St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-08-20
PRESS COMMENT
Howe WIN Not own 1t

By the way, who owns the
Montpelier Journal ?''-MOrrisville
| Messenger.
Still pertinent-not an imperti-
nent-question. According to the
legal statement required by the fed
eral government, Brother Frank e.
Howe of Bennington is the only own
er OF more than one per cent of the
capital stock of the Journal Publish
ing company. And we understand
he has accordingly been held as de-
PENDANT in a libel suit brought
against the Journal Notwithstand-
ing all this, no newspaper man be-
lieVes Lieutenant-Go Howe to
be the actual owner of the Journal.
In this era of investigation what do
you say, Governor Fletcher, to the
! appointment of Especial COUNSEL to
determine who owns the Montpelier
Journal?-Randolph Herald and
News.
The lieutenant governor has no
financial interest in the Montpelier
Journal. The way the Journal treat
ed him during the legislative session
last winter probably showed the
newspaper fraternity at least that
there was no very close relation be-
tween the journal and the lieutenant
governor and he has no idea who
owns the Journal. One or two
shares of stock in the Journal Pub
! fishing company stand in his name,
but they were placed there merely
to enable the formation of a bus
mess organization and not as rep.
resenting any interest or investment.
Neither is he defendant in any libel
suit so far as we know. We under
stand that there is a libel suit pend
| ing against the Journal, but the
| lieutenant governor is not defending
| the case and is in no way interested
or concerned. The Editor of the
Banner has personally stated these
facts many times and he is printing
them now in order to save answer
ing questions on the subject. Seven
or eight years ago a marjority of
the stock in the Journal stood in
Mr.. Howe's name for a few months,
but was then transferred by him to
parties to him unknown, all except
one or two shares, that he retained
at the request of Howard L. Hind1ey,
at that time manager of the property,
and also at the request of the COM
pany's attorney, in order to keep up
the organization under it's charter
Mr.. Howe never knew, and does not
today, who owns the Journal. The
only time he ever felt any real Curl
osity on the subject was when the
Journal went out of its way to
roast him last winter without cause
or reason. Just then he would have
liked to have known who was back
of it. Has the Herald and News
been insulted and does it want to
strike back? Don't do it. Turn
the other cheek and get that slapped
too. 1t is a waste of time and en-
ergy to harbor resentment. and it
lis also bad for the digestion, especi-
ally during dog days. If you want
to accuse the governor or Joseph
DeBoer or Rev. Frazer Metzger of
owning the Journal just go ahead
and do it without mixing in the lieu
tenant-governor who has troubles
enough of his .own.-Bennington
Banner.
Uncle Sans Necktie.
A man once found himself sud-
denly placed at the head of a large
and well-known business, and desir-
ing to dress in such manner that the
patrons of the concern would not be
prejudiced against him, started out
to buy a complete outfit of stylish
clothes. Accordingly he purchased
Ia suit for fifty dollars, hat for five,
a fur-lined overcoat for two hundred,
because it was winter, and pair of
shoes for seven. When at last he
had purchased all he intended to
buy except a necktie, he began to
think of the expense and was so i'm
pressed with the need of economy
that he skunk into a secondhand
store and bought the cheapest
twenty cent tie on exhibition there.
BY this piece of stinginess he spoiled
the whole effect and made money he
had spent on overcoat, suit, shoes
and hat all but a complete waste.
Uncle Sam is guilty of folly al
most as bad as this in the penurious
treatment of our representatives in
foreign countries. It would not take
much money to set this right, just as
it would not have taken much to
have purchased the right kind of
necktie. Millions of people with |
whom we have, in one sense or |
another, to deal and whose opinion |
of US matters, cannot come to this |
big country and therefore get this |
impression of us directly or Indirect
ly from the nature of our establish
ment in this country and the charac-
lomatic service in this day may not |
be such a tremendous item, but like |
the mans necktie, it is conspicuous. |
1t is Uncle Sans necktie and he is
doing about it just what the man in |
the story did.
Is the United States of America
a little ''near?" 1t may be that, |
or it may be merely that we are dull. |
It has been the talk of the world. For |
years it has been conceded among |
us that our representatives in for
eign countries were not given fair |
treatment We used to get around !
that remarking on the fact that there |
still seemed to be plenty of men will |
ing to be imposed upon by being |
made ambassadors and ministers. |
That was a bit of sophistry entirely |
unworthy of us. Because some men |
will serve on insufficient pay, is no |