Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1904-02-19
THE MEDDLER.
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rh.ra is a prospect OF some excite
ment al the coming town meetihs
ABIDE from the interest which centers
ahon, the outcome OF the vote ON the
oues,lon of license. Two separate
lists of town officers have been 'ieo
with the town clerk. one known Us WV
.CitIzens' and the other as the REQ.
ple,s" ticket. The candidates Tor most
~ the offices are the same on poth'
hut the names slated for selectiheh
ara different as are also the cahui-
dates put forth for few OF the hihol
nositions. There seems to be some
trouble in getting good men 10 s'aiiu
as fence viewers, Messrs. Hooker anu
Fit, both having refused formally 10
allow their names to be used
The outcome of the election is
| matter of conjecture now that wv
separate tickets have been filed, Out
whatever II may be the fact that
contest Is on ought to have healthy
! influence in turning out the vote
/ Some of the local democrats nave
been kicking "A little because their
party had no larger representation Oh
/ the ticket, and one made the reinarh
! that he was in the same position as
1 the man whose wife was lighting with
bear: He didn't care a cuss whlch
/ licked II Is probable, however, that
most everyone else In town leans low
ard one side or the other.
There are plenty of good arguments
for keeping the old board of select
men in power for another term, and
there are also reasons why Il change
might have beneficial effect Some
people are finding fault with the way
the selectmen let the bridge commits
sioners overrun the appropriation Tor
the Connecticut river bridge, claiming
that a strictly framed contract with
the builders would not have allowed
any such thing others are inclined TO
be sore on the town fathers because
of their refusal to allow Festival hall
to be hired for basketball at reduced
rate when the proceeds from this
source last year amounted to more
than the receipts from all sources dur
ing the three previous years; and yet
others are In favor Of change on the
grounds that change is good thing
and that the present board has been in
long enough.
The Meddler is not quite as indiffer-
ent as the man who hoped the bear
would lick his wife because as an al
legged good citizen he cannot hold any
such position, but he feels sure that
the town will be managed well which
ever side comes out on top of the heap.
However change cannot do any harm
and Il might result In lot of good,
on the question of license there is
very little discussion, which argues
well for the present state of affairs. If
much fault were being found with the
way things are running II would have
been heard before now. Since last
September the number of arrests for
has been only Is, an un-
lucky number perhaps but not very
many: no murders have been commit
ted by rum crazed persons; and out
side people have not been stunning
Brattleboro because its pure atmos-
phere is tainted with the smell OF
liquor-indeed the town hall corridor
Is much less odorous than when the
agency held sway. Partly as result
of a year under license a decrease OF
five cents has been recommended in
the town tax, and the selectmen have
made the statement that if they were
sure license would win again the re-
duction might be greater yet. All OF
which said facts are hereby mentioned
for consideration.
The Meddler.