The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-05-08
cHAMPLAIN MEMORIAL
Controversy Over Location of the
Proposed Monument.

1
There is something of a contro-
versy over the site for the Champlain
memorial as is indicated by the fol-
lowing from the Burlington Free
Press:
Theesteemed Pittsburgh Press
in discussing the location of the per-
manent memorial to Champlain, the
explorer, which has been projected
by the commissions representing the
states of New York and Vermont,
takes the position that the monument
for which the Empire state so large
ly pays. should be placed on New
York soil. In speaking of the locat-
ion from the standpoint of its immed-
late vicinity the Press says:
A permanent memorial to Samuel
de Champlain is assured by the pas
sage of the additional appropriation of
$4,000 for the use of the tercentenary
commission which passed the legisla-
ture last week. Thus far two loca-
tons have been suggested. One, Isle
l. Motto is favored by Mr.. Louis La
Fountaine of Champlain, one of the
members of the commission. Mr.. La
Fountaine claims with truth that the
island was the site of Champlain's
first encampment on the lake and
that the historical associations of the
place are such. as to make the Isle
La Motto site the most suitable and
appropriate. There is. however, what
is to our mind an insuperable obiec-
ton to Isle La Motto as the site for
a memorial erected by the state of
New York. 1t is in Vermont and any
memorial of this nature paid for by
the state of New York should be cree
ted in the state.
The other site proposed is the bluff
between Cliff Haven and Hotel Cham
plain on. the boundary of the summer
school grounds and those of the hotel
company. There is but one objection
to this site and that is that it would
be accessible for only about four
months in the year
1t has been suggested by several
Plattsburgers that monument to
Champlain erected somewere in this
city, say on Trinity park, would be
an appropriate memorial. 1t would
be seen and enjoyed by many people
the year around and be an adornment
TO our city. However, the site sug-
gested at Cliff Haven is an excellent
one and any memorial there would be
visible from both land and lake. 1t
would undoubtedly be an added at
traction to this section during the
summer. a
While the people of Isle La Motto
and of Plattsburgh and of Bun lington
would naturally rejoice to secure the
location of the Champlain memorial
in their particular and respective vic
unity, the people of the states as a
whole are furnishing the money for
the appropriation, and 1t is for the
commission of each state to consider
what location would be most fitting,
all things considered
While we would like to have the re-
suit please our friend. the Hon. \. w.
Fisk of Isle La Motto, who has done
heroic work for the project TO secure
the location of the monument in that
town, to see the monument erected
by the two commissions located in
Burlington, we recognize the fact that
the people of the two states as a
whole are vitally concerned.
The very idea at the basis of me-
mortal to Champlain is to provide a |
structure that will appeal to the eye.
The complement of this idea is that |
the monument or tower or whatever |
form the memorial may take, should |
be located where it can be seen, by |
the most people, other things being
equal
Applying this criterion to locations,
we are constrained to ask how many
neople of Vermont would see a Cham
nlain monument located on Isle La
Motto? How many people OF New
York would see a memorial located
there? The Lake Champlain steam
prs do not run past Isle La Motto, reg
nlarly. and so far as navigation Is
the only craft TO have the
benefit of a light house there would
he the tug boats with tows and the
few sailing boats that move back and
forth ON the lake. Outside OF people
on these two classes of boats, those
who would see the monument at Isle
La Motto from water would be the
of occasional excursions.
Those who would see a monument
on Isle La Motto from land would be
confined to the comparatively few res
lue1lS vi lnC loiohb, anu NAS
ate vicinity on the New York shore,
those who would drive number OF
miles from the Rutland station in the
adjoining town of Alburgh and those
travellers who would catch occasional
glimpses from the Delaware & Hud-
son trains.
So far as the people of Vermont
are concerned, 1t requires only mo-
ment's thought to demonstrate that |
very few of them will ever take the
trouble to journey to the island for
the purpose of seeing the structure
after it is once dedicated, the only
possible part the memorial can play
in connection with the celebration in
July, being the laying of the corner
stone, no matter where it is located.
II the two state commissions de-
sire to unite their financial resources
and erect structure that will be use
full as we'll as ornamental and that
will be seen, 1t should be located on
one of the islands in the broad lake.
Thus located the monument could be