The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1904-08-24
SOLID DEMOCRATIC TRUTH
Space Controlled by Democratic
State Committee
THE REPUBLICAN BAD FAITH

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 81
next session 70 make provision TOR aseefialning
the will OF the people by a direct vote on the
acceptance or rejection " licence and local
option law regulating the sale 81 intoxicating
liquors and further provision that upon popular
vote IN favor Of such a law duly ascertained the
same shah become statute Of The state IN
force.
This was the promise 70 the people
on which the Republican party Won
that election Without it defeat would
have been inevitable How did it fulfil
that promises
In the first place the promise itself
contained q trick. The Prohibitions
Repuhliean-politic who drew that
platform knew-and they discussed the
TACT before presenting the plank to
the eonvention--that the Supreme
Court had said, in case just
after prohibition was adopted, that such
direct referendum would be uneon-
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 win by making it
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 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 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 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
genuine local option Republicans, they
bent every energy TO spelling the local
| option measure with amendments, and
succeeded in large measure.
Does not the record warrant every
4 one Of these chargesf Let us see The
total membership Of the last Legislature
was 273 $50 senator's and 243 represen-
1 tatives besides vacanciesl. OF these
a. were Democrats, Sc Clement men and
/ l labor, Lawrence Of Rutland. The
| vote for governor was IA for MeGet-
trick, 50 for Clement and l64 fol
/ Mccullough. with 5 absentees. Several
of the 1854 were elected az 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 III the House
was III yea to l2T may
or the anay = votes the Democrats were a
/ Of the nayn votes the Clement men
/ were ,.,.s.....s. e..*tts...s+.-*- ~
orr nay" votes the labor vote was.
| OF the nay " votes the straight Re-
publican were ................s........ 50
n
So if it had been left to Republican
alone, the people would have been
tricked out Of The law by a vote Of
nearly three to one.
In the Senate and House together the
vote for this bogus referendum was Ill
to lat.
OF the I47 that saved the state from
this cheat, as were Democrats, so
Clement men, labor and 4S Republic
cans OF the Ill all but three were
straight Republicans, so Of all the Re-
publieans IN the legislature, over two
thirds tl0S TO 4Sl, voted for known
cheat
If the legislature had contained its
usual Republican majority, or that Of
1900, the same percentage would have
| made the vote I34 Republican in favor
Of the cheat to 65 Republicans and 40
Democrats against it, or a majority Of
% for it.
The question Of substituting the
option law promised did not reach a
vote in the Senate but in the House 1t
was 81 "yea" Tall but straight Re
publicansl TO l4S may"
OF the I4s the Democrats we're, ...... "a
OF the las the Clement men we're ,..,... ~
OF the l4s the Labor vote was ..........s
OF the 14s the straight Republican were s.
II
SO Of the straight Republicans the
| vote was SO to 50 for a fiat repudia-
ton Of their platform promise, and
| ii ii 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 ii the
| Republican party has its expected ma
jority 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 il pay the
costs Of prosecution Of law-breakers
and sending the fines realized to the
state treasury. Senator Sutton, Demo
| crat. made direct issue with a pro
posal to provide stimulus for stringent
enforcement By giving all fines, less
costs, to town treasures; but he was
ruthlessly voted down, while even pro
Yessed licensed Republicans were
threatening that If any more amend.
/ ments were attempted to remedy the