Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-05-20

public opinion of the citizens OF the
State as unit with the force and effect
to which such solidlfled opinion Is en-
titled. In matters of broader territorial
importance it should be possible to present
the crystaized opinion of tho citizens Of
the larger territory In the same manner
and the machinery which makes 1t
possible to collect and cystalize public
opinion should furnish the facilities for
disseminating valuable Information upon
which sound conclusions may be pre-
dcated. To take n single illustrations:
In dealing with the railroad situation.
New England should approach the mat
ter as a unit and in that spirit of fair
ness which Is the necessary result of a
recognition of the fact that the interests
or the railroads and the people are
identical. that while the railroads have
an equitable interest in the property
which they own and the business which
they operate. in the last analysis the SER
vice, which is the essential thing, Is the
property Of the people and according as
that service is good or bad the people
gain or lose
In New England, our greatest mistake
has been our lack of attention to our
agricultural development In tho mast
when the lure of the virgin soil OF the
west robbed us of many Of our most IN
dustrious and progressive young men,
our FARMS became neglected, our farm
ing methods became unbusinesslike. and
We have had the spectacle of hundreds
OF unproductve and abandoned farms IN
a section whose soil under proper treat
ment is capable Of a degree of prod,ctiv-
ity which, except for the staple crops
requiring large acreage, is uneolaIled in
any part of the United States II ia CO.
operation upon tho part of business men
and farmers that is leading us to n new
era in the agricultural life OF New Eng
land, that Is leading to the adoption OF
modern scientific methods that is bringing
about conditions in our rural communities
which make the life attractive there and
which will, at no distant date, place New
England in the economic position which
she deserves"
RI RAJ NEW ENGLAND DYING.
Mr.. Scheuerle said in part:
In Massachusetts there are lbs towns
that have decreased in population from
1869 to 1910 with n total decrease of 81 ,453
In 1860 there We're 2,155,5l2 acres of i'm
proved farm land under cultivation In 1910
there were only 1,64l.5m acres of improved
farm land under cultivation To make
the situation still worse the land that is
still under cultivation is not producing
as II used to produce. There are many
counties in which the average hay pro-
duction is from Ia to | 1-3 tons per
acre 1t ought to be over two tons per
acre In the last % years COWS de-
creased in the State of Massachusetts
from 2to,Gs to 15l276. Thus the economic
depletion is found more serious than that
of the population.
The situation Is indifferent in the other
New England States For instance. in
Vermont there are $50 towns that have
lost in population; from 1860 to 1910 the
total loss was 57,72s In 1860 you had O.
S2' l57 acres Of improved farm land under
cultivation and in 1910 you had i,G33. 80
To make matters still worse it Is found
that the educational, sanitary, moral So
cial, and religious conditions are declininl
more rapidly than the population and the
economic resources of these rural dis
tricts. And this decline has accelerat ted
with each succeeding decade so that it
has been more rapid and more serious in
the decade between 1900 and 1910 than any
previous decade. In the face of such a
serious situation it is absolutely true that
rural New England is dying faster and
faster with each succeeding decade
INDUSTRIAL WEAKENING.
AS rural New England dies indus
trially New England is Weakening Lead
ing manufacturers in New England have
told me repeatedly that the competition
of the Middle West and the South is
becoming keener and keener and it is
a serious question whether New Eng
land will be able to maintain her indus
trial supremacy. In New England we
must import the raw material, then man
ulacture 1t and then export IT. Now in
Massachusetts, We already have to import
10 per cent. of the food that we eat
Ihis compels us to go TO the very heart
OF our industrial competitive territory,
buy the food for the price that their
labor Will pay for it, then add a series
OF commissions and freight for extra
handling and also for distribution. Thus
the cost of food and the quality of food
present serious handicap to New Eng
land Industries. as the cost Of manu-
facture Is largely determined by the cost
of labor and the cost of labor Is largely
determined by the cost of food
I'm 1910 Massachusetts created a COM
mission on the high cost of living and
on the manufacture Of materials. II
made survey of the difference in the
cost Of food in different sections of the
United States and it was found that the
cheapest that a laboring man could pur-
chase steak in Detroit was Is cents a
pound and In Boston % cents n pound:
that potatoes were 70 cents a bushel in
Detroit and GO cents in Boston, and so
ON. all along the line. If New England
Is to maintain her Industrial supremacy
she must raise enough food to feed her
people
III Is, moreover, found by students Of
sociology that about 90 per cent. of tho
most successful men in business, poll
tics the church and the life of the ma
ton have come from the farm or were
born upon the farm For instance, in
the book Who's Who" there are 80
names of every 10000 people in the State
OF Rhode Island which is strictly urban.
vermont registers 1O1 to every 100000 in
habitants and Vermont il practically
rural. Washington GLADDEN. found that
30 per cent of the leading citizens OF
Springfield were born upon the farm or
came from the farm. With this depletion
and the deterioration of rural commune
ties there will inevitably come a deter
ioration of the race and life of the ma
tion itself
Along with increased production
must come the introduction of better
business methods among the farmers
Business efficiency has been intro