Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1917-10-24
JUST POLITICS."
News and Views of East-Side Affairs
by West-Side Observer.

l.
tanned a column from the pen of it's
brilliant editor, Howard L. Hindley,
under the caption, "Just Politics." in
which he expresses "neWs and views
of potential candidates, with some
long guesses." The Herald article
follows in full.
Who, if anyone, is to succeed w. P.
Dillingham; as United States senator,
Horace F. Graham as governor, and
Porter H. Dale as congressman from
the second district are three prob
lens that are beginning to buzz in
the minds ard brains of East-s1de
politicians.
On this side we are fairly busy
with war and business problems, but
Montpelier is SO used to war and has
so little business that the standard
indoo2 amusement is talking politics.
Beginning with Mr.. Dale, one
prominent politician was willing to
bet that the incumbent of the second
district would not be candidate for
reelection. This is important if
true, but Mr.. Dale is giving an ex-
tremely poor imitation of a retiring
congressman. 1t is significant, too,
that much Of this sort Of talk comes
from men who are receptive candi-
dates, or their friends.
first Of all, John Gordon of Barre.
Like death, taxes and the H. C. of L.,
John is the inevitable candidate. He
may run for congress or lieutenant
governor or for mayor of Barre or
for overseer of the poor, but it seems
customary for him to run something
and he probably will. He doesn't loom
up very big as a serious rival Of Mr..
Dale.
Then there is 'Bob" simonds, leg
islator, commissioner Of industries,
defendant and general good fellow.
Now that Squire Alexander Dunnett
is not being actively promoted as
candidate, some St. Johnsbury peO-
pie are talking Simonds pretty
strongly. It is unlikely, however,
that Bob would run until his pending
litigation is out of the way or before
good running order.
". J. Bigelow Of the CALIFORNIAN
admits that he would like the job of
representing the second district in
congress, but his newspaper demands
about all the attention an ordinary
man can spare while awake and he
says frankly that for the present he
is out of it, Things may change,
however, and, when they do, Bigelow
would have to be seriously consider
ed.
Since retiring from the federal ser
vice "Curt" Emery Of Newport has
been living a more or less peaceabte
life, enlivened by a couple Of at
tempts to put the railroads out of the
customs brokerage business. Obser-
vers relate that those occasions dem
onstrated that Curt still has some
HI Il
larity and wide acquaintance he
would undoubtedly be a formidable
candidate, especially if Mr.. Dale for
any reason should decide to drop out.
The activities of Mason S. Stone in
connection with food conservation,
war conventions, the Greater Yer
mont movement and now with the
coal administration have brought him
again into the public eye, and if
Stone should take it into his head to
run for congress, the whole situation
would be in the lap of the gods, even
if Mr.. Dale should continue in the
contest.
One would not go so far as to say
that Stone could defeat Dale, but any
of the latter's friends would admit
troublesome man to dispose Of, with
his intimate knowledge of the district
and of every school district, board of
selectmen and men connected with
schools, or, for that matter, with poll
tics in any sense. To be sure, there
was the little incident of his resigna-
tion and the attending criticisms, but
in fundamentals, thinking men of
Vermont know that Mason Stone
showed the way to most Of the big
advances in state education which
have gotten under way in the past
two years.
Then there is Governor Graham
himself. Just now "Uncle Hold" is
working at the job Of being chief ex-
ecutive Of the state of Vermont, and,
thanks to his own program, he has
made it the most strenuous and re-
sponsible job on the state payroll.
It looks as though the people of the
state were getting ready to ask him
to succeed himself, especially if the
war continues, and, in that case, con-
sideration of Gov. Graham as a can
didate in the second congressional
district would be overshadowed.
Bear this in mind, however: Yer
mont believes in Horace Graham, and
if things should be shaped so we
could be guaranteed a continuation of
his policies, say under the right sort
OF lieutenant governor, stranger
things might happen than his cleo
ton to the second district or even to
succeed Senator Dillingham; if the
latter should decide not to run again.
The latter supposition is still pure
guesswork, so the question of the
senatorship really bears only a con-
tingent relation to the general politi-
cal situation.
There is no great change in the
governorship situation, except the
peculiar Lamoille county situation of
Secretary Fred G. Fleetwood, the
governors appointee, being seriously
considered as a candidate for lieuten-
ant governor in case his chief stands
for reelection. This, with Lieuten-
ant Governor Roger W. Hulburd as a
tentative candidate for governor, is
decidedly interesting, if complicated.