The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-08-09
RURAL NEW ENGLAND SOCIALLY.

The New York Evening Post says.
The problem Of the country town con-
tinues to be discussed in an Interesting
way by many students in New England.
and any fresh contribution merits atten-
ton in other parts OF the country where
some OF the same conditions exist y com
plation OF the statistics OF Vermont
churches OF al Protestant denomfna-
tons during the decade ending with 1900
presents some figures OF value. 1t ap-
pears that al the end OF the ten years
there were S5 more churches than IN lSsi.
II more ministers. and nearly 500 more
church members. This represents an in
crease Of 5 per cent in the number OF
churches and their members. as COM
pared with a growth OF only about per
cent in the population. As Vermont IS the
most distinctivsly rural OF al the New
England states and its population has
made the least advance for several de
cades, II is q fair conclusion which the
compiler OF these statistics draws. that
at Least they do not show decline or
religion or a relapse into a barbarlsTn.
such as some alarmists have pictured
The study Of this question IS serious
" complicated by the astonishing. and
sometimes almost ineXplIcahle. diversity
with respect 10 moral and religious con
dltions which is encountered in differ
ent towns The contrast between COM
J.
NEST surprising. 1t is probably safe TO
say that as a rule. the towns along the
railroad lines are the more active and
advanced. religiously as well as indus
trially. and yet this is by no means al
ways the case. Sometimes the depot VII
lage is the center of all the intemper-
ance, profanity. immortality. and irrel-
gion for miles around: and again Il IS
the intellectual. educational, and religious
center The railroad stimulates rather
than determines the activity OF the COM
munities along its line.
Hasty generalizers sometimes conclude
that It Is the towns back from the ran
road which are sinking into barbariSm
and paganism. but here again investiga-
ton often discloses the very reverse A
man OF wide observation testifes that
the purest and most religious town he
ever knew is in Grafton county, y. H.
nine miles from the nearest railroad sta
ton. The soil is wretchedly poor. the
people are scattered. and communication
is difficult. but intemPerance and vice
are very rare. and the church is the cen
ter of everything. In another town IN
the White Mountains. not so far from
the railroad. but where the land is even
less productive, one end of the town
(Which is 6ividedy by an unbr!dged river
Is VIGOROUSLY vicious and irreligious.
while the other, which has a vigorous
mission chapel, is respectable and goes
to meetin."
The influences which determine the
moral and religious character Of a coun-
try town are local and variant. Some
times a strong, well-baianced church viii
hold a place TO high and worthy type
OF living for a century or more. Again,
when the church is divided and its life
is inconsistent, it loses all control over
the people. and things go from bad 70
worse Families that exercise a domi-
nant influence in community will often
mould it for good or for evil for gen
erations. Countless causes and influ-
ences, often subtle and underlined. go 10
determine the religious and moral status
of a neighborhood. village. q town
There is place in New Hampshire where
profanity among the school children was
almost unknown until a family from an
odjoining town moved in and set the
whole community afiame with wrath by
its corrupting influence upon the school
Very often one town. or even one neigh
bOrhood, will have the best OF reputa-
lions. and the next the very worst. IL is
thus Impossible to generalize concerning
any section or state without running upon
battling contradictions and contrasts.
1t