The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1847-07-22
]. HOLCOMB, Editor Il Publisher

lple sugar. Manufactures and the mechanic
arts, are pursued only to very limited ex
tent.
Having spoken of the occupation of the in.
habltants, it is but just to add word in re-
gard to their character. The Vermonters arc
among the most intelligent people in the I'm
ion; and there is less popular ignorance here
than in any other State except Connecticut.
The kindness and hospitality Of the people are
unbounded; their households neat, and their
tables bounteous with fat things. The tables
OF hotels in this State, surpass those Of any
other portion of the country in which | ever
travelled. A remarkable instance of the in
fnence of locality and neighborhood associa-
lions in moulding the character and customs
OF society, is seen in the inhabitants of East
ern and Western Vermont. The Green
Mountain range, not only divides the State
into two great sections, differing in soil and
climate, but also in character and CUSTOMS
The inhabitants of the Eastern portion Of YER
mont are distinguished by the same traits of
character and usages which characterize 9TH
err New Enganders. They have the same
purltanic gravity; that shrewdness and Con-
necticut pedlar's air, which enables them to
drive lucrative business in the humblest and
most unpromising pursuits are full of enter
prize and industry and while they have an
apparent niggardliness, which leads them to
stick for the last ha'penny in making change,
they are honest IN dealing and punctual to a
fault. The roads through all this portion of
the State are fine; fences are in good repair
and the houses are snug and neat in appear
ance.
The inhabitants of the western portion of
the state are less enterprising. They have
more the easy, careless air of the people of
the Middle States; are more luxurious and
more given to speculation and the general
spirit of monopoly which prevails throughout
civilized society. They are generous, care =
less of expense, are more intelligent and re-
fined, whilst they are less public spirited than
their trans-alpine neighbor. Their houses
are comparatively shabby, their fences neg
lected and their roads are miserable, though,
it must be admitted, the soil is clay and
therefore unfavorable to good roads. This is
much the wealthiest portion of the State, both
in mineral and agricultural products Here,
too, the spirit of caste and aristocracy is the
strongest, and the tendency to land monopoly
is the most fearful.
There are not more than two-thirds as
many farmers in the counties of Rutland, Adj
olson and Chittenden, as there were twenty
years ago, when few men owned more than
a single farm offrom one to two hundred acres.
Now farms of from five hundred to a thousand
acres are common, and the number of them is
yearly increasing. Common schools, as
general thing in this region, are inferior to
what they were twenty years since. The dis
tricts have become Of so great extent, that the
distance renders it impracticable for children
to attend the common school. Parents prefer
to hire private teachers or send their child
drcn to academies. This is not the general
practice, but the tendency is swift to it, and
the complaint of bad schools is very general.
There are few National Reformers in va
rious parts of the State, who it is hoped, will
be instrumental in arresting the spirit Of land
monopoly and in securing the homestead in
alienable to every family who may be so for
tunate as to possess one.
No one of the social tendencies of this State
is more striking than that relating to labor
There has been within fifteen years, almost
complete revolution in this regard. Time
was, when the the sons and daughters Of farm
ers deemed it no disgrace to labor for wages
on a neighbours farm or in his domestic en-
ployment. The employer considered himself
in no way superior to the employed; they
stood on a basis of equality, and regarded
each other with mutual respect. Now it is
among the rarest things to find the son of a
farmer, or even native of the State working
by he month or by the day upon farm,a land
it is equally rare to find farmers daughter
performing domestic service in a neighbours
family and if any are found doing it, it is be-
cause they can command unusual wages, and
at the same time feel that they do not com
promise their social standing. 1t was little
thought when it commenced, that the employ
ment of Irish and Canadian helps would SO
soon accomplish such revolution. But
would employers give $12 per month, and 81
per week, for the help of their neighbors' sons
and daughters, when they could get far more
compliant and servile ones for half the money
and with little instruction., equally skilful =?
And would those who had formerly perform
ed this labor continue to do it, when attend
ed with such a reduction of wages, and when
their social standing was affected by it? The
Irish girl and Canadian were not treated as
equals. They were not allowed to eat with
their employers, were never allowed to enter
tain company in the parlor, and 60 to parties
with the sons and daughters of the farmer
and here was distinction odious,and till then
unheard of, broadly and clearly drawn be-
tween the farmer and his helps-between the
employer and the employed. This was a
language, whose significance could not fail to
be understood by those who had formerly of
fciated in the capacity of hired men and girls
! To be hired man" or hired girl" was
no disgrace, but to be mere a. help" was obi
Gus and abominable.
Moderate farmers instead of seeing, as for
merly, their daughters securely and honora-
bly, employed in a neighbours service, watch
ed over, and cared fora children and friends
now see them quitting home, friends, and pa.
ternal guardianship, to throng the factories Of
Manchester, Lowell and Andover, where they
are shut up for thirteen hours a day, where
they are allowed but ten minutes to eat their
dinners, and forced to sleep in brick pens
rather than comfortable rooms, exposed tc
oF Co,rorot;np'o oil RIapR