Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1916-07-28


their state, as some appear to think,
Just because it is theirs-iust because
it produced them. OF course man
should be devoted to his state. A man
should be devoted to his parents, be-
cause he is their son; but whether he
may be proud of them depends on
other things. Every state, / suppose,
has something to be proud of. To the
making of each there went some tOiling
courage, some devotion to high prin
ciple, some cheerful sacrifice for those
that should come after and of these
men should be proud. But whcl we
speak with pride of territory and popu
lation, overlooking harvcsts, exhaust
less mines, luxurious cities, we talk
like children, who are proud of clothes
and toys.
What Vermont has contributed to
the upbuilding of the nation has been
favorite theme. Figures have been
arraycd to prove that out of all pro-
portion to her size and wealth she has
had her hand in business, in war, in
studies and professions, in making and
execution of the laws. Her vigorous
blood has made its pulse felt through
all the arteries of the republic; and it
is there you must look to find the
greater Vermont in our first century
and a quarter of statehood. We would
not have had it otherwise. And yet we
cannot help wondering what Vermont
would have been like if all this energy
and intelligence had been kept at
home. Some loss there might have
been. Some never would have come to
their full stature here for lack of OPP
portunity. And here at home struggle
for survival, Yankee against Yankee,
would have been fierce indeed. But
when all allowances have been made
who can doubt that we should have
seen here development to challenge
the attention of the world? Something
like that is what we dream of for the
future. The cry is no longer. West
ward llo! but Vermont for Vermont
ers. Earnest men are saying, " Here be
tween the Bay state and the province,
between the long. bright river and
azure lake we will build greater
Vermont
Greater in what9 That is the ques-
ton to be asked and answered when
ever we are met as we are now. Great
err, of course, in fuller development
of all her natural resources. We mean
that every mine should give up its
treasures, every quarry open its prime
val corridors to the sun; that every
sleeping giant in our unused water
course shall be awakened and put to
work; our forests shall be tended; our
fields shall be fed that they in turn
may feed the coming generations. We
mean to be husbands and not ravishers
of the land, that her fruitful womb
may never know sterilitv. And we
mean to make this labor so attractive
that the children will not be lured
away, as the fathers were, but turn
with eager eyes and hands to the realm
around their doors.
We mean to knit and lace the state
together with the best roadways in the
world-roads that feel like velvet and
stand like adamant, and look like a
rich brown ribbon in the shade and
sun. And over these shall come seekers
of health and beauty, drinking in from
many landscapes the enchanted draught
that makes the gaZcr restless until he
can return.
We mean to guard with jealous care
the nobility and freshness of our
scenery. Here is that beauty that may
be n JOY forever. Here is that wealth
that can never be spent but by our
own stupidity.
We mean to do all that can be done
to make our public school plan perfect,
from the lowest to the highest round
a ladder whose foot shall rest on the
doorsill of the humblest cottage, while
its top is i'll the university.
And, better STILL we mean to put the
whole community to school by a new
application of the old principle of de-
mOcracy, more complete fulfllment
of the fathers purpose government
by the people. We mean that every
neighborhood shall be civic center,
every schoolhouse forum where men
and women shall gather for the discus
sion of the public needs. That is the
idea that has taken hold almost a
religious hold upon the minds Of
progressive men through all the mighty
West
"Make wide the doorway of the school
Around whose sill the millions wait
The cradle of the common rule,
The forum of Il stronger state.
Make broad the bar, and bid appear
The questions clamorous to be tried;
And let the final judges hear
Themselves the causes they decide.
Whatever channels lead apart
The currents Of the lives of men,
The blood that left the common heart
Shall leap with common pulse again. -
1t has been well said that for the
first hundred years of our history the
emphasis was laid on freedom-hereaf-
ter it shall be laid on unity. And so
"Ffeedom and Unity" the great
legend on our shield, is both history
ana lAopbecy. We shall be united IN
the years to come as we never were be
fore; and out of common counsels shall
come better law, and better admins
trstion of the law. We want the best
wherever we can find or borrow it. In
our courts we want the simplest forms
of procedure consistent with the pre-
servation of legal rights, the spcedicst
trials that fairness can permit, and the
promptest decisions, provided only and
always that they be well weighed. We
hope to put an end to frivolous appeals
and to the granting of new trials
where the result was right before. We
mean to make it possible for the poor
st sutton to have his case tried by
competent counsel, even if in such