Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-03-30
Startling Conditions at Yer
montS Back Door.


before there is a much greater Yer
mont; the state cannot expand and
grow to any extent under such con-
ditions an pictured in an address at
St. Albans by Mr.. j. N. Barss, su-
perintendent of the industrial school
at Vergennes Mr., Barss is in posi-
ton to know we'll the things OF
which he speaks and his very un-
pleasant view of conditions in the
rural districts might be denounced
as defamatory if he spoke with less
authority.
Here are some of the more start
ling statements made by MIR. Barss
With my present equipment. / can
turn out more criminals from my
schools than you can make on your
streets
Grimes against the person are
increasing in the state while crimes
against property are on the wane.
Since the repeal of the prohibition
law there are many more legal evil
dences of intoxicatjon.
The increase in the number Of
criminals III the state is out of all
proportion to the increase in popula-
ton.
Regarding the statement that the
institution at Vergennes could turn
out more criminals than the streets
could produce. Mr.. Barss explained
that lack Of room there prevented
any division of the different classes
of inmates, a fact which worked
strongly against efforts for good
The rural districts of the statel
present condition not unlike that
in the Carolinas, and feuds, on u
smaller scale. exist, even as they do
among the mountaineers of the
South
The best blood OF the state has
gone to build up the other states oi
the Union and as Il result the stand
ard in Vermont is becoming lower
in corresponding degree,
Mr. 3arss seems to note the loss
of {" the best blood of the state" with
some regret, while occasional apollo
gists for present conditions have ex-
pressed MUCH pride in what Vermont
has done toward the building of the
nation by sending her sons into
other and more hospitable and better
rewarting fields of work.
A lew more counts in Mr.. Barss'
indictment
Some of the public schools are
breeding places of social vice and in
one schoul of the state one Of the re-
auirements of new members OF a
school society was the violation OF
the moral rule
The native born are indulging in
race suicide.
The feeble minded members OF
society are multiplying by leaps and
/ bounds.
1t is very bad state of things that
Mr.. Barss finds in the back towns OF
the state-hotbeds OF vice, he calls
though we might urge that
feudists of the picturesque and
deadly type. such as the Aliens Of
Virginia, are very rare here, as they
are uncommon even in the South.
The rural districts also offer one
most unusual fact. namely. that the
percentage of weak minded children
entrusted to Mr.. Barss' charge is
| higher among the commitments from
the hill towns than it is from the
cities This is condition not gen.
orally met with by the investigators
The so-called divorce evil should
cause less concern than the marriage
evil, Mr.. Barss thinks. Divorce is
perhaps more of good than an evil;
| it is largely the result of lax mar
riage laws, and there will be greater
progress when the state pays more
attention to the latter and less to the
divorce statutes.
The superintendent of the indus
trial school takes very little stock in
capital punishment, looking upon it
as farce, useless in its force and as
an example. and in no way potent to
bring about lessening of the crime
OF murder. Murder has as it's cause
something liz the human animal
which the killing of another cannot
cure
Superintendent Barss would. if
possible. create powerful public
opinion that would do something to-
ward bettering the frightful condi-
tions of which>he has told. He wants
more money for the cause; he advo-
Gates the establishing of a state farm;
A. oraa,;nn nf n atata rrohation Off