Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-02-06
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Caused by the Shifting Of Population
and Loss Of Native stock.
(From the Literary Digest. }

(From the Literary Digest.)
Divorce, drunkenness, and irreligion
are so on the increase in New Hamp-
shre That one OF its pastors declares
mat its religious work to-day must
De largely OF home missionary ma
ture" The picture he draws is more
pathetic by comparison OF the New
Hampshire of to-day and of an earlier
generation. BY the shifting popuIa-
ton. this state has lost heavily of its
native stock. In 1870 the total popu-
lation OF the state was $4,000 says
Rev. F.. s. Tasker, writing in lions
Herald CBoston). or these, $4,000
were native Americans, and $500
were of foreign birth or parentage.
In 1900 the native population had fall
en- to $4,000 and the foreign popu-
| lation had risen to 1853 900. To-day
1t Is estimated at nearly. II not quite
one-haf of the population Is of foreign
birth or parentage. These facts fur
nish. according to Mr.. Tasker, one
cause for the intellectual and moral
retrogression of the state. Another
cause is the weakening of the native
STOCK. New Hampshire. ne recalls,
once occupied the proud place of third
III the Union for literacy; now she has
fallen to the 2sth." Speaking of the de-
cadence in the moral life of the State,
he writes
| Perhaps the most glaring Indication
or TINS Is found In the recent growth
oi the divorce evil, which has permeat-
eo city and country village alike, and
has become so widespread as to make
IL dellcate subject. The record OF
our state on this question is anything
|
l49 case of divorce in New Hampshire.
and there has been g steedy and ranid
increase, until. in 1904. we had 525
cases. This is tho shameful record
Tor one year. Indications are that tho
public conscience in our State has
been deadencd by familiarity with
moral evil may not he laid at the
door OF our foreign population. The
Roman Catholic church, of which the
| foreigners are largely members, is
/ proverbially strong and true on the
divorce question. Tho fault then
must be found largely in the moral
laxity of our native population.
Another sign of the times is found
in the Increase in drunkness during
the past few years, since the overthrow,
OF the prohibitory system Since tho
present local option license law wont
! into effect the commitments to or-
| houses of correction. for d-urLnoee
have Increased from Az in 1902 10
21s2 in 1906. And there is n growing
conviction that drinking Is on the in
crease among the young men OF our
state. Some of our bost citizers arc
expressing in strongest terms their
horror at the situation, ana calling for
some change in the law that nav holm
To better conditions. largo share Of |
the blame for our degradation I'm this !
respect may be attributed 10 the fore- |
lEner who. with his drinking customs. |
stands for the license system.
Another sign of our present con-
dition is to he found in the CROWNS
spirit OF irreligion. Our nonchurch-
going element is on the increase. In
the 81 towns already referred to. the
religious census yielded the following
results: out of a total population of
about $4,000, 5000. or one-fourth
claimed TO have no church affiliations
whatever; and $1,000. or over one half.
had never received the rite Of BAPTISM. |
Now is this proportion is the same
throughout tho State, 1t indicates
lamentable condition of irreligion in
a supposedly Christian commonwealth
Il has been truly said of rural com
munities that that character STANDING
is essentially the religious standing OF
village. for intellectual or moral
life is generally expressed through
the church and religious customs and
ideals. The church should be the
center OF moral and spiritual life |
but il Is a fact that in many Of our |
communities the church Is waning |
influence in the life of the people The |
congregations are small the interest in |
church work is meager. and the out
side looks with scorn upon the church"
The prospect OF a small village on |
the road to moral decay is most dis
spiritng. Degenerate country settle
ments have none OF the influences TO
elevate and strengthen the moral life
that exists in the city. even where
abundant examples of vice and crime |
abound The conflict between good
and evil is so intense that the very
battle tends to clear the moral at
mosphere;'' but the small village lacks
all these influences for good. Some
statistics OF this states degenerate"
districts are given by the writer thus:
Here is the record of an average |
country town for one year; Twenty
nine marriages, 25 births 40 deaths
Nothing very promising here for the
future population OF that town, In &
canvass of 81 towns in one section of
our state, made within two or three
years, 1t was found that the popu-
lation was decreasing in 81 of them,
and in this same region, containing
9073 dwelling houses, 1854, or almost
one eight of them, were found to be
deserted places These figures are
suggestive OF the loss in population
in some OF our rural sections. In still
other regions the loss in numbers has
been made good by the occupancy of
the abandoned farms by the incoming
foreigners"