The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-06-26
BENNINGTON. VT, JUNE &c, 1913
RURAL DEcADENcE

Mr.. Barss, was reported as declar
| ing in a public speech that Vermont
! is growing worse morally, that crime
is becoming more prevalent, and that
some of the rural districts of Yer
mont are fast falling into moral and
mental decay. Perhaps Mr.. Barss
was misquoted, but much newspaper
comment followed, most Of which ap
peaged to have been written without
any thought of questioning the state
ments made by Mr.. Barss or eXamin
ing the data he presented to support
| them.
While having perfect confidence in
Mr.. Barss honesty, and recogniz
ing his marked success in his pres
ent position, / very firmly believe
that he is mistaken about conditions
in Vermont and is doing the state
and himself an injustice in making
the above statements. The trouble
is that he has jumped at conclusions
is that he has jumped at conclusions
after a brief acquaintance with the
state and a hasty examination of
statistics, without securing any reaI
knowledge of conditions of any ade
quate understanding of the statistics
The foregoing is an extract from
an article in the Randolph Herald
and News written by Stanley c. viii
son, Esq, Of Chelsea. 1t is the opin
| ion of The Banner that in this state
ment Mr.. Wilson is doing an injus
tice TO Supt. Barss of the industrial
school, not Intentionally, but through
Judging from various reports that
have been printed instead of hearing
exactly what Mr.. Barss said
Mr.. Barss has been much misquot
ed on this question. What he has
actually said on the subject has to
do not only with Vermont, but with
all the long settled rural districts,
which have felt the long continued
drain of emigration without any com
pensating return. He has talked to
aid Vermont and to try to assist the
rural towns in overcoming defects for
which they are in no way response
Bile.
The Saturday Evening Post, the
most widely read publication in the
world, in its issue of last week, had
an editorial on this rural town prob
lem that bears out all that Mr. Barss
has said This editorial is as fol
lows:
Towns in the last census period
gained three inhabitants for every
one that rural districts gained; but
all those living in incorporated plac-
es to less than twenty-five hundred in
habitants are classified by the CEN
sus as rural population. The gain in
population, broadly speaking, was
confined to towns Of more than TWEEN
ty-1ve hundred inhabitants; and a
table prepared by the National Fed
Grafton of Retail Merchants shows
more than six thousand country
towns, in eight states, that actually
lost population in the ten years. This
table includes one hundred and fifty
six county-seats in Missouri, Iowa,
Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, out of
a total of four hundred and ninety
county-seats in those states.
This rather extensive stagnation
or decay in country-town population
in that great agricultural region APP
bounded by the Nilsson
ri, Ohio and Hudson rivers is des-
cribed by a correspondent as appall-
ing. 1t certainly indicates that the
country town should take stock of IT.
self.
Several months ago an investiga-
ton of the same phenomenon within
a relatively restricted area led to a
strong presumption of an intimate
between good roads and
country-town population-thoset towns
that enjoyed the advantage of i'm
proved highways tending to hold
their own. or to gain, and those UNI
der the disadvantage of bad roads
tending to lose. For a country town
that depends upon rural trade, this is
the very first point to be consider
ed"
The rural towns of Vermont and
of every other state have a very real
problem through the loss of so many
Of their best and most active and am
bilious young people, and through
the transfer of industrial activity to
larger centers Of population. We
had far better see and recognize this
condition and work to overcome IL
than to shut our eyes IN Snug COM
placency and declare that it does not
exist
Vermont has a large number OF
splendid rural towns and rural com
munities It also has a few that are
decadent. Likewise in some of the
larger and more prosperous towns
there are occasional neighborhoods
that have fallen behind. Isn't it bet