Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1903-10-23
A Good State to Come To.

Some one at some time In the more or
less distant past expressed the sentiment
that Vermont was good state to go
away from and the saying has never
been forgotten. The remark was prob
ably thoughtless, as it was certainly
meaningless. but nevertheless il has
hung over the state like a pail for long
time and its effect has been dire and dis
NAL 1t was a little thing to say but il
has been echoed and re-echoed until il
has become a part Of the gospel of many
a Nermunter who has acted upon his be-
lief ana gone. and of many another also
who has staid at home and spent his
years in thinking what he might have
done somewhere else, to the end that he
failed completely to do anything any
whore.
TINS spirit of dissatisfaction with Yer
mont has stood beside many "A cradle in
the Old state and whispered to this effect
" What "A bright boy he is. and what
man he would make If he only had the
opportunity" or in other words " if he
could only leave Vermont" This same
spirit has stood at the grave. too and told
the mOurnful tale OF what might have
been. Indeed it has been sounded up and
down the Green Mountains So long and
Justify that the Vermont boy of the last
four generations, who was contented to
spend his life in his native state, was one
of the rarest beings to be found any
where. But this is a threadbare story
and ii is unnecessary to tell ii except
that 1t may be contrasted with another
phase of Vermont life which has not been
talked about so freely. but which is all
important just the same BY this is
meant that while a good many Vermont
ers. bright and otherwise, go to other
states, of late years, good many bright
men from other states have been coming
to Vermont to fiji their places
No, these are not summer residents or
city tired men looking for abandoned
farms with old colonial houses in good
repair, and trout brooks that always
yield ample reward TO the fishermen:
rather they are men who know how to
direct modern industries of various kinds
who can build and manage railroads,
harness streams and send power along
the wires to awakening cities and towns
manage great financial institutions, lift
factories out of the Vermont way and
put them in keeping with factories else
where. These are the sort of men that
have been coming To Vermont in generous
numbers of late, and they are here to
stay.
1t may not nave occurred TO Nermonters
generally that many of the most progress
sive institutions of Vermont today are
under the guiding eye of men who have
come from other states or other coun-
thought on the subject will convince one
of the fact
This will mean much for Vermont in
the future, and already it is possible to
see where its effect has been beneficial
1t is teaching young Vermonters the les
son that IL is not wise to walk blindly
over good opportunities at home to search
for doubtful ones elsewhere. The boys
of the state are coming more and more
into contact with these men who have
come to the state with a purpose, who
battle with difficulties and win, who are
willing to work night and day with an
earnest, ceaseless. activity to surmount
obstacles and reach the goal of success.
The example of these men is slowly but
surely permeating a not inconsiderable
part of the life of the state. the rising
generation see them and see what they
are accomplishing, and when a young
man once truly catches this spirit he
knows that Vermont is and will be what