The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1914-08-04
vermOne and Waterways

Says the Rutland News: the lieut.
enant governor of Vermont, Frank Il.
Howe, of the Bennington Banner, had
the honor of being quoted in the nat.
ional house of representatives the
other day by Congressman J. Hamp-
ton Moore of Pennsylvania. The
house was considering the important
question of reclamation projects and
the Pennsylvania representative was
adducting proof that even in the east,
with all of its large cities, there are
hundreds of thousands of acres Of
land within easy reach of the centers
of population that can be made pro-
ductive by irrigation and other me
thods of reclamation.
Lieutenant Governor Howe attend
ed at Jacksonville, Florida, last No
vember the convention Of the Allan
tic Deeper Waterways association
and it was the following extracts
from his address at that convention
that the PENNSYLVANIA congressman
quoted in confederation of his own
contention:
Both Vermont and Florida are
states of few cities. The great areas
of Vermont are made up Of land
which is only partially developed,
land which is only giving a part of
wha. il ought to produce. You have
all heard about the abandoned farms
or New England. Now, as matter
of fact, there are very few farms In
New England that are absolutely de-
serted. but there are thousands and
tens of thousands that produce only
fraction of what they ought to give,
because of sloth and inefficient own
ership.
I'm Florida you have much the
same condition, though you may call
il by different name. You have
scratched the earth in few garden
spots like Lake Helen. Hastings,
Fort Lauderdale, and Miami, Of which
we often hear, and in other places
the names Of which are not so fami-
liar to us in the north; but all around
these garden spots you have areas
just as fertile, waiting for the hand
OF labor ANA business Judgment to dc
velop them and bring forth their in
crease.
I've mont is in prccisely the same
predicament. Vermont produces
more corn per aero than Illinois.
more wheat per acre than Minnesota,
more apples per tree than Oregon.
more butter per COW than Iowa, and
vet Vermont farms go begging at
from SIS to SIS an acre
q havo spoken of Vermont and
Florida, but privately and conhden
TALLY want to tell you tina. the Same
condition exists in every eastern
rtatc. You have got your citios;you
are proud Of their progress. But in
order TO develop the country and
make IL progressive as whole, and
make it do what il ought to do, you
have got to reach these back areas.
these areas which are not doing
what they ought to do in adding to
the prosperity and progress Of The
United States. You may say that all
this has no part in waterways con
ycntion, but it has. You may say
that the cattle grower from Kissim-
mee cares nothing about the Rertln
canal; you may say the toilcr on The
Hudson river or in the Connecticut
valley or the Merrimac valley knows
or cares nothing about the toiler on
the James. Perhaps once he did not.
but at this time he does, for the com
pletion Of this waterways system is
OF interest to every citizen OF every
state
Every state is a partner OF every
other state in the progress OF cur
country The complexion OF this p o.
posed Atlantic waterways system viii
not only save our people millions in
transportation charges, il Will add
millions OF wealth through the derol-
opment OF our fertile areas. l. win n.
crease by millions the value OF our
real estate. and 1t win save thous-
ands Of human lives now lost en- our
wind-swept ana treacherous coasts.