The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1889-06-13
A BAD STATE OF AFFAIRS.

In response to letter which some one
living in the West had whitten with ref
ference to the low Price of Vermont
farms, the Argus finds a cause for the
decline of Vermont and the departure
of so many of her people, and especially
of her young men, in the kind of legis-
lation1 in which our wise men in
dulge. We had never thought of it in
this light before, but now that the Argus
has spoken of it we are inclined to think
that it has struck the root of the matter
OF course the Arguss "alludes at what
it is pleased 10 call sumptuary laws.
Never having dit covered that we had
any such laws in the strict meaning of
the term, we suppose the Argus attach
es the word "sumptuary" to any laws
intended to regulate society, and to pro-
tect it against evil influences and forces,
with which it does not happen to be
pleased. OF course it is bad thing to
to live under laws you do not like, and
no man of any spirit will do it, This
accounts for the fact that many men
gain distinction outside of Vermont,
who would have been of no account If
they had stayed here. Our'sumptuary"
laws would have crowded them down.
cut off the avenues through which their
influence would have gone out, but in
the wild, free and lawless West they
could expand, and some of them have
expanded. Without looking back over
our hlstory,no one can tell how the pros
perity of this commonwealth has suffer
ed in consequence of the narrow mind
ed policy of our statesmen. Our legis
lators represents our people. II they
are narrow-minded it is because the ma
jority of their constituents are. 1t is
strange that the great mass of the peo
pie OF state supposed to be as enlight-
ened as we are, should through long
series of years haYe built up body OF
avs that initiates against our own inter
ests. But it seems that we have done
this. It must be that we have been per-
versely blind, and now we are under the
weight of the penalty, We see our
Young men leaving US, yes. entire fami
lies pack up their entire household
effects and move off, rejoicing to escape
from under our ''sumptuary" laws
Mortgages grow on our farms and ouI
farms shrink under mortgages, and Yer
mont is fast reverting to its origina
wilderness state. The last survivors o.
this generation will find themselves
standing in the midst of a vast solitude
unless something is done. And it i.
high time to do something. We must
have legislature that will wipe ou
these tyrannical sumptuary laws. WI
must be able to say to our young men,
please" Our legislation has driven away
smart, capable young men like Joseph
Smith and Brigham Young. II we hae
not been so foolish as to interfere with
the tastes Of young men who wanted &c
marry an entire boarding school, who
knows bat that we might have had the
entire Mormon church among Us. i
may be too late now. II Senator Ed
munds will move out it may be that by
wise legislation we can bring that colony
into our borders. We shall never know
how much we have lost until we bring
about some such arrangements, We
have too many laws that interfere with
the tastes Of young men who would like
to steal and commit forgery and embez'
zle, and do a thousand and one things
to get rid Of honest work, and they leave
us sometimes without stopping to say
kOOl ny w lhCIO ulS
always those who regret their departure
1t would have been pleasant to have had
them remain with us even a few days
longer. But our laws are inexorable
They drive scores of young men away
to seek greener fields and pastures new.
Men no longer young are forced away
from among us. We should like to have
IL oked upon their faces once more, but
the time of their departure was close at
hand. Now, if these restraints upon
freedom of action could be removed we
could retain these men among u.s. They
could go in and out before US. We
should enjoy their society, They could
help develop our resources They would
multiply business. We presume our
temperance laws drive men out of the
state. While they do not impose re-
strIctions upon drinking they are pre-
sumed to make it difficult to find any
thing to drink And so it happens that mer
are driven into Canada, over into New
Hampshire, across the border into New
York. Our narrow-sighted policy clips
the wings of a vast traffic. We have nj
doubt but that if our temperance law;
were all swept away, the tide OF emigra
ton would set towards this state, and il
with these we swept away all other lawt
that somebody" didn't like, we nigh
look for large accession to our popula-
ton. II is true that after while W,
might have state Of society typical t
hell under its best conditions, but these
young men who are obliged to hurry
away could remain with us. Now
Mr.. Valentine no need to spend yea
or two in working up statistics to find 6
remedy for our difficulties. A little re-
form legislation after the Argus ideal
see these things in the same light tina
the Argus does. 1t is strange that thu
eyes of the people of the state cannot b,
opened to grasp" the same view. 1
may be that under the teachings of thu
Argus we shall rise to higher plane, b'
able to take a broader outlook anC
change our legislative policy. In con
clusion, we wish to say that we have
grown into the belief that Vermont is ont
of the NEST wisely governed states OF
the face of the earth. There is no state
where there is greater personal liberty
in every direction except where society
will suffer by the conduct of the indi
vidual. We have lived in the West
come in contact with Vermonters, bu
we never saw one who said that he lef
Vermont to get away from her "sumptu
airy" laws. They almost invariably
looked back with the highest respect fol
that state of society which her methods
of legislation had helped to form. We
venture the assertion that not one in ten
II as many-can be found, of the mer
who left the state to escape her "sumptu
airy" laws would have been Of any worth
to the state had they remained in it
Those who leave the state on account O
her 'sumptuary" laws, are not generally
cordially welcomed in the communiti 4
where they go, when the motive TO
their coming is fully understood
NOrthfeld NeCS.
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