Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-09-01
Village Improvement societies.

In an article on the above subject in
SeTIbner for September, DR.. Holland saws:
There is Just about four months in the
year in which an ordinary country village
is pleasant place to dwell in, viz. from
May to September. The muddy streets and
sidewalks of autumn and spring, and the
icy and snowy ways of winter, render it
uncomfortable for walking or driving. The
foliage and herbage of summer cover up
the ugly spots, and the greenery Of the
growing months transforms the homellest
details into the pleasant and picturesque.
The moment the greenery disappears, dl-
lapidated fences. brohen-down sheds, un-
kept commons, neglected trees, and all the
tolerated uglineSSes of the village assert
themselves. The village is beautiful no
longer. There are thousands of villages
scattered over the country in which there
has never been a public spirited attempt
made to reduce their disorder TO order,
their ugliness to beauty, their diScomfOrts
to comfort. Every man takes care, or does
not take care, of his own. There is no or
ganic or sympathetic unity, and the vii
lagos, instead of being beautiful wholes,
are inharmoniOus aggregations. Some paint
and some do not paint. Some keep their
grounds well, and Others do not keep their
grounds at all. Unsightly wrecks of vehi-
cles, offensive piles Of rubbish, are exposed
here and there, and every man apparently
feels at liberty to make his belongings as
unpleasant to his neighbor as it pleases
him. No public sentiment of order is de-
veloped; no local pride is fOstered; there
is apparently no desire for beauty or con-
yenience that goes one step beyond ones
home in any case.
1t IS, therefore, with great qualification
that we notice here and there the organiZa-
ton of Village Improvement Societies, and
the beautiful work which they are accom-
plishing. Wherever they have been in ex-
istence' long enough to accomplish any,
thing, shade trees are planted by the side
of the highways; old, neglected commons
are fenced in, graded and planted; side
walks are laid in all the streets, and pub
lie interest in order and beauty is develop
ed, which makes every man more careful
of his own. Two villages, of which we
happened to know, have been quite trans
formed within two or three years by the
operations Of these organizations; and their
benefcent and beautiful work, already
done, will insure to their localities a certain |
amount OF beauty and convenience for the |
next hundred years. They have not been |
met by the public apathy that they antici- |
pated. and they have been enabled by sub !
scriptions, fairs and festivals, to raise suffi-
eient money for the work they have insti- |
tuted, while individual citizens have COOP
Grated with them in their schemes.
There is no good reason why every con-
village of the country should not |
be made convenient healthful, and beauti- |
full, by the operations of such societies as |
these. There is no good reason why pub |
lie feeling of pride should not be engender- |
ed by them, and an earnest purpose devel- |
oped 10 make each village more attractive !
than its neighbOr. Selfish interest is all |
on the side of the societies; for improve |
ment in beauty and comfort means i'm |
in value. Emulation between |
neighborS and between villages is excited, !
and niggardly prOperty-holders are shamed |
into efforts to contribute to the popular de- |
sire for harmony. This is not theory-it |
is experience; for, wherever they have been |
tried, these societies have done the work /
and had the influence we have stated.
Again, these socie les are agencies of |
culture. Developing a public spirit and a
feeling Of local pride, they cannot fail to
bear fruit in other and higher directions. |
Public and domestic architecture will be
the first to feel the effect of the new senti-
ment. Men will build pretty houses, in |
tone with the new order of things. New |
will be developed with relation to |
public buildings and their surroundings. |
The new town-hall will be better than the |
old. The new church will be an ornament |
and a glory, which the old one was not.
Lyeeums, reading clubs and libraries, are
just as natural an outgrowth of a public
spirit engendered by these societies, and a
public culture nourished by them, as they
are, themselves, the outgrowth of public
necessity. -,