The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-13
Minister Attacks Governor Baldwin Because the Chief Executive Saw Fit to Exercise His Own Judgment in Gr0tOn
 License Case Sensation Seeker Raking Old Material Over the Goals
 Trying to Bolster up
 a Weak Cause
Especial from United Press.)

Mansfield Center, Dec. Ex-Governor BaldWin's part in having passed, in the last Legislature, the so-called Gro ton Hotel license bill, was called "re- actionary'' and "an unprecedented subversion of the public policy, by Rev Walter B. Lanphear, of this
 place, when he today addressed an open letter on the subject, gro the People of Connecticut" The debated bill permits the voters in no-license town to petition the county commits sioners to grant special liquor H. cenSes.
 | Governor Baldwin must have seen," writes Rev. MT. Lanphear, "that 1t would be unwise to accept favors from or even to patrorize the hotel that was looking for special favors at his hand. Reactionary seems to be the only word suited to designate it and those responsible for it.
 The minister went out of his way to support Colonel Roosevelt's attack, made in the last State election, on a labor decision by Governor Baldwin. when he was Supreme court justice. The letter follows, in part:
 Many have noted the exceptional skill with which the opposition avoids the real issues. They deal in glitter ing generalities and think to, make
 rhetoric. take the place of reason. Governor Baldwin and others persist
 in ignoring the fact that there is noth- ing tn this new law which restricts | the sale of liquors to the guests of hotels They cry out against the des- | ignation saloons. If sales were re- stricted to guests the case would be quite different, but the law reads as lit reads, and no amount of mere dust | throwing in the eyes of the people can make it read otherwise.
 One writer handed a large bouquet l to the proprietor of the Groton Hotel. 1 He admits, offhand, that that institu- | ton finds it necessary to break the no-ncense law of the town and at- I tributes to it almost saintly virtue in that. it seeks to avoid such infraction l by doing away with the law. But isn't it true that most law breakers, rather than gleefully breaking the law, would try to do away with the law? | If the fact that a man Is very bene- ficient means that he can break the legislative machine in his vest pocket, fssatz sen1E that the people shsuid kh0v | "Sbme who commented on my let ters to Governor Baldwin saw in them a 'thinly veneered slur on His Honor and a covert charge of graft. Let me ask how it is that straightfor- ward statement of the facts can be so | interpreted? We gave no. such in- 1 depreciation and those who did have | themselves to thank for it. Have they | not, according to the classic saying,
 opened their mouth and put their foot in it?
 'But we are willing to be ,charit- | able. There is another interpretation that we prefer. In our first letter to
 His Excellency we said that his part in the legislation was to our mind quite inexplicabIe, Also we express ed a hope that an expls tion might that Governor Baldwin could, con- sciously, be corrupted or intimidated. We believe that he is far above that sort of thing.
 However, the matter is still fnex- plicable' The best explanation that
 we can make follows. It will be re-
 membered that, previous to his elec-
 ton, in a debate concerning a cer- tain Judicial decision of his, that de-
 cision was characterized as 'reaction- ary', to many such. characterization
 seemed fitting. To our mind that de- cision was of a piece with this Gro
 ton legislation. Both seem to be char
 acteristic of the Governors general att
 titude. He must have seen that 1t
 would be unwise to accept favors from or even to patroni1e the hotel that
 was looking for such special favors at
 his hand. That he did not see or was careless if he saw, was, en view of
 tine possible interpretation to be put
 on his act, a serious mistake and one
 tending to forfeit his right to the po- litical confidence of the people, And, when one considers this new piece of legislation in its unprecedented sub- version of fundamental public policy, 'reactionary' seems the only word fit
 ted to designate it and those responsi- ble for it.
 (Signed)
 WALTER E. LANPHEAR,
 Mansfield Center, Conn