Evening star., 1922-09-03

|
the Universalist minister as far back
| as April but the last attack occurred
| forty eight hours before the prima-
ries and warranted Gov. Baxter in is
suing letter to the clergy at large.
! All the correspondence has been kept
! out of print at the request OF the
governor. and has circulated only
from hand to hand for private perusal
and repetition by word of mouth.
! The result of the incident is said
| to have been to create sympathy for
! Gov Baxter republican candidate for
re- election, in one religious denomt-
nation. without having weakened him
in the others. In this case it would
seem as if the innocent object of the
| attack bids fair to benefit by it.
Maternity Act Is Issue.
! There is another angle also to the
affair. Gov. Baxter and his council
declined to accept Names allotment
under the national maternity act. The
democratic candidate for governor.
Mr. Pattangall, advocated acceptance
and declared his sympathy with the
| law The Maine clergy of the Cath
| Ollie denomination are said to be op-
! posed to the maternity bill and to ap-
prove the course of the governor.
So the politicians are saying that
! there is considerable lukewarmnesS
! in the Catholic vote in the democratic
PARTY to Candidate PattangaN TO such
an extent indeed that Mr. Pattans gan
is reported to have reproached MS
own party for indication of not CIV
ing the support to which he feels en-
titled.
+, In his letter to the clergy of the
| state. sent out on the eve of the pri-
| maries, in reply to the tnlversaiist
ooI
inclosed a copy of the letter he sent
| the minister last April when the IN
cident began. In that letter Gov.
Baxter said:
Hold. Charge Unfair.
"You accuse me of fiattery and OF
seeking votes. You say If the Dig
CathoIics are with you, why worry;
! and later you say they never give
! a republican vote AS CHRISTIAN n
gentleman ou ought to understano
! how unfair it is for you to make such
, a charge AS a man who daily praSS
, to his Maker that you may be worthy
| to meet Him when your times comes,
| Won seem to have overlooked the cold
| en- Rule.
Men in high public positions" con-
tinued the governor, often rise above
mere vote getting. AS for myself l
/ have set my course and shall hold
firmly to it. 1 am governor of the
whole state. Protestants, Cathollcs,
Hebrews and non-believers. The chi.-
dren of all denominations are my
wards and my friends. You are the
only man ] know of who accuses
me of stultifying my high office. You
say. if somebody should throw
match upon the smoldering mass Of
resentment toward me l would IL So
many votes especially among the
Masons.
| You misjudge the Masons. for they
are not the type of men you believe
them to be. Most of them are tolerant
and fair and they know 1 am trying
to be a good governor to all. l be-
lieve they respect me and l am not
disturbed about their attitude" In
Gov Baxter declared himself as fol-
lows:
Governor of All People.
I am governor of all the people OF
! Maine and wish to do my best for
them, regardless of race or creed. Al
| though l have definite religious con-
victions of my own. l respect those
held by my fellow citizens, even
though they are not in accord with
mine. Born. baptized and brought up
/ in the State Street Congregational
! Church of Portland. I am a regular
attendant there and hope and expect
| to continue so during the remainder
of my life. Congregationalism was
| the faith of my fathers and is my
! faith" Continuing. the governor pre-
dicted that "such an attack is a two
| edged sword and the very manner OF
. it's delivery condemns it,
[ What about the women's vote in
! Maine? Well. they say up here that
the women are dividing along normal
| political game. Woman speakers are
ARE we'll organized. with the women
! taking interest in the novelty of the
! political game. Women speakers are
on the stump on both sides. The at
titude of the men is so cordial that
butter wouldn't melt in their mouths
and it's hats off to you, ladies. and
what can we do to please you?' Each
party trying to outdo the other in
extending the glad hand.