St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1914-04-15
Colleges, immigration
Two Subjects Discussed at Annual Meeting OF ST
JOhnSbury Commercial CIub-PreS. Thomas
and w. w. Husband the SpealkerS-GOOd
Growth of Membership During the
Past Year-W. A. Kicker Elected
President and j. B. Campbell
Secretary.

'The fourth birthday party OF
] the ST. Johnsbury Commercial
Club" as Pres. Fairbanks so hap
PLY denominated it, was held at
Pythian Hall, last Thursday even
ing, and besides the business of an
annual meeting was the occasion of
two very good addresses, one by
President John M. Thomas of Mid
| dlebury College and the other by
Walter w. Husband of Washington,
an expert in the service of the immi-
grafton bureau. Pres. Thomas dis
lrcussed the report of the Carnegie
Foundation on Vermont's educa-
| tional problems endorsing many Oh
its recommendation and taking is
sue with that part relating to the
colleges of Vermont. Mr.. Husband
defined the immigration problem of
the pl esent and told of the possibi-
nUy of getting the real Russian
peasant to come to this country and
settle on agricultural lands.
The banquet was served by Mrs.
Mary SomerviIle and the Pythian
Sisters, and music was furnished by
the male quartette of Grace Metho-
dist church.
The New Officers
The selection of officers was prac-
tically unanimous and they are:-
President, w. A Kicker; vice
president, Robert Mackinnon; sec
retary, J. B. Campbell; treasurer,
c. A. Forrest; auditor, F. G. Mayo;
chairman of the following commit
tees, publicity, F. ]. Babcock; IN
dustrial development, Joseph Fair
banks; legislation and public ser
vice corporations, John M. Allen;
finance, D. d. Bean; municipal i'm
provement, Rev. P. d. Moody; pub
lie health, DR.. VIM. G. Kicker;
transportation, H. A. Stanley; edu-
cation, M. G. Benedict; real estate
and agricultural development, S.
N. Stimson; membership, J. H
Brooks.
The report of the treasurer show
ed the expenses of the club for the
past year to have been $757.15 and
$226.1O in the treasury. Secretary
James B. Campbell read his report
and recited the good work accom-
plished by the club the past year
and paid high tribute to the work
of the president, Joseph Fairbanks.
President Fairbanks returned the
compliment to Secretary Campbell
and thanked the members and
heads of committees who had up
held him in his efforts. He believ-
ed the club should be more thor
oughly organized and there should
be more individual initiative on the
part of the committee men.
A letter from F. H. Brooks who
was away on a business trip was
read by Secretary Campbell. Mr..
Brooks spoke especially of the edu-
cational situation in the state say
ing he believed the Carnegie re-
port would be of much benefit to
the state. He believed our educa-
t1onaI work was made too easy for
The boy. Insead of fitting him to
meet the real struggles of life it
developed a love of ease that is
fatal to real accomplishment. A
good authority had said nowhere
outside the American college was
the boy so free from over work as
in the secondary school of America.
The American boy is about two
years behind the European boy in
education. In Europe it is held that
the boy of 10 is able to do good
work while in America people think
iuO DOV III IL O0SAS " OO POA0Ael0OA
to do good work.
w. w. Husband on Immigration
w. w. Husband was introduced
as of St. Johnsbury and Washing
ton. He first told of the reputation
the club had made for itself even
beyond the confines of Vermont
He also paid high tribute to st
Johnsbury Academy telling how it's
graduates had passed the mental
tests at Annapolis and West Point
when others had failed.
He said the immigration question
was one of the oldest in the history
of America. 1t was hOary with age
when the Monroe Doctrine was
bonn. The railroad, trust and labor
problems are children and tolls
problem a mere babe compared with
it. There has been opposition to
immigration ever since Christopher
Columbus sighted the shores of
America. Each wave of immigration
is suspicious of its successors. The
influx of Irishmen in 1854 was a
cause of alarm, but from 1881 to
1866 thousands of them died for
this country
the character of immigration. From
1919 to 1882 there were over 3d.
100000 immigrants and of these
8786 were from the north of
Europe. Since that time $40 had
come from the south of Europe
Many fear immigration on account
of the racial difference of the i'm
migrants but it is impossible to tell
which is the superior racially
The immigration commission
headed by Sen. Dillingham; worked
four years on the problem and made
a report of Al volumes containing
10000 printed pages. 1t investigat-
ed the charges that the immigrants
are addicted to crime, disease and
1t found they were not
dfoaacod that fhov did mot hoo0ron