St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-08-20

nifty and culture and earning their
good will by good entertainment.
When a man enters the ambassadors
house he must feel that he is the
guest of the great nation beyond the
seas and not of some private mill
lionaire.
It is neither necessary nor advisa-
Bile to increase the salaries of the in
cumbents of our embassies. What
we are driving at is not that they
should be paidNfor what they do, but
that they should be given more to do
with. 1t is generally agreed that this
result could be accomplished best
by maintaining embassy buildings
of our own in foreign countries with
all the accessories of servants and
paraphernalia that go with them.
If this were done a poor man ap-
pointed to one of these posts might
live exactly as a rich appointee
would live, just as the poor man
elected president moves into the
White House and has the means of
entertainment necessary to his office.
To a country as rich as ours the
expense of such a change would
be practically nothing. Why do we
not do it? If Congress would con-
slider the interests Of the whole
country for a moment Uncle Sam
need not suffer from this twenty
cent necktie policy.-Buraington
Free Press.
Mr.. Watson's Holdings
Whatever views one may entertain
concerning the telephone controversy
in Vermont, one must recognize the
pertinency of some questions asked
by a st. Adams man He wants to
know whether Charles D. Watson,
of st. Adams, the deposed head of
the public service commission, is not
the same Watson who was clerk of
the Franklin County Telephone Co.
a short time ago, whether the Frank
lin county company is not controlled
by the New England company, and
whether Mr.. Watson holds or has
held stock in the Franklin county
company. '-Brattleboro Reformer.
perhaps few men in the state
knew, or at least had opportunity of
knowing Mr.. Watson any more thor
oughly than did Governor Fletcher
before his appointment of him. If
the facts are as stated, the presump-
ton is that the executive was con-
versant with them. But the more
important point is this: Can't a man
be an honest, upright, and conscien-
tious public Official and vigorously
discharge his public duties, without
fear or favor, even if he has interest
in and connection with corporations?
we have come to a pretty pass and
humanity has reached the dregs If a
man can't have corporation connec-
tions and at the same time be faith
ful to public trusts. Rutland News.
The News is emphatically right.
This fear of corporations Is carried
to great length. The most of us get
our living from corporations of one
form or another All the people
need corporations. They are as es-
sential to our industrial life as air
is to our physical existence. Every
one who is in touch with corpora
ton is not contaminated by any
means, nor can it be shown that
there is contamination in every cor
poration. The people let their good
sense be run away with at times so
that corporation to some is like the
DOGGY man to brighten children.
But as regards Mr.. Watson. What
are the facts? Mr.. Watson did hold
two shares of stock in the Franklin
County Telephone Company. They
were worm p lO dpl0CS- III oil IAC
time he owned them he received less
than So in dividends. Surely, then,
he could not have been dependent
upon them for his livelihood, or II
he were, he was wasting his time on
the public servic commission for he
would have been in great demand as
a demonstration of how to overcome
the high cost of living. And unless
The Reformer wants to think that
Mr.. Watson was and is dishonest
man it would not speak as it does.
OF course Governor Fletcher knew
about Mr.. Watson's holdings and that
he was clerk of the company. Mr..
Watson told him so himself. And
of course Mr.. Watson disposed of his
and resigned as clerk. He
had to, in order to qualify as public |
service commissioner under the law.
There is nothing hidden in this. |
There is none of that awful and in
sidious influence of the corporation |
there. Somebody is seeing things |
at night.-St. Adams Messenger.