New-York tribune., 1903-03-08
BLOTS ON CONNECTICUT.
Degraued Conditions Set Forth SH
the Reu. Mr. Hutcaas's Statement.


~ following, RS Il did, q sensational statement
nsde By him which charged many Of the small
xfIIAEeE OF Connecticut with depravfty, Hliteracy
and drunkenness to an excessive degree. BIT
Eutchfps specified Ashford as a particularly
nexrant instance Of this deplorahle state OF az
fairs but included many other places In ms
srrRiEnmsnt.
A Connecticut country family, consisting OF
usether and three grown sons, who can uace
she,- ancestry back 70 one Of the proudest names
azaoae the settlers Of New-Englands and yet h0'
one Of whom can read. was one OF the discoV-
cries which the preacher described in paper
which he wrote on the very day Of his sudden
desth.
Tyas Rev Mr Hutchins had for years maze q
careful and systematic study Of social conoI-
tons in Connecticut through his work as q bi-
sle Society canvssser, and on several previous
occasions he had brought to public kno"ieaee
facts regarding the alleged gradual oeterlora-
ttor ~ the Nev-Ensland country communities
According to him, not only moral oeteEloia-
t5o1 existed Lmong the country people In iso-
1.4.s s,rtr4cfs of Connecticut but polygamy was
os,., "a he found. besides other loose methods
!, marital relations He affirmed, after close
s+,,6vy cf the country towns Of the State over a
usr4ed of years that the conditions existing In
the country were growing worse every genera
lion. and that il would not be long before the
foreign immigrants coming in would have 10
rs looked to to put Puritan New-Englano nack
On the high moral plane for which 1t was once
famous.
II this view be correct, 1t may fuTnlsn Ioou
g. t,ourbt 70 those who are Iamenting the
alleged race suicide" Of the original American
stock Mr.. Hutchins declared that all through
r,o,narrtrut he came upon an immense numoer
~ individual cases which seemed to show that
,,tr, fhe isolation Of the towns by reason OF the
-5th6raufnE OF their manufactures and nome
industries, had also come a steady mental anu
moral deterioration, so that to-day Connecu-
ruf native stock was either dying on or pecom-
ing dezenerated. Here and there he found snln-
ing exceptions to this general rule out IN al
such cases the towns and villages tina: retained
ttslr former high standard had also retained
their industrial and social environment T" mere
this had gone degeneration mas Alf1osI Win
o,I+ exception followed, he said
nFrrt of these decaying communities, he as
.-fs6 zzere off from the railroad, and in Yigor
d sud position had not held their own with their
4 more fortunate neighbors that had the soVan-
taee of communication with the outside Worio
In these villages there were originally various
kinds Of industry but the large towns ana
cities had drawn of the small factory plants
az vel ss the young men and women OF amoi-
ton Iesvfng the few that had stayed behind to
Az this was only in rare cases profitable the
vssl5uur, Of the native stock was to-day in all
psrts OF the State barely able to get a living"
IS he put it.
me proofs Of this decaying country life, Mr..
Eutchins said, were to be seen in the hundreds
OF abandoned farms, ruined mills, tumbledoWn
factories and silent churches. "A stately man
zion OF the past is nov occupied either by some
defeue-ate native or by an alien. whose meagre
wants are met by the use OF the back rooms OF
the house. while the vacant front greets the
SaEserby with the silence Of the tomb. have
counted" he added, seven such deserted homes
within one mile, while only two houses were
sfIl occupied on q road that was once full OF
busy life and that within fifteen miles Of the
city OF Nsw-Haven. Here and there you even
see such roads overgrown with underbrush and
grass
ct is easy to see how such surroundings,
with their attendant desoiation and monotony.
have had g depressing effect, both mentally and
morally, upon the survivors Of this past gen
Grafton. Few OF the old families are left in
these towns that retain their early integrity
and upon them largely depend the life Of what
religious and social activities still remain. All
through the State you can find hundreds of
families bearing famous old Connecticut names,
but often what these names once stood for is
gone. and what they have lost in famous OLD
family traits is too often now made up IN
eccentricities. An cid man and woman may
stiH be found clinging to the ancestral estate or
q mother and bachelor sons and old maid daugh-
ters, while have known Of one such family at
least that consists Of mother and three grown
sons. none Of whom could read the language
that they spoke.
.snsrse neighDorhoods and limited sssoci-
atoms have led to the marrying and intermarry-
ing Of ueighbors and even Of near relatives, or
Of not marrying at all. We talk about the
polyGamy OF the Mormons. wonder IL we re-
siize how much there is Of it actually in this
State Cases of this I have found abundantly
in my travels throughout Connecticut. One case
I may mention. There is a family living on
the line between Connecticut and Rhode Island
IN an old shack put together with poles and
slabs, In which found man with two women,
one having q family of children, the oldest of
whom q girl Of sixteen, was already a grass
widow The town could not prevent the
scandal SIS the family could move across the
line the moment It came under the eyes of
the law In this connection it might be said
that there is q practice which is becoming more
and more common in the country towns OF men
and women living together as house owner and
housekeeper In one neighborhood Of about
thirty families counted eight that were living
u,6er these conditions. In another town the
6rst seIectu1an looked UP to eTnnently re-
spectabIe, was unblushingly living under these
same family regulations. This, l may say Is
8 s.New-EngIand vice. 1t is rarely TO be found
among the foreigners VINO are coming in. and
whose family relations are almost universally
pure.
.'Decsying and dead New-England blood Is to
be found in all such towns. The stamp OF oe-
geueracy is unmistakabIe In one town. Ash
ford. of about two hundred families, 80 per