The morning journal-courier., 1908-08-10
WHY TWISTED MEN
 OPPOSE LILLEY Waterbury American Finds That He May Have Pulled
 a Horse Race Years
 Ago. IS NOT AN ABSTAINER Claims Hill Town People May Be Jealous of Success of Holder
 of Principal Real Estate
IS NOT AN ABSTAINER
(From the Waterbury American

We declare our intention to at- | tend the caucus and work for the cleo ton of four delegates to represent the town of Winchester who will oppose the nomination of George l.. Lilley and who are unpledged beyond that point"
 This Is the salient feature of the Anti-Llley Republican club of Win sted, the most striking unit to appear this far in the marshaling of the forces for the coming campaign
 Why are they opposed to Lilley? He Is the heaviest individual taxpay- CT in the town, which means the close linking of his personal interests with those of the community. he has long held friendly relations with fhe little group of old time lawyers and office holders. who usually dominate the po- 1 litical situation he has been making frequent visits to the borough for years and he has the earnest support of the Ltchfeld County leaders. such as O. R. Fyler, J. Henry Roraback and others. Yet the organization opposed to him includes In its list of officers almost every business man of prom thence and claims for membership an overwhelming majority of the 1900 odd Republican voters,
 "We are opposed to him because of his record" says Gilbert l.. Hart, treasurer of the club, and one of the most prominent manufacturers That speaks for itself"
 Do you mean his record in the matter of the submarine investiga- tion?"
 'I am not authorized to speak for the club. I presume the submarine matter has strong bearing on the sit- uation."
 Outside of the submarine incident 1t can hardly be alleged that anything In MT Lilley's legislative or congress sional career can be held offensive by the republicanism of Winsted. The town Is conservative in the extreme on matters of state and national pol Icy, in which 1t coincides precisely with the expressed views of Mir Lilley And since the bulk of the state feels decidedly otherwise, 1t Is hard to be- Ieve that any considerable portion of Winsteds voters should discover grave reprehensiblity in the congressman's attitude on the submarine. The nat ural conclusion from a superficial sur vey of the situation would be that missionaries of other faithsLsay the faith Everett Lake--had been indus triously at work. However. this is disproven, not only by the constitu- tional plank calling for delegates un- pledged aside from their opposition to Lilley. but by the calibre of the men prominent In the movement. These include Rufus F, Holmes. banker and principal citizen since the death of ruff, of the Gilbert Clock company, the towns largest industry; Warden r. c. Strong, ]. H Alvord Dudley l.. Vaill and a long list of other we'll known manufacturers and merchants, These men are not ordinarily active in politics. Their habit is to vote the republican ticket and let the half dozen leading lawyers look after the nominating. When they hustle about with intention to influence the pr'- maries they have, or think they have, serious cause.
 Their professed cause this year is the historic submarine result Doubt less this is real with many of them, and yet if would scarcely suffice to influence any great body of Winsted voters Back of it must lie more vivid and intimate objection. Eight years ago-and Wlnsted is a region of long memories-there was such an objec- ton. It lay in the defeat of Donald T. Warner of Salisbury, Li.chfield County idol, for the republican gu- bernatorial nomination. It true that in 1900 Mir. Liley was only just embarkng upon his political career as a representative from Waterbury, and that Winsted could have had small ground for quarrel with him, since then his connection with tho men who caused the Warner defeat has become close. 0. R. Fyler of Torrington, then chairman of the state central committee was the man who downed the Warner ambi- tions and who landed in the guberna- torial chair George P. Mclean of Simsbury. Since then Mr. Lilley has become, first protege and finally a confldante of Mir. Fyler Of Mir. Me Lean he has long been his close per sonal and political friend. Tho bit- terness of the battle which Winsted waged that year-scores of 'epubli- cans threatened to bolt the ticket and did it too--has never died out 1t was famed into fresh flame when F.. A. Nelllis of Winsted was denied re- nomination for the shrievalty. The feeling against Fyler and all who stand with him Is still strong. It has undoubtedly offered base for the feet of the I.iley opposition, particu- larly since MT. Fyler and his licuten- ant, J, Henry Roraback of Canaan. have taken upon themselves the man agement of the Lilley campaign in Litchfleld county
 To credit real effect to some of the other arguments waged against Mir. Lilley 1t must be remembered that Winsted is somewhat unique among | ConDectlcut towns. It mas respecr for tradition. 1t Is ready to believe rumors because most rumors which circulate among populations of years standing are true and 1t abides strictly by the customs of earlier days, giv- ing scant encouragement to the ad . vance of broader modern views. For one thing 1t looks askance upon the demon rum. It believes not in tenn perance. but in total abstinence True, 1t usually votes for license by small majorties, but its solid citizens would households an abomination, as god less as unbusinesslike, and no small portion of the town takes It's view | from the solid citizens