, 1879-01-02
SOCIAL NEEDS AND SOCIAL LEADING.

beT. is an exec lIent article under tne
above head, which is SO applicable to
Port Towns end as well as every town
on the Sound, that we publish It en-
tire and ask our readers to give 1t .
careful and candid consideration. AT.
ter stating that in every American
village there are the forces and ma
terials for the best civilization and
culture, but that almost Universally
all these agencies for raising the SO
cial life of the community are either
held in check or altogether repressed,
the writer goes on as follows:
"Let US try to paint a typical wi
lage. 1t shall consist, say, OF a
thousand people more or less. The
village has its two or three httI"
churches, and these have their pas
tors, men of fair education and fault
less morals. Still further, the village
has one or two physicians or more
aud as many lawyers. In addition
to these, there is the postmaster, the
school teacher, the rich man of the
village, and three or four other men
only little less rich than he; there
are the young well educated families
of these well.to-do people; there are
q dozen women who are bright in in
tellect, and who read whatever they
can lay their hands on; there is a
fair degree of worldly prosperity,
and the schools are well supported.
One would say that nothing is need
ed to make it model village full of
the livelest and brightest social life,
and possessing all the means and in
stilu.ions Of intellectual culture and
progress. All the agencies and ma
terials, and appurtenances for a beau
tiful social life and progress seem to
exist, yet the fact probably is that
the village is socially dead.
If we look into the condition of
things, we shall ind that the little
churches are, through their very lit
tleness and weakness, jealous of each
other; that their pastors are poor and
kept on starving intellectual diet;
that the doctors and lawyers are abb
scrbed in their professions; that the
rich men are bent upon their money
getting and money saving, and that
all the young people are bent upon
frivolous amusements. The village
has no public library, no public hall,
no public reading room, no lyceum,
no reading clubs, no literary clubs,
and no institutions or instituted
means for fostering and developing
the intellectual and social life Of the
villagers.
We have seen exactly this condi-
tion Of things in a village many
times, and we have seen underneath
all this apparent indifference, or So
cisl inertia, a universal desire for
something better. We have seen
churches ashamed Of their jealousies
and the meagre support accorded to
their ministers, we have seen young
people dissatisfied with their life, and
wishing that it could be changed,
and we have seen our dozen of bright
reading women ready and longing to
make any sacrifice for the production
of a better social atmosphere. Nay,
we believe that the average Ameri
can village is ready for improvement,
ready to be led.
The best social leading is the one
thing necessary. Sometimes it does
not need even this-only some tit.
ting occasion that shall bring people
together, ani reveal the under har
monies which move and the sympa.
thies which bind them. There is,
probably, not a village in America
that needs ANYTHING more than vood