St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1914-01-21
PRESS COMMENT


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These Are Only Leaders"
BY invitation through the mail
the Progressive leaders met in Mont
pelier one day last week to talk over
the affairs of their party and make
plans for the future. The question
rising in our minds is this: Who
appointed the leader" from the vari-
Gus communities who met in this con-
ference? Did the rank and file of
the Progressive party have a hand in
stating that these men we're their re-
representatives.? And why was not the
invitation to this conference general
to the Progressives. To come down
to the facts of the case how greatly
did this conference vary from politi-
cal conferences that have been held
in this state for so years by leaders
of the old parties? viii the Pro
gressives of the various commun1t-
les represented as that conference
speak up and tell us whether they
received an invitation or not and
when they delegated representation
to the following men, who adopted
resolutions stating the attitude of the
Progressive party on various matters
of general interest and concern?
Rev. Fraser Metzger of Randolph,
Judge E. w. Gibson of Brattleboro,
DR.. w. j. Aldrich of ST. Johnsbury,
Edward A. Cook of Lyndonville, A..
F. Stone of st. Johnsbury, d. L.
Scott of Hardwick, Andrew j. Eaton
Of Royalton, DIR. Parlin of Island
Pond.
Reports of the meeting state that
Mr.. Gibson will become a Congress
sional candidate from this district on
the Progressive ticket and that DR..
Jackson of Burlington will become
candidate in the first district on the
Progressive ticket.-Orleans County
Monitor.
Town Officers Take Notice.
The last Legislature made some
changes in the laws relative to the
auditing of town accounts and the
time when reports shall be in the
hands of the voters that will necessi-
tate more prompt action on the part
of the town officials than heretofore.
Reports must be in the hands of the
voters at least 5 days before town
meeting and unless the printers are
given plenty of time some towns viii
be in a bad fix. Here are quotations
from the law:
Town auditors shall, at least 30
days before each annual meeting, ex-
anime and adjust the accounts or
town officers, including the account
which the treasurer is required to
keep with the collector, and shall re-
port such accounts, with the items
thereof and the state of the town
treasury, to the voters at least 10
days before such annual town meet
ing. The annual auditing of school
accounts shall be at the end of the
school year only.
''The selectmen, town treasurer,
town clerk, oVerseer of the poor,
road commissioner, school directors,
collector of taxes and all persons au-
thorized to receive or disburse
money belonging to a town shall, not
less than 80 days and not more than
40 days before each annual town
meeting, settle their accounts with
the auditors of the town. '-Brattle-
boro Reformer.
Our Abandoned Acres.
In the ten years covered by the
last census 879,499 acres of cultivat-
ed land in New England were allowed
to go back to the untillable state.
About Sc per cent. of this was in the
state of Vermont, nearly 1 per cent.
In New f1dlIlpSulIC1 anu ONOi IL POA
( cent in Massachusetts, and not quite
| [ per cent. in Connecticut. This land
represented in taxable property over
S17,OOO,O00, but economically speak
ing it meant a great deal more than
that when the fact is taken into con-
sideration that today New England
produces in the way of food prob
ably less than % per cent of what
| her people consume. In food pro-
duction these S79, 499 acres repres-
ented perhaps 38,75O,45G bushels of
cereals valued at over $26, 100000,
or 2O,6SO,00O bushels of corn worth
nearly $24,OOO,0GO, or a hay crop
worth $13, 100000. These S79, 499
acres would have fed over 100000
COWS, would have fattened over $780,
600 head of beef and would have
furnished pasturage for 100000
sheep, facts well worth considering
in this era of high prices.
THE grass growing areas of New
England" wrote President Kenyon l..
Butterfield of the Massachusetts Ag-
ricultural college, ARE unsurpassed
for native power in producing good
hay. Even the hillside pastures are
of superior quality. The Lord intend
ed that in New England there should
be cattle on a thousand hills and it
is only mans fault that there are
not ''@Brattlebo Reformer.