Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-09-21

mcnt business has mover been SO badly
done and so extravigantly as It is now
done under Wilson.
We have all heard him announce him
self as the champion of civil service re-.
form, and have seen him turn the govern
ment department over to the spoilsmen as
no other President has done in twenty
years.
We have all heard him declare for
pitiess publicity and have seen him con-
duct the most secret administration of
our time.
We have all heard him announce him
self as president of all the people. aud
have seen him as the most partisan
President of his generation flout and OPP
pose the progressves, whom now, be.
cause he needs them, he seeks to con-
cliate and enlist.
Worst of all is this: When every prin
ciple of freedom and equality for which
our fathers fought was at stake in the
great war, when our whole country Gag
erly awaited the leadership of the Presi-
dent, Wilson obliged. He refused to taha
sides on the greatest moral issue OF our
time He advised our people to be ned
trail even in thought" undecided between
right and wrong. While our friends
abroad were fighting for the principles
we held equally with them he taught re
that the profits and ease were better tran
self-respeCt President Wilson has done
onr nation the most serious injury tina !.
any leader can do to any people by maxi
ing us finch with him from great moral
decision. Thereby he weakened our hold
as nation on the principles which alone
can make any people self-respecting, safe
and strong.
Having led us wrong on the ground
that we must be neutral in the face of the
deliberate breaking of the worlds peace
he has Just reversed himself again, and in
his speech at Shadow Lawn now assures
us that mo nation can any longer remain
neutral against any wilful disturbance IF
the peace of the world"
II is bad enough that Wilson'S foreign
policy has left MS, as the war draws
toward its end, without friend among
the great nations of the world and with
out the respect of any one of them. What
is worse is that he has kept us from
standing up for what we know to be right
The ignoble standard of profit over
principle which Mr. Wilson forced upon
has applied to himself as President In
what he has said, done and left undone
the record shows him steadily dominated
by political expediency.
These facts and MANY others like them
have forced me TO see that what Mr. VIII
son says is no sign Of what he has done or
Of what he will do. The one thing his
record shows is that what he stands fol
now he is not likely to stand for long
| do not care what his platform or his
campaign declarations may he, because
the common experience Of us all has
taught us that to him they are simply
/ "molasses 70 catch flies"
Hughes, on the other hand is a man
of his word His record as Governor oi
New York proves that. 1t shows him 20
be honest. fearless and free from the
domination of special interests and cor
rupt politicians. So far as the conserva-
ton policies are concerned. both what h.
said and what he did could hardly have
been better | am confident that under
him these policies will be safe. He is a
strong man, who will dodge no moral
issue. and he will give us an honest and
an efficient administration.
AS progressive, believe N national
ism. So does Hughes. I am certain that
under Hughes Progressive policies viii
fare better than under Wilson, and that
the safety, honor and welfare Of TN
country will be in UNNECESSARILY surer
hands
! cannot vote for Mr.. Wilso. because
cannot trust him. He does net do wha,
he says. Hughes does. Therefore, my
( choice is CHI
vote for him.
CLIFFORD PINCHOT
I Philadelphia, Penn, Sept I, 1916.