Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1904-08-26
SOLID DEMOCRATIC TRUTH
Space Controlled by Democratic
State Committee
THE REPUBLICAN BAD FAITH

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 Will of the people by direct vote on the
acceptance or rejection of lcence and local
option law regulating the sale of Intoxicating
liquors and further provision that upon popular
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 promseY
In the first place the promise itself
contained trick. The Prohibition
Republicans 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 form of referendum
like that by which prohibition was
originally adopted, which indirectly as
certained the peoples will by making it
n question of dates. They planned to
lead the people into procedure that
the Court would annul. But for the
Democratic exposure of it, the trick
would have slipped through without a
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 a 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 n license and
local option law the Republican party
instead attempted to foist upon us the
Battel state store, enlarged and loos
ened town agency scheme. Defeated ir
; both these projects, by the union OF
Democrats, Clement men and few
genuine local option Republicans, they
bent every energy to spelling the loca
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 senators and 243 represen
tatives besides 3 vacancies). OF thes'
AZ were Democrats, Sc Clement men anC
] l labor, Lawrence of Rutland. Th'
\ vote for governor was A for McGet
trick, 80 for Clement and l64 TO
Mccullough. with absentees. Severa
of the l64 were elected as fusionists, bu
to leave no chance for dispute we will
count them all straight Republicans.
On the question of substituting tn
bogus referendum the vote in the Hous
was Ill "yea" to l27 may"
Of the "nay" votes the Democrats were
OF the nay" votes the Clement men
OF the nay" votes the labor vote was.
J. OF the "nay" votes the straight Re-
publican were ................'......... 8
l:
So if it had been left to Republican
alone, the people would have bee
tricked out of the law by a vote G
nearly three to one.
In the Senate and House together tn
vote for this bogus referendum was IL
" to l47.
y OF the l47 that saved the state fror
70 this cheat, AZ We're Democrats, 3
y Clement men, l labor and AZ Republ
~ cans. OF the Ill all but three wer
n IL. ID Il E Al ID.
publicans in the legislature, over two
thirds (l0S TO 4S), voted for know
Il cheat.
81 If the legislature had contained il
70 usual Republican majority, or that {
1900, the same percentage would hay
made the vote l34 Republican in fave
y of the cheat to 65 Republicans and 4
Democrats against it, or a majority {
e % for it.
The question of substituting I'll
Battell bill for the license and locs
option law promised did not reach
vote in the Senate but in the House
was 81 yea" (all but 2 straight r.
publicans) to l4S may"
OF the l4s the Democrats wsre........
OF the las the Clement men were
OF the las the Labor vote was............
OF the l4s the straight Republican were
/
So of the straight Republicans IL
vote was 80 to So for a fiat repudis
ton of their platform promise, an
if it had been left to them, the stat
% store system, that has wrought sue
4 Generalization in South Carolina an
. built up an impregnable political mt
% chine for Tillman there, would hay
q been inflicted on this state. And if IL
, Republican party has its expected mi
10 jority this year, relieved from IL
Clement scare, this is just what we ma
l. expect of it.
Every amendment calculated
weaken the law or make it odious, hn
an even larger Republican supper
One of the worst of these was tha
which would have practically fined ever
town that attempted an honest enforce
-.