Vermont, the Green mountain state (Volume 4) online

bury, where two thousand people had gathered. In the
receiving party were about forty young women dressed
in white and carrying flags. The President was intro-
duced by Senator Dillingham, and spoke briefly.

The Presidential train reached Burlington at 7:40
p. m. The station was decorated with flags and bunting.
A great throng had assembled to meet the President. A
reception committee consisting of Mayor D. C. Hawley
and prominent citizens escorted the President to a stand
in City Hall Park. Red fire was burned along the route,
there was a display of fireworks, and colored electric
lights were used as decorations in the park and on the
streets. The President was introduced by Mayor Haw-
ley and spoke briefly, saying: "Vermont has always
played far more than her part to which she was by popu-
lation entitled in the afifairs of the country. Vermont
has always furnished far more than her proportionate
share of leadership because in Vermont you have always



WILLIAM VV. STICKNEY

Born in Plymouth, Vt., March 21, 1853. He was admitted
to the bar and is a member of one of the leading; law firms
of the State. For ten years he was clerk of the House of
Representatives. In 1892 and 1894 he was elected a member
of the Legislature and during both terms he served as Speaker.
He was elected Governor in J900. For several years (1921)
he has been president of the \ crmont Historical Society.



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BEGINNING OF A NEW CENTURY 361

kept true to the old American ideals — the ideals of in-
dividual initiative, of self-help, of rugged independence,
of desire to work and willingness, if need, to fight. I
feel, and I say it with all sincerity, that when I come
to Vermont I come not to teach but to learn. As a
Nation we shall succeed very largely in proportion as
we show the spirit that this State has ever shown in peace
and in war."

A reception followed at the home of Ex-Gov. U. A.
Woodbury, for which about two hundred and fifty invi-
tations were issued. The President, Secretary Shaw
and Mr. Cortelyou, the President's Secretary, were in
the receiving line with the host.

At 9 o'clock in the evening the members of the Presi-
dential party were driven to the wharf, and boarded
Colonel Webb's yacht, the Blfrida, for Thompson's
Point, one of the Lake Champlain resorts a few miles
south of Burlington, where the President was the guest
of Secretary Shaw, who was spending his vacation there.
The cottages were brilliantly illuminated with colored
lights. The President spent a quiet and restful Sunday
at the Shaw cottage, being delighted with the beauty of
the location. While there Justice D. J. Brewer, who was
a summer resident at Thompson's Point, called on the
President. The members of the party were taken on the
yacht to Colonel Webb's home for dinner. Several
prominent Vermonters were guests on this occasion.
The newspaper correspondents who accompanied the
President were taken on the Maquam for a Sunday
afternoon ride on the lake.



362 HISTORY OF VERMONT

The President came to Burlington from Shelburne
Farms Monday morning, September 1, on the Blfrida.
A large crowd had assembled at the wharf. He was
met by a delegation of Vermont citizens and taken for
a drive through some of the principal streets of the city,
out to Battery Park, with its wonderful view of Lake
Champlain and the Adirondacks, and thence to Green
Mount Cemetery, where he visited the grave of Ethan
Allen. He returned through some of the most attractive
residential streets to the railway station. The President
was interested to learn that a sister of Walt Whitman,
the poet, Mrs. Louisa Whitman Heyde, was living in the
city. He left Burlington at ten o'clock in the morning
on a special train.

Brief stops were made at Vergennes and Middlebury.
At the latter place Ex-Governor Stewart introduced the
President to about three thousand people. Ex-Governor
Ormsbee made the introductory speech at Brandon,
where several little girls, dressed in flag costumes, pre-
sented a floral piece in behalf of the pupils of the local
schools. The Presidential party arrived at Proctor at
11 :45 A. M., and its members were entertained at lunch
at the home of Senator Proctor. The school children
showered the President's carriage with flowers. A
canopy of evergreen, adorned with flags, had been built
out from the piazza of the Senator's residence, and from
this the President spoke to an audience which comprised
a large part of the population of the village. He was in-
troduced by Senator Proctor and spoke on the Monroe
Doctrine. When the President reached Rutland at
12:35 about eight thousand people were assembled



BEGINNING OF A NEW CENTURY 363

around the bandstand. He was met by Mayor D. \V.
Temple and a delegation of representative citizens and
was introduced by Gen. W. Y. W. Ripley. His speech
was appropriate to Labor Day. He was given a notable
ovation. The President spoke briefly at Ludlow and
Chester, being introduced at the former place by Gov-
ernor Stickney, and at the latter by Col. James E. Pol-
lard. Bellows Falls had made elaborate preparations
for the Presidential visit. The buildings in the village
were handsomely decorated and the attendance was esti-
mated at fifteen thousand. The President was the euest
of the Young Men's Republican Club at Brattleboro, and
thousands of enthusiastic people lined the streets as he
drove to the village common. He was met at the station
by a company of infantry and by a citizens' committee.
Entering a carriage with Governor Stickney, Ex-Gov-
ernor Holbrook and Judge Wheeler of the United States
Court, he was driven between files of Grand Army
veterans and members of the Young Men's Republican
Club. The school children almost buried the President's
carriage wdth loose flowers and bouquets. Little girls
strewed the steps of the speaker's stand with flowers.
The President spoke in appreciative terms of the vener-
able Ex-Governor Holbrook, discussed labor problems,
and paid a tribute to the people of Vermont. In the
early evening President Roosevelt crossed into Massa-
chusetts.

The President's reception at every place where he
stopped in Vermont was most enthusiastic. An active
political campaign was drawing to a close, but he care-
fully avoided any allusion to partisan topics.



364 HISTORY OF VERMONT

The campaign for the Republican nomination for the
Governorship in 1902 was an exciting one. At the out-
set the candidates were Gen. J. G. McCullough of North
Bennington, Percival W. Clement of Rutland and Dr.
W. Seward Webb of Shelburne. Before the campaign
had advanced far Doctor Webb withdrew, and soon after
Col. Fletcher D. Proctor entered the contest. Mr.
Clement made an active pre-convention campaign, tour-
ing the State in a special train, attacking the prohibitory
liquor law vigorously, calling attention to its abuses and
its relation to State politics during the half century it
had been on the statute books. He provided profes-
sional entertainers for some of his meetings but on each
occasion made a speech on State issues.

The Republican State Convention of 1902, held at
Montpelier, adopted as a part of its platform a resolution
requesting the Legislature at its next session ''to make
provision for ascertaining the will of the people by
direct vote upon the acceptance or rejection of a license
and local option law regulating liquors, and further pro-
viding that upon a popular vote in favor of such a law,
duly ascertained, the same shall be, and become a statute
law of the State in force."

The first ballot for Governor resulted as follows :

McCullough 324

Clement 221

Proctor 180

The second ballot showed the following result:

McCullough ?>27

Clement 221

Proctor 1 77



BEGINNING OF A NEW CENTURY 365

After the result of the second ballot had been ant
nounced, Frank C. Partridge withdrew Colonel Proc-
tor's name and seconded the nomination of General
McCuIlongh. Before voting was resumed most of the
Clement delegates left the convention hall. The third
ballot resulted as follows:

McCullough 504

Clement 87

Proctor 43

There were three candidates for Lieutenant Governor,
Zed S. Stanton of Roxbury, Frederick W. Baldwin of
Barton and E. M. Bartlett of Island Pond. After the
first ballot, Mr. Bartlett, who had received 99 votes,
withdrew his name. On the second ballot, Zed S. Stan-
ton of Roxbury was nominated, the vote resulting as fol-
lows : Stanton, 240 ; Baldwin, 226.

The Clement delegates held a meeting in the Mont-
pelier Opera House. Some charges of corruption were
made but no definite action was taken at that time. At
a convention held at Burlington on July 16, attended by
about three hundred and fifty persons, the Local Option
League nominated Percival W. Clement of Rutland for
Governor and Frank W. Agan of Ludlow for Lieutenant
Governor. The remainder of the Republican State
ticket was endorsed. It was charged in the platform
that the prohibition element in some Republican county
conventions had denounced and rejected the plank in the
Republican platform calling for a license-local option
referendum. Mr. Clement addressed the convention,



366 HISTORY OF VERMONT

charging bribery in the election of Republican delegates
and alleging bad faith on the part of the Republican
leaders in regard to the repeal of the prohibitory law.

The Democratic State Convention, held at Burling-
ton, July 24, was a stormy one. J. E. Burke of Bur-
lington placed P. W. Clement in nomination for Gov-
ernor, but the convention decided to remain regular and
named Felix W. McGettrick of St. Albans as the party
candidate by a vote of 254 to 94 for P. W. Clement.

Mr. Clement made an active campaign throughout
Vermont, discussing State expenses and other topics.
The Republicans made a thorough canvass, securing
Secretary Shaw and other prominent speakers. The
vote for Governor was closer than it had been for many
years, the official returns showing the following result:

John G. McCullough, 31,864; Percival W. Clement,
28^201 ; Felix W. McGettrick, 7,364; Joel O. Sherburne
(Pro.), 2,498; scattering, 8.

There being no choice, the Legislature was called upon
to elect, with the following result :

McCullough, 164; Clement, 59; McGettrick, 45.

John G. McCullough was born at Newark, Del., Sep-
tember 16, 1835, of Scottish and Welsh ancestry. He
attended the local schools, was graduated from Delaware
College with the highest honors of his class, studied law
in a Philadelphia office and graduated from the law
school of the University of Pennsylvania in 1859. His
health necessitating a change of climate he went to Call-



BEGINNING OF A NEW CENTURY 367

fornia and was admitted to the bar of that State in 1860.
In the following year he was elected to the State Legis-
lature and the next year to the Senate and later he was
chosen Attorney General. In 1873 he returned to the
East, making his home in North Bennington, Vt. For
fourteen years he was vice president and president of
the Panama Railroad Company ; he was a director of the
Erie Railroad and for several years one of two receivers,
president of the Chicago & Erie for ten years and of
the Bennington & Rutland for fifteen years. He was
also on the boards of the New York Security and Trust
Company, the Bank of New York, the Fidelity & Cas-
ualty Company, the American Trading Company of New
York, the National Life Insurance Company, the New
York & Jersey City Tunnel Railroad Company, the Santa
Fe Railroad Company, the Lackawanna Steel Company,
and other corporations. He was a trustee of the Uni-
versity of Vermont and received from that institution
and from Middlebury College and Norwich University
the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. He was active
in Republican politics. He was elected a delegate to the
Republican National Conventions of 1880, 1888 and
1900, a member of the State Senate in 1898 and Gov-
ernor in 1902. He died at his winter home in New York
City, May 29, 1915, in the eightieth year of his age.

John H. Merrifield of Newfane was elected Speaker.
In his retiring message Governor Stickney declared that
having doubt as to the constitutionality of the acts of
1898 and 1900, w^hich undertook to regulate the exercise
of the pardoning power, and confer a portion of that
pow er upon a Board of Prison Commissioners, he asked



368 HISTORY OF VERMONT

the Supreme Court for a ruling. Five of the Judges
expressed the opinion that the Board of Prison Commis-
sioners had no authority to grant a conditional discharge,
or parole a convict in any event. One Judge dissented
and one was in doubt regarding the validity of the acts.

He reported that a portrait of General Liscum,
painted by Walter Oilman Page of Boston, and one of
Admiral Clark, by Frederic P. Vinton of Boston had
been placed in the State House. The portrait of Admiral
Clark represented him as standing on the top of a thir-
teen-inch gun turret in front of the conning tower, under
the pilot house. The State had received a portrait
medallion of Gen. William F. Smith, being a replica
from a design by J. C. Kelly, a New York sculptor. It
was presented by a few friends of General Smith, who
were not natives of Vermont.

The Governor recommended that provision should be
made for remarking the boundary between Vermont
and New York.

In his inaugural address Governor McCullough called
attention to the necessity of submitting a license-local
option measure to the voters of the State, in accordance
with the verdict of the people. He thought the courts
should be kept as far removed from politics as possible.
He recommended a primary election law, the increase of
the State road tax and the beginning of the elimination
of grade crossings of steam and electric roads.

Much important legislation was enacted. A law was
passed to prevent corrupt practices in matters relating
to elections. The corporation tax law was revised, the
office of Commissioner of State Taxes was created and



BEGINNING OF A NEW CENTURY 369

the commissioner was authorized to appraise certain
property. Every corporation organized in Vermont or
doing business in the State was required to pay a license
fee. The health laws were revised, a State Board of
Health of three members was established and provision
was made for local boards of health. A Court of
Claims, a Board of Cattle Commissioners and a Tuber-
culosis Commission were authorized. Provision was
made for a bridge commission of three members to act
with a similar New Hampshire commission to consider
all questions relating to freeing toll bridges between the
two States. An act w^as passed providing for remark-
ing a portion of the New York- Vermont boundary line.
The license-local option law aroused more interest
than any other measure. It was ordered to a third read-
ing in the Senate by a vote of 26 to 4. In the House it
was favorably reported from the committee by a majority
of one. An attempt to substitute the Battell bill, a less
stringent measure, was defeated by a vote of 146 to 84.
The act provided for seven classes of licenses. A license
of the first class permitted the sale of liquor to be drunk
on the premises, and imposed fees ranging from five hun-
dred to twelve hundred dollars. A second class license
cost three hundred dollars and permitted the sale of
liquor not to be drunk on the premises. A license of the
third class permitted the sale of malt liquors, cider and
light wines, to be drunk on the premises, the fee being
two hundred and fifty dollars. A fourth class, or whole-
sale, license cost one thousand dollars. A fifth class
license permitted the sale of liquor for medicinal pur-
poses, the minimum fee being ten dollars. A sixth class



370 HISTORY OF VERMONT

license permitting the sale of liquor in summer hotels,
and left the amount of the license fee to be determined
according to the length of the hotel season. A seventh
class license permitted the sale of malt liquors, cider
and light wines, not to be drunk on the premises, and
the amount of the fee was fixed at one hundred and fifty
dollars. The Selectmen of a town voting to license the
sale of liquor were authorized to appoint a board of
three commissioners. An indirect referendum was pro-
vided, modeled after that of 1850, as a direct referendum
was thought by some lawyers to be unconstitutional.
The act, as passed, was to take effect on the first Tuesday
of March, 1903, if a majority of the ballots cast should
read "yes," and if a majority of "no" votes were cast,
then the act should take effect on the first Monday of
December, 1906. This would permit another Legisla-
ture to repeal the act before it took effect. The first
Tuesday of February, 1903, was the date fixed for the
referendum.

A city and town of St. Johnsbury were chartered but
the voters of the municipality declined to take advantage
of the act. A joint resolution provided for a marble
or bronze bust or bronze medallion of Hiram A. Huse,
formerly State Librarian. Joint resolutions authorized
the painting of a portrait of Admiral Dewey and the
modeling of a medallion portrait of Gen. George J. Stan-
nard. Congress was memorialized to make Gen. W. F.
Smith a Major General of the regular army with the pay
of a retired officer of that rank.

On October 14, Senator Dillingham was reelected,
receiving 24 votes in the Senate, 4 being cast for EHsha



BEGINNING OF A NEW CENTURY 371

May of St. Johnsbury. The vote in the House was,
Dillingham, 179; May, 42. In addressing the joint
assembly the Senator paid a high tribute to the work
of Justin S. Morrill, his predecessor. The Morrill Tariff
Act, he said, "in large part furnished the sinews of war
in that mighty conflict (the Civil War) ; and it was his
genius as well that enabled the sub-committee of which
he was chairman to formulate that piece of war legisla-
tion, the internal revenue act, which has been pronounced
by legislators of world wide fame the most perfect sys-
tem for raising revenue in a great crisis that has ever
been devised in any nation."

Public meetings for and against license were held and
the controversy waxed hot in the newspapers and in
private conversation. The eastern half of the State
was more strongly opposed to license than the western
half. The result of the referendum vote by counties as
cast on February 3, 1903, was as follows:

Yes No

Addison ^ 2,101 2,089

Bennington 2,613 1,075

Caledonia 1,204 3,118

Chittenden 3,768 1,878

Essex 378 479

Franklin 2,749 1,830

Grand Isle 275 299

Lamoille 765 1,659

Orange 1,069 2,272

Orleans 707 2,824

Rutland 5,471 2,728

Washington 3,744 2,890



372 HISTORY OF VERMONT

Windham 2,350 2,547

Windsor 2,517 3,294

Total 29,711 28,982

This vote showed a "yes" majority of 729. Five
towns, Charlotte, Colchester, Norton, Rich ford and
Westford, did not return the result of the referendum
in time to comply with the law, and were not included
in the total vote as officially promulgated. If these
towns had been included the result would have been as
follows: "Yes," 30,597; "no," 29,536. This would
have given a license majority of 1,061. Ninety-four
towns and cities in the March election of 1903 voted to
license the sale of intoxicating liquor, although some of
these did not issue licenses. The change from prohibi-
tion to local option at this time was due in no small
measure to the vigorous campaign against the prohibit-
ory law conducted by Mr. Clement in 1902.

On August 20, 1903, the Chester A. Arthur memorial
was dedicated in Fairfield on the site where the cottage
stood in which the former President was born. The
monument was turned over to the State by Ex-Governor
Stickney and was accepted by Governor McCullough.
Addresses were delivered by Hon. William E. Chandler,
Secretary of the Navy in President Arthur's Cabinet,
and Robert T. Lincoln, Secretary of War in the Cabinets
of Presidents Garfield and Arthur. Brief remarks were
made by Senator Proctor.

The celebration of Old Home Week continued for a
few years but never with the same enthusiasm as that
shown when the movement was inaugurated. The



BEGINNING OF A NEW CENTURY 373

celebration at Stowe, in the summer of 1903, had for
its chief object the dedication of a Soldiers' Memorial
TTall. the gift of Healy C. Akeley of Minneapolis, Minn.,
a native of the town. The principal address was deliv-
ered by Hon. Leslie M. Shaw, Secretary of the Treasury.
Another important feature of Old Home Week was the
visit of the Vermont Association of Boston to St. Johns-
bury and Newport.

In May, 1904, President Roosevelt appointed Wendell
Phillips Stafford of St. Johnsbury an Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. He
was born in Barre, May 1, 1861, and was educated at
Barre and St. Johnsbury Academies and Boston Univer-
sity Law School. He was admitted to the bar, and prac-
ticed law at St. Johnsbury from 1883 to 1900. He rep-
resented St. Johnsbury in the Legislature of 1892, was
Reporter of Decisions for the Supreme Court from 1897
to 1900, and was appointed a Judge of the Supreme
Court in 1900, serving until he resigned to take the
position on the bench at Washington. He is one of Ver-
mont's most eloquent orators and ranks among the ablest
poets the State has produced.

In April, 1904, Charles H. Robb of Bellows Falls was
appointed an Assistant Attorney General for the Post-
Office Department. He went to Washington first to
take charge of the collector of inheritance taxes, and
later was made special Assistant Attorney in the Depart-
ment of Justice. This was followed by the appointment
first mentioned. Edwin W. Lawrence of Rutland was
appointed a special assistant to the Attorney General.



374 HISTORY OF VERMONT

Frank Plumley of North field was appointed by Presi-
dent Roosevelt in May, 1903, as an umpire in the British-
Venezuelan and Netherland- Venezuelan mixed commis-
sions. He spent six months in Caracas, Venezuela, in
hearing the claims presented. In December, 1904, he
was informed that France and Venezuela had selected
him to act as umpire to settle disputes between the two
countries. His decisions were so fair that he was gen-
erally commended for the awards made.

In the spring elections of 1904, forty towns and cities
voted to license the sale of intoxicating liquor, compared
with ninety-four in 1903.

The Republican State Convention, held at Burlington,
April 20, 1904, elected as delegates-at-large to the
National Convention, Senator William P. Dillingham of
Waterbury, Col. W. Seward Webb of Shelburne, H. N.
Turner of St. Johnsbury and H. S. Bingham of Benning-
ton. "The able, honest, fearless and thoroughly Ameri-
can administration" of President Roosevelt was endorsed
in the platform. Senator Joseph B. Foraker of Ohio
delivered an eloquent address.

The First District Convention elected H. W. Allen of
Burlington and J. F. Manning of Rutland as delegates
and adopted the following resolution : "We recognize in
our Nation's Chief Executive an eminent exponent of Re-
publican principles; and the delegates to the Republican
National Convention elected this day will unquestionably
voice the earnest desire of the Republicans of Vermont
by supporting for the party's Presidential nomination,
Theodore Roosevelt." The delegates elected by the
Second District Convention were Charles Downer of




JOHN G. McCULLOUGH

Born in Newark, Del., September i6, 1835. He was
admitted to the bar, went to California, was a member of
both branches of the State Legislature and was elected
Attorney General. In 1873 he removed to North Bennington,
Vt. For many years he was actively engaged in the manage-
ment of the Panama and Erie Railroads and several banks
and other corporations. He was a member of the State
Senate in 1898 and was elected Governor in 1902. He died
May 29, 1915.



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BEGINNING OF A NEW CENTURY 375

Sharon and James F. Hooker of Brattleboro. The con-
vention voted unanimously to instruct the delegates to
support President Roosevelt.

In the National Convention the Vermont delegates
supported Theodore Roosevelt for President and Charles
W. Fairbanks of Indiana for Vice President. James
W. Brock of Montpelier was elected the Vermont mem-
ber of the Republican National Committee.

The Democratic State Convention elected as delegates-
at-large Vernon A. Bullard of Burlington, Charles W.