The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1868-10-23
Heo Esgiand MtT-Girls, MeeAasses and
Sn,att Farmers.

sp,au Farmers.
David McCrae, u Scotchman who seems
to be m acute observer and fair thinker,
In communication 10 the Glasgow CScot.
lantD Ierdid Of the 22d ofAugust has the
following estimate Of New England pros.
perlty and character:
"Trayeling through New England, with
Its busy centres Of population, It's white
towns and villages. Its white wooden
spires. and Its numberless white farm
houses, specking the landscape, the eye
Is everywhere delighted with the evidence
OF universal comfort and prosperity. In
some Places / looked about In vain for
my people wearing the appearance OF
working and laboring classes ut home.
1weni out oln1a ay from Boston to see the
mills st Law ||ee, where 5000 girls are
employed. saw thousands Of them ut
their work, but could scarcely realize
that tbs was their daily and hourly avo-
cation.-From the neatness OF their at
tire, nom their genteel appearance. their
manncrs, their thoughtful and Intelligent
looks,I should have taken them to be
young ladies' OF the middle class who had
merely come to try their hands rs ana
teurs.s.,rf could not but contrast them
with The poor mlll-girls at home that we
see at mill hoG6 swarming In our streets,
bareheaded and bareiO0ted even In wet
and frosty weather. These girls ut Law
renee and Lowell earn from eight to ten
and half dollars week-an average OF
about thirty shillings-Of which they pay
about third for board, In the comf0rta-
Bile houses provided for them. They
dress well, as all Americans do, and yet
accumulate money In the savings bank.
As much as S2S, 800 was banked by the
Lawrence girls on one monthly pay day.
They are all educated. Many Of them
continue to attend evening classes, and
some of them take lessons In French and
music. They have o library and free
reading room at the mill. went Into
one of their libraries and found cata-
lorue of 5000 books-15OO of which were
out. In the reading room found all the
principal papers, one OF them French.
TO sec these girls coming In thousands
from the mills mt six o'clock, many Of
them with books In their hands, you
would imagire them to be congregauon
of Young ladies coming from o meeting.
One visitor who went to sec tins slSnt
waltcti till the stream was pnst, anu theii
saIJ. sBut where arc the mill girlsY'
i was struck with this superiority In
the condition and status OF the working
classes all over New England. Speaking
of Il one day to DIR. Hopkins OF North
ampton, Mass, on whom was calling,
he said, Il will show you an illustration OF
It, He took me to his window, and said,
polnting across the road, DO you sec
that white house among the trees?
/ looked and saw q genteel looking
house, with It's green lattice, It's verandah
adorned with creeping plants and Its or
"That Belongs to the blacksmith" |"
said the Doctor. "He owns his own
house and occupies It. He shoes my
horses, and lives there like gentleman
rs he ls."
"Do you see that house beyond" he
continued; "That one with the large
portlco2 There the carpenter stays; and
the house and all that ground where you
see the trees are his own. II there are
any repairs to be attended to about my
blinds, or shutters, or woodwork any
where, he comes and attends to them.
He Is a working man, q labOrer, and yet
u gentleman. Labor here" said the Doc
tor, " Is honorable, and the man who can
turn his hand to most things generally
gets OH best, and ut least always cdn get
on"
lie told me that when lady friend from
the South was on visit TO him, he said
no would drive her to Hatfield. aud show
her where their labOrers lived. On the
way over he said: "What do you expect
to seeP" She said she supposed the
houses were better than most OF their
negro cabins In the S0uth."-" Well"
said the Doctor, "you shall judge" He
drove her across the beautiful COnnecti-
cut Valley, and entered Hatfield by
broad street with long rows of elms, and
with handsome white houses on each side,
surrounded with orchards. The lady
called his attention to some Of these as
they passed, admiring their elegance.
"By the wav," said the Doctor, when
they got to the end of the street, " forgot
s,,.al to tell you that these are the la00rsr''
There can be no doubt that the condi-
ton of this class Is very much better In
America than with us, where the vast
mass of the agricultural population hold
their houses and farms mt the will Of
another. The smallest farmer In New
England IL Independent. His house and
land Is his own. He Is heholden to no
one. He keeps his own horse, his cow
and his pigs, draws the manure over his
own fields; plants and reaps his own
corn; digs and hoes his own turnIps and
potatoes. Moreover, he Is educated and
wcll-lnformed, and his children are all ut
school. He reads the papers; he has the
current literature Of the day on his table !;
he knows what Gladstone and Dlsraeli
are about here; he keeps himself we'll
acquainted with home politics; he has q
vote, and knows what to TO with It; aud
can get up In the township meetings and
express himself intelliglbly, II occasion
calls for It. These men, after all, form
the stamina and moral strength OF the
commonwealth.
The prosperity Of New England cannot
be owing to her soil. had no idea that
the land there was so barren. I passed
over great tracts of 1t where the soil was
so thin and the ground so rocky that
began to believe the story about sharpen
ing the sleeps noses to let them get ut
the blades Of grass between the stones.
1t was continual source Of wonder to
come In such regions upon 30 many beali-
tiNll farm-houses and little 1ourlshlng VII
lapes. But the people are active and
thrifty: they labor with their own hands
and waste nothing, are full OF ingenuity
, and resource, and wiring not only compe..
tence but wealth out Of the reluctant hand
of Nature. A New Englander, II hard
pushed. would make living out Of whin-
stones" ------. ...