St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-10-22
Clean Up Back Farms

The recent murders at West GuH-
ford and Halifax direct attention
anew to conditions in the isolated
and decadent communities in YER
mont. Aside from such moral pest
holes as Fort Ethan Allen and the
foreign quarters in some of the
larger industrial oenters the great
majority of the worst crimes rome
from the isolated and decadent sec
tions of the state. The persistence
with which such crimes occur and
the bad showing such communities
give the statistical information re-
garding the state emphasizes the
necessity of action to correct these
disgraceful conditions.
There are in nearly every town
some, and in a few many, isolated
farms where a few families exist in
decidedly discouraging conditions.
Their homes are anything but COM
Portable, the land they occupy does
not and has not for years given
profitable returns for the little work
they have done on it, and in their
isolation they grow suspicious, dis
couraged and lawless. Their indif-
ference to the minor criminal laws
lead to violation of more serious
laws. The state, need never expect
people living in these conditions to
reform themselves. They lack the
character and the courage to do it.
They do not possess the means to
do it because the sections they oc-
cupy yield nothing more than a
bare existence and people cannot
become respectable unless they can
secure a respectable income. 1t
seems useless also for people living
in more favorable and progressive
sections to undertake to assist these
people to better things so long as
they occupy their present homes be-
cause these sections never have pro-
duced good citizens and there it lit
tie reason to expect they ever will.
The forcing of people to leave
such sections of a town seems
worthy of consideration. Compare
lively small proportion Of the
inhabitants of the state would be
disturbed, the property they occupy
has very little value and the exodus
of people from such sections to bet
ter communities quite generally
leads to an improvement in citizen
ship. The editor recalls several in
stances in his native town where
the most undesirable and immoral
people while living in isolation
have moved to the village or to
prosperous agricultural sections of
the town and become quite respect
able people. Doubtless most of the
readers can recall similar occurrences
and win be ready to believe envir-
onHnent has had much to do with
their moral improvement.
The question how this change can
be forced suggests itself. The land
of these people cannot be condemn
ed unless a law should be passed
authorizing towns or the state to
take such lands for the establish
ment of town or state forests. This
might prove a profitable thing in
the course of years as all these lands
will reforest themselves if given the
opportunity and so increase in value
quite rapidly. Under present condi-
tiOns with every pole large enough
to stand alone cut to help exc out
an existence on these farms they are
rapidly depreciating in value. But
it would take some time to bring
about the changes necessary to use
these lands for public purposes. A
method that might be effective
would be the closing of the highways
leading to these isolated homes un-
less it is a highway necessary for
travel outside tho immediate vici-
nifty Towns should not attempt to
maintain public highways to sections
that cannot maintain the roads or
support their residents in decency. !
1t Is a burden and an expense that
will never give satisfactory returns.
Further towns should not attempt |
to maintain public schools for such
sections or furnish transportation /
to the central schools OF the town.
At the same time the law should be
enforced compelling the children TO
attend good schools. Let these peo-i