The Newtown bee., 1902-08-15

denounced the church lottery, whence came his salary. This was indeed a superb opportunity, for the parson read from the pulpit the anti-lottery laws of Massachusetts. His people replied with departed pussy-cats, and the par son not unnaturally sought fresh fields and pastures new.
 From these picturesque circum- stances l trust you will draw the logi cal conclusion. The degenerate vil- lage-with it's diminishing populatio it's increasing poverty, it's abandoned farms, it's immortality, it's really ap- palling percentage of idiots and de- tentment with things as they are-is not to be redeemed by the mere liter ary or clerical philanthropists. No, you must first get power in such village, power that the villagers can't shake off.
 My friend the parson, I think, has hit it. He has found new settlement in the valley, and there, in a very woe begone village, he has begun to make himself master. Parson he remains, but man of business he has become. He now operates thriving printshop, and his pay is bait the natives won't scorn. He doesn't get bis living out of his church; he gets it out of his shop, and as long as he brings money into the pockets of the villagers by giv- ing them employment, his we'll will be free from departed pussy-cats. He isn't an interloper, he isn't depend ent. Instead he is wealth producer and part of the social organism. He can make realm and reign, organiz- ing the whole community around him. self and gradually bringing it up into a higher and decenter order of exist ence. He is worth seventeen mere parsons or rseventy-sevens self-appointed social settlers.
 Suppose, now, that you should go and try an experiment like that: What problems would you face? In ten min- utes or less you would perceive that poverty is at the bottom of all other social ills. The farms are played out, there are practically no industries, and for generations the ambitious have been driven away from the village in their search for profitable employment. Very we'll; you begin to found indus tries: A print shop? Why not? Ebert Hubbard is coining money out of his East Aurora establishment; my parson friend is doing the same thing on a small scale in Western Massachusetts. hSA3 Ooo, Aly ldl pdISOu ldS gone in for handmade furniture, which can be cheaply and beautifully produc- ed by country labor. He has also a plan to develop hand-loom work, and lots of other things when the time comes. Furthermore, he intends to buy up an abandoned farmstead and re- claim it by modern scientific methods of intensive farming. This will not | only yield him good financial return but will at the same time serve as n object lesson to farmers round about.
 You will also observe, as direct re- cial stagnation. The village is morbid, suspicious, ill-tempered, and lacks the first requisites of concerted action. That is because it is so poor. People rarely go calling-the roads are too bad, there aren't any sidewalks, the streets are not lighted, and when evening comes there is a natural de. sire to keep in out of the darkness and the mud: Social gatherings, lectures and musical affairs are prohibited be. cause the town can't afford to build 8 suitable hall. Consequently people rarely meet; they know one another so little that all sorts of cruel stories get he is being victimized by local gossip. The remedy for such distressing con- ditions is simply to make the town prosperous. Then will come good roads, sidewalks, street lights, a social hall. SOciability will not longer be impossible. And with sociability brought back to life there will be less gossip than before and vastly less malice and suspicion.
 A distinguished scientist and author once told me his explanation of the so- cial stagnation that prevails in deca. dent villages. "They are priest-rd den," said he, 'the clergy have forbid card playing, dancing, amateur the atricalS, till the only possible things that can bring people together socially have been scrupulously wiped out oi existence" That is true and untrue. The country preachers branded every form of pleasure as vicious, but, thank Heaven, the country preachers have now lost the power of enforcing their ascetic principles. Asceticism is en- forced to-day by the lack of opportun- ity for anything better.
 Moreover. you will soon enough per ceive the close relationship between the plfasureleSsneSS of the count try, and the wickedness of the count try. Vice, malice, and the incentive to crime find easy entrance into lives that are deprived of normal recreation. I have sometimes declared-and pray pardon the hyperbole-that weekly bull-fght would be moral and spirit ual benefit to dead village It would at least suggest something to think about besides family feuds, personal