The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-03-14

But has any such necessity been shown l
think not. On the contrary, some of the YER
y reasons adduced to move US, are to my
mind the very anchors that should moor us
here. The gentleman from Castleton desires
TO move for the purpose of blilding up
some great town. The influence exerted by
placing the capital at Burlington will attract
to that place the wealth and population
which nj ght otherwise leave the State
We need some great point Of decentralization"
he says, and this measure will make one l
feel there is danger of being misunderstood
in this matter. am no enemy of the pros
perity of Burlington. wish;its legitimate ant
natural growth were doubled and quadru-
pied but not by combining wealth and gov
ernmcnt; not by bringing commerce into the
halls of the Legislation. The able represen-
tative of that town has told US. and truly no
doubt, of their wealth, their commerce, their
college. their nunnery, their break water,
their custom, house, their steamers smoking
from all directions, their railroads built and
to be built, their monument OF the glorious
Allen whose dust is mingled with the earth
of their town and could not help roget
ting that the Giver of all good had not offer
ed them one more boon-the blessing of con-
tent.
But the gentleman from Westford says
that the influences of the town in which we
are no~sittns are dangerous; even this town
this 'pauper' Montpelier Gas the gentle
man from Burlington calls it.) hampers and
lmpedes our Just and fearless attention to
the risht-Why then does the gentleman
from Casteton feel willing to build up. on
purpose, great centreal power and put our
selves in It's clutches
No, Mr. Chairman, am for no centra,iz-
in. power. Mountainous regions are the
home, and often the last and only home of
the spirit of liberty. 1t is not. however bv
"cenfr"'i-ing otpocsr" that they remain so
Switzerland has for many centuries remain
ed honest, when all Europe was corrupt, and
her mountains have remained tree, while all
around them was cn>aved; but it has not
been hy Capitalization. 1t has been the
jealous d'sh'bu'i"n of power anon. her sew
eral canton> that has saved her. France
"Bcaul!u! France" during the same in
structlve centuries has been exhibiting to
the world the wonders OK centraliza;ion.-
Each tide Of the conquest or of revelation
has in turn become the first placed in obe-
dlence 10 lis great crntre-thcn stagnant-
then utterly ann!i!ated by the succeeding
wave. This, too, almost in sight OF the pure
and permanent Alps, which stood then as
now the monuments of what human GOV
eminent should he. Vermont, Mr. Chair
man, has been called 1.-THE Switzerland
Of America and Switzerland might
wei! be called the Vermont of Europe. God
indicated the des'inics of both these two
countries when lie founded their mountains.
Some of the speakers have rrectted they
could not 'smoolh down" the Green Noun
tam range and make the centre of the State
level. like their own homes on its borders, |
have no such desire. Let the mountains
stand in Gods name. for it is in His name
that they 4o stand and vii. stand. They
have their functions 10 perform hereafter-
Let us not defeat the objects Of their crea-
ton.
But among tie attractions TO bring US to
Burlington. they present Us the custom house,
HE custom house the avenue through
which for forty years the dominant national
parties have made all their dirty approaches
20 the legislature Of Vermont We do not
WISH CT need 10 be near it and If We were
near it. i; would in NY opinion be one small
reasa:. for rrmovin.. As il now is, the tus-
tom house oiii'ers car, Ike spiders. come TO
us but We can see their coming 1t is bro
,,C>ed that we. like flies, shall once a wear WIS.,
II their h"."'ifu! nn.' e., - y, 30. ,r~
pared to 60. Keep the operations of the two
governments separate; ard do not invite the
dispensers of patronage Of one to become the
chronic and perpetual and established LOBBY
ers of the other.
Bat the gentleman from Westlord has ac-
cu>ed those of the House. who oppose NOV
ing to burlington, of sectional }rejudice.
have wondered that this subject was not ear
lier mentioned in tie debate, but did not
expect it would come from the quarter it does
In" question Is sectional question; it waS
sccti"no' G"c<iion. 6,t"rc HE gentleman trom
WeSJord or any otter membr Of tbs H,use
ros born; and it w1s to oi'ny that Sectionm
.jeslonsy int The Cap'fol u'us locaied here.-
Our ancestors settled on the eastern and west
ern borders of the then called New II1mp.
shire Grants, and tie common dispute with
New York united them in interest and in ac.
ton. They were not. however. so blind as
no: to see that tie great natural feature of
their territory must be respected For long
time. THIS great range OF mountains through
their centre, prevented their having ann Can
'oI. Each year, however, tne disputes for
the locality Of the next session became too
tlresome. and they re>or;cd to an expcdient
They did not cali for "renirulicinq" some
point in their periphery. They knew enough
to know they could not They sought what
was then a little hamlet among the mountains
but on neither side of them. 1t was selected
because it was on neither side \ division of
the range lett it perfect geographical puz-
zle to decide on which side it should be cIassed
How many heart among those wise old men
rtJolced that the mountains, for which the
State had been named, the mountains, hereto
fore a curse, were to be henceforth BLESSING. |
These mountains. into which and not over
which, our lawmakers were to travel, were
to become the centre about which the affec
tons of all Nigh; cluster. They we're care
ful not to wound the pride OF either side
Their Governors were alternately selected
from each. The Senators to Congress, being
only two, were always taken one from each |
side. But in course of time it happened that
the party in power, in looking round among
their deserving men, cast the eyes on one
most deserving of all, the lamented Prentiss.
But he lived in that hamlet among the noun
tam. that ancestral problem, Montpelier
Would it do to call that the east side of the
Is it enough marked in its char
acter to preser, and keep alive the reverence
for that old MEASURE of compromise and
peace ? Suppose they said no what then
could they do with that puzzle of town p
IND what shonld thpv do with Samuel Prem