Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-07-05

people Of Wardsboro in accepting the gift
Attorney. General Fitts's Response for
the Town.
l speak in behalf of the people of
Wardsboro; that means more than those
who now abide here; ii means all of US
who are of the town, who have pride in
its past, who have pleasure in its pres
ent and who have faith in its future.
We all of us sincerely appreciate this
generous gift; its substantial worth we
know is very large. The town hall is the
towns home. Here for a century to
come, let US hope will the freemen Of
WardsbOro gather every year to exercise
that privilege which makes men free, to
rule themselves. Here shall be recorded
as the years go by what the succeeding
generations shall do to keep alive the
government. to preserve the order, guard
the interests, the rights and the property
of this municipality. Here, let us hope,
shall be housed a library filled by the
generous action of the town. and by the
bountfu provision Of its sons and daugh-
tiers, with good books; place Of profit
and a source Of pleasure for the boys
and girls and men and women who shall
make this town their home. Here Will be
the centre OF the social life of the COM
munity. the amateur dramatic and the
lively dance. And here will rise odors
from llt pest drawing Odlu 'l Allt--tll'
bounteous suppers which the women shall
serve and the men shall eat.
The cradle OF American liberty was the
New England town meeting. The great
| educating forces for sclt-government
| were the debates and discussions in those
| early days in the town houses of Massa-
| chusetts New Hampshire, Rhode Is
| land and Connecticut. when the Ameri-
| can idea was taking form and shape
Among the earliest republics were the
| little towns of the New Hampshire
| grants all almost in sight Of the high
| hills of Wardsboro, where the yeomen
| met and organized the local governments
| which were within the realms they
| served supreme Within the borders OF
! this county there were at one time towns
| whose town government was the sole and
| the highest authority its people knew.
| The town unit in the constitution Of our
| state was ordained by those who had
| seen or lived under such government as
| that 1t is unshakable and immovable
| as part of our organic law. And so
| the town house is the little capitol. the
seat OF government, and its quality can
not fail to affect the respect and regard
| which the people have for the law and
the government We judge 10y com
| pariSon. So this building is for
| Wardsboro noble in its dimensions,
| generous in its appointments, and worthy
OF the highest civic pride The people
| who live in Wardsboro, the people who
| love Wardsboro. the people who hope for
| the best for its future. are proud Of this
new town hall.
But. sir far and above the material
| munihcence Of this gift We thank you.
| The spirit in which you have given it;
| the example which your magnificent gen
| erositv may serve: the pride IL may en-
| kindle; the affection 1t may awaken; the
| hopes it may revive, are the best
| portion Of this gift In this hour Of
| hope and in the sunshine Of this gem
| crosby We may in retrospect contemplate
what our town has been and has not
! been: what il may and may not hope to
be.
Nature did not endow this town with
great wealth of soil nor riches in mine
and quarry. Hard labor and the sweat
of honest toll has been the price paid
for all the material gain these hills and
valleys have yielded.
| God has not ordained that a great
population shall make their homes within
| these borders. Wardsboro was almost the
| last town in Southern Vermont to be
organized. Her lands were sought only
| after adjoining tracts had first been
taken. The charter of the town granted
by the legislature in 1880 recites that
there is a tract of vacant land within
this state which has not heretofore been
granted" Each proprietor was required
to plant and cultivate five acres of land
and build a house at least eighteen feet
| square within four years after the war
would permit. These same proprie tors
and their grantees followed the custom OF
the time and cleared and settled the
| highest hills. The passing years soon
| removed the cause for such selection,
and time has made the valley rather
than the hill the better and more con-
venient location for the home. Many OF
those early settlements have become de-
serted farms. Old Wardsboro common
on the hill was for more than 90 years
the centre of the town life. SiNty-fouT
years ago the town voted that its meet
| ings should be held in the old church
which stood on this spot. and here they
remained until the condition Of the build
ing forbade its further use, so that in
1856 the West village took the town meet
ing. The town will now by unanimous
voice establish itself here for so long as
these walls shall stand.
| Wardsboro can count now less than one
half the people which was her population
at her zenith in 1910. Hers has been the
! common lot of the hill towns of Vermont
and the prospect might seem gloomy
were it not for the hope engendered by
such acts as this. 1t may be
Her yellow sands are sands alone.
Her only mines are ice and stone"
! but
What her rocky soil denies,
The harvest OF the mind supplies"
t Wardsboro does not raise great crops
e of grain, but she raises men and women
: Free. strong minds and hearts o.
! health"
! Free, strong minds and hearts of health
4 1t has been the lot of the boys and
: girls to be compelled to work. The ef
; forts and the trials which nature ha.
J | imposed have been more to her thar
gold or grain" The same hands which
have cleared these hills and worked these
: farms have built the churches and thu
schools, and the same rugged spirit hal
A supported them.
But nature has endowed our town with
4 richness. Our bracing air our pure wa
Q ter, our wooded hills are mines of health
I of far greater value than mines of wealth
good place to live because here is al
: abundance of what is most worth while
[ You have given us. sir, the incentive t
o appreciate all this, and that is your great
v est gift. The hope of Wardsboro is tina
! those who know IT, her sons and daugh
I ters shall tell 1t, and within these Dor
[ ders there shall come TO live a peopl
n who seek not material gain, but thos
= greatest gifts of God, pure air, pure wa
e ter, contentment and peace of mind Yo'
e have set us thinking that in Wardsbor
II is a good place to live; you have helpe'
= us turn the tide, and we have abiding