The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-05-20
TUESDAY, NAY 20, 1919.
vERMoNT's RURAL PROBLEM.

That Vermont has rural problem
the same as the majority of other states
have will be generally admitted. Tol
correctly state the problem is more dir
ficult, though the attempt to DO sol
NAV be quite as generally made as the
admission of its existence. People
most casually tell you what is "the
trouble with Vermont but their con
eeption of its difficulties is as loosely
formed as their expression of it. These
general expressions of the Nermonter 5
4 faults are too familiar to need repet-
/ ton here. We wish we might instead
give a well thought out intelligent
statement of some substantial citizen
of the state of the rural problem.
1t might be more correct to say the
state problem, because the villages and
cities of the state are as much affected
bv wrong conditions in rural sections
as those sections themselves. Perhaps
failure to realize this constitutes part
of the real problem. The resident Of
the village or city is too ready to look
upon the rural problem as the other
fellow 5 and quite as ready to tell him
how TO remove the mote from his eye.
He is wrong in both propositions. He
is more responsible for rural conditions
than ne thinks and certainly is not
qualified to wholly correct them. His
responsibility for rural decadenee is
measured by the service he gives in sup
plying rural people with the necessities
| of their business and the toll he take:
| from their marketable products. If h'
simply takes profits from them boil
| ways and then sends his boarded pro
| fits to some other section of the coun
| try for investment he saps the rura
Il community of its resources as wickedll
i as he would if he stole part or all O.
i their pocket books He is entitled t
Il reasonable profits upon his business bu
II there is a larger responsibility of edu
;, scrviceable and useful commodities o
Il in the purchase of goods that will b
II profitable to them as well as to himself
II He should not sell a farmer grain
Il unless he can sell it TO him cheape
II than the farmer can produce it; Ii
II should not overload the farmer wit
II machinery simply for the profits Their
II is in i. for him; and above all he Shout
| not send all of his profits out of hi
4 neighborhood for investment, becaus
II to do so will rob the community of
II part of its wealth To invest part O
u his wealth in the community fror
which it is drawn is fair. If it is il
H diligently invested to increase III
II wealth and production of the commun
II ty it will bring him larger and bette
| returns than mere interest The tow
| man should not be mere leach of tn
| farmers, he should be a co-operator wit
them in the development of the
/ wealth and his
Il 1t can safely be assumed, then, thu
II the town resident is partially respons
Il bic for the decadence of rural commun
II ties; and, while he can not dictatoriall
II solve rural problems, he can be of gre;
. assistance in reaching correct an
m beneficial solution. If every town re
dent will honestly determine how muC
II he fails in performing these obhg
II tions, he can correctly and truthful
tell his neighbors how much he is Il
II trouble with Vermont. We hope
u discuss in future articles other fe