St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-04-14
PRESS COMMENT
Bows and Girls on the Farm.

Life on the farm is growing more
and more worth while in many towns
and several counties in Vermont.
Most people at the southern end of
the state know of the splendid work
for farmers sons and daughters be-
! ing done by the Windsor County Y.
M. G. A. organization. Most of the
counties now have agricultural adj
visers who are spreading the gospel
of new ideas and better conditions
on the farm. AS a concrete illus
tration of what is being done, we no.
ticed an account of what is being
planned in three upstate towns,
Walden, Peacham and Barnet where
effort is being made to organize
Boys and Girls clubs. Clubs are
being organized in these towns to do
work in poultry raising, sewing, gar
dening and canning, and corn and
potato raising. Any boy or girl
from ten to eighteen years old may
enter one or more of these clubs.
The club members may cultivate
either 10 or 20 square rods of land.
Local leaders are needed in each of
the three towns. The Oranges in
those towns are taking an active
part in interesting the boys and
girls, and the teachers and the union
superintendents are cooperating.
Prizes are being offered for the best
display of flowers and the best patch
ing and darning of garments that
need repair, the best calf raised, the
best ten ears of corn raised the COM
ing summer, the best sofa pillow
made, etc. Exhibit days will be
held in each town next September
and the prizes awarded.
Let the good work go on. When
every town in the state gets inter-
ested Vermont will be a better place
in which to live.-Bellows Falls
Times.
The College Grab.
1t became apparent early in the
session of the Vermont Legislature,
Saturday, that the opponents of ed
ucational reform in Vermont would
be successful in defeating the educa-
tional measure based on the report |
of the special educational commits
sion. The combination of selfish |
interests which lined up against the |
measure made it's fate at the hands |
of a body, lacking in forceful lead
ership a foregone conclusion.
But when it appears that the col
leges, not content with the defeat |
of the measure itself, have succeed
ed in increasing the amount of their
subsidies by many thousands of dol
lars at the expense of the states ele-
mentary schools, there comes an ap-
probation of the power and extent
of this selfish and greedy combina-
ton.
Even those who have questioned
the wisdom of cutting off the college
appropriations, balk at the unwar-
ranted increases voted by the last +
The Bennington Ban
ner says:
1.-The Banner has never believed in
cutting off the appropriations for the
three Vermont colleges, but We can
see no justification of an increase
except in the case of the medical col
lege."
mo justification of an increase"
Assuredly not, when the sums here
tofore appropriated for the higher in
of learning have been so
when compared
with the total expenditures for ed
ucation in Vermont.
Especially pertinent in connection
with this matter is the comment of
the Brattleboro Reformer which
says:
"In spite of all the proof that was
produced in support of the statement
that Vermont's colleges were getting
money that ought to go to the support
of the states elementary schools the
legislature increased the appropria-
tions to these institutions, something
like $4,000 being voted to Nor
wich, Middlebury and. the University
of Vermont for the next biennial pc
riod. 1t is difficult to understand
such action by 1aw-mak1ng sbody
whose members are mostly from
towns whose schools have suffered SO
long from the effects of this abnor-
NAL subsidy to higher education"
Referring to the proposed in
creases, just prior to the passage of
the bills, which showed a total of
new appropriations for the institu-
lions of higher learning of $293,OOO,
the Rutland Herald said:
"These figures are simply 1ncred1-
BILE. They point to an audac1ous at
tempt to deplete the state treasury
for the benefit of the higher schools
and colleges, without any special
for the taxpayer and
with no regard whatever for the cry
ing needs of the rural and primary
schools of the state"
Incredible it certainly is that such
should have been successful.
The Standard entirely mistakes
the temper and spirit of fairness and
Justice of Vermonters if indignant
protest does not follow this latest
college grab.-Enosburg Stanard.
Acre-GOVernment
There is no doubt about it, Yer
mont is represented by acres rather
than by men. A towns town
whether it has twenty-five or
thousand and what is more a town is
just as good as a city when it comes
to a seat in the Vermont House. In
the old days when the population was
more widely scattered, and therefore
more evenly divided, the unit of
town representation may have been
fair enough, but it is not fair and
there is no common sense in permit
ting the smallest town to have Just
as much say as the largest city when