The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-06-09
LOCAL AFFAIRS.

q u
Holland says:-"lhere are lust about four
months in the year in which an ordinary coun-
try village is a pleasant place to dwellin viz:
from May to September The muddy streets
aud sidewalks Of autumn and spring, and the
icy and snowy ways of winter, render il un-
comfortable for walking or driving. The To-
hage and heritage of summer cover up the
ugly spots, and the greenery of the growing
months transforms the homeliest details into
the pleasant and picturesque. The moment
the greenery disappears, dilapidated fences,
broken down sheds, unkept commons, neg.
lected trees, and all the tolerated ugliness 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 public spirited attempt
made to reduce their disorder to order, their
uginess TO beauty, their discomforis to com
fort Every man takes care, or does not take
care, of his own. There is no organic and
sympathetic unity, and the villages instead of
being beautiful wholes are inharmonious az.
gregatonS. Some paint and some do not
paint Some keep their grounds well, and
Others do not keep their grounds at all. Tn.
slightly wrecks of vehicles, offensive piles of
rubbish, are exposed here aud there, and ey.
cry man apparently feels at liberty TO make
as it pleases him. No public sentiment Of
order is developed; no local pride is fostered;
there is apparently no desire Tor beauty or
convenience that goes one step beyond ones
home in any case.
1t IS, therefore, with great qualification that
we notice here and there the organization Of
village Improvement societies, and the beau.
ful work which they are accomplishing.
Wherever they have been in existence long
enough TO accomplish anything, shade trees
are planted by the side OF highways; old neg
lected commons are fenced in, graded and
planted; sidewalks are laid in all the streets,
and public interest in order and beauty is
developed, 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 op,
erations 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 hun.
dred years. They have not been met by the
public apathy that they anticipated, and they
have been enabled by subscriptions, fairs, and
festivals, to raise sufficient money for the
work they have instituted, while individual
citizens have co'orperated with them in their
schemes.
I AhtlN 10 no EbDu IfdhOH WHY every Nhilslu-
cradle village of the country should not be
made convenient, healthfui, and beautiful, by
the operations of such societies as these.
There is no reason why public feeling of
pride should not be engendered by them, and
an earnest purpose developed to make each
village more attractive than its neighbor.
| Selfish interest is all on the part of the socie
! ties; 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 pop.
ular desire for harmony. This is not theo-
| ryi it is experiences; for wherever they have
been tried, these societies have done the work
and exercised the influence we have stated.
Again, these societies are agencies of cul.
ture. Developing public spirit and feel,
ing 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 sentiment. Men
will build pretty houses, in tone with the new
order Of things. New ambition will be de.
veloped 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. Lyceums, reading clubs, and
libraries are just as natural an outgrowth of a
public spirit eugendered by these societies,
and public culture nourished by them, as
they are, themselves, the outgrowth of pub
lie necessity
Why should not an association of this kind
be formed in Westminster Is there no room
or no need for improvement here? Are our
people less public spirited than the people of
other places energetic, less practical?
Thee ,p,n 81. ii. a.
not Westminster be improved and beauti6ed
and built up, if her progressive men would
associate themselves together for that pur.
poser by progressive men we don't mean
the men who object to everything, lay o5sta.
Giles in the way OF everything, suggest doubts
and difficulties, and broadly hint the lack of
means to do with. Such men are not pro.
gressive, they are only clogs to the wheels of
progress; the chronic crOakers, doubters and
cOmplainers, who cast obstacles in the way
OF men who would go ahead and take others
along with them. Let this latter class-men
OF will, to do, to uct-combine. Let them
plan anu execute. If they have the will to
do, they will be able to find means to do with
II all cannot be done at once, let them do all
they can and then be patient and perseyering,
aud stick to 1t. SpasmOdic effort OF epheme-
raj organization will accomplish but little.
Tenacity of purpose must be brought into play
along with the exercise of will, power that
aecomplishes all things If Hannibal or
Napoleon, at the base OF the Alps, had folded
their arms and gazed doubtingly at their stu.
pendous SUBMITS, they never would have
crossed that formidable barrier. But they
resolved and then acted and the deed was
donei such is the magic power of the human
Will. Have we not will'power enough in
Westminster to start our little city on new
career OF Improvement The power Of asso.
citation is very great. 1t built the pyramids,
1t built the Chinese wall, ii built the Roman
aqueducts and the Appian way, it tunneled
the mountains and spanned the rivers and
built our railroads and canals, and it will re.
juvenate Westminster if called into active
exercise.
Hoons MILLS IrENs.-Under date of June