Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-10-10


I'd to this power development.
The same financial interests, but under
mother charter or organization, are
Making an enormous development OF the
,ower of the Deerfeld river. This ID
the amount of money voted.
also an Interstate river, having It's rise
IN stratton, Windham county, and flow
ng through several Windham and Ben
,ington county towns into Massa-
,husetts. There are planned at least ten
arge hydro-electric developments on
his stream; six Of them are now In
process of construction. The largest Is
, great storage dam and power plant. at
somerset This plant. now in process Of
construction. will flood two thousand
acres OF land to an average depth Of
!orty feet, holding practically the entire
hood waters of the stream, which are
20 be so handled as to equalize the flow
" the stream below. Twelve thousand
horsepower will be generated at the
Somerset plant.
Other plants in Vermont are proposed
20 be located at Wilmington, whiting
lam and Readsboro An enormous ex-
,endture Of capital will be made in the
completion Of the whole project Be-
ween one and two million dollars will,
is said be expended in the Somerset
development alone, and the total de-
ielopments on the stream in both Ver-
mont and Massachusetts,, WILL It Is said,
lost about twelve million dollars. II
reasonable to expect that the whole
oeerfield valley will see tremendous
Industrial growth within the next few
fears.
This Deerf1eld river project Is conserv-
ltion in the most approved way. The
holding of the flood waters in storage
Tor equalizing the flow Of the stream In
ow water periods, is essential to the
BEST development Of perhaps our great
,st natural resource
I have referred to this enormous de-
7elopment in windham county, as 1t has
progressed farther than in any other
part of our State, but similar conditions.
though less in magnitude, are found In
other counties. The hydro-electric pow
or In Rutland county though feebly de-
veloped, is immense, and we have ono
corporation developing and using over
ZOO horsepower annually. and double
this efficiency could be obtained II neces-
hty required. Rutland Addison. Chit
tenden and Caledonia counties afford OPP
portunities for this development. The
spirit of conservation should possess
The people of our State and govern their
sndeavors, II we hope to keep abreast
with the spirit Of progress maintained by
our neghbors. We should not fail TO
conserve and utilize the unlimited adj
vantages 80 readily obtained from the
development and use of our native white
coal found so abundanty upon nearly
every hillside and in our valleys.
would, therefore, earnestly recon-
mend such legislation as will inure to
further development Of this natural
wealth, realizing the immense benefits
to be obtained IL 1t Is properly controlled
and the rights Of the State protected,
Also. to consider carefully some rea-
sonable plan whereby possibly State aid
could be given without risk for the de-
velopment of these storage reservoirs,
looking to the utilization thereby Of the
water powers on the streams further
down. This is a subject worthy Of your
thoughtful consideration. Some action
along this line would be a forward step
and could be used with great force by
our senators and representatives In Con-
RTeSS III ODtdlTlnS national SSsSlStdHCo.
It would make Vermont the most pro-
Eressive of States in the development and
conservation Of her natural resources.
HIGHWAYS
Better highways for our State has al
ways appealed to me as one Of the most
important subjects for legislation. 1t
affects our religious, our agricultural.
educational and social life to greater
extent than any other condition, and II
! am correctly advised our State has ex-
pended on her system of roads during
the last two years about two millions OF
dollars, and the demand for good roads
has been growing rapidly in Vermont for
the past few years and resulted in the
passage of the State aid law in 1906, ap-
propriating $4,000 which was available
to those towns which would vote an
equal amount dollar for dollar" under
certain limitation. In 1908 the appropria-
ton was increased to $4,000 and again
in 1910 to $4,000. The number Of towns
voting and the amount of money voted
for this purpose has increased year by
year, until March 1912 two hundred and
twenty-seven (22O towns voted pract-
cally one hundred thousand dollars.
There has been a steady growth Of
sentiment in favor Of the law as is evil
dent by the annual increase in the num-
Der OF towns availing themselves Of the
act, and by the annual increase in the
amounts voted. the largest increase being
in the year 1912. No better evidence Is
necessary that the law meets with pop
ular approval than this showing OF the
towns. Not single year since its pas
sage has there been any dropping Off in
the number Of towns voting money. nor
The past year, 1911. and this year, 1912,
the biennial term just closing show an
advance in the quality Of work done in
that practically every improvement I'M
der State supervision has been carefully
laid out by an engineer with the idea Of
uniform construction. The gravel road
was assumed to be the most economical
for Vermont to build under present con-
dltions when the law was enacted in 1906
and up to the present time no change
has been made in this particular, save
In large cities In villages and towns
where the traffic Is excessive some Of
the best forms Of macadam construction
have been adopted, with the result that
We nave small mileage Of excellent
macadam road built under State SUPER
vision In the past two years.
1t Is becoming more and more evident
that good earth road properly main
tained Is satisfactory for summer travel,
and that in Vermont more attention will
naturally be paid to roads Of this kind
In the future