St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1904-08-24
SOLID DEMOCRATIC TRUTH
Space Controlled by Democratic
State Committee
THE REPUBLICAN BAD FAITH

-
On the Local Option Law-How 1t Mutt
lated Measure Two Years Ago-And by
Vote of Two or Three to One, at Different
Stages, Sought to Kill It-Democrats
and Clement Men Saved It-Reward of
the Latter
The Republican platform of 1902 with
reference to the all-absorbing issue of
that campaign, said:
And we request the State Legislature at its
next session to make provision for ascertaining
the viii of the people by a direct vote on the
acceptance rejection of a Hcence and local
option law regulating the sale OF Intoxicating
vote In favor of such a law duly ascertained the
same shall become statute of the state in
force.
This was the promise to the people
on which the Republican party won
that election. Without it defeat would
have been inevitable. How did it fulfil
that promise?
In the first place the promise itself
contained a trick. The Prohibition
politicians who drew that
platform knew-and they discussed the
fact before presenting the plank to
the convention-that the Supreme
Court had said, in a case just
after prohibition was adopted, that such
a direct referendum would be uncon-
stitutional. Yet knowing this, they re-
fused to propose a form of referendum
like that by which prohibition was
originally adopted, which indirectly as
certained the peoples will by making it
q question of dates. They planned to
lead the people into a procedure that
the Court would annul. But for the
Democratic exposure of it, the trick
would have slipped through without
jar.
And yet when the legislature met, in
the face of this exposure, in the face OF
warning from the president of the Bar
Association, and of overwhelming legal
authority that this procedure at the
very least involved needless risk, the
great bulk of the Republicans stood
doggedly to it. Can there be a shadow
of doubt of their purpose to cheat the
people, when every man of them knew
that referendum in the form of that
of 1853 would just as well answer the
purpose of ascertaining the peoples
will?
Then in the face of their promise to
the people to present a license and
local option law the Republican party
instead attempted to foist upon us the
Battell state store, enlarged and loos-
ened town agency scheme. Defeated in
both these projects, by the union of
Democrats, Clement men and a few
bent every energy to spelling the local
option measure with amendments, and
succeeded in large measure.
Does not the record warrant every
one of these charges? Let US see. The
total membership of the last legislature
was 273 go senator's and 243 represen-
tatives besides 3 vacancies). Of these
At were Democrats, Sc Clement men and
! labor, Lawrence of Rutland. The
vote for governor was a. for Meet
trick, 50 for Clement and 164 for
Mccullough, with 5 absentees. Several
of the 164 were elected as fusionists, but
to leave no chance for dispute we will
count them all straight Republicans.
On the question of substituting the
bogus referendum the vote in the House
was Ill ''yeS' to 127 "nay."
Of "nay votes the Democrats were a
q the may" votes the ia. labor vots vas.
publican were 81
12i
So if it had been left to Republican
tricked out of the law by vote OF
nearly three to one.
In the Senate and House together the
vote for this bogus referendum was Ill
to LAT.
Of the LAT that saved the state from
this cheat, 49 were Democrats, so
Clement men, l labor and 4S Republi
cans. Of the Ill all but three were
straight Republicans, so of all the Re-
publicans in the legislature, over two
thirds (109 to 48), voted for a known
cheat
If the legislature had contained its
usual Republican majority, or that of
1900, the same percentage would have
made the vote l34 Republican in favor
of the cheat to 65 Republicans and 46
Democrats against it, or a majority OF
% for it.
The question of substituting the
Battell bill for the license and local
option law promised did not reach
vote in the Senate but in the House it
was 81 'yea" tall but straight Re-
publicans) to las "nay."
OF the las the Democrats were. .. A.
OF the las the Clement men were....... Al
81 the 14s the Labor vote was, .:....: j!
las
So of the straight Republicans the
vote was 80 to SIS for fat repudia-
ton of their platform promise, and
if it had been left to them, the state
store system, that has wrought such
Generalization in South Carolina and
built up an impregnable political ma
chine for Tillman there, would have
been inflicted on this state. And if the
Republican party has its expected ma
iority this year, relieved from the
Clement scare, this is just what we may
expect of it.
Every amendment calculated to
weaken the law or make it odious, had
an even larger Republican support.
One of the worst of these was that
which would have practically fined every
town that attempted an honest enforce
ment of the law by making it pay the
costs of prosecution of law-breakers
and sending the fines realized to the
state treasury. Senator Sutton, Demo
erat, made a direct issue with a pro-
posal to provide a stimulus for stringent
enforcement by giving all fines, less