The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-08-11
(St. Johnsbury Caledonian.)

(St Johnsbury Caledonian)
In this issue the Caledonian COM
pletes the publication of the first
remarks of its contemporaries regard
ing the appeal of this paper to the
people to refuse to vote for John A.
Mead for Governor because he secured
the Republican nomination by means
that he dare not make public. AS ex-
pected. this appeal is not unanimous
ly endorsed because it threatens party
regularity. In this matter there is
difference of opinion between us and
our contemporaries regarding what
constitutes the best interests of the
party. Some of the editors evidently
think one can not serve his party we'll
unless he endorses in it's entirety the
action of the party in convention We
agree with them on this whenever the
verdict of a convention has been
honorably secured. We should never
let our personal choice between cam
didates who have contested fairly in
fiuence our allegiance to the party,
but when a candidate for office is
openly reported to be conducting a
money campaign, when the public
press repeatedly says that he has won
his nomination by methods he dares
not make public, and the candidate
refuses to take the public into his
confidence and tell how he won his
tight, when mans victory is recog-
nized at home and abroad as victory
for money in politics we cannot con-
slider his victory as binding on any
citizen who believes in pure politics.
This we believe is more loyal SER
vice to the party than to simply &C.
quiesce in something people know to
be wrong and ask them to accept it as
right. Such acquiescence never
brings strength to a party because the
people do not believe such things are
right. On the other hand an indie
pendence that will teach the party
that it will be supported only so far
as it stands for honorable methods
will speedily bring the party up to a
standard that will attract full popular
strength. For these reasons we be-
lieve that every man who would have
the Republican party stand for things
politically righteous should not vote
for John A. Mead for Governor. We
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but because it would be defeat of
corrupting political influence.
We advocate further that people
should not only refuse to vote for him
but they should vote for somebody
else for Governor. To refuse to vote
for anybody for Governor would not
reduce Mead's majority but simply
the total vote for Governor. To vote
for someone else will reduce the ma
jority of Mr.. Mead and make the re-
buke to undesirable campaign meth
DDS the more effective
All the other candidates on the Re-
publican ticket stand there without
challenge of the legitimacy of the.
methods they adopted to get their
position and they are entitled to full
party support. Aside from the weak
plank on primary elections the re-
publican party, we believe, has the
most desirable platform and should be-
endorsed by the voters. But when
voting for Governor remember the
Australian ballot offers you the op-
portunity to mark or write upon it
your honest conviction. If you do so,
it is possible to elect a Governor at
the polls and not by delegates to a
party convention that was captured by
the hired agents of man who used
money to an extent that he dares not
tell.
We have not been dangerously
damned by the crowd fiocking to our
standard but we have received
enough written and spoken endorse
ments to make us believe rebuke
will be made when the voters reach
the polls.