The MfiniTS of our State. .537 



would liave been 443,000, according to the estimates made. 

 Had the 200,000 natives of Vermont without the State 

 remained within it, it would have given us 530,000 inhab- 

 itants.* But had they remained, the impetus given to busi- 

 ness throughout the State would have attracted immigrants. 

 Making a lower estimate than is warranted by facts, it is 

 Bafe to say that had there been no emigration our State 

 would have numbered double her present population. Ev- 

 ery department of industry would have felt the effect in 

 increased prosperity. Our unused facilities for manufactur- 

 ing would have been appropriated and turned to account. 

 Bellows Falls, with its immense water power utilized, might 

 have rivalled Manchester or Lowell. Many of the largest 

 towns might have been no inconsiderable cities, creating a 

 home market for tlie product of tlie farms ; and the farms them- 

 selves, instead of being a drug in the market, salable at no 

 price, would have increased in value to an extent that would 

 have materially added to the wealth of the farming commu- 

 nity. With a better appreciation of our homes here in these 

 valleys, and among the mountains, and a less exaggerated 

 conception of what may be found abroad, a condition of the 

 State similar to what I have indicated may yet be realized. 

 Our waste places may be again improved, our abandoned 

 homesteads re-inhabited. If we have places in Vermont 

 that remind us of the lines in Goldsmith's "Deserted Village," 

 where 



* Without malsing any addition for the families of emigrants that 

 in the case supposed would be counted here. 



