The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-11-04
SOME WOULD MAKE
 ROGERS ELECTION
 rR0UT SCAPE GOAT
But Far More Important Is sues Were Real Cause of Greatest Landslide of
 Years
WHAT THE OYSTERMEN DID

WHAT THE OYSTERMEN DID
 Just now Republican politicians. of the group t1fat fetch and carry for the public services, are trying to make a scape goat of Republican Town Chair man M: H. Rogers. alleging that it was his unpopularity that changed a plurality of 5000 for MT. Taft a year ago into a plurality of 5000 for MT. Buckingham. Tuesday.
 The newspapers are equally busy with explanations. those of them that supported Mayor Lee
 A man who is familiar with the sit- uation in the Republican party said this morning: 'T shouldn't say that Col. Rogers is exactly popular with the rank and file of the workers in his party. but that any unpopularity of his cut much figure in the election returns Is the dream of those who are unwill- ing to admit that the people demand certain reforms. and that Republicans especially are determined to have a change in the leadership of their party.
 "The Post supported Mayor Lee be- cause they both favored the harbor grab. The returns from the Eleventh and Twelfth districts ought to be suf- ficient to convince the most stubborn that the opposition to that grab played a large part in the result.
 ''The Twelfth district is the home of the men in the oyster industry. That district which in municipal cleo tions will give 200 for the Republican ticket gave 4So for Mir. Buckingham. It went almost as heavily Democratic cratic from its toenafls to the top of its head The Eleventh. which is also the home of many men who are famil- jar with the harbor and its needs, gave MT. Buckingham 250.
 "rt is a waste of energy to say that this result in these Republican dis triets was not due to the public anger at the harbor grab But anybody who is in doubt can go talk with any of the oystermen and can get his knowl- edge at first hand. It win be some time I think before 300 or 400 of the stauncheSt men in the Republican ranks are told again that they are clam 'diggers' and that their cry for jus tfce is too feeble to be heard. &
 "On the west side of the river." con- tinued the speaker. ''it is possible that the car barn surrender was more of a factor. There were many business 1t will mean to have those spur tracks between the railroad vfaduct and the bridges, which will be both a constant delay to traffic and a constant source of expense to the city. in that it will be necessary to detail traffic officers to these places.
 But it is not one thing. nor two things that move the people to land slides. The people though mighty in wrath are slow to anger Repuoh- showing tax injustice Republicans and Democrats are not very different from each other. If a Republican owns a home. he does not want to pay
 k.ts .F &1.a Neither does Democrat.
 There was no resisting the logic of the arguments presented. by the Far mer and no refutation of the evidence relative to inequalities of taxation was possible. The electric light company in Bridgeport. the Farmer said, is tax ed for S3O2 900. That in Springfield for more than $1.470.000. Some differ ence in valuation there might be be- tween the companies performing the same service in these two cities, of which Bridgeport Is the larger. But a difference of more than a million dollars there could not be. The fail- ure of the Post and Standard to meet these figures; the refusal of the Re publican speakers to consider them, convinced all thinking persons that the times are ripe for tax justice and real tax equalization
 every election a great many hatreds. enemities and disappointments accum- mulate. They are in both parties. Almost always they neutralize each other. This year if the Republican party had its primary fight so did the many men who had selfish reasons for cutting their ticket in one party as in the other. But thousands of Repub- licans cut and few Democrats did. The reasono wase that the Democrats had rallied about a principle.
 "One organization was out after the jobs and after nothing else. The other organization was out primarily to procure benefits for all the citizens without regard to party or to class
 There was, however. one factor which cannot be too strongly urged. MT. Buckingham commanded the con- fidence of the people. This is why he is and always has been a vote getter. 1t is not enough to promise the people reforms The party which proposes the reforms must also offer for it's leader somebody whom the people be- lieve will carry out the promises and accomplish the reforms.
 'It is not difficult to understand why in a single year 5000 people changed their votes from one party to the other party. Neither is it hard which favored Mayor Lee and opposed progress are engaged in saying that the majority of the people neither know very much. nor are capable of voting except under the influence of prejudice
 'sI guess. however" concluded the speaker, that there are few men in Bridgeport who do not know that the freemen never have reached a safer. saner and sounder conclusion than they reached Monday when they put Mr. Buckingham and the platform up- on which he stood into power with B. 042 votes to spare"