The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1916-07-27
THE SPIRIT or VERMONT

the Annual Dinner OF The Greater
Vermont Association, the Auditor
ium. Montpelier City Hall, July IL,
1916.
State pride may be q wholesome
sentiment---that depends upon the
State. Men are hardly entitled 20 be
proud of their state, as some appear TO
think. just because il is theirs,-just
because II produced them. OF course
a man should be devoted to his state.
A man should be devoted TO his par
ents, because be is their son; but
whether he may be proud Of them de-
pcnds on other things. Every state, |
suppose, has something TO be proud Of.
To the making Of each there went
sCme toiling courage, some devotion
10 high principle, some cheerful sacri-
fee for those that should come after;
and Of these men should be proud
But when we speak with pride Of ter
ritory and population, overflowing
haryests, exhaustless 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
a favorite theme. Figures have been
arrayed TO prove that out of all pro-
portion 10 her size and wealth she has
had her hand in business, in war, in
studies and professions, in the making
and execution Of the laws. Her vigor-
Gus blood has made its pulse felt
through all the arteries OF the Repub-
lie; and II is there you must look to
find the Greater Vermont in our first
century and quarter of statehood.
We would not have had it otherwise.
And yet we canont 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 opportunity. 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 a develop
ment to challenge the attention of the
world? Something like that is what
we dream of for the future. The cry
is no longer, Westward Ho! but Yer
mont for Vermonters. Earnest men
are saying, Here between the Bay
State and the Province, between the
long bright River and azure lake we
will build Greater Vermont"
Greater in what? That is the ques-
ton to be asked and answered when
ever we are met as we are now.
Greater, of course, in fuller develop
ment Of all her natural resources. We
mean that every mine should give up
its treasure, every quarry open its
pEllHtNdl ColilupiS W liS sum IH"N
every sleeping giant in our unused
water-courses shall be wakened and
put to work; our forests shall be
Tended; our fields shall be fed, that
they in turn may feed the coming gen
erations. We mean TO be husbands
and not ravishers of the land, that her
fruitful womb may never know ster-
ility. 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 seek
ers of health and beauty, drinking in /,
from many landscapes the enchanted /
draught that makes the gazer restless {
until he can return.
We mean to guard with jealous care {
the nobility and freshness of our q
scenery. Here is that beauty that [
may be a joy froever. Here is that a
wealth that can never be spent but by
our own stupidity. 10
We mean to do all that can be done q
10 make our public school plan per-
feet, from the lowest to the highest ,
round,--a ladder whose foot shall rest
IN the door.sill Of the humblest cot
tage, while its top is in the university.
And, better still, we mean to put the
whole community ~ school by new
application Of the old principle of
q itmocracy, a more complete fulfill
nent Of the fathers govern =
ment by the people We mean that
every neighborhood shall be civic :
enter, every school house a forum .
where men and women shall gather c
-or the discussion Of the public needs. Il
That is the idea that has taken hold y
Almost religious hold-upon the !,
minds of progressive men through all "
L Wet "