St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1912-03-06
STUDY In RURAL LIFE
Judgments Of Visiting SOciOIOgist
on Conditions in Vermont and
New Hampshire.

In the summer of 1911, Professor
E. A. Ross, the distinguished socio-
logist of the University of Wiscon-
sin, visited certain parts of New
Hampshire and Vermont, with a
view to forming a frst-hand esti-
mate of the social conditions there
existing. His informal statement as
to what he found and his sugges-
tions as to ways of betterment are
presented in the following extracts
from letters sent by him to two Y. NJ.
c. A., county work secretaries in the
states visited. They are published
in the belief that knowledge of the
facts, as keen-eyed, disinterested,
scientifically trained observers see
them, must precede all intelligent
effort, on the part of those who
should be leaders in rural New Eng
land, to better certain conditions
that are nothing less than deplor-
able. True state pride is not shown,
as regards such matters, by silence
and a shutting of the eyes; rather
it will take the form of fearless
struggle in the open with a situa-
ton which if not met and overcome
will eventually make all state pride
therefore, Of these rural common
wealths, the real believers in their
splendid possibilities, the words
here quoted should prove a verit-
able call to action; they should
stimulate and strengthen rather
than discourage and depress.
Some of the conditions referred
to were more noticeable in one state
than in the other, but most of them,
in varying degrees, are common to
both states, and detailed eompari-
sons would be unjust. Among those
of general nature the following
were noted:
An extreme shrinkage in the size
of families of native stock.
Parental neglect of children.
Precocious sex immortality.
An absence of adequate means of
gratifying the social and recreative
needs of young people.
A decline of standards and loss of
higher interests.
No Church Militant.
AS regards the relation between
the churches and their communi-
ties, the following conditions were
observed:
The absence >of a positive, mill
tant church spirit on questions like
drinking and sexual immortality.
One pastor says, ''The reason for
the unreceptiveness of the young
people up here is not in the young
people themselves but in the spirit
of the churches. There is a lack of
emotional vitality in the spirit of the
There is a lack of emo
tiona1 vitality in Christianity-ab-
sence of revival phenomena-church
very conservative, bound by preced-
emit, lacking vitality. The church
runs too much to women, and this
alienates both boys and girls"
There is stubborn individualism
on the part of the old pillars
that is breaking the hearts of the
earnest pastors. Often the ''pil- !
lars" frown on the idea that the |
church has a social mission.
The people put business, pleas
ure, and everything else ahead of
spiritual things. In one county |
only one out Of Ia is a church mem |
Der. The young people are not !
reached by the church The preach /
or may get a personal hold on /
hem, but he cannot awaken a re-
ligiOus life in them. The ministers |
despair of the future, for no one
lakes the place of the members who /
lie.
Effect of Emigration.
The causes of these dangerous
with remedies suggested
by his practical experience, are set
forth by Professor Ross in the fol-
owing letter of summary: