The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-01-16
THE IMMIGRATION BUREAU.
COMMENTS OF THE PRESS.

COMMENTS OF THE PRESS.
Some Late Comments on the NJ rch Talked
of Scheme to Re people our Green Hills
and Productive but Unoccupied Farms.
From large number of extracts, aside
from those published on our outside
pages to-day, we take the following as
showing the drift of newspaper opinion.
The american of Waterbury, Conn,
the editor of which has relatives in
SALISBURY. has this to say "The re-
port that the deserted ancestral farms OF
Vermont are being offered to foreigners,
especially Swedes, for nominal prices in
order to repopulate the State and revive
its agricultural wealth and productive
ness, appears to have reached the ears of
the prodigal sons of Vermont who are
scattered throughout the West. The
news seems to have rekindled the flick
ering flame of home-love and to have
developed the germs of home-sickness,
aided, perhaps, by jealousy Of foreign
acquisition and by the stings of am6i-
ton as yet ungratifed in their Western
wanderings. At any rate Mr.. Valentine,
State Commissioner of Immigration for
scheme for re-peopling the State, says
that he is receiving letters from these
absent sons in all parts of the West, who
express desire to take advantage of the
liberal offers of cheap farms from SO to
So an acre, and desire information as to
the methods to be pursued in obtaining
the privilege. They seem to smell the
flavor of fatted calf in the homes they
Hoh hn
a flavor rendered exquisite by the mag
inings which inconsistencies stimulates
and by appetites sharpened on the husks
of Western adversely Probably homes
will be furnished for such of them as
meet the conditions of this generous
land distribution, but meantime the
work of colonization among the Swedes
is going steadily on, and an agent will
soon go to Sweden to bring over a num-
Der of families already provided for and
located"
The Springfield, Mass, Union believes
in this connection in "giving the boys a
chance,n and argues: "Perhaps enough
has been said in regard to the alleged
decline in farming, but one cause of in
jury to the farming interests has been
ignored, which is the illiberal policy so
OllCuSu pulouCu ny idihCl w" diu h'o
sons. Many man has wondered at the
aversion to farming In his family, I'M
conscious of his own agency in produc-
ing it. Upon the Eastern slope of the
Green Mountains is an elderly man of
excellent character and INTEL gence, who
owns the large farm which he inherited
land one adjoining, which he bought.
As his boys grew up, instead of giving
hap Of h,,u -
ownership earlier than the Probate
Court would authorize, he has kept
everything in his own hands and left the
boys the dignity and privileges of hired
men or tenants. The result is that one
son is mail agent in Western State,
another druggist still farther West, |
and third the driver on small stage
route not far from home; while the
father is declining with the farms and
investing his moderate surplus in mort
cages on Western farms instead of i'm
provements on his own. The summer
tourist, seeing the tired look Of the
premises, falls to morali2ing on the I'M
profitableness of farming, and to preach
ing a sermon on the tariff, while the
neighbors know the real cause"
The New York Tribune discusses the
question as "a story with moral in
these words "Vermont woke up one
morning several years ago to realizi-
tion of the painful fact that large por
ton of her farming territory was de-
serted. What to do she didn't know.
Her farms were therein the thought |
full language of an ex President of the
United States, the soil remains'-but
of what advantage are farms without
farmers 7 Vermont proceeded to try a
number of schemes 10 supply the farms
with farmers, but none Of them proved
satisfactory, At length, the other day,
she said to herself 4: 1 will advertise.
Advertise she did, and what was the re-
suit ? Why it is stated that already
several Thousand letters have been re-
ceived by the Commissioner of Agricul-
ture and his assistants from every sec
ton of the United States, making irqu.
ry concerning unoccupied lands in Yer
mont. Several sales of the lands in
question have been made o former YER
monters now in the West and to citizens
of the State This is true story, and
it carries an important moral, TO wit
1t pays to advertise"
That there is substantial reason TO be-
lieve that good found ton lies back of
the ''adyertsing scheme" we quote the |
american MdchiniSt which says tina
there Is hardly limit to the wealth de-
veloT ment that may be made in YER
mont granite. Yet granite is only one
point OF richness in Vermont resources. |
After few millions more have been |
sunk in Western mortgages and "wild- |
cat" booms Vermonters may give little |
of their attention to the great business |
opportunitiet that lie right under their |
noses.
The Providence, r. l., Journal can
see nothing but the GUNNER boarder"
in our attractions, but we give the re-
mark as a contribution to contempora-
neous history. 1t says: "VermoDt's
Commissioner Of Agriculture is sending |
out maps like Western land agent, to |
show the amount of unoccupied land IN |
the State, and the cheapness with which |
a farm can be bought. Nevertheless, il |
is doubtful if there ia much agricultural |
immigration into the State, except for |
the cultivation of the summer boarder."
10 the same vein Of thought we give
an excerpt from one of our State ex-
changes, whose bushes we spare |
Neither the Rhode Island nor the Yer
mont Editor had read up intelllgently |
on this subject-hence the skepiicism
and general IDaccuracy Of their state
meuts commissioner Valentine has
lust issued a map of Vermont, with
heading printed 10 Swedish, for general
circulation among the Swedish people. |
Every town that has over 1000 acres of |
land lit for sale at the price Of from
&3 to So per acre is colored red. The |
capital of Vermont is marked as
abandoned" land, 90 are more than half |
the towns 10 the State" The Vermont
editor who does not know that sixty
towns are not "more than one-half the
towns in the State" should go to a pri- |
mary school. The dig" at the capital
ia local controversy and has for it's
foundation the fact that the name
nMon,pelier" on the map runs over into
an adjoining town which is colored.
THE capital is an incorporated village.
The Vermont Standard at Woodstock
states an important fact, which is peril
nent IAN interesting fact has come
ont recently and opens the eyes Of our
Western neighbors. It is shown that
tbs dairy products Of Eastern Vermont