Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1902-05-30
THE COUNTY SHIRE AGAIN.
Question is not What NeWfane Wants,
or What BrattIeboro Wants, But
What the Unprecedented People Of
the County Want Done.

What the Unprejudiced People of
the County Want Done.
Question is not What Newfane Wants,
or What Brattleboro Wants. But What
the Uupre JUDGED People of the County
Want Done.
Editor The Phoenix:-The proposed re-
moval of the Windham county shire to
Brattleboro. There is a familiar sound
to this-so much so that If the name
of Brattleboro had been left out It would
have been recognized just the same. In
view of the fact that an attempt will
again be made. a plain statement should
be made so that the people of the county
may act understandingly.
1t has not been necessary to state
where these projects have all originated.
Sometimes the complaint has been in
adequate public conveyance, sometimes
taking the form of dividing the county,
sometimes for one alleged reason, some
times for another; but whenever and for
whatever reason the scheme, when. run
down or traced out, has been found to
have been fathered in Brattleboro. The pro-
rosal that Brattleboro makes this time,
as The Phoenix has said, is indeed n
notable one. The people Of Newfane
who live within hearing distance of the
court house bell are supposed to be
loval to home interests. Yet one hears
such remarks as this whenever the sub
! iect is brought up: IF the location
should be changed, Brattleboro would
4 have to pay for the new buildings"
one man gives the case away by asking
what Brattleboro would do. and still
others. having I'm mind the axiom that
money talks" are waiting to see which
side of the fence Brattleboro will climb
down on. In a school district in Wind
ham county. before the town system was
adopted. there happened n case where
the principle involved was almost ex-
. Dnt1N tho & = n A = ntaA ,,I 90 a.. at
trict there We're heavier lists and more
children on the farms than at the other
end. The schoolhouse. which was stu
ated ut almost exactly the centre of the
district. was an old one and a new one
was to be built. one man at the ex-
treme end, with the heaviest list and
the most children. offered to give n
building If the house was located one half
mile nearer him. 1t was pointed ont
to that man that though there were
not so many children on the farms at
the other end Of the district at the time
there might he some time: that 1t was n
privilege that belonged to them no less
than to those at his end of the district:
that his offer was a bride and there
fore Illegal. and could not for a moment
he considered; that when the house was
located by the unbiased action of the
inhabitants of the district who were
legal voters in school meeting there
would be an opportunitv for any beuevo-
lent or philanthropic individual to take
hold and lift the debt.
This is not a question of what Newfane
or any other town wants or what Brat
tleboro will do. but what the unpre-
JUDGED people of the county want done.
and I'm the great number of times be-
fore when this same question has been
left to them. they have decided that the
hest way was to let well enough alone"
that whenever money was to be put out
for new buildings or repairs. so far as
the county was concerned. 1t might as
well he put out in Newfane as In Brat
tleboro.
As to the Brattleboro good faith-when
money was being raised to bald the
Brattleboro & Whitehall railroad. New
fame was told by Brattleboro represent
tatives that all Brattlehoro wanted was
easy access to the county buildings. that
a railroad would save time and distance.
and that If this town would nut i'm $25. 900
and the road was built. IT would settle
the question of removal for all time.
one lawyer then from n town IN the
north part of the county d~eplored the
tendency to Capitalization He would not
have the whole of Windham county in
one or two towns. the religion all in
the churches, nor the money all in the
banks. a railroad through the towns Of
the West river valley would arrest the
decline. give stability to the intellectu-
ally and financially heavy men. stimu-
late a constructive policy. and bind the
county together with a band of iron.
What of the heavy men and the lawyer
when the rate of taxation goes up and
real estate goes down? They fold their
tent like the Arab and as silently steal
away, to Brattleboro, or somewhere else.
where the valuation goes IN and the
rate goes down. and now Brattleboro
asks again to have the buildings brought
down. Whatever is done it is sincerely
to be hoped that the good name Of the
county will not be lost. That is to say,
that If the court is removed to Brattle-
boro the manner of the removal may
not be subject of inquiry by said court.
And right is right since God is God.
And right the day must win.
To doubt would be d~isloyalty,
To falter would be sin"
WM. b. SHELLEY.
Newfane. May 20, 1902.