Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-08-27
PROUTY FIRES
FIRST GUN At
St. J0HNSBURY
Former Interstate Commerce
Commissioner Outlines His
Principles in Senator
ship Campaign.

san Prouty club at Music hall this even
ing Among other things Mr.. Prouty
said
1T has been said in certain quarters
that I ought not to be ranked as lib
cral because of my regard for the rights
Of property. If IL be true that liberal
ought not to consider or respect the
rights of property, then | freely con-
Tess that ! ought not to be here in that
role. believe that the rights of prop
erty must be strictly observed for the
reason that there can be no healthy so
cial development otherwise But the
rights OF property are one thing and the
aggressions of property are different
thing. Moreover, above the rights OF
property stand the rights of man. The
true function of the progressive man Of
to-day is not to attack the legitimate
wealth but rather to restrain its unjust
aggression and to define and preserve
the rights OF humanity. This, I feel, Is
the progressiveness Of my fellow Yer
monters. 1t is a doctrine of co-operat ton
and fair play, not of hate and of jeal-
ousy.
ut is to the condition of tho toilng
masses whether working with hand or
| to make the conditions under which
they work better; how to secure for
them fairer wage; how to bring It
| about that the worker may he better
fed. better housed. better clothed, better
educated. that he may live a more whole
some and self-respecting life-that is the
! problem.
! "In recent years the friends of progress
have been insisting more and more upon
government activity especially in the
line of protection. and to some extent in
the line Of assistance Scarcely n move
can be made in this direction without
touching the property of someone Do
We enact law as to the employment of
child labor? The profits of the man who
operates a factory may be interfered
with. Is 1t proposed to regulate railroad
rates? The billions invested in that in
dustrv are at once in arms. Should the
| government attempt to regulate big bus
mess? Thousands protest. This has
meant in the past and will mean In the
future that money will oppose these eff
forts toward progress When I say
money ] do not mean property in the
moderate amount In which you and I
possess It, but those vast aggregations
of capital which have been accumulated
by improper methods and those men who
desire by the use Of the same methods
10 make other and further accumula
tlons. These forces have been properly
designated as The interests" 1t is DIFF
icult to convey any adequate impress.
sion of this contest. l have stood for
the last 10 years IN the midst of 1t and 1,
ma lsah I'm.
preston. There is upon the side OF
money. as the term is used, a setishness
Il remorseless cruelty and want of con.
science which can only be felt and not
portrayed. The dominant issue to-day /:
} whether our government shall develop
under liberal and humane leadership oil
whether it shall be controlled by greed
and seiishness
, Vermont is comparatively a small
, State. There is but one place where sh,
, is the political equal Of every other State
, In the national House her representa- tor
, Is so comparatively small that she ha.
, little weight as a State, but In the Senat,
she is as great in number as any State
, For many years no State surpassed Yer
mont in her influence in that body. Nov
the issue which we present To the voter
Q
this struggle for human uplift he aggres
q sively upon the side Of progress or shall
she stand in the column of the reaction
= aries? Senator Dillingham; Is by natur
and by associa ton n hopeless reaction
, airy. He belongs TO that band Of senators
in the ascendant when he entered tn
Senate which for many years delivere,
over that body to the dictates of the in
t,4ra Stc 90
=, peared from public life: sometimes be
! | cause retired by their constituents. some
, times retiring voluntarily because the.
understood that their day had gone.
, recently stated that these men includin,
Senator Dillingham; had opposed tn
= measures of railroad legislation which
had advocated and which had been II
large measure adopted Mr., Dillingham;
refers to certain votes OF his In rsfuta
ton OF this statement. The contest whic
finally resulted In the passage of the Hep
y burn bill was the longest and most bitter
= ly waged In recent times. ! was in tina
a fight from start to finish and believe
y know who was for me and who wa
e against me. Senator Dillingham; wa
|. against me- Upon some future occasion
= when there Is sufficient time l will tel
3 that story Tonight | simply call atten
r ton to this-in every instance to whic
Mr.. Dillingham; refers he voted with Sen
ator Elkins, who was confessedly the arc
conspirator against all effective railroa
a regulation. If those votes prove him t
~ be in sympathy with those measures
: they prove by the same token that MI
i Elkins was in sympathy with them. whic
~ Is an absurdity. ! said that these me
a with whom Senator Dillingham; uniforml
. acted opposed these measures until fur
% Their opposition would have been politics
, suicide. The Hepburn bill passed tn
:. House by vote 346 to 7. 1t passed tn
Senate Il to 3. After Is years the tim
had come when further opposition wa
l. finally votes for particular bill by n
l. means shows that he has not been antas
. onistic TO the principal OF the enactmen
k Let Mr.. Dillingham; point the people c
I Vermont to some one instance when h
n advocated or championed these measure
"a Of reform. | do not saw that 1
N attempting to retain Senator Lorimer a
"A member OF that body he acted from co,
rupt motives; but do say that Vernon
should not be represented in that Inn
portant place by man of that menti
habit which uniformly leads to the To-
. nation OF such conclusions. The most @.
N sential thing to-day in a public servant
-, that his disposition. which colors all n
acts ana finally controls them. shall |
right.
1T may be that majority of II
voters of Vermont think as Mr. Dilin,