Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-05-04
The Migration from Vermont.

'''p "hu VI 'cihNHti iNo''''t ~
he State, numbered q little less than hco \
hundred and tccnty-nine thousand souls,
DOS ,9Il, and the children Of Vermont re.
siding in other States. mainly at the West,
numbered nearly one hundred and forty-sit
In other words about hirty-p'Hc
per cent, of the native born population Of the
State had emigrated from it to other parts Of
the Country. The effect of this enormous
emigration upon the total population Of the
State is in part counteracted by the coming
in Of natives of other States, of whom there
were 81, ll4 in Vermont in 1850, and Of
foreigners, of whom there were 33,7l5; but
even if we allow those who como IN to he
equal in energy and character to those who
60 out, which is doubtless far from being the
case, the loss to the State by the chi grafton
OF its native population is a very serious one.
This emigration increases. The scattering of .
our most active young men from their native /
soil is, undoubtedly, greater than ever before.
The increase Of population in Vermont, from |,
lS40 to 1850 was 23,l The next census
we suspect, will not show a. CORES spending in
crease for the ten years from 1850 to 1850
Now If any man Of Industry, intelIi rcnce
and good habits, cannot acquire II comre-
tence, and enjoy the fruit Of his labor, IN this
State, let him leave for some place where he
can. If the best that can be said Tor Vermont is
that-likc Port Kent--it is "a good place to
start from" then let us all leave it.
But we do not believe it is So The mann
featuring capabilities Of our State have but
begun to be developed. The soil. though in e
too many places it has been allowed to dctc-
rorate, will richly repay the man who gives it
thorough aud judiciOus care, while for cduca-
tional and social advantages, and the thorough
comforts Of domestic life, you might easily
Ego farther and fare worse We DO not be.
lievc that large portion of thost WHO leave
Vermont for the West, better their condition
by doing The same labor and ,riyations
which they undergo In their new homes
would in most cases give them, if they stayed
here, an equal amount Of wealth and a posi-
ton every way preferable in the end
| The migration into Kansas, from Vermont.
or any other Northern State, We do not wish
to see retarded, nor could we lessen it it we
would. There is call of duty there for
many man. If you have the health and grit,
young man, to fight with the elements and the
wilderness and the wild Missourians, GO and
! help make Kansas a free State ,nni God speed
! you. But wherever you go,to Kanzns or Wis
cousin, or Iowa or Minnesota, go not without
careful look on all sides You can 60 and
| find cheap land which you must till alone,
/ for hired labor is hardly to he had at any
! price. You can raise great crops and team
them twenty and fifty miles to a compare
lively low market You can borrow money to
stock your farm or shop and have the privil-
eye of paying three per cent month for it.
You can get along without home comforts for
yourself and schooling for your children.
instead Of watching and working for the
growth Of knowledge and good morals and
true happiness in community you can watch
the rise of real estate, and think and talk of
nothing else, as is the case with almost every
Westerner ; and in time you can get wealth
You may get moro than you would get with
the same economy here, and you may not !;
but are you sure the drawbacks on its enjoy
ment will pay for the getting Please to
read the following description Of the effects
Of life in new country, as shown in the
early settlers of Illinois. 1t is given by an
intelligent correspondent of the Sprin cfcld
Republican, u resident Of Illinois Himself,
and of course inclined to give favorable
account.
These men came to this state years ago
and settled down like those who are going
farther west, beyond the reach of newspapers
and books, school-houses and churches -
Their lands were rich and easily cultivated 1,
but there was no market for their produce
and there was nothing to stimulate them to
industry and activity. They consequently
settled down in Incidence and went back into
| hurharism. The rise in land has made many
of them rich, but wealth is Of no use to them.
Their families have grown up around them,
ignorant and uncultivated, hal!-suvages. In
travelling in central and southern Illinois you
will find many residences of these men. A
miserable, perhaps log house stuck in the
mud, with not tree or shrub or flower Civ
ing any sign of taste, surrounded hy troops
of grunting swine, you will find to he the
abode of Il man who owns a thousan acres Of
land not inferior to the best land of tho Con-
necticut valley. Wade through the mud and
scramble over the logs, and enter the rickety
/ door and you will find the lord Of the man
sion smoking his pipe before an ancient
brick fireplace in an unfinished room desti-
tute OF any ornament and not unrequently OF
the necessities of civilized life. Several tall
uncouth boys will be tnkering over an old
gun or doing in state Of stupidity, while
as many stout awkward girls will be engaged
IN such feminine employment as are usual in
a half civilized state. These people have
acquired distaste for civilized lie, and as
the region about them fills up with an intel
lgent and enterprising population they sell
out and move off to Iowa. Ia some Of the
most pleasant villages large Numbers of the
old settlers have left within a year or two and
gone west. They have acquired the habits
and disposition Of the savage, and can no
more endure TO live among civilized men than
their Indian brothers.
Such is the effect always produced upon q
man Isolated from the influences Of civilized
society, and though the advantages of New
England education may help to resist the
tendencies TO barbarism, they will not always
save the New Highlander even"
The ubove account is more candid than
many which come East from those regions.
The unparalleled advantages Of the Western
States are discussed and exalted and dreamed
over, and passed from mouth to mouth, till
from very iteration those who tell and those
who hear believe them real Some of them
are real no doubt but we advise no man to
cmiGratc thither, if he can 1.-Two comfortably
and respectfully at home,
NJ RAILROAD MATT ERs.-The Boston Ati0s
says that c. o. Whittemore Esq, a director
! nj tho [erunopt roptrnl 4 ol.o If tba Earn,o,,,