Douglas Is No
Justin Morrill

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the opening of the new education building at the Morrill Homestead in Strafford.

Justin Morrill was the 19th century Vermont Congressman who authored the Land Grant College Acts, which opened higher education to working people. His 1848 Homestead and Gothic Revival Cottage in his home town of Strafford is a State-owned historic site and has long been considered one of the hidden treasures in Vermont.

The education building should help make the site a more vibrant, accessible and active place. Speaking at the opening was Governor Jim Douglas. The Governor is very good at these types of occasions and spoke well and to the point. He came across as knowledgeable, gracious, and dignified. Unfortunately it was hard in this setting not to compare the two Republican leaders.

Justin Morrill was a visionary leader. While fiscally conservative and personally prudent, he nonetheless could fashion public policy that boldly both spoke to and anticipated the needs of our nation. Douglas, with his recent veto of global warming legislation and refusal to even talk about compromise, seems destined not to live up to what many of us had felt, during his first term of office, was his potential to be a real statesman.

It is unfortunate that Douglas has not lived up to his promise. His recent record stands in stark contrast to leaders like Morrill or more recently Governor Deane Davis, who pushed in the 70's for landmark environmental legislation. While these men could see the problems of the day and enact bills to address the needs, Douglas seems to be sliding into becoming a mere ribbon cutting politician—one who is good at getting elected and skillful at pushing his point of view, but not at making a difference when it matters the most for the future.

John Freitag

South Strafford