News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1914-06-17
CONGRESSMAN Greene'S Vote
From the St. Adams Messenger

Ol NclluciiL iiCWoPbPClo "''i 'oOh III
| vain for a more scathing denunciation
of the act of any man in public office
| in this state than that which recently
| appeared in The Rutland Herald under
| the caption Surrender of Vermont"
| 1t was aybeautiful example of invec-
| tive and took the form of a violent
| attack on Congressman Frank L.
| Greene, Of this city, because that
| one, according to the misinformation
| in possession of the contemporary,
voted in favor of the Clayton bill,sone
| of the anti trust measures before the
! House.
The Herald ended it's bitter diatribe
| by saying, Pending an official1rec-
| ord and explanation, Vermonters must
| conclude that not only did their con-
| gresham aid, abet, and promote the
groveling politics of the Wilson adj
| ministration, but that he had not the
moral courage or native virility to say
No to the most sweeping legislative
derelction of contemporary history"
Which is a pretty big mouthful of
words, to say the least.
The Messenger sincerely regrets
that The Herald did not await IAN
official record and explanation, es-
pecially as one was on its way in re-
Spouse to an inquiry, sent by itself.
Had the contemporary obeyed the die
tates of journalistic ethics or had it
done by Congressman Greene what it
we'll knows he would have done by it
waited until the promised official
record and explanation had time to
cover the distance between Washing
ton and Rutland, it would have avoid
ed the doing of rank injustice to one
of Vermont's most trusted and honor
able public servants and would have
saved itself the humiliation of being
in the position it now occupies.
For, instead of voting in favor of
the Clayton bill, when that measure
was put upon its passage, Mr.. Greene
did have the moral courage and the
native virility to say mo-, and that
is just the way he cast his vote. He
wasn't absent, he didn't answer Here"
he voted mo" He was in favor OF
permitting citizens to associate for
the purpose of mutual help when
their organizations had no capital
stock and were not conducted for pro-
fit, but he did not propose to exempt
such organizations from punishments
for their unlawful acts, if such they
should commit.
Mr. Greene has been in public life
long enough to know that he must
face proper criticism of his acts. A
proper criticism of any given act can
come only when that act is carefully
analysed in a fair and judicial spirit.
To such a criticism his action regard
ing the Clayton bill was not sub
jected, and the strange part of it is,
the writer of the attack seemed in no
manner inclined to await the eX
PLANTATION he knew was coming but
rather was in an unseemly. haste to
brand Mr.. Greene as a moral coward, |
when, had he waited he would have |
learned that Mr.. Greene was actually
on the side of equal justice and OPP
posed to class legislation.
1t is a tribute to Mr.. Greene and |
a rebuke to The Herald that SO many |
papers Immediately sprang to Mr.
Greenes defense. If there had been |
a deliberate and studied purpose in
the contemporaries attack, it failed |
of it's mark, and, proving a veritable
boomerang, it has actually served to |
reveal the strength of the one whom
it sought to immediate. Indeed, there
is d llulCIOuS Sltt " lIC itIlu .
bitterness. Vermont knows Mr. Greene
far too we'll to believe that he would
surrender to an improper cause. He
would be a far different Greene than
Vermont knows were he 10 become a
'supine part of an abject majority"
He has worked in the open all his life
ard his works have been for Vermont,
not against it, He hasn't before been
accused of moral cowardice or of
lacking native virility; he doesn't
deserve either accusation now. The
Herald has misjudged its man and
fortunately the public knows this.
But while there is this ludicrous
side there is also another, the side that
reveals the cruel injustice done to
man who has been tireless in his eff
forts for his native state In time of
peace he labored necessarily for the
New Vermont; in time of war he
stood beneath the banner of his
state and came home so sick that his
life was despaired of. Is that a rec
ord of faithlessness or is it ore OF
which its possessor may well be proud
and which will serve conclusively to
refute the insinuations that are' now
hurled against him?
1t is the plain duty of The Herald
to make amends and do all in It's
power to correct the grievously wrong
impression it may have created IN
some quarters concerning Mr.. Greene
1t is a sad truth that correction never
really overtakes the misstatement that
it would correct, but The Herald can
do much to make its carelessness for
gotten if it does the manly thing ana
cOnfesses to its mistake 1t can be
properly said that it is the duty of
The Herald, and all papers for that
matter, to inform itself from easily
ascertainable official records before
it puts the knife into a servant VINO
enjoys the trust of the people and who ,
is making an honest and intelligent
effort to discharge his public obl-
cation.
VERoNT's BANNER Cow James Cal
ighan, one of Alburg's wide-a-wake
says, that he has the banner
COW. She is 10 years old and has given
birth to 10 calves. of them in the past s
our years, having had four pairs of
wins. A few weeks ago she was struck