The daily Nome industrial worker., 1917-07-14
0JH COEETEN.

Ne learn in early childhood to l speak with pride ot "Our Country Ecoaomica.ty. the rhraes is inaceur- ate since the average American lE- zag iii all industrial center owns no more of the Jnited States than does the average Chinese coolie in the Yangtse Valley. So completely is the expatriated, economically, that in most cases he docs not even own the home in which he lives.
 The point is well illustrated by the situation in New England, the oldest and most highly urbanized part of the United States.
 The New England of revolution- ary days was a country of farms. villages and small towns, with a few cities of prominence. Rural life predominated. The farm owner was the backbone of this early Am erican democracy
 When the .ast census was taken less than one-fifth of the population of New England lived in the coun' try-S3.3 per cent of the people were reported in cities and towns. This is almost double the ratio ot city dwellers for the whole United States.
 The three New England states which are most largely industrial are Massachusetts, Rhode Island ana Connecticut. The proportion of people living in the country in these three states is: Connecticut l0.3 per cent; Massachusetts, - per cent, and Rhode Island, 3.3 per Cent--in other words, in all of these states more than nine-tenths of the population is a town popu- lation. and in Rhode Island almost 97 in every 100 people are city and town dwellers.
 The village life of old New Eng land has been replaced by mod ern town and city life. The New
  appeared from the three leading in duetrial states of New England, and is of relatively little consequence in the other three New England states. In place of the independent farm owner is the town dweller working in factory and living in a rented house or apartment. Home owner shin was one of the g'Orics of Old NeS England. The New England farmer owned his farm and worked it himself-ar economic condition out of which democracy has always sprung. In 1910 there were only 1SS,S02 farms in the whole of New England (1S,430 less farms than were in 1SS0). The tradition of ownership still remains. Of all these farms only 15,015 are run by ten ants. In Maine less than one twentieth of the farmers are ten anis; in Vermont one-eight are tenants; in Rhode Island nearly one fifth are tenants Still the import aAt thing is not the proportion of tcrants, but the small ard decreas- Ing proportion of farms and farm CTS in the total population.
 The New England farmer was a home owner; the New England town dweller is a home renter. The last census reports 179,7G0 farm houses, and 1.3S5,242 "other homes" in New England Of these "other homes" S53,O41 were rent ed, 412,249 were owned, and 226,- 132 were owned free of mortgage That is, of every 100 New England homes in town and cities, 66 were rented. IA were owned mortgaged and 20 were owned free of mort gage.
 The proportion of home owner ship is much less in Massachusetts Hhode Island and Connecticut than ip the other three New England states In Massachusetts r city and town homes in each 100 were owned free of mortgage, in Con necticut 15. in Rhode Island IA The highest proportion of such homes owned free of mortgage is in Maine, with 39 in each 100. No ono of the three industrial states of New England can report as Tnany as one-ffth of it's city and