Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1917-04-20
A PAIR OF SPECTACLES.

An anonymous pessimist, employing
typewriter and plain envelope to fur
Their shield his identity, has sent a mis-
sive to The Register. Apparently tray
cling to Bridport to commit his crime,
since the letter bears that postmark, he
sends us some figures showing the per-
centum loss of population from 1880 to
1910 in sixteen Addison County towns,
and advises us that these are Some
thing to chew on 1t is presumed this
act is prompted by the enthusiasm with
which The Register has quoted some
Addison County statistics.
Between the receipt of this anonymous
missile and our press time we have had
no opportunity to Fletcherize, but have
swallowed the figures, without checking
their eXactness, and have thus far suf-
fered none from indigestion. We had
long ago met these figures, cooked them
thoroughly and found that with season
ing them with many other facts about
Addison County together with some
well-warranted optimism they made a
very palatabe dish.
The most interesting speculation to
US has been as to the identity of the
pess mist who travelled to Brdport to
mail that letter and who has perhaps
since escaped by ferry to New York
state where population figures are
always plus and where some Vermont
advantages are minus.
A years subscription to The Register
is offered as a reward for any informa-
ton leading to the apprehension of this
apprehensive pessimist We should like
to extend to him our sympathy. We
would like to have repeated for his
special benefit little comedy entitled
"A Pair of Spectacles" which was so
ably presented by the students Of MID
dlebury College here this week We
would like to take this brother Gregory
to a good square meal at The Addison,
seat him by US at the wheel Gf some
one will lend us the carr and roll around
the county taking census of the opti-
msts and pessimsts on the farms and
in the villages. That we should find
some of his own ilk, we have no doubt;
they propagate everywhere, fed on
despair and reishing such morbid things
as a minus sign before population
statistics. But that we should find
more who are wearing plain spec
tacles or wearing no spectaces at
all, aud seeing the past present and
future possibilities of Addison County
with clear and optimistic vision, we
have less doubt.
What the minus sign indicates in Ad
Olson County population figures is no
less significant than what it indicates in
many other Vermont counties, and al
together it is not significant at all.
Addison County has sent an unusual
number of men into prominence in big
affairs which has taken them away
from some of the old farms. 1t, and
every other county in Vermont hopes
to continue to deserve the country's
praise as breeders of men.
Addison County, like many others in
the east suffered for many years by the
lure of western migration, the opening
Of government lands for the grazing of
sheep, by the rise of the great western
beef industry, and other factors beyond
is control. But every cloud has its
silver lining. Western migration is
quite at an end. Sheep raising has
of returning here with profit.
Dairying is already on a remarkably
successful basis. A pressing call for
agricultural development today in the
east as well as the west is making Ver-
mont land more and more of a factor in
feeding the country. There are daily
evidences of converts among the pessi-
nsts; daily instances of farmers who
ire adopting newer methods of financ-
ng and operating farms at profit.
There is on every hand new sense of
that is winning the day for