The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-05-10
BENNINGTON, VT, MAY 10, 1917
BROTHERLY LOVE.

The editor of The Banner has long
since given up expecting any fairness
or Justice from the Journal. SO far
IN thie controversy, the Journal
has not once told the full
facts in any phase of any
matter. BY distorted excerpts, in
quotations, garbled half
truths and false inference it has per
sistently and VIGOROUSLY sought to
deceive the voters of Bennington
and the state of Vermont.
This latest chapter of its peridy is
Of the same sort as all the others.
It's chief charge is that Mr.. Howe
signed the petition to permit the
names of the Socialist candidates to
appear on the state ballot in 1910.
Knowing the facts, however, the Jour
nal carefully suppresses all but a
fraction of them, and then deliberate
ly uses that fraction in an attempt to
destroy the reputation of neighbor.
The full story of that nomination
petition is open. In 1910, the Social
lists nominated, or selected in some
way, candidates for the several state
offices. Mr.. Howe had no share in
or even knowledge of the nomination
or selection. Later on, 1t developed
that the Socialists could not get the
names of their candidates on the
state ticket without a petition signed
by one per cent of the voters Of the
state, as shown by the last previous
election
The issue was not Socialism in
any form, but whether a small, weak
and poorer section of the citizens 1.-THE
state of Vermont should be disfran-
chised by refusing them the privilege
of nominating candidates and having
the names of those candidates go on
the ballot.
To have refused them this small
privilege would, in our opinion, have
been lust as honorable as 1t would be
to refuse certain children the right
to attend school because of the relig-
ious or political beliefs of their par
ents; to have refused would have
been lust as honorable as to stun a
ballot box, buy votes, falsify election
returns or otherwise prevent the citi-
zens of a state from enjoying the
rights and advantages Of citizenship
to have refused them would have
been seeking to rob them of rights
guaranteed by every free govern
ment on the face of the earth.
Mr.. Howe signed the petition will
ingly when the circumstances we're
made clear to him-telling the man
who brought him the petition that he
would not vote the ticket, but that
he signed the petition because he
believed in a square deal and the gol'
den rule. He would have been
ashamed not to have signed the pet
ition for he would thereby have pro
claimed himself willing to take UNI
fair advantage OF weakness and lack
OF numbers.
The remaining sections of the
Journals attack are of the same sort
-mangled distortions OF editorial ut
terances of The Banner, twisted into
attempts to prove falsehood. Dur
ing the nine years and more that Mr..
Howe has edited The Banner he has
doubtless written several thousand
columns OF editorial comment. In
all that matter 1t would be strange
indeed II sentence could not be
picked out here and there which
could be twisted to mean almost any
thing. Every fair minded person
Knows that such excerpts are an un-
fair test and that an utterance can
be honestly considered only in rela-
ton to the rest of the article, the
matter under discussion and the cir
oumstances Of the case. A valued
friend Of the Banner, who is also a
near neighborofthe editor of the Jour
nal suggests that according to the
Journal style OF quotation and argu'
ment the great message OF the New
Testament might be debased into
something like this:
"And Judas went and hanged him
self. Go thou and do likewise"
The present state campaign is full
Of great Issues. The census OF 1910
has shown us that nearly three quart
ers Of our towns are falling behind
IN population and business enter
prise. Something must be done to
overcome this II possible. A marked
Increase in serious crime and espec.
tally crimes Of the baser sort has In
dicated an Increase in degeneracy in