The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-10-15
BLEAK NEW ENGLAND.
Farmers Forsaking the Sterile,
Rocky Hills
The YOUNG MEN WON'T STAY


Gov in progress II, n least tso Of tss sew
Eaglard states The decline OF popussnsn
ia he ru.sl districts OF thai ssrfaon II
familiar fact. Bat for the accident OF ioca-
sssz nesr The sea coast where settlers nrss
ADDED. tho~e sterile hills and rocky nesds,
waesre bv hardest tol the hrsbandmxn
car. wiring scarcely more than bare sub
sissrrcs. wouId hare heen today Compare
ssvssv nni-shsfsssei They became, bow
ever ~ reason Of their early settlement.
the home Of an industrious and prosperous
teossss. II i stu perpefnal astosiish-
meat To an inhabssart Of the West 10
travel through Sex Hampshire Vermont
zad Maize ard see everyshere saossan-
rial hou~es aud m apparently nozrisnans
ueogae iiviag Gpon the soil which seems, 70
the eve accustomed 20 our rich prairie. III
czpahse OF sustaining an agricultural popa-
l.rsen- Yet these New England farmers
we're exceedingly well-to-do IN the Old days,
xhen a vigorous frugalify and prodi-
.rigas industry enahaed them 20 force from
reluctant nature a goodly share OF her
Eists. Os late this season o. prosperity has
passed away. We have left behind as the
generation that bad unqaestioning faith IN
pfeesexainatsori, physical and metaphysical
The Sex Eagsand boy no longer thinks of
itasa right or necessary thing that be
shoula remain upon the spot where his
Eorefathers settled, or refuse 10 seek a re-
sion where the same investment Oh capital
ana the same amount Of labor viii bring
him multiplied returns. Ever sinee the
last census. reports Of the abandonment
~ New Eag. and farms have been nuraer-
Gus. Until ct last the decline OF population
seemed almost % threaten the future ex-
istenee Of some OF the smaller and older
stEtes
Th~ competition OF the new agricultural
Eesf ana north xezt has been even more
fatal 10 the Nev Englandsr than 10 the
farmers Il Great Britain. Ii is impossible.
with the luxursant proiuet O. our be ds,
and the prevalence OF low through freight
reies, 10 sustain competition. The New
England farmer NAV raise grain for home
consumption; but he has to rely for the
remuneration OF his work upon the hay
crop, produce Of his orchards, the wool
irom his aoeks. and the dairy products
tina. are in demand in nsighboring cities.
III has not the patient COURAGE 10 wrest
pro perlty from conditions that seem TO
hsm SO umfavorable. immigration has
almost totally ceased. AS new genera
ton arises, those of the young men who
have no taste Cor farming seek the cities;
while those who intend TO follow agricul-
ture remove to the more productive farms
OF the northwest Even the influx of
French Canadians, which has almost trans
formed New England lie and customs IN
sonse sections. is not sufficient 10 make
good the deficit The agricultural popnla-
ton is dwindling. and the number Of farms
once tiled but now abandoned TO ruin
grows greater with each succeeding year.
II towns alone in Northern New Hamp-
shlge-- reported nearly L. 600 acres of land
thus voluntarily relinquished. and four
teen towns Ia the southern portion OF the
state add q 900 more. The situation is
even worse in Vermont, and the people
have become convinced that some steps
must be taken TO prevent further decline.
These states have begun their task OF re-
population in the right way. New Hamp-
shire has appointed a commissioner of inn
migration, with a good salary, to secure
neg settlers. A great mistake Is made. as
the Springfield Republican points out, in at
tempting TO draw scandinavian settlers
from the Northwest or from the Canadian
provinces from Ontario westward. These
people are already well settled, satisfied
With their condition. and too intelligent to
change their present lot for one that could
not he a happy or promising. But YER
mont and New Hampshire viii do well 10
engage in missionary work among the
newly arrived immigrants, and in the
Scandinavian countries themselves. The
New Englanders appreciate the hardly vir-
tue Of the Scandinavian people, and their
especial fitness for assuming American cit
izenship, aud are anxious 10 get them as
colonistS, They ought 20 be able. By judici-
ons work through intelligent agents. TO Sc
cure liberal number from abroad. For
although their offers would not be attrac-
tive 70 people already settled in another
section. they might Well seem liberal to In
tending Immigrants across the Atlantic.
These farms which they wish 10 raise from
ra!nous neglect are not all exhausted land
Not few ot them promise Ia respond well
- careful cultivation. Some Of them can
DC had for term of years for mere occu-
pancy. Others are for sale at extremely
reasonable prices a farm OF 90 acres with
modess buildings being put upon the mar
ket ut $50. and others in proportion. some
immunity from taxation for a fixed time is
also guaranteed. There is no reason why
the system which these states are trying
should not bring 10 them some vigorous
blood from abroad, and arrest the decay
from which they are suffering. The facts
have shown that some such policy is abso-
!Wtely necessary Ia prevent the rapid de-
cline o. rual New England.