenger de-
votes some special pleading: The
rights in the case are entirely a
matter of circumstances which the
contemporary disingenuously ignores
Mr.. Proctor wrote his friends in all
parts of the State late in the fall of
1901, after long and mature delibera-
ton, that he had concluded not to be
candidate in the canvass for the gov
ernorship, then in its earlier stages.
He was holding steadfastly to this
conclusion the last of January of the
present year. The first intimation
these people received that he had re-
considered this determination was the
concerted publication of the fact by
certain newspapers, which had been
previously "seen' by E. R. Morse,
Mr. Proctor's political manager. Mr.,
Proctor's friends at first refused to
credit the reports of his candidacy,
The renewed allegiance of many of
them was sought A tide of remon.
STRANGE was poured in on the candi.
dacy Matched in New York, 1t was
all unavailing The decree had gone
forth from the secret council chamber
in the city of New York that Nc
Cnllough, whose growing strength al
"A candidate had filled the coterie Of
politicians with alarm, must be crush
ed, and Fletcher D. Proctor was mad,
the pestle of the mortar in which
the Bennington candidate was to b.
ground to powder. Now, regard 70
the commonest precepts of honor de
manded that Mr.. Proctor, before h
recalled his conclusion not to be
candidate-if he recalled it at all o
under any circumstances-made
obligatory on him again to seek tn
counsel of the men whose opinion h