The Brattleboro Daily Reformer

Not a Visionary Scheme.

(Bennington Banner.)

The proposal in the legislature to bond the state of Vermont to develop electric power may not get anywhere at this session and probably won't but it isn't so visionary as it might appear at first glance. It is a better business proposition than bonding to build highways, provided it is done on a sound basis. Bonding for roads is going in debt for temporary expenditure which is always poor business policy. Borrowing to develop an electric power might be a permanently profitable investment if done wisely. "Vermont has a great wealth of water power from which may be developed an immense amount of electric energy. There is a great market for this energy on all the farms and in the homes, shops and factories. Every farm should have its electric motors. Every home and every country highway should be lighted. There is a wide opportunity to develop new industries. The age of electricity is only just beginning. Many of the power possibilities in Vermont are in small units. In the future they will be harnessed together and made available, but it is a big job for rural communities and small companies. It is not at all clear that the duty will not finally fall on the state to take hold of this great problem. The Amidon water power bill is not a joke even though it may be laughed at temporarily. The gentleman who fathers it has a surer vision of the future than some of the boys who are holding it up to ridicule. We presume the plan is not yet sufficiently worked out. In the end the investment must be made on a basis of net profit. Done on an altruistic foundation it will not endure. But keep your eye on the idea. it will bear fruit sooner than most of us suspect.