St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-03-12
PRESS COMMENT


| postmasters. Many methods of i'm
provement have been suggested,
such as putting fourth class post
masters under the civil service anC
having them elected by popular vote.
Despite the agitation, however, lit
| tie Roadway was made.
| Now, surprising as it may seem.
| the conservative senate has taken uE
the reform, and the senate commit
te on postofices has approved
provision for popular election Of
| fourth class postmasters. The
postoffice department, by the bills
operation, would be empowered tt
call a primary" for each Office to
be filed, but should it do so it
would be obliged to appoint post
master the person receiving the
largest number of votes.
1t is hardly probable that the
senate will pass the measure, and
even if it does the house will almost
certainly kill it. The democrats
could charge with some color of
reason, that the whole thing was de
signed to deprive them of the ap-
pointment of fourth class postmast
ers. The fact that the calling OF a
primary is optional with the post
Office department would rob this
objection Of some of its force; but
even so, the measure stands slight
chance of passage.
Ultimately, however, some sucl
step is certain to be taken. There
is no more reason why the people OF
a community should be deprived o
a voice in selecting their postmaster
than that they should be prevented
from choosing any other official who
serves them. Home rule should be
as good here as elsewhere Lam
caster Gazette.
An UnequaIled Record
The Sutton correspondent of the
St. Johnsbury Caledonian SENDS
forth challenge for anyone to match
his record of Al years service as
town correspondent for that esteem
ed journal; but we guess there il
no one in Vermont who will be able
to mention a record of equal length
with H. A. Blake. For nearly half a
century Mr.. Blake has been chron-
icing the happenings of his little
town from week to week, telling
perhaps, who is sick, whose barn
has been painted and who has turn
ed out the biggest crops, with now
and then an item of greater import
such as the arrival of a son or
daughter in someone's household
For nearly half a century he has
been the historian of the community
1t must have come to be second ma.
ture with Mr.. Blake to take his pen
in hand and scratch off the news
| gleaniDgs of the week, after wards
dispatching his budget of much
sought information to the print
81 -,
news was to be embalmed in print
er's ink and spread upon clean white
paper for the keen perusal of his
neighbors and the more casual con-
sideration by the other and more dis
tant readers of the paper. 1t is
habit with him, just as it got to be
habit of Managing EIitor LOr OF
the New York Sun, who has laid
down his work after Al years ser
vice. And, during all that time, he
has seen marked changes come into
the little village 10 the northward
some of which changes he enumer-
ates in the current issue of his jour
nal. A mighty interesting retro
spect it must be for Mr.. Blakei AnC
doubly so since it was his privilege
to have been the chronicler of most
of it'll Barre Times.
DR.. Allen is Economical
A St. Johnsbury correspondent OF
the New York Sun, J. M. Allen BY
name, voices the little grudge
good many people may feel over the
unjust expenditure of money to re-
turn corporation or public paper tC
headquarters. 1t is a matter of
Iscommon experience for the tele-
phone patron to pay not only his
monthly telephone bill, but tive
cents in addition when he mails The
| payment. Similarly every autOmo
bile owner and corporation in the
state has to eXpend no less than six
cents in the red tape in the ia ment
of the yearly tax. When the auto
mobile owner receives his license b,
receives a duplicate receipt which
he is instructed to forward to the
state auditor. This adds two cents
The st. Johnsbury correspondent re-
ferred to says that he never puts the
stamp upon these things, as there is
yet no law to compel one to pay post
age upon Vermont's own official doc
uments. Sending the receipt thus
unstamped costs the state auditor
an extra two cents to write to the
place of mailing, enclosing postage
for it's forwarding. How many Yer
monters are as thrifty" as that
men who will probably proceed
| forthwith to ''blow in" 25 cents tC
| 81 for round of drinks or some
other foOlishness?-[R Rutland News
A Raid on the State Treasury
That the legislators least {
majority-not only countenanceC
! but aided and abetted an attack up
on the state treasury in the closing
hours of the recent session of thu
| General Assembly is a matter no
only of common report but of re-
cord. Not satisfied with following
the time honored custom of making
a pork barrel of the states stronf
box by voting gratuities to various
legislative employees, in addition to
the salary provided by statute, the
lawmakers deliberately introduced
a joint resolution and rushed it
| through both branches providing