Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1902-12-19
The Late Lamented.

measured by its promises through the
Republican platform, the performance,
except for what was forced upon it by
an able and aggressive minority, il
would be almost compliment to call
contemplate.
Aside from a license referendum
bill, the one great party promise was
caucus law, and the promise is wholly
unredeemed. The evil to be femedied
appeared last summer in what the Re
publican ST. Adams Messenger candid
" admits to have been the 'most cor
rupt campaign Vermont ever saw. y
But the whole session passed without
one serious move to formulate practi-
cal caucus law: as the Messenger again
says, the explanation is that the Re
publican politicians don't want one.
Campaign years are altogether too prof
liable to them. They bring big fees
to lawyers that scarce ever would see
them otherwise, and to many other
"workers'' of different trades and pro
fessions the means of an honest live
lihood" without working for it. The
only proposition that had any aim or
tendency whatever towards better po-
litical conditions was that of Mr.. Gale
of Guilford, requiring sworn state
ments of expenditures by candidates
and committees. OF course that was
voted down: our petty politics will
have to be revolutionized before any
such measure can live in Vermont leg
islation. The final pretense towards
fulfilment of the party promise was a
bill requiring every voter to register his
party preference with town clerks be-
fore he could participate in caucuses.
In other words, the evil to be rene
died being the citizens neglect of pri-
maries, the remedy shall be to double
the probability of such neglect. OF
course the preposterous measure was
voted down, and it is another tribute
to the Democratic membership, that it
is charged to them, with the idea that
this will excuse the majority party be-
fore the people.
The promise of eco nomy in state ex
penses is an old one, and has the fulfil
ment with which taxpayers are now
getting familiar in gross increase by
$500, 600
Even the scare the party got last fall
was not sufficient to bring an honest
and straightforward fulfilment of the
promise to submit the ''best measure
for local option that could be framed to
vote of the people. On the contrary,
measure that could be framed, and
really no one ought to have expected
anything else, because it is not in hu-
man nature, even with the best of in
tentions, for men who desire above all
else the defeat of measure to put it in
the best shape they can to aid its adop-
ton. With this natural possibility,
and with prohibitory politicians to
"play politics. with the subject,
the long story of trickery and dou-
BILE dealing, of emasculation and mu-
tilation of real license propositions, of
secret conclaves, Battell bill substitu-
tions, and bunco referendums, with
which our readers are familiar, followed
in natural course. The purpose was un-
mstakably to so load down the bill as
to secure its rejection at the polls. The
Thanksgiving recess afforded opportun-
ity to circumvent the purpose by focus
ing public indignation on the most
of these purposes in divs-
ion of fees and costs. The people can
now do the rest by accepting the bill
as it stands and trusting to the future
for needed and proper amendments.
Indeed it is marvellous that the bill
has emerged from all its difficulties in
as good shape as it has. Besides the
stiletto at every corner of prohibition
politicians having it in charge, it suf
fered seriously from the fact that by
all odds the best and most rigid plan
of license was that offered by the
Democrats, and which for that reason
was the one thing the Republican lead
ers wanted to avoid enacting. Another
disadvantage was that the author or
sponsor of each of the different bills
was on the Temperance committee;
they were not impartial [
Judges of the merits of the different
measures, and in the courteous effort
to take as much as possible from each
there was joining of inconsistent
parts, and it is doubtful if the result
is as good as either of the bills alone
would have been.
1t only emphasizes truth as old as
politics, that radical revolutions of
policies can adequately be made only
through revolutions of parties, and that
the enactment of new policy should
De entrusted to its friends and not its
enemies The friends of local option
IN the legislature, being an exception
Ally able, conciliatory and non partisan
ot of men, have prevailed far enough
against its enemies, so that on the
whole the law clearly ought to be
adopted.