The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1907-03-22

| events, especially In the turmoil aud
excitement aud Misrepresentation of q
1 national political contest, an error
might be made aud cue might be chos'
en- hy the nation as It's chief magis'
tratc who should combine in himself
aunliiies Of profession No inconsistent
with his practices rs TO create general
listrust and constitute real menace
7 to the stability and permnnenee of our
national institutions; one, for instance,
who, while demanding vchemently that
/ all should be doors and builders, him
+ self should be the most striking eNem'
T plar OF constant undoing and persistent
{ tearing down; one who should stcrnly
denounce Rll critics, though himself
the most censorious OF persons; one
who should sheer at opponents for an
! tagoniZing radcalism instead of pro
posing actual reforms, while himself
forced 10 appropriate the notions Of po
| ltical antagonists; one who should
hold aloft the banner of idealism and
simultaneously trade with those noto'
riously corrupt; one who, while urging
the necessity of individual achieve
ment. should encourage socialism by
inviting attack upon accumuiaiions OF
wealth, which are the natural results
Of the very individual endeavors thus
advocated; one whose sense of per
sanal righteousness should 50 far over
power his sense of personal chariia'
hlpness rs To induce frequent denuncia'
ton of those dsagreeing with him as
wilful, malicious and unqualified pre-
varicators; one who should, while con
stantly railing at trusts, yet shield
with the utmost care the sacred tariff,
breeder of them all; one who should
dcplore political contributions from
corporations. vet raise TO the most pow
erful position in his government one
who had sought and obtained them;
one quicker than any other 10 castigatc
the bcnefciaries of a violation of trust,
irmer than any other in demanding
restitution of diverted funds, yet
painfully silent respecting the dispo
sition of large sums of money taken
from policyholders and used to insure
not the lives of the insured, but the .
election of a president.
Col, Harvey is not pleased with the
present situation of affairs in this
country and does not hesitate to place
the blame. Here is what he says about
it:
Prosperity, aided by a president, has .
produced licentiOusness of feeling /
and action, desire to enjoy the fruits .
of other men S labor and the promul' |
CATION of agrarian doctrines; com
plants of oppression and the pernic- /
ious influence of accumulated wealth /
have provoked hostility to established /
institutions, and outcries against the |
combining of small capitals to produce
beneficial results bid fair to choke up |
the fountains of industry and dry all
its streams. Already, as an immediate
effect of whirlwind of hostile legisla
ton melted throughout the country by
the declarations of the president and
the warnings" of the secretary of
state, capital has withdrawn its essen.
tial support, money cannot be had TO
provide adequate means of transporta'
ton, railway companies are called up
on to make bricks without straw, and
all enterprise is at n standstill in the
face of the official boast of so much
" already DONE and the latest threat
of further "girding up of loins to do
more" Because a few have done
wrong, all must suffer; just discrimina-
ton has been thrown to the winds. and
the end is not in sight. The president
reiterates the assertion that he is still
unconvinced of the necessity of serv-
ing a third term, but authorizes the
positive announcement that no "reac-
tionary" need apply for the republi'
can nomination.
As to what will be the result of this
general instability and dissatisfaction
Col, Harvey turns for a parallel to
Roosevelt's own history of the years
succeeding Jackson S ad-
and quotes as follows:
ga few days after Van Buren, s in
the country was in the
throes of the worst and most wide
spread financial panic it has ever seem
The distress was fairly appalling, both
in its intensity and in its universal
distribution. All the banks stopped
and bankruptcy was univer-
sal. i. The efforts made by Benton
anu INC Olhtl Odbhooulhho W DbNiii V4iN
tide of public feeling and direct it
through the well-worn channel of sus
picious fear of, and anger at, the
banks, as the true authors of general
wretchedness, were unavailing; the
stream swelled into a torrent, and ran
like a mill-race in the opposite way.
But few years before the Jack
sonians had appealed to a senseless
public dislike of the so-called money
power, in order to help themselves to
victory, and now they had the chagrin
of seeing an only less irrational cutlery
raised against themselves in turn, and
used to GUST them from their places.
The people were more than ready to
listen to any one who could point out,
or pretend to point out, the authors of,
and the reasons for the calamities
that had befallen them. Their condi-
ton was pitiable. E. Trade was at a
standstill; laborers were
thrown out of employment and left
almost starving; farmers, merchants,
mechanics, craftsmen of every sort
all alike were in the direst DISTRESS
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The wide and concerted attack on
the Massachusetts, Sunday laws which
=, lo;,c, M do IN +bo lao; 81 q t1ra IF that