Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1908-01-03

the naii"qai committee met at Wash.
lnsloh recently the country heard from
the White House again definitely that
n"minnliou Mould not br accepted.
The message To congress DEC. 5 was
a stand pat vz,edictory.
The staying power of the Twice De.
teated aud his hold uu the affections
of the Democratic rank and file in the
face OF concerted effort TO discredit
him by clique of the rich and power
iul conservatives still in control of the
party machinery made one of the pO-
litical wonders of the year. After his
open espouSal of the national ana state
ownership of railroads last year the
current ran very strong against Mr..
Bryan in the party. This situation
lie met last April by frankly saying
that he had come TO the conclusion
that the people We're not ready Tor the
ownership idea yet ana that regulation
must he tried out on Democratic lines.
This did not prevent him from cham.
pioning the initiative and referendum
programme. Not until the middle of
November did he definitely announce
his Willingness again to accept the
nomination. No opposition appeared.
At least one course of legislation
was grist to the Bryan mill. While
the overshad0wing bulk OF federal
power was fumbling over rate bill
i'll 1906 and the reorganiZed interstate
commerce commission in 1907 was
struggling with the vast problem of
keeping tab on the railroad manage
ments the idea that the humble state
governments could impose lower rates
by legislative enactment took root and
made a remarkable growth. Missouri
joined the procession by March, and
the courts arranged with the railroad
men to give the two cent rate trial
for ninety days, after which opinions
still differed. Other states 10 pass rate
bills were Pennsylvania and Michigan
i'll April and New York, Illinois and
Minnesota i'll May But the New York
bill never became law owing 10 the
veto of Governor Hughes on the
ground of being not carefully weigh
ed. In ali the states where these laws
We're passed litigation against them
has been begun by the railroads affect.
ed
The drift toward public ownership
took the shape of state commissions
with new powers and was felt in the
elections of Busse in Chicago, johnson
in Cleveland and in the fifty year trac-
tion transfer ordinance in PhiladeI-
phia.
The American people are soldering
up" This expression applies TO one
of the most significant political move
ments in which the conscience vote
appears. When the returns of the No
vember elections were in. no one result
attracted more general attention than
the fact that the wave of "dryness"
which had been sweeping over the
south had made itself felt in Della
gathering impetus sufficient to carry it
far into the north and west. Georgia
has gone into the strict prohibition
column under q law in effect Oh New
Years day, and the new state of Okla
homa came into the Union with a
prohibitory clause in that radical con-
stitution of hers. making five prohibi-
ton states. But many others are vir-
tually so on local option lines, the dry
sections Increasing until it is now eS-
timated that half the population of the
nation are living in communities free
from the public saloon. Other features
of the November elections were the
capture of Salt Lake City from the
Mormons, the election of Dr. Taylor as
the reform mayor of San Francisco
over the powers of graft, the Republic
an sweep of Kentucky by $4,000, Dem
Ocratic retention of Rhode Island and
the cutting down of the Republican
lead in New Jersey and the defeat of
the Hearst-Republican fusion by Tam
many in New York city, besides the
victory of johnson in Cleveland al
ready referred to.