The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1908-09-25
Vest RiUer TOlDns
TOWNSHEND.
THE NEW VERMONT.
Interesting Talks by Supt. Stone and
T. L. Greene.


Owing 10 a change Of plans on ih
part u the speakers, the meeting On !
New Vermont which was advertised 10
hall Wednesday evening. tniartunalel,
the change had not been sufficiently AL
yenis.l 80 that the audience was small
er than Il should have been, II was no
tiocahlc that only one 1T the school III
nciAs had sufficient interest IN TIN
cause ofl education 10 he present,
Rev. Daniel Mointym, town superln
tendent Of schools. introduced Hon, Ma
son :. Stone, state superintendent, whd
said that he was going 10 talk 10 the
new Vermont rather than of the New
Vermont rs the audience was 50 largely
composed of Young people. lie empha
sized the changed conditions in the
state and told how % year, ago a state
superintendent complained because there
wep in the state few schools main
tanned Of less than ~ pupils; while last
year, there We're IN the state over 800
schools Of less than ~ pupils. These
small schools are. he finds, Improbable
because they do not give the pupil a
chance TO measure himself with other pu.
pills and he grows up consequently with
sluggish mental powers. The only posi-.
bile solution Of the present poor school
together TO good graded schools. The ma.
jority Of farmers in the state don't know
grass seed or cows Prof Beach of the
State Agricultural college found in going
about the state that onehalf Of the cows
did not pay for their keeping, one'thipi
barely paid for IL. and only one'thini
were rally profitable The fundamen.
tai error lies In not teaching the boy
about the things he wants To know.
There is need of domestic science for
the girls and manual training and ag'
riculturc for the boys. Unfortunately
the only institution in the state where a
boy could get profitable education has
been the state industrial school Now,
however few schools are following the
example set by other states and are put
ting in departments in industrial train
ing and agriculture. The result Of the
present system is that there is a great
migration from the state because the
boys and girls are not trained TO see the
opportunities At home. The figures
which he gave illustrating this migration
were appalling. Superintendent Stone is
a firm believer in good graded schools
and said after the meeting that therein
lay the salvation of Townshend. He said |
also that it was found that in the towns
in the state where the children were |
carried to a good central school the |
farms had increased in value and, as an
illust ration. told of an instance where a |
back school was closed because the |
building was condemned 50 that the
children were carried for a year TO a
graded school in the village. The farm.
ers in the district were very much Oh.
posed TO this at the time but at the end
of the year. finding how much more the
children learned, voted not to build
in their district. while the
most bitter opponent wrote to Mr.. Stone
and told him that he found that his
theories Were all wrong and that with a
good team carrying the children to a
good school he could sell his farm for
$1,000 more than when there was a school
in the district.
+. l.. Greene, editor of the st. Adams
Messenger, was next introduced by Mr..
Mcintyre. who said that first came the
church, second the school and third the
press as influences for good in the ma
10 destroy the illusion of the pastor but
that if he mad read his Bible as carefully
rs the editor did he would have found
hat one poor woman could not get to
he Master because of the press and that !
he press had been trying to maintain ,
It's reputation ever since. While Mr..
Greene enlivened his discourse with
many exceedingly funny stories he said a
rood deal that was important. He laid
treat stress on the fact that parents I
urned their children over to the teach
r and never crossed the threshold of @
he schoolroom to see what they were
Icing. "lf a man pays $500 for Nor /
an colt he looks about for the best horse \
breaker and then goes every week to see
low the colt is progressing. But babies i
re cheap and can be turned over to the o
'illage hired girl because she is paid SO h
o SO a week and the parents feel no a
Mr. Greene also EN- /,
hasized the mistake in teaching the @
hildren the wrong idea of success. We e
ell them that the successful man is the Y
ian who has made money and who has n
ttained to some high political office,
hus urging them to seek occupations or =.
rofessions for which they have no fit :
ess, forgetting that the highest dig II,
ity is the dignity of honest labor. Let y
boy wait for the call of God and if he i
called to be carpenter or shoe q q
aker, if he excels in his calling, he is
great success as the president of u
lie United States. Both speakers en- :.
nasized the Importance of girls learning "
le practical. womanly arts instead of u
wing for their highest accomplishment = Is
lie making of fudge. -