The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-27
THE PASSING oFCAPE COD.
STEADr DECLINE IN POPULATION
H'' AND IN WEILTH.

-
Capital lnvcsied In FishcrIcs Constantly with.
Td~rnwn-RIecta Idle ana wharVea Rottinr
Arny = Factories Shutting Down ar Nov.
ting Awny-Littie Hope from Agriculture.
BOSTON, June GA report just made by the
Bureau OF Statistics OF Labor, under the direc.
ton OF Horace g. Wadlin, shows an interesting
and somewhat startling condition OF affairs in
Bnrnstablo county, otherwise known rs Cape
Cod, II that county loses In population as fast
In the future as It has during the last thirty
years tboro will be no ono in the county at all
excopa tho dwcllcrs in the. cemeteries ut the END
| OF n few more decades. From 1865 to 1895 the
, total loss In population was over 20 per cent,
only two towns, Falmouth and Provincctown,
showing q gain In those years. Wcllfcet, which
Ind n population OF 2, 298 in 1865, dropped over
so per cent. to 96S. Sandwich WINS also a loser.
The decline in manufacturing is also remark.
able. In 1885 the county had 425 manufactur.
ing establishments and 80, 7l9.563 invested. In
1895 these figures were 1923 and S51s,s66.
Tho main reliance OF the Cape towns has long
been tho fishing industry, but II the reader Of
the report looks for any encouraging figures in
that limo he will be disappointed. In 1885 the
county had 81, 94l ,921 invested in hsherios,
In 1895 1t was but 1902 ,456. a decline OF "a per
cont. There was an increase In this industry in
the towns Of Bourne, Sandwich, and Truro. hue
those arc not tho chief fishing towns. Province
town capital invested in fishing declined 81 per
cent. and wellneet 90 per cent. Harwich capi-
ita1 was almost entirely withdrawn.
OF the loss Of the fisheries nj Provincctowu
Mr.. Wadlin speaks in a way that reminds one Of
Hawthorno's stories OF the decline Of the mer-
chant marine service ut Salem many years ago
in language as follows:
Vessels were formerly built horc for fishing
and whaling. A large number of fitting stores
connected with the long wharves lined the whole
harbor front. Tho town was then an active
place. 1t was the scene of continual hustle. the
fleets fitting out In the spring to return in the
autumn laden with fuilcatchos. Many mcehan-
les, including ship carpenters, calkers. painters,
sailnakers. Triggers, and blncksmiths, were EN-.
ployed in building and repairing this feet At
one time there wore three marine railways for
hauling out and repairing. not only local vessels,
but those from the other Cape towns.
Now, in place OF all this activity we Hnd the
fleets absent, the wharvcs fast going 20 decay,
and two of the marine railways rotting and fall
ing down; the third, recently sold for UaNcs,.
ure OF fishing Arms has caused the loss Of much
capital, depriving many of EMPLOYMENT, Tho
low price OF whale oil has ruined the whaling
industry. At present the fleet. except one vcs-
sci. is at the wharves waiting for better times
and an improvement! in the market. The Banks
cod fishery has also been ruined by low prices,
scarcity OF fish. the introduction Of larger and
more expensive vessels. and %enlarge1 cost, Of
NIX u uCNhs Va Nv IcCl IS ul0
solely to tho disappearance of the fish,"
Ono feature OF the report is unexpectedly Cn-
eouraging. The value of agricultural property
anI pro ducts has increased very materially in
the last few years
This grave problem OF loss of population is a
common one In the sparscly settled farming dis.
tric,s OF New England, but has not come up 50
prominently before in what might be called n fish
ing community. 1t is due TO the fact that the
young people seek wider fields OF effort in tho
great centres of population. Mr.. Wadlin's
tables show a very large Percentage OF Amcri-
can born persons above SO years old and n cor
respondingly small number of young people.
The foreign born population Is not large and 10
not increasing very fast. There are moro Por-;
tuguese than OF any other nationality. and they
make good fishermen, industrious farmers, and
thrifty citizens.
The report discusses the plan of increasing
the productivencss OF the cape land by n system
OF irrigation, thus tran sforming the district
from a fishing to a farming community. state
aid and colonization schemes are considi red. but
no recommendations are made. Encouraging
comment Is made on the increase of cranberry
culture. out this indust.. alone Is not sIaicienI
to arrest the downward course of Barnstable
county. Whether il can be arrested by any
means involves the consideration of social and
economic problems much deeper than appear on
the sprface Of the report. II is another eH.
enplacation OF what Mr.. Rricc had in mind
when he wrote:
at is impossible not to resrct the disappear.
ance OF a picturesquely primitive society which
n~ovelists and c~ssayists, have made familiar to
US. with its delightful mixture OF homclS sim
plicity and keen intelligence. OF al! the types
or rustic life which. imagination has, since tho
days OF Theocritus, embellishcd for the envy or
refreshment Of the jewellers in cities, this latest
and not the least attractive. 1t will soon have
passed away" '