Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1921-03-18
FARMER SOLIDARITY
RULES LEGISLATURE
Contemporary Reviews the Person.
mel Of General Assembly

lltl vi UGlltIdI ASSClllUly
The tendency to reconsider" has
become one of the characteristics of
the present legislature The members
of the House themselves joke with
one another about the matter I'm
considering the surges and resurges,
the actions and reactions, the con-
siderations and reconsiderations, the
ebb and flow of sentiment and opin-
ION, says the editor Of the Rutland
Herald, zone needs to keep in mind the
wide diversity of interests represented
in the House. In a review of the
personnel of the 1921 General Assembly
the contemporary writes as follows
The official directory of the legisla-
ture, issued in such a small initial edi-
ton that copies thereof are scarcer
than Hemenways Gazzetts, reveals
some interesting facts:
OF thirty senators, % were born in
Vermont two in New York, one in
Canada, one in Maine and one in
Wisconsin Merchants and farmers
balance each other with six each; 50
do the lawyers and doctors with three
each. There are two bankers, one de-
voted to general business, one farmer
and auctioneer one farmer and district
highway commissioner, one horse deal
er, one dealer in investment securities,
one merchant and farmer, one mer-
chant and one retired farmer
Congregationalists lead with l3 when
it comes to religious preference, with
five Methodists, four Baptists, two Pro-
testants, two Episcopalans, one Uni
tartan, one union church member, one
Universalist and one who expresses no
preference.
In the House, out OF 246 members
lone from Randolph deceased) there
are pa native Vermonters, seven from
New York, seven from Canada, four
from New Hampshire, four from Mas
sachusetts, two from Maine and one
each from California. Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Ireland Missouri, Pennsylvania
and Prince Edward Island.
There are 215 republicans, % demo-
Gratis, four independents, one indepen-
dent democrat, two independent repub
licans, one republican progressive and
one who gives no political preference.
Congregationalists lead in religious
preference with "a, Methodists have
A, Universalists "a, Baptists q, Roman
Catholics l6, Protestants IA, Episco-
palians IL, Presbyterians 4, union
church 2, Adventists 2, Agnostics, Ang-
licans, Friends, Nazarenes, Second Ad-
ventists, Seventh Day Adventists and
Unitarians one each. Seventeen ex-
press mo religious preference" and 10
leave the question blank.
Farmers predominant largely in the
House, l26 giving farming as their
chief occupation. There are Is mer-
chants, nine lawyers, seven lumbermen,
six physicians, five retired farmers,
with the rest strung through nearly 60
different occupations.
One college professor, two editors,
two clergymen, one telegraph opera
tor, one sDeculator, one piano tuner,
one machnist and two engineers show
the wide diversity of the latter, and
there are l6 members Of the House who
are either retired farmers or farmers
and" something else.
Very few Houses have shown such
a wide diversity of occupations and
few such a solidarity of farmers, al
though there have been several houses
with more farmer members numeric-
ally.
In considering the surges and recess
sions the actions and reactions the
and considerations, |
the ebb and flow of sentiment and
opinion in such House one needs to
keep in mind the wide diversity of in
terests represented therein.
A Senate is always different. To
begin with. it is more efficient body, |
owing to its small number of mem
bers, and this also operates to bet
ter acquaintance The present Senate
is notable for its conservatism. The
House is inclined to be more radical.
The saying that "it takes all kinds
to make a world" can be applied with
equal truth to a legislature, with the
added proposition that a legislature
must ultimately get together, while
the various sorts in the world may be
considered independently of each other.