The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-11-04
REMINDED OF BEN BUTLER
bath (Me.) Dispatch to the New
York World.l

Bath (Me.) Dispatch to the New
York World
There's great deal OF laughing in
Maine today over the political ad-
dress which Col K. c. Plummer of
this city delivered in Gardner last
evening, wherein he showed, as one
man expressed it, that Roosevelt had
taken about every thing Ben Butler
ever had, except his unfortunate eye.
said the colonel
"As you listen to this third-party
talk, do you ever stop to remember
that the call of the judges, is the
same platform that Ben Butler drew
when he launched his third party in
1884? He, too, had Conservation OF
public lands, war upon soulless cor
portion and monopolies," bringing
the government back into the hands
OF the people, condemnation of both
the republican and democratic parties
as controlled by corrupt wealth, votes
for women, all these were there.
"Ben's party had come into exist
ence in exactly the same way as its
successor. Butler had been a candi-
date for the presidency at the Chlca-
30 convention. lie too, was the storm
center there. Old press dispatches
tell us that wherever he appeared
there was the loudest scream no
body ever had anything on Ben when
it came to spectacularity. But the
southern delegates would not support
Ben any more than they would not
| l,f
Ben denounced the convention as rul-
ed by bosses and launched his third
party candidacy in a six-column news
paper statement of the grievances of
the people in general and of himself
in particular-just as the third party
was launched this year.
Get down the files OF your news
papers for the campaign OF 1884 and
you'll have to laugh. Ben, too, had a
| forceful vocabulary, and he used it,
| He had been called by the common
people to save them from the republi-
can and democratic parties, which he
| had discovered were full of bosses
and corruption as soon as they refus-
ed to nominate him for the presiden-
cy. and he proposed to make them
stop grinding the face OF honests
toll. There wasn't anything missing
in the dramatic line.
ION July came a press dispatch
that the son OF Mayor Mumford OF
New Orleans, whom Butler had hang
ed, was going to shoot him, and Ben
promptly let the people know that he
was prepared to die in their service
as usual. He proved conclusively on
the stump that the delegates who had
nominated his successful rival, Cleye-
| land, didn't represent the people, be-
cause the people were for him and
hadn't had fair show there, and he
explained that the contest was really
between him. and Blaine, with Blaine
a mighty poor second, and yet his OPP
ponent was elected, and his third par
| ty the birth of which Ben had declar-
ed marked the greatest epoch in the
life of this nation, not only went into
immediate exile, but was so thorough
| ly forgotten that when II was rein
troduced this year with recall of
| judges necktie substituted for the
! groenback one with which Ben had
adorned II, il was welcomed as new
born child of wisdom, and poor old
Ben, who had Graded il and brought
it to periection,' didn't even get a men
ton. Is this square deal?
PERHAPS ! ought to add that after
having demonstrated that he had
practically all the voters of Maine
with him, Ben actually polled 517O
votes / nthis state. adv.