davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12
4 POLITICAL SIEGE.

There is something almost touch
Ing in the words which the inter-
viewer of the Montpelier Journal puts
INTO the mouth of G. p. Smith. They
are as follows: i do not propose to
enter into any scramble for the nom
nation. If, however, there is any con-
siderable feeling that ] ought to be a
candidate | would appreciate the
honor, and would not refuse if If il
came in the right way The last four
words are certainly peculiar. Evil
IDENTIFY the gentleman anticipates a
wild, disordered mob of Vermont
freemen storming his ancestral halls
and insisting that he desert the halls
OF finance for the desk of the exec
utive, Yes, earthquakes occasionally
happen, even in Vermont. Rutland
Herald.
1t is true that earthquakes occa-
sionally happen, even in Vermont and
often they are in the nature of a sur
prise. Perhaps seismic distur-
bance will occur this year The diff
ferences between political and geo
logical earthquakes is that the former.
may be induced by unfair, dishones.
or unlwise methods and policies
while the latter variety is caused by
forces of Nature not SO easily under
stood, or operated.
The words of Mr.. Smith may be
touching they may indicate an
utter lack of the most rudimentary
knowledge of practical politics,
but there are people in Vermont old
fashioned enough to find such a state.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12

the ruler or statesman who should
bring about such a combination would
have earned his place in history for
all time and his title to the gratitude
of all mankind"
Why, indeed, should there be any
difficulty in ending IA
policy that seems to be driving the
nations of the earth straight toward
Tie rocks of bankruptcy? There
SHOULD be no more difficulty in pro-
vac ng for an international police pow
e. for enforcing the decreAS vi the
court than international arrangements
for the general welfare that have
beei made time and again in u ropc
and Asia by the great powers. In
lie history of the world there have
occurred few opportunities to per-
form such a notable service for hui
marty as that of securing the practi-
cal disarmament of the nations, and
lifting from the backs of the people
the crushing burden of militarism.
The fame of the statesman who Sc
cured the adoption of such policy
would increase as the years pass, and
mankind comes more and more to real
ize the wastefulness and the wicked
ness of war Mr.. Roosevelt could
round out his notable career in nc
better manner than by using his great
preaching and working for the con
summation of the splendid ideal o.
peace on earth.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12

work he will receive far greater re-
ward than ever comes to the man
who labors only in small circle,
with himself as the centre, and help
will come to him spontaneously from
many sources.
"The activity of the fish interests
of Gloucester in behalf of the sum-
mer hotels; the encouraging of local
farmers to take part in the work of
the Commercial Club of Rockland,
Mass; the great agricultural ban
auet of the Boston Chamber of Com
merce and the agricultural rally in
Springfield, Mass, under the au-
spices of the Springfield Board of
Trade, are recent instances OF the
cooperative spirit which is develop
ing.
Let each group organize for the
benefit of its own members and en-
deavor to safeguard its own interests
first Then let 1t find, as 1t surely
will, that success depends on the
welfare of other groups representing
various interests, and soon we shall
lsee a master group of the leaders
from the several circles working like
one great mind to formulate a cam
Ipaign for the continuous advance
/ ment of prosperity for all New Eng
land"
The author evidently overlooked
the fact that the Woodstock Inn is
located, not in Maine, or New Hamp-
shire, but in Vermont.
Our local Board of Trade is a pow
er for good. If we had some form OF
Organization that could look after
Washington county's undeveloped re-
sources, including the development
lof the abundant summer resort OPP
Iportunities, great benefit ought to re-
suit. Then the State Board of Trade
made up of Vermont's best business
linen, who were in close touch with
Vermont's needs and opportunities
might cooperate in a publicity move
lment and might make to the State
Legislature recommendations that
would be needed, because of the
great influence behind the organiza.
Ition.
The thing that we need most, per
lhaps, is to be aroused until we are
thoroughly wide awake. Too many
of us are annoyed by new ideas, OF
are fearful of impending disaster il
we embark ON uncharted waters.
If the transportation interests, the
hotel men aand others would take
concerted action we might get here
every summer thousands of new Wis
itors. We talk a lot about the subjec
but we fail when it comes to the tes
of actually doing something we are
, SO cautious that we do-nothing. JUS
so long as we pursue this timid pol
Icy we will stand still, and when We
adopt modern methods, we will grow
and prosper as our neighbors have
done.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12
Sermont 06lairhnlan.
sOLyINE THE FARMING PROBLEM.

The st, Johusbury Caledonian, in
recent issue, said:
THE offer of T. n. Vail to give
through the Caledonia County Fair
Association the boys of Caledonia
county prizes for products from
a given area of soil is one that
from a given area of soil is one that
should develop the boys in this sec
ton. In the first place it calls for a
test of boys practicability because
he must work the matter out with his
own hands. Then he must have a
sense of proprietorship in the soil as
this is distinctly his own venture. 1t
will open the mind of the boy to mod
ern methods because he must employ
the best methods known if he is to
win the prize. All of these things
will tend to increase the boys inter-
est in agriculture and so will have
beneficial effects.
There is one more suggestion in
this contest. Here is Mr. Vail a man
of immense wealth Offering prizes not
for sihart boys, nor boys with veal
thy parents, nor boys merely popular
in their neighborhood, but prizes foe
boys who prove by practical test that
from a wealthy man for the growing
boys of this section to take hold and
show what they can do. In this mat
ter Mr.. Vail is voicing the call Of the
day for boys who can show they have
ability TO do things. In entering this
contest the boys are fitting themselves
to respond to the call that will come
to them over and over again before
they will be called successful These
reasons make it desirable for boys to
enter the contest not simply for the
prize but for their own development"
This is a splendid idea on the part of
Mr.. Vail There are two ways in which
to make boy work: One is to compel
him to toll, with fear of punishment
if he fails to perform the task set
for him; the other is to offer an in
centive, to make him in some sense a
partner in the enterprise in hand. Set
a boy at work alone on hot sum-
mer day, hoeing Unfortunately long
rows of corn in a big field, with no
personal interest in the task, and the
chances are that the lad will hate the
work and leave the farm as soon as
he is old enough. Give the boy a
chance to raise something for HIM
self which he can turn into money,
an opportunity to compete for prizes
like those offered by Mr.. Vail or by
the New England Corn Show, and you
give just the incentive needed. If he
can be interested through some OPP
portunity to earn a little spending
money, or better, through a scientific
love for the work aroused by the
teaching of agriculture, he is far more
likely than otherwise to stay on the
farm and to make good farmer.
The lot of the farmers boy often
has been hard and bitter. While it is
by no means life of indolent ease
today it is vastly improved over that
of one or two generations ago. BY
making farming profitable, by making
it interesting, the newer ideas of agri-
culture are solving the problem OF
how to keep the boys from leaving
the farm.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12
THE VALUE OF SENTIMENT.

The Washington Post in a recent
issue, said in part on the subject,
1.-THE Value of Sentiment:
"a nation without sentiment is
doomed to swift decay and certain
destruction. 1t was sentiment that
made France the most yalorous of all
nations of continental Europe, and
the spirit of Du Gueselin nerved the
heroes of Rocroi centuries later.
D'Auvergne, lie premier grenadier de
la France" was of noble blood, yet
he refused promotion from the ranks,
and as private soldier, without a
single comrade, he held a fort in the
Tyrol for hours against whole
army, and then capitulated and march
ed out with all the honors of war with
his musket on his shoulder. Though
he fell in battle more than century
ago, his is the first name called every
morning when the regiment he help
ed to make so illustrious is mustered.
The sergeant answers, Died in the
forefront of battle for the honor and
the glory of la belle France
In an age when millionaires are
far more plentiful than poets. when
the mechanical and the commercial
are exalted as the great things of life,
we need to be careful that that senti-
ment which represents the finest
graces of life, above and beyond ap-
praisal in money, is not crushed out.
The period in the history of the
open vision" was one of the dark
places in the annals of a great ma
ton. Carlyle has said When the
heart is dead, the eye cannot see"
which is another way of saying that
only as there is in the heart senti-
ment creating love for the true and
the beautiful, can the eye see those
noble qualities in the affairs of life.
For every instance where senti-
ment is carried to excess into weak
and silly sentimentalism there are a
hundred instances where life is made
a hard and bitter bondage by lack
of tenderness and affection, and love
for the beautiful
Some of the great tragedies of life
come from the dying out of sentiment
between husband and wife and in the
family relations. The cares and res
possibilities of life make it impos-
sible, as a rule that conditions after
marriage should be as care-free and
romantic as they were before, but
there is no reason at all why senti-
ment should be allowed to die be-
tween two persons who really ought
carelessness, are responsible for
much of the weakening of affection.
Next to the evil of loveless marriages
is the lack of comradeship and af-
lection between parents and child
rem. What a different world this
might be If there was more healthful
and wholesome sentiment in our
family relations.
The sentiment of love of country is
so abstract that all of us imagine,
probably, that we possess that quail
lily, and yet we are so practical" at
times, that we look almost with con-
tempt upon an attempt to preserve
some historic building or object, or
to honor the memory of some hero.
Sentiment is a very real force in life.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12
THE GOOD ROADS PROBLEM.
(St. Adams Messenger

The Burlington Clipper says that
demanding them to which the st.
Adams Messenger add And to keep
everlasting at it, Thus if we all keep
shouting, there still may be chance
of our getting improved roads. =
Poultney Journal.
Something beside shouting is a
necessary feature of the good roads
program. There will have to be some
paying. And it is going to take lot
of hard work to get the small town
to where it will vote to spend big
sum of money for improving the roads
of the State. The good roads ought
to materialize, however" - Ludlow
Tribune.
Don't discourage the project before
| it has been fairly tried. Don't accen-
tuate the small town distrust of large
measures of State policy by sugges-
tions of doubt. Let us see what we
actually can do with this situation as
it stares us in the face.
The time is at hand wnen Vermont
ers must make up their minds to
ONE in with the people of New Eng
and generally in constructing their
part of the scheme of so-called trunk
line highways radiating through the
six commemorative, or else be con-
tent to have their State known
throughout the land as a mo Thor
fare" and to be hopelessly cut off
from the greater activities and pros
perity that surround them for that
reason.
This is no idle fancy, no vision of
the theorist. We are living in the
midst of a transition period in the
matter of transportation and interur-
ban communication. Not only is the
trolley destined to supplement the
steam railroad by extending its rami-
facations through many regions once
thought beyond its reach, but motor
vehicles of one kind or another that
w hpb uNpSlih hpCh q hNNb NipNh AhoS
one day put even the trolley lines to
brisk competition. And with all this
the use of motor vehicles by individ-
uals, from the pleasure car of the
household to the auto-truck of the
farm, will put more traffic on to the
highways of this STATE within the next
quarter century than it has ever seen.
In the meantime.pending the high
err development and use of commercial
and industrial power vehicles. we are
seeing a steadily increasing pleasure
travel by automobile and are expert
encing the demand for better roads
that invariably accompanies it. 1t is
evident that tourist travel has now
found new and lasting variation
from the journey in the beaten path
of steam railroads. We cannot af-
ford to let the demand pass unheeded.
Some of these tourists Of today are
the prospectors that may come back
to live with us tomorrow Some of
these people are looking for places
to build homes some of them are men
of wide business experience and cap
ital and are quick to see opportuni-
ties for investment that we have long
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12
THE DEATH OF KING EDN ARD.

In the death of Edward Seventh,
Great Britain loses a monarch who
was King in fact as well as in name.
Coming to the throne late in life, and
ruling less than a decade, he ranks as
one OF the 3blest of the sovereigns of
England. ~ system of government
in which the monarch may be little
more than fgurehead, he was a real
force in his kingdom, and power for
good in the affairs of the world. His
influence always was for peace and
international cordially.
The death of the King, on the eve
of what easily may become a grave
constitutional crisis, is cause for SER
ious concern on the part of the people
of Great Britain. The proposed re-
form of the House of Lords is one
of the most important and far-reach-
ing questions that has peen presented
to the British electorate for many
years. The House of Commons has
passed resolutions demanding radical
changes in the matter of curtailing
the power of the peers. Naturally the
Lords will reject this proposal of re-
form. Then Premier Asquith will
call upon the King for guarantees,
that if the Government is sustained,
he will create a sufficient number OF
peers outvOte the present Con-
servative majority. This would have
been an exceedingly difficult problem
10 n oil
his experience, tact and diplomacy.
For a young monarch, on the thresh>
old of his career, it is situation eX-
ceedingly embarrassing. Unless he
acts wisely he may imperil his whole
career and it is possible by hasty or
i'll considered action to embroil the
whole country in bitter controversy.
The new King will be known as
George Fifth. The Georges have not
been famous for their ability or their
wisdom, but the title will neither
make nor break the ruler who bears
it, The King is not generally consid-
cred likely to be as strong or as pop
ular a man as was his father. The
impression he made in Canada in
1908 was not altogether a happy one,
but subsequent events may prove him
| to be both wise and able. Certainly
it is to be hoped that he may have
| these qualifications in abundant mea-
! sure.
Meanwhile there will be sorrow
over the death of King Edward, not
only in every part of the great Brit
ish Empire, upon which the sun new
er sets, but in every civilized land
In the world And in no country out
! side the dominions of Britain will
there be more genuine mourning than
in the United States of America. The
dead monarch was a good friend of
this country. AS British and Am
erican citizens we are closely allied
by ties of blood, and a common Ian
guage. Happily the old feelings of
jealousy and bitterness have largely
passed and it is probable that we have
no better friends in the wide world
than the people of Great Britain
Therefore, as they have mourned with
us in the death of Lincoln and Gar
ileld, Grant and Mckinley, so today
In reciprocity of sorrow, we mourn
with them over the death of great
and noble ruler, who was a tower OF
strength to his people. And Amer
cans will wish for his predecessor
wisdom and knowledge, long and a
prosperous reign, and an honorable
place among the names of the great
and good Kings of England.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12

study the, proposed improvements
more seriously.
AS shown by the Journal the prac-
tive is in violation of the law and it
should not be allowed any longer. Let
every man pay his own bills and eX-
press his own mind on his ballot or
else abolish the system which makes
this method of influencing votes pos
sible.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12

ment really refreshing. There still
remain in some of the Businesses eli
the Green Mountains few plain peo-
Pile who like to see a man say, as MI.
Smith has said, that he is willing to
take office il the people desire 1t but
that he will not enter into a mad
scramble for it; who admire a decla-
ration like that of Mr.. Fleetwood that
he will not conduct money cam
paign.
Conditions ought not to exist now,
and ought never again to exist in YER
mont, when rich man shall set out
to capture the Governorship with an
deliberately planned campaign laid
out as systematically as that of a
General who plans to besiege and
capture city. The attempt at
wholesale manufacture OF public SEN
timent for a candidate where little
or none exists is not a wholesome
practice and it ought not to be en-
courGged. Only a wealthy nan can
indulge in this luxury. Il is ropular-
ly supposed to cost a good deal Of
money to establish and maintain
headquarters. u ligt"' I'd
large staff of managers, lieuten-
ants and workers, constantly coming
and going, to provide for the circul-
alton Of literature. to get out voters
at caucuses. The conducting of o
money campaign creates debasing
atmosphere, lowering the tone of pol
! itical morality and causing the pub
| lie to suspect that conditions are
worse than the actual facts warrant =.
To argue that similar campaigns have
| been conducted before does not just
| ify repetition of improper meth
DDS now.
The Herald INDUCES in a touch of
cynical humor at the expense of Mr..
Smith because he does not care to &c
out and take the Governorship by
storm, but this attitude is quite as adj
mirable as that of the Rutland can
didate, DR.. John A. Mead. The Jour
nal does not view with approval the
organized effort to capture the Cover
norship by the kind of campaign which
is being conducted in the interest o.
the Lieutenant Governor. 1t is not {
good example to set before the young
men of Vermont. 1t does not repre-
sent the best traditions or the highes
ideals of the Green Mountain State.
The public is not familiar with al
the Mead campaign methods, but il
does know that there has been NJ
strong and spontaneous demand fol-
the Rutland mans candidacy; it has
been led to believe by what it has OBJ
served that a considerable force o
political agents is busily engaged
throughout the State in behalf OF
Doctor Mead; it does know that such
a campaign cannot be waged by q
man of moderate means.
1t may be that "a mob of Vermont
farmers" will not at this time storm
~
become a candidate for Governor. Or
the other hand many of these Yer
| mont freemen do not like to see The
Executive Chamber besieged by al
army with banners and taken by as
sault.
Nobody pretends to argue that the
office always will seek the man o
that there are not certain proper way!
in which a candidate may expent
money, but the man who has to worl
the hardest, use the most machinery
and spend the greatest amount o
cash to convince the voters that hi
is their choice usually is the least de
sirable candidate.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12

1t is greater force, in the last analy-
sis than money or any other material
thing That man in whose heart SEN
timent no longer abides, though he
hold title to the wealth of Croesus is
to be pitied for his poverty; and the
nation which lacks sentiment lacks a
weapon of defence such as no fleets
that ever rode the seas can furnish.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12

neglected under our very nose. They
all leave thousands upon thousands
of dollars in the State every season,
and they all go away and advertise
Vermont-as they see it, and the frame
of mind in which they see it depends
largely upon the condition of the high
ways.
We must have first class through
highways, highways that join with the
trunk lines being built by New Hamp-
shire and Massachusetts, in order that
we may have our fair share of this
traffic of today and be ready for the
great Development of interurban traf-
fic that the next twenty-five years
will bring. We must have them for
the strangers that we hope to attract
here, but above all and beyond all
Iple. The best highways that can be
built with all far-sighted business
prudence here will be none too good
for us, and when the day of intensive
farming is here and the agricultural
crops and the dairy products OF Ver-
mont are increased many fold, as they
certainly will be; when the water po-
wer is harnessed and our industrial
life takes on its proper estate and
importance, as it certainly will when
some of the manufacturers in the
crowded industrial centers realize how
much they can better conditions by
change; when the quarrying industry
has expanded to comprehend noun
tains of marble, granite, and slate as
yet barely Standardization those days
come, our highways will be full of
power vehicles, because men will no
longer draw small loads with wearied
and tickle animal muscle, when many
swifter pace in a cheaper way.
The good roads propaganda is in the
interest of every man, woman. and
child in the State of Vermont. 1t is not
a matter to be surveyed from the
viewpoint of the small town or the
large town. the crossroads or the
city The highways belong. not to
the various towns through which they
chance to pass, but to all the people
of all the towns that use them. The
iessence of this property right con-
sists, not possession, but in use. This
lis a question upon which we must
get together as one common people
to discuss common interest. Town
lines have nothing to do with it.
The State should control interur-
ban highways, and they should be
built and maintained by the State I'M
der its sole direction and with its
own money.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12
GET THE PLATFORM READY,
nudlOW Tribune)

The Montpelier Journal asks:
Hadn't we better begin to get out
a little more timber for the Repub-
lican State PLATFORM" 1t is certainly
about time to tsart the choppers in
the political woods and have the tim
Der well seasoned before the conven-
ton meets. The referendum advo-
Gates throughout the State would be
glad to have the timber in one plank
of the platform especially dry.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-05-12
MONTPELIER THE PROPER PLACE
burlington Free Press)

Chairman f. c. Williams of the
State Republican Committee will
shortly call meeting of that body
for the purpose of fixing the time
and place of the next State Conyen-
ton. Precedent favors June and pre-
cedent as we'll as conffagration in
Burlington are held TO point to
Montpelier, but this city can still
accommodate a State convention and
have accommodation to burn"