Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1902-04-18
dNindham County Reformer
VT, FRIDAY, APR is, 1902
A Whit of Ozone Coming9

gentlemen or some OF lneH, OF lIe W al
dorf- Astoria dinner, just before Webb
withdrawal, had run together at OF
iowa Sunday, followed by another let
ter from Dr. Webb explaining his with
drawal, that it was because he did no
want to force himself on the peopl
and vehemently denying as "absolutel
false that there have been any meet
ings of my friends to in any way in
fringe upon the rights of the peopl
and concluding with squlnt at futuri
ty thusly;
| propose to continue to demonstrat,
that | am a Vermonter, and in SO doing
shall add, so far as my abilities vii
permit, to the prosperity and welfare
of the state.
There was a gathering also of Proc
tors followers at st. Adams Saturday
to cheer each other with prophecies OF
unanimity all over the county and tc
listen to Ex-Gov f. G.. Smiths sol
emn asseveration that there was no bar
gain or understanding in Gen. McCul-
lough's withdrawal in his favor from
the contest of four years ago, 1t is
Just now time for ''claims" from all
factions, like the dispatches that are
being sent out from Brattleboro about
"Windham county sentiment which
are just as valuable as nursery guess
work. The real question throughout the
state Just now is which side will have
the best luck in hiring workers, -
caucus fixers and sample copy distrib-
utors, and nobody can predict with
any sort of intelligence the net out
come of it all. The factor, which no
one can estimate and which contains
the potencies of utter wreck for the old
political machine, is the projection for
the first time in generation of an is
sue of principle in the canvass in Mr..
Clements candidacy on a high-license
local option platform Not only does
he promise to take the stump for it,
but Rev. G. W. Morrow, head of the
state anti-saloon league, announced at
the Methodist conference at st. AL
bans last week that aggressive fight
was to be made from that side and that
GO prohibition speakers would be put
into the field in May and 200 meetings
be held just before the Republican
state convention. If Mr.. Morrow will
fulfil this promise he will be doing the
Lords work in a different way than he
intends. For the one thing necessary
to bring better things and more ration |
al legislation in Vermont is to stir the
subject up When this has once been
done and Clement beaten in conven-
ton by an alliance of sincere temper
ance men with the powers of political
plumber that prohibition contains,
then there will be a chance for the
Democratic party for the first time in
half a century to make itself of some
use in state affairs Whether there is
any hope that the chance will be EN-
braced remains matter of some doubt.
If we were to judge by the way the
Clement candidacy is received by that
part of Republicanism that has for years
been battling against prohibition the
inertia would seem to be hopeless.
Not one of these papers when squarely
brought to face question of princi-
pie rather than men has taken his
side. Not single newspaper in Yer
mont, except his own Rutland Her
aid, has pronounced for Clement or r
his cause. Their argument is that a
governor, because he has no veto power :
over majority of the legislature, does t
not amount to anything on the subject 1
anyway. And certainly as there can :
be no hope in Legislative elections, +
scattered and disorganized as they t
must be, and under a system of repre-
sentation that gives one-third of the i
people rule over the other two-thirds. c
this attitude simply means do moth =
ing forever. The real truth is that in r.
for governor, as the embodi C
ment, and the only possible one of ideas, W
with the power of leadership and of =
guiding and instructing legislation even n
ifhe cannot control, and in state tickets,
must ever be the only way of change Il
and of progress in Vermont affairs. 1t b
is because this is so and because un- W
Ter the bad one-sidedness of our poll =;
les no advance appears upon that line W
nothing but petty personal fights 81
that we see exempllfed increasingly II
rom year to year and decade to decade, ~ "
he truth of which Daniel Webster al
spoke when he said IL
1.-THE best apology for laws of prohi- 1t
)ition and laws of monopoly will be
,ound in that state of society not only q,
but sluggish, in which m
hey are most generally established. " Y
John II. Senter wittily describes the p;
Clement candidacy as simply sin base pc
,all parlance sacrifice hit to give the -
ther party chance to steal base - Ii
Perhaps it may prove so-not for hi
Mccullough, but for what would be 81
ar better. more healthful and more ~
Iopeful for the state -
We can almost think there is a Whit ht
f ozone coming
Elsewhere on this page we print a M
olumn of the comment of the state Nv
resS anent the entrance of percival -