The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-12-27
1t is Here Too

The Springfield Republican packs
away into small compass a good bit
of pithy advice to a certain very dis
cernible element in the Republican
party when it says:
Trouble is reported from Maine
for Senator Eugene Hale. The PEG
pie there are said to be not over
pleased with his reactionary attitude.
They do not applaud his action in
having Speaker Cannons anti-insur-
gent speeches in the West printed as
public documents. They are not over
pleased with his antagonism to Pres
ident Taft in making the new tariff
board fact-collecting body respect
ing difference in cost of production,
etc So Mr.. Hale some days ago
packed his trunk and started home
from Washington on a Recommending
expedition. He and other senators of
that school may be making a great
mistake in sdpposing the Republican
revolt to be confined in the Mississ-
ippi valley states"
Perhaps the revolt" is less dem
onstrative here in New England and
the East but it is here, and true to
our more conservative ways more TO
be dreaded because it is grim and
Unconditional.
There is a steadily intensifying
conviction that the, Republican party
must change or shade some of its mol
icies and discredit or retire some of
its leaders if it is. to keep Republi-
can and If 1t is to keep in power.
There can be no mistaking the signs
or general realignment of political
forces throughout the nation, a move
ment that may be said, in a general
way, to have begun in the free silver
gold campaign of 1896 and that has
gained momentum ever since. 1t is
true that thus far. at least, the most
apparent indications of unsettledness
and even disintegration are exhibited
by the Democratic party but it is
quite as true that while the Republi-
can partisans have been exulting over
this and indulging in a reckless sense
or security because of it, the leayen
OF change has been steadily working
in their own ranks The day has
gone by when the old war horses
can answer the persistent demands
OF the people for better government
and economic relief by delivering
spreadeagle speeches about the mar
vellous prosperity of the nation as
| shown in, statistics or by ridiculine
the Democratic party and it's leaders
Intelligent American citizenship is
] asking for bread and will not be con
, tent with a stone.
The multitude of men would be
| hard pressed to draw up a very def
mite bill of particulars setting forth
the changes or shades of changes in
the party's policy that they demand
But they are loosely associated with
the reactionary men and policies
sketched in the Republicans para
graph and many more beside.
New England is proverbially con
sentative and New England delegates
in Congress are expected to keep lev
el-headed at all times of national pol
itical stress, and usually do, Yer
mont among the others But there
come times when merely keeping lev
el-headed and coming out on top al
the end of the tumult are not enough
when the country calls for men tina
are bold enough to stand up among
the leaders and be counted for pro
gress. And the very levelheaded
ness of New England men in Con
gress imposes this increased obligat
ion upon them in the interest of tn,
country at large and the constituent!
whose characteristic level-headed
ness they reflect.
We are drifting perilously near thu
time when this talk about the Repub
lican party having to reorganize IL
self must become something besid,
merely academic.-St. Adams Mes
senger.