The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-01-06
BENNINGTON'S BOOM.
S2OO,OO IN IMPROVEMENTS.

The year 1892 has been the most re-
markable in the history of this Republic
for the prosperity that has attended all
classes of its citizens. President Harri-
sons message quoted the thriftiness of
the common people. The manufactures
has been busily employed, and the whirl
of the busy factory wheels has called for
the employment of thousands of labor
ers at the highest wages the world has
ever known. The farmer has been blessed
with good crops and the advantage OF
an excellent home market, made possible
by the industries at full play, has enabled
the foundations of wealth to continue
prosperous with the whole.
While this is true of the United States
at large it is essentially the fact relating
to Vermont. The tendency of late has
been return to these Green Mountain
hills and valleys. The income from cap
ital invested here, the wages received,
the profit attending farming are equal
if not larger than In most OF our sister
States. iii this connection the advantages
of the Vermont faI mer and laborer, es-
I pecially the former, are not to DO lost
sight Of, We find our ideas expressed in
/ the words of another, with the added
! force of las Others see u.s." as follows:
mont farmers is largely misleading or
false. Go into their homes and see for
Yourselves. You will find books and
newspapers and nice furniture. The
daughter has piano or organ and is sent
to the best schools The wife has sew
inc machine and all modern aids IN labor
saving The son may be in college in this
State or elsewhere. The father has many
| l. e Ii, i hn nj
goes to town with a slick span of horses
and fine turnout He makes money,
too, and the mortgages are disappearing
fast He has thousand and over ad-
vantages of home not found in the city.
And best OF all, he is happy. He avoids
the rush and uncertainty of the city's
bitter competition; he is sure of good
living, he is prosperous and fast becom-
ing more so. Best OF all, he is independ-
ent.H
If these things are not evidence of the
iustness of Republican rule, thai has
brought about this era of prosperity and
made such conditions possible since the
war; pray what is testimony to the trnth
of any proposition good for if this is not?
But is was of Bennington, its bones
! and people, that we set out to write.
Historic Bennington, rich in ancestral
associations, famed in story, a grand
place for home and contentment amid
| its later industrial and educational adj
vantages, made possible by the growth
of its manufacture its increased popu-
lation and material wealth. And first,
we assume that a substantial increase of
means is at the bottom of this rapidly
growing town. The National Banks are
in an equally prosperous condition with
the boom" that is patent to every eye
that looks out upon our town. They all
declare good semi-annual dividends,
carry nice sum to surplus, and still
| have a snug number of dollars of undi-
vided profits. This may all be, says
the skeptic, this is evidence of the man
ufacturers' and business mems prosper
| ity. All right, how about the Savings
Bank, the financial thermometer of the
wOrkingmen and laborers of bennington?
1t was only a short time ago that the de-
posts were about S250,000. During 1892
these deposits increased more than S5O,-
600, until to-day the aggregate is S375,
600. This large and increasing sum rep
resents the poor mans" hoard in our
town. We believe an equally good show
ing could be made for Rutland, Burling-
ton, Brattleboro, or any other of the Yer
i
Moreover the $4,000 increase in deposit.
ed savings represents a very small or
comparatively no increase in the total
number of depOsitOrs-it proves that
Bennington people from the lowest to
the highest are comfortably well-Off un-
der Republican National and State auspi-
ces. The Savings Bank declares its two
per centum dividend, semi-annually, hav-
ing never passed dividend during its
fifteen years of existence, and with its
additional reserve fund of from eight to
nine thousand dollars, all safely managed,
with the interest scattered around in
these homes, no wonder wOrkingmen can
build residences as recited belOwl No
wonder capitalists see here a good place
to invest money, like Mr.. II. w. Putnam
and others! No wonder the boom is on !
Bennington village with 5000 inhabi-
tants Gncluding the town some 1900,
building homes at the rate of nearly fifty
per year, and a surplus laid up of S375,-
000-well this is better record, young
man, than that Western Paradise (?),
Horace Greeley told you about several
years since, can maintain under like nor.
NAL conditions.
In the line of manufacturing or indus.
trial increase Bennington shows well.
There is hardly mill in town that has
not made additions to its quarters. The
Lasher Stocking Companys enlarged
plant took possession of its fine new mill
early in the year. The Bennington
WOOlen mills increased their capacity
twenty per ceRttm, and but for the un.
certainty attending change of policy
heralded by the election would have had
machinery in the "sheds" running in
1893. The attitude of the firm now, like
all others, is that of running on orders
and awaiting the policy of the incoming
Democratic administration. Thus has
the election, which promises an entire
reversal Of the tariff legislation of the
past thirty years, had already the effect
here to postpone an Immediate doubling
up of the business of one of our larger
industries. The addition of 36xl00 feet
three stories, to the old Booth" mill
owned by Holden, Leonard & Co., and
occupied by VIM. Campbell as a knitting
mill, begun last fall, will be erected thi.
year. The frame is all ready 60 90 up
This will double the capacity of the mill
There has been quite a large addition
erected to the Cooper mills and the
whole mill will soon be running. There
is not knitting mill IN town that has
not increased its output; and part Of
the year the Valentine mills run a nigh
J and day set Of operatives.