Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-04-04
VERMONT POLITICS
Result of an Impartial Canvass Of
the State Situation.
Hon. A. Vi. Fletcher Found 70 Have a
Marked Lead Over DcBocr-|rhe
Lieutenant Governorship Com
te~t.
(From the Rutland Herald)

corning tho political situation, either ae
! 1t relates to national or TO State politics.
This Is the fact that most persstently
| forced itsef upon the attention of a
member Of Tho Herald's staff during q
| tour Of the state made FOR the purpose
Of ascertain.ng tho trend Of popular SEN
timcnt, especially in connection with the
approaching nomination OF state officers.
| The aspirants for the offices are more
or less buoy. as matter of course, and
in some cases their activity has been OF
long duration. The people Of Vermont.
however are not talking politics to any
great extent; and the question that
seems to arouse the least interest Is. WHO
| Is TO be the next governor"
The quiet concerning the gubernatorial
question might be ascribed to apathy.
Undoubtedly there Is much listessness.
and in some localities this Is attributed
to the entire absence from the campaign
! of that element proverbiallv asserted 10
be what makes the mare go" There are
people here and there who think that
the political mare would he prancing If
there were some of that element in sight.
That ii Is likely to get anoat at any
stage OF the game is improbable in the
extreme, for one of the two men in the
race for the governorshp has been
| heard to declare that. much as he desires
to be governor of Vermont he would not
esteem the office worth having ut all
If it could he had only by purchase. His
rival has been, since the moment of his
proiection into the campaign, posed upon
pedestal of which the foundation stone
Is TIE axiom to the effect that the office
should seek the man rather than that
the man should seek the office. Very evi-
IDENTIFY. therefore. with only these two men
In the field the choice bet ween them
will be determined by popular estimate
of their relative fitness for office urln-
f'uenced by anything that might be re-
garded a. corrupted considerations.
While thcre may be. and undoubtedly
IS. an unusual amount of apathy concern
ing the governorshp. this does no; APP
peal to he the prevailing reason for the
almost entire lack of discussion of 1t
among thc people at large. The more APP
parent reason is that tho matter is re-
gardrd forcgone conclusion. When
The Herald man started upon his tour
II was with confident expectation that
some live wire politics OF the De Boer
was a complete surprise. 1t IS not that
Mr. De Boer is without honest and loyal
support but his attitude concerning the
nomination has become recognized as so
impossible thai even citizens of his own
county, who. both because Of personal
regard and of local pride. had hoped to
see him in the executive chair. are suffer-
Ing from a pronounced attack or cold
feet MIR. De Boer has muzzled u.s." one
of the prominent men Of Washington
county remarked to The Herald represen
tative. land the people are not going 10
beg of him to accept an homer that he
has not been willing to ask for
That nobody is talking politics." was
asserted in various ways by representa-
tives OF all classes of citizens met in
every part Of the state Usually the con-
versation led up to y declaration of the
belief that "lTletcher has got away with
the goods already, and there IL nothing
more 20 he dono than to nominate him"
The most unrreiudiced observer would
be driven TO such a conclusion by a
study of the situation In it's existing
aspect. There arc people vcrsed in poll
tics who rather sph!nx-like suggest that
something unexpected may happen. In tho
last analysis this means that certain in
huenccs that can be brought into activity
by the use OF money. and that are
Guiesccnt because there is no mazuina IN
sight may be found In the game before
the cards are all dealt. II would seem
to be rather late In the day for an at
tempt 20 play a hand OF that sort. es-
peclaily in view OF present conditions 1t
a a AT
cher had. at the present time, close
competitor, which he has not There Is
more than this one possible feature of
tho campagn that might have been look
ed for had Mr. De Beers candidacy
aroused the enthusiasm which its promot-
ers looked for. 1t Ia toierably certain that.
with such n condition existing. Lieut..
GOV. Slack would he In the field. backed
by Caledonia county and with warm sup
porters IN other parts OF the state. II 10
equally certain that Mr.. Slack is not
even 4 receptive candidate, and this Is
evidenced IN the fact that mon In his own
county. who had hoped 10 see him In
the race are outspoken supporters of Mr.
Fletcher.
WHY FLETCHER is POPULAR
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