The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-04-02
A GLIMPSE Ar soUrnERN VERMONT

A GLIMPSE AT SOUTHERN VERMONT
1t is a fact which every one who Ia
paid a reasonable thought to the histOr
of Vermont for the last half century, tina
it has been believed that other section
of country have presented better iuducC
! ments to the young man to establis
himself in business than have been SUP
= posed to exist here amid the Gree
Mountains of our own loved Common
wealth.
1t seems to be an impcrfection in hu
man nature to reach out and beyond on
immediate Surroundings to obtain bless
ings which exist within our own imme
diate grasp.
To such an extent have the sons o
Vermont been actuated by desire t.
improve their condition that they have
failed to appreciate the opportunities by
which they have been surrounded in the
home of their childhood.
As result Vermont is represented il
every State and Territory in the Union
in the person of her children, and WE
might say that her representation is
carried into every land and every cline
of the great inhabitable globe.
Among those who have left theiI
native State may be counted many who
have secured prominent positions in the
communities where they have chosen to
cast their lot, OF the representative men
who have figured in the grand drama of
life for the last half century many look
back to the Green Mountains as the
home of their nativity.
If the brain and Drawn that has been
| s,,f. s
porous communities in other sections of
country by the sons of Nerm lnt had been
expended in developing the natural re-
sources which exit here, our present con
ditiOn would have been vastly changed
for the better.
| Another movement has had tendency
to not only retard, but TO cripple the
business interests of our own State, and
that of the whole of New England. Trust
companies have been formed, and our
savings bands, instead of being made
subSCrvient to the purposes for which
they were erected, have been made the
instruments of gathering up the capital,
that has been needed to secure prosper
GUS condition of business at home, to
send it away to develope the natural re-
sources of distant sections of our cOun-
try, both West and South.
Our capitalists too instead of using
their means to build up the business in
terests where they reside, or beau;ify che
localities in which they live, thereby
presenting inducements for cur young
men to remain at home to create q great
er prosperity, have sought investments
abroad with the expectation of receiving
a higher rate of interest
~ stspl IN pytapt has tba cririt pf
wild speculation fastened its fangs upon
the capitalists of the East that in many
cases they have lent their money and aid
in building up and booming Western
towns and localities, paying little regard
to the character of their securities.
The time is coming, and | believe it is
near at hand, when the bottom will fall
nut of all these wildcat schemes. and
many an Eastern investor who has been
looking forw ard to the time when e
would take his place among the million
lheS, will find i, securities worthlcs S,
md by sad experience he will find that
in the words of DR.. Franklin ''he has aid
90 dear for his whistle"
To stop the flow of money from the
East to the West and South, and check
the tide of emigration from our midst
hat was annually draining our State OF
its capital, and of the quick and active
blood of our young men, happy thought
seized upon The Legislature of Vermont
ut its session in 1888 which eliminated
N the passage of the act creating tie
Agricultural and Manufacturing Com
mission.
When that act became law | consid-
cred it one of the most benefcient acts
chat had characterized the proceedings
of our Lcgi stature for over twenty years.
and thought the Guvrlnor was most
Iappy in the selection ola Commissioner
10 I'M the position and carry out the pro.
visions of the law in the person of the
Hon. A. b. Valentine.
You may Judge therefore of my disap-
pointment and chagrin when the Legis-
aturc Of 1890 repealed that law and mur-
Tered the commission.
We were Just beginning to realize the
benefits of Mr.. Valentine $ efforts for the
welfare of the State when in an unpro-
pitious hour those to whom we had con-
idcd the trust of making the commission
more eifectual in the future, through
false views of economy, repealed the law
and slaughtered the commission.
Through that unwise move it is left to
The citizens of Vermont to take up the
work where Mr.. Valentine left it, and
either by individual or organized effort
secure to the State the benefits for which
the benefcent act of 1883 provided.
Although there are many sections Of
Vermont which hold out great induce
ments for the investment of capital, and
for those seeking homes, | believe the
statement made by Mr.. Valentine in a
recent correspondence which | have had
with him is correct-"that there is no
section in the State that offers greater
inducements than yours"
While the natural resources of the
Deerlield Valley have been abundant and
numerous for the building up of large
enterprises, the capital has been lacking
necessary for such a purpose.
The inhabitants have constituted a
farming community, and, outside of the
manufacture of lumber, but little has
been done in the way of manufacturing
until within few years.
Those manufacturing interests that
have been built up in the past. have been
the result of efforts put forth by those
who have come from abroad, induced
hither by our unsurpassed water power
instead of being established by our ma
|
The natives have attended to their
| farming interests, and the business of
stock raising, and have manifested but
little regard for enterprises of manu-
featuring nature.
The loOing of their cattle, the bleating
of their sheep, scattered up and down
our hills and through our dells, and the
music Of our water alls have been suiii-
cient to insure spirit of contentment
when coupled with the blessing of q rich
and abundant harvest.
They have cared but little for the hum
of machinery, or for those more active
enterprises which if established in any
community have q tendency to bring
its inhabitants into q more sensible
touch TO the outside world.
Therefore the inhabitants Of the Deer
| field Valley in years past have had no
community OF interests with manulac-
turing concerns that hlyc been estab
| iShed in thei mid,t.
But within the last jigh, years all those
things have been cnG n ed. A new gen
er ltiOn has grown up, and, becoming ac-
q tainted with the principles that under
lie the prosperity of other localities, the
inhab ants of the Decriicld Valley have
not only become willing but anxious to