Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1918-09-04
Howe Addresses VermOnters.

To the Voters of Vermont:
AS a candidate for governor of
Vermont, I had planned to spend the
month of August and the first few
days of September visiting as many
towns as possible, that the voters
might become better acquainted with
me and be in position to decide for
themselves whether or not they would
support my candidacy.
The best laid plans often go astray.
Since the first of August, l have been
confined to the bed at Heaton hospi-
tai, Montpelier, suffering from Sc
we're attack of grip and bronchitis.
Today l am allowed to sit up few
minutes for the first time, and am
promised that l shall be released from
the hospital within a few days, but
at the same time, I am told that I
must take the best possible care Of
myself for at least two weeks. This
means that 1 must limit personal ac-
tivity for the remainder of the cam
paign. For this reason l am COM
PEELED to request my friends and sup
porters to look after my interests in
the various sections of the state.
know that, under the circumstances,
they will do this gladly; and l appre-
ciate the Willingness to aid that many
Of them have so cordially expressed.
During the past three weeks l have
not been permitted to read the news
papers or attend to my correspond
ence. l have been able to see visitors
only at rare intervals, and then only
for a moment. Of course, some things
have come to me by indirect report,
although the details are as yet far
from complete.
I understand that Judge Darling
and some of his satellites have at
tackled me, questioning both my honor
and my honesty and accusing me of
varied and sundry wickedness. If I
am guilty, l am not aware of it. I
representatives, one of them as
speaker; the people have honored me
by electing me lieutenant governor
and president of the senate; served
as chairman of the commission that
drafted the workmen's compensation
law and have been a member of other
state commissions; Governor Graham
appointed me member of the Yer
mont committee of public safety and
citizens of Bennington made me a
member of the local war service COM
mittee; / spent several months and
several hundred dollars of money,
earned by my own head and hands,
recruiting for the First Vermont reg
iment. l have been called on to aid
in every patriotic activity in Yer
mont since the war started. Yet now
comes Judge Darling and ISLANDERS
me. He says that l am a dangerous
character and attempts to prove it by
certain clippings-twisted and dis
torted out of the relation in which
they were used-edited untruthfully
and misinterpreted, to do me harm.
l am comforted, though, that in past
campaigns, Vermont voters have not
been misled by personal vilifications.
Mr.. Clements candidacy indicates
a very earnest desire to be gvernor,
for this is his fourth attempt. Three
times repudiated by the voters Of
Vermont in the past, he hopes to win
this year by opposition to the ma
tional prohibition amendment. His
candidacy has tendency to mislead
his own followers into thinking that
by voting for him they are helping
prevent the ratification of the amend
ment. Ratification depends fully 80
per cent upon the legislature elected
and only slightly and indirectly upon
the governor. Mr.. Clement is mere
~ USIIIS lIle lSSut III oil euOIC W Uc
governor. He will talk vigorously of
on the pro-license sentiment in some
of the larger cities and villages of
the state.
Mr.. Clement and his ieutenants
seek to make the voters believe that
the issue is the same as that over the
Perry bill two years ago. The two
a nd
darkness. The Perry bill was an at
tempt to impose state prohibition in
Vermont, while all around us was Ii
cense territory. The present propos-
al is to stop the manufacture and sale
of alcohol as a beverage throughout
the entire United States. With the
patriotic example of three million
American boys giving up all comforts
of home and pleasure, undergoing
rigid mental and physical training,
and prepared to make any sacrifice, /
think we should be willing to give up
the use of alcohol as beverage, be-
cause of the harm it does to a part
Of our people.
Vermont has more than ten thou
sand sons in service and five thousand
more awaiting CALL Practically every
home in Vermont has furnished a SOL
der or sailor and many homes have
sent more than one. The interest
and energy of Vermont people are
engaged in a cause Of worldwide i'm
portance. 1t seems to me a poor time
for man, who for years has profited
indirectly from the sale of liquor, to
seek the office of governor of Yer
mont on an issue which even partly,
has in mind the purpose of continu-
ing the right to sell liquor in this
state.
do not dispute Mr.. Clements right
to seek the office. He is now past IL
years of age and, in the natural
course of events, his opportunity to
seek public preferment is limited; but
in view of the grave crisis that faces
the world, the chief plank of his
platform strikes many people as a
trifie unworthy