Litchfield enquirer., 1876-08-31
Village Improvement sOclstlss.

l., In amsarticle on the above subject in Scribner for September, Dr. Holland says (with an eye perhaps to Litchfeld):s
 There are just about four mouths in the year in winch an ordinary country vil- lage is pleasant place to dwell in, viz: from May to September. The muddy streets and sidewalks of autumn and springs and the icy and snowy ways of winter, render it uncomfortable for walk ing or driving. The foliage and herbage of summer cover up the ugly spots, and greenery of the growing months trans forms the homeiest details into the pleas ant and picturesque. The moment tho greenery disappears, dilapidated fences, broken, down sheds. unkept commons, neg lected trees, and all the tolerated ugliness- es of the village assert themselves. The village is beautiful no longer. There are thonsands of villages scattered oyer the country in which there has never been Q public spirited attempt made to. reduce their disorder to order, their ugliness to beauty, their dlscomforts to comfort. Eve ry man takes care. or does not take care, of his own---There- is no organic or sym pathetic unity, and the villages, instead of being beautiful wholes, are inharmonious aggregations. Some paint and some do not paint. Some keep their grounds we'll, and others do not keep their grounds at all. Unsightly wrecks of vehicles, offen- sive piles of rubbish, are exposed hero and there, and every man apparently feels at liberty to make his belongings as un- pleasant to his neighbor as it pleases him. No public sentiment of order is developed; no local pride is fostered; there is appar. eutly no desire for beauty or convenience that goes one step beyond ones home in any case. .... r..........
 ''It is, therefore, with great qualification that we notice here and there the Organi- zation of Village Improvement Societies. and the beautiful work they are accom- plishing Wherever they have been in existence long enough to accomplish any thing, shade trees are planted by the side of the highways; old, neglected commons are fenced ip, graded and planted; side walks are laid in all the streets, and Q pub- lie interest in order and beauty isdevel- oped, which makes every man more care- full of his own. ItUO VittGges,l Of IOhich aUe happened to knOtU, hGVe been quite transforn1ed aOitbil ttUo or three years 6y the operations of these organisations; and their benefcent and beautiful work. al- ready done, will insure to their localities certain amount of beauty and convent ence for the next hundred years. They have not been met by the public apathy that they anticipated, and they have been enabled by subscriptions, fairs and festi- vals, to raise sufficient money for the work they have instituted, while individual cit izens have co-operated with them in their schemes.
 q 'The1e is no good reason why every considerable village of the country should not be made convenient, healthful, and beautiful, by the operations of such socie- ties as these. There is no good reason why public feeling of pride should not be engendered by them, and an earnest purpose developed to make each village more attractive than it neighbor. Selfish interest is all on the side of the societies; for improvement in beauty and comfort means improvement in value. Emulation between neighbors and between villages is excited, and niggardly property-hOlders -are shamed into efforts to contribute to the popular desire for harmony. This is not a theory it is experience for wher- ever they have been tried, these societies have done the work and exercised the in- huences we have stated. sf
 ''Again, these societies are agencies of culture. Developing Q public spirit and feeling of local pride, they cannot fail to bear fruit in other and higher direc- tious. Public and domestic architecture will be the first to feel the effect of the new sentiment. Men will build pretty houses, in tone with the new order of things New ambition will be developed with relation to pubic buildings and their surroundings. The new town-hall will be better than the old. The new church will be an ornament and glory, which the old one was not. Lycenms, reading clubs, and libraries, are just as natural an ,outgrowth of Q public spirit engender- ed by these societies, and apublic cul- ture nourished by them, as they are, themseIves.S the outgroa th of public necessitY."a. .a- .l ..-...i..tl --.--