The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-24

| from the old dungeons to the park. The
 walls are so thick that dynamite may
 have to be used to cut them.-NeW
 York Times
 | CRIME IN RURAL RHODE ISLAND. The question as to the comparative | morality of rural and urban neighbor- hoods has often been discussed; but it 1 is again suggested by the recent mur-
 der at Burrillville in this state-one of
 long series of similar deeds of vio- lence, revealing social conditions cer- tainly not less vicious than anything in the large cities. The story is sordid
 enough, and there is no need to enlarge
 upon it here There is nothing espec-
 tally strange in the attempted murder
 of one man by another The singular
 fact is that each man was living open
 ly with the sister of the other It
 would doubtless be too much to say
 that the people of the vicinity approved
 this menage; but at least it does not
 appear that they were particularly
 shocked; and there is testimony to the
 effect that lawlessness abounds. Seve-
 
 ted within recent years near the scene
 of the affray of last Sunday evening.
 To catalogue them would be unprofita-
 ble, Their frequency is sad illustra-
 tion of the decay of religion and mo-
 rality in the sparsely settled districts still inhabited mainly by natives of the soil Would the conclusion that the race is degenerating be too sweeping?
 Of course there is danger in nasty generalizations based upon imperfect knowledge of the facts. But it Is safe to say, perhaps, that the standard of life is in any case no higher in the country than in the city, and that the country people who fall into vice often descend to depths inconceivably foul. The influence of nature on man is a subject which the poets of the nine teenth century have made common, their assumption usually being that it is refining. To intelligent minds or sensitive temperaments it may be. But the brutalized peasantry of Zola's La Terre" are not wholly creatures of the nor are they confined to France. There seems to be something in isolation which affects injuriously the narrow intellects and hard hearts of those most frequently compelled to endure it. Such tendency is perhaps it is exaggerated by the ab- sence of religious restraints and the absence of an enlightened public senti- ment. It would be unfair to argue that all rural communities are tarred with the same brush. There are those which come nearer to fulfilling the ideals usu- ally cherished of country life. There is too much reason. however to conclude that in Rhode Island and doubtless in other New England states, there are many remote neighborhoods not less degraded than that upon which so lurid I light has just been cast.
 The testimony of the noveiists might, indeed, be barred out of court; but so close an observer of rural New Eng and as Miss Mary Wilkins, for exam ole, is not likely to exaggerate very much; and in her novels we can see IS n a mirror the perverted views of life which lead to a half crazy eccentricity, wen when nothing worse comes from hem. The puritanism of their ances ors has become distorted in these peo- >le through the failure of active reli sious belief Men may sheer at reli- zion all they choose; but it is undenia ,le that when religion decays morality S bound to follow. There are perfectly moral persons outside of the churches, | 0 be sure. It is worth while asking, | levertheless how far their right con- luct depends upon the right views | -l,. |, las insttlled into them and how long it | would continue If the Ten Command | nents and the golden rule were plotted | ut of the memory of mankind. Unde- | iably the churches themselves have | anne responsibility to bear in this mat CT. Religious teaching has not always cen judicious and men have been urned from religion by having doc rnes thrust upon them which have either theological nor ethical warrant. furthermore the remote neighborhoods ave sometimes been neglected by hose whose spiritual duty it was to are for them. There seems to be a ractical heathensm in Rhode Island ufte as shocking as anything related the distant fields of missionary la or.
 However this may be, there certainly
 opportunity for direct effort here at ome and unless it is grasped our rural may be expected to go on 'om bad to worse. And with religion lould go hand in hand education and The establishment of lblic libraries in small towns is one of : le Worthiest undertakings: and with | lis might well be provision for a ealthier social life--for small enter .inments, for music, for news from the 1ter world Human nature no doubt,
 essentially much the same every here. But under differing conditions
 manifests itself in different ways. I wo many men and women in the isola- q towns are really half civilized, so