St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1902-12-03
The Party Buncoed.


went through the legislature with sue
a whirlwind rush last week is but al
other indication that Mr. Clement is
the saddle and that the republican part
has been buncoed. The bill and its refe
endum is precisely what the Clemen
local option, high license plank Gale
for-llne upon line, p. ecept upon precept
Here is the plank in the Clement plat
form:
We demand that the next Legislature
pass high licen,e, local option law, ant
that the same be submitted to the voter
OF Vermont to become effective ONLY
when majority OF the voters Of thu
state have signied their approval, il
the manner as the prohibitory law be
came effective fifty years ago
Into this trap the members of tn,
legislature fell just as easily as into
the same trap at the republican state
convention when they inserted the high
license plank into the platform to catch
Clement votes How many Clement
votes they caught is a matter of recent
history.
Among the Objectionable features of
the high licerse bill the most serious
one is the short time that elapses before
the voters have a chance to EXPRESS an
opinion upon it. The vote on the refer
endum viii be taken before the proposed
law can be extensively circulated unless
the laws are given to the people quicker
than usual. Even Mr.. Clement. when
he appeared before the temperance com.
mittee, in support of his bill, suggested
that the referendum be taken at the
March meeting or in June.
{. H. Davenport of Brattleboro, one
OF the bright and shining lights in the
democratic party, has written a letter
urging that the bill be def,at at the
polls because it is submitting to the die
tation of the smaller towns that three.
fourths of the fees and fines tor viola
tons shall go to the state to be distrib-
uted among all the towns in the state.
Mr.. Davenport allows this is worse rob.
berry than the present state highway and
state school tax laws. Mr.. Davenport
says, The friends of this bill will be
very foolish, if tor the sake of victory
now they invoke sure defeat later by per.
hitting this monstrostyiu this bill"
But even if the bill is defeated WHEN the
referendum is held the law will go into
effect in December, 1904 unless it is re-
pealed by the next legislature. So Mrs.
Howe was right when she told a St.
Johnsbury audience last summer that the
law would not be referred to it's friends,
but its enemies. For the sake of the
party license law is liable to be foisted
upon us even though it is DEBATED next
January and a House is opposed to it at
the next session. A deadlock between
the House and the Senate would make
the bill operative and such an event is
not at ali improbable.
We give elsewhere a summary of the
bill, and Representative BattelPs speech
in support Of his bill, which is the most
perfect system of regulating the traffic vet
devised. The party whip was cracked by
the managers and word was passed
around that the feat OF the high license
bill meant the defeat of the republican
party. Now tits urged in more than one
paper that the vote did not represent the
real sentiment OF the representatives as
they voted forthe sake of their party and
not according to the dictates of their
own conscience, and the men who sup
ported the Battell bill are being roundlv
abused for voting according to TIER
convictions.
The minority who supported the Bat.
tell bill stood squarely on the republican
promise and platform, as a careful exam
nation OF the case in hand will show.
They adopted the suggestion OF Gov. Nc
CnlIough by framing the best law that
the wit and wisdom OF their members
could produce. Now that the BatteIl
bill is beaten we hope the legislature will
pass the Ross amendments to the present
law and that the majority of the voters
will defeat the socaled republican high
license bill at the polls. Then the legis.
lature should pass the Battell bill in
1904.