The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1910-01-27
ANOTHER PESSlMIST.

with tual paper ana Inc MdlDe aT1nef
in decrying the agricultural conditions in
Maine; and in addition he would have it
appear that the State has, and deserved
ly, bad name generally. He says that
when he contemplated moving from a
Massachusetts city to Maine farm this
is what Maine-born men said to him:
Nobody thinks of going to Maine now, =
Maine is only fit to emigrate from. "
"Maine is all woods or rock heaps" 1t
will probably occur to the reader right
here that the products of the Maine
woods ard Maine granite quarries are
not to be despised as factors in Names
prosperity. But to continue the quota
tons. g One man, native of pretty
town in Maine and who acquired fame
after he left the State, said: If you are
determined to leave your position in the
city, go west, to California, or some othe,
western State. Maine is not a State
that invites immigrants as she o:ce did,
whether it be town on country "a
L
thor, declared that he made mistake in
remaining in Maine His talents deserved
the encouragement he would have re
ceived had he gone to Boston or some
other city" One more: '' A native of
Maine. who was on an Illinois farm, said
to me in Chicago: You would gain if you
,-n,,. form a,,C
west. You would De welcomed and en-
couraged out here - But notwithstand-
ing all this advice, with wealth and glory
awaiting him elsewhere, Mr.. Allen re-
turned to Maine. One naturally wonders
why, and he satisfies curiosity on that
point by saying that the real reason of
his coming to a State pictured in such
gloomy colors was that he wanted to
farm. Why he did not GO out west to
farm. where he would be welcomed and
encouraged" he neglects to state.
He has lived thirty-fve years on his
''pretty Maine farm" and says he has
managed to keep ''off the town" and
chad no trouble in finding friends, al
though he twas poor enough. But in
this latter respect he seems to think his
an exceptional case, for he tells of a
Maine farmers boy who walked the
streets of one of our leading cities all
day long without receiving even an en-
couraging word, but when he struck Bos-
ton he was encouraged at once and soon
obtained fairly good position" This
is cited as only one of many similar cases.
judging from the conditions within a
radius of perhaps fifteen miles from the
town where he lives Mr.. Allen presents
this picture of country life in Maine:
Old people die, and the boys go to Bos-
ton, to the west, to California, never to
return, probably until sometimes it is
difficult to get young men enough to
serve as bearers at country funerals.
No one comes to take the place of those
who die. Buildings decay, and fall down,
and bushes grow, and then city Boards
of Trade and Chambers of Commerce
become industrial qUack doctors and pre-
scribe remedies for industrial diseases of
which they know about as much as does
the Man in the Moon. Or, sometimes
pious city fools wno see country churches
becoming dilapidated say that country
people are heathens, and start out the
Bible peddlers, who are never as good as
the heather.
Of course Mr.. Allen declares that farm
ing in Maine does not pay; and all because
of the protective tariff, the wicked Re
pubicans and the loss of ''small local
manufacturing industries. For example:
''The old-tlme country saw and grist mill
has almost entirely disappeared, along
with the village cobbler and the MANY
other small industries that were once to
be found at country cross roads. Farm
ers' wives and daughters no longer knit
stockings or mittens even." No, and
and they do not run tallow candles to
illuminate their homes, weave cloth from
wool sheared from their own sheep or
from flax grown on their farms. 1t is,
of course, saddening to note the decline
of such local industries as these, but let
US rejoice that the transition from old
time methods has brought US some COM
pensations, such as kerosene in place of
the tailow dip, a telephone in the home
and the mail delivered at the door. Few
of the housewives of today would care to
become such manufacturing industries
as Mr.. Allen mourns over, and we doubt
if he himself would enjoy return to the
conditions of pioneer days. The Maine
Democrat styles Mr.. Aliens contribu-
ton "a pertinent letter." but pessi-
mistic letter would be more correct
designation.
1t is increasingly evident that certain
Democratic politicians of more or less
weight are determined to shelve Brother
Gardner, if possible, and select another
standard bearer for this years campaign.
The report Of the Grange legislative COM
mittee, submitted at the recent annual
meeting of the State Grange in Bangor,
seems to furnish all the ammunition
needed and it is most effectively used by
the Maine Democrat and the Rockland
Opinion. The latter paper accuses this
of seeking to bamboozle the
farmers of Maine 'twith the;r spac;ons