The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-08-21
THE GUBERNA1oRrAh MESS.

the times that the impression Gov ernor Woodruff has made since his in- duction into office appears to be of quality which is likely to find voice to represent it when the next State convention is held. In spite of the plans which are be- lieved to be made by the party mana gers for the nomination of Congress man Lilley to succeed him and for the interment of Lieutenant Governor Lake in the well stocked party grave yard, there is a growing disposition on the part of many people to nominate Governor Woodruff to succeed him. self. The appeal of the Greenwich Graphic to stand by him has not fall en upon deaf ears. The advisability of following its counsel is already un- der discussion.
 While disavowing any right to sit at the council table The Journal and Courier some time ago suggested that since the party in power exhibited such yearning for the referendum it could net do better than apply
 it to the case of Governor Woodruff. The more the estrange- ment between that official and the general assembly is studied and the better the causes of 1t become understood the idea of testing the sit uation by means of the referendum grows upon us. A little popular ar- bitration would prove mighty good thing and the State would know to a |nicety what the greatest number of
 people favor in the way of govern Iment action. The Bridgeport Standard,
 for example, says in recent issue:
 Setting aside all question of person.
 ality in the matter and considering
 OILY WAuL Woulu pS tilC 4O5ECttl CpuIapt and waiving the time-honored custom of a change every two years, there is no question, we think, that the renom- Eination of Governor Woodruff would keep in motion to a still more effec- tive issue forces which have only now been demonstrated, but which need the power of popular approval to push them on to the best results. To all the friends of real reform the renom- ination of the governor would appeal strongly and we imagine that there is mo question as to what the reply would be-"
 It Is likely that in the next few months this quiet but suggestive view may find approval In other party or gans until the machine may find on It's
 hands a revolt which will threaten its
 very existence. It is no secret that at the present moment it believes itself to be in control of the situation, that the ticket it favors will be the ticket lsubmitted to the people willy-nllly. But even machines have moments of
 reflective sense. To be sure there is an artificial policy which forbids the denomination of governors but it pos sesses no logic and defles common sense. Good men have been denied the honor but other good men have not estab- lished precisely the point at issue
 which Governor Woodruff has done. He has brought the legislative animal to
 the brook but has been unable to make it drink of the waters of reform Do
 the people think that it should partake
 of those waters? The friends of the
 governor say that when he was a can- ddate he promised to set those waters forth for consumption and that the : people elected him knowing exactly what he would do. The friends of the Legislative animal answer that the peo- pie did not know what was being offer
 ed them and that now they do under
 stand the quality they want none of
 them. A prettier controversy never ex-
 isted in history, not excepting that
 which ragged over who struck Billy 1 Patterson? It is a controversy suited
 to the laws of arbitration.
 As we have said, The Journal ant
 Courier has~no place at the party coun-
 cil table It seeks to represent the peo-
 pie who are looking for guidance
 along safe and sane lines. It is not al
 all sure that they want to be boosted
 along those lines; they are asking fol I a chance to do a little bossing of their
 own. We shall watch with increasing Interest this conflict between the forces
 of political progress in Connecticut and
 the machine. Oh, for an hour with the direct primary!
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