The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-09-18
A Leading state Industry.

Is starting up about now, after a three
months shutdown. The busy hum is |
again heard In the many factories |
all over the state The
operatives bend to their task, while !
the overseers direct work and main
tain discipline. The streets are filed !
betimes at the hours when the factor
les open and close. and a pleasing
sight 1t is as those engaged troop by.
Unlike other manufacturing concerns
these mills depend almost wholly up
on child labor and there is In this
case no ban upon It, One will look
in vain to see raw material" and
finished product" passing in and out
of these factories, as we commonly
understand those terms. Yet, year
after year. these mills run with clock
like regularity, and while we see no
tangible output" we know that 1t is
there as we'll as II great masses of
complicated machinery were loaded
upon the cars as the result of the
thought and the work and the capital
lavished upon its making.
We refer, of course, to the educa-
tional industry. whose mills and fac
tories are the hundreds of schools,
academies and colleges scattered
over the state; whose overseers are
the teachers, instructors and profess
sors whose operatives are the thou
sands of boys and girls of school age;
whose raw material" Is the uncul-
tnred mind. and whose finished pro
duct" is that same mind trained and
| fitted for the needs of life by years
of toll. One industry theprocess of
educating the young surely is. And,
with the exception of very few. such
as the Vermont Marble company,
the Central Vermont and Rutland
railways, and perhaps one or two
more, 1t outranks all single industries
in the state Even these 1t greatly
exceeds in the number OF persons en-
Jagged. Further, 1t is a striking ex-
ample OF public enterprise carried
on by government in behalf of the
people. paying no money dividends,
but giving value for value-wisely,
economically and successfully con-
lducted.
| AS to it's magnitude, here are a
few figures. II costs directly to run
the public schools of Vermont over a
million and half dollars each year.
lOf this amount, $S66,20418 was paid
the teachers In 1909-1910. The state
contributes from Its treasury In one
lway or another for the public schools
1885, 1897. The towns and districts,
llevying an average tax OF So cents on
a grand list Of 5000. 141.75. raise ST.
l122,558.70, and from these two
sources, with some other items OF in
leone, the current expenses Of Yer
lmont's public schools are met. This
does not take account of the many
thousands OF dollars raised annually
to add to and improve school property
whose total valuation in the state is
now estimated at $3.776.465.92.
There are 2,4S9 public schools IN
vermont. This number includes u
high schools, Is academies and 69i
graded schools (separate grades). In
all OF these schools no less than 3,
257 teachers are employed, or more
persons than any single manufactur
ing industry or railroad in the state
has on it's payroll. or pupils there
are 66.616. or about as many as Lees
larmy numbered In soldiers at Gettys
burg. The high schools have 1861
students and the academies 1850.
These figures relate only to the
public schools OF the state In add
Ition. there are the three colleges, Il
1.-THE support OF which the state con
tributes very heavily. These had II
1910 total OF l24 professors and /,
! 1904 students. Nor do they includ,
the state normal schools, wholly sup
lported by the state, which had in 1911
about 21S students; nor the State In
Idustrial school at Vergennes; the az
: ricultural school at Lyndonville the dc
: UNCONVENTIONAL schools like Goddar,
! and Montpelier seminarles. nor tn
largely attended parochlal schools an,
Z college maintained by the Roman Cat
hollc diocese. II one were 10 gathe
up the complete educational statistic
OF Vermont II would be found tina
there are fully 1000 instructors, 70
900 pupils and students, an annual e,
pendlture OF over two million dollars
while six millions would not NOR
than represent the investment 4
4 school and college property. This
}. not half bad for poor. rundown
, "decadent" commonwealth. II mean
that each ordinary sized family
paying $50 year In taxes and tut
/. ions to support the cause Of eduoatio
II means that the cost OF instructor
the young from the primary grade
n through to the end OF the COLES
course costs on an average about 81
per pupil per year.
Vermont has taken long stride
forward recently In the betterment
o her educational system and few,
y, any, states are more progressive. ST
has some problems not yet worke
out, like that OF the rural school. HI
II high schools and her 697 grade
schools are doing splendid work. HI
colleges amplify and supplement In
commendable degree The who
system complete Ia one that we mi
n point to with pride as leading
dustry" OF our state.-Randolph He
aid and News.