
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 17, 1990                   TAG: 9006190369
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SECESSION? A HOT DEBATE IN VERMONT

A REVANCHIST spirit is behind the urging that Southerners hold onto their Confederate money. But the new breed of "secesh" comes from about as far north as you can get: Vermont.

After the 13 colonies, Vermont was the next state to join the Union, and the 200th anniversary of that event comes next year. To get things rolling, the bicentenary commission sent Frank Bryan of the University of Vermont and Justice John Dooley of the state's Supreme Court on a tour to debate secession.

There was whimsy to it, but the debate also was grounded in history. From 1777 to 1791, Vermont was an independent republic, and there was sentiment then for rejoining the British Empire.

Vermont's archivist gets regular calls from single-issue people, the type who think the rest of the country's headed for perdition, asking if the state couldn't secede. Some have the notion that Vermont joined the Union on condition it could withdraw if things didn't suit.

Not so. But Vermonters who attended the seven debates this year were asked to vote on the issue; and of 1,500 who did, the edge went 2-1 to secession.

One could write off the whole thing as a frolic. Somehow, though, it's difficult to think of Vermonters as indulging in funsies.

Next time you're up that way, check the bills you get in change. Should they bear Calvin Coolidge's visage, make sure your passport's in order. Then ask whether Confederate currency is accepted there. Birds of a feather . . .

by CNB