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diff --git a/old/52290-h/52290-h.htm b/old/52290-h/52290-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index bda057e..0000000 --- a/old/52290-h/52290-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13644 +0,0 @@ -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> - -<!DOCTYPE html - PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> - <title> - Studies in the South and West With Comments on Canada, by Charles Dudley - Warner - </title> - <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> - - body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} - P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } - H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } - hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} - .foot { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic;} - blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} - .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} - .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} - .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} - .xx-small {font-size: 60%;} - .x-small {font-size: 75%;} - .small {font-size: 85%;} - .large {font-size: 115%;} - .x-large {font-size: 130%;} - .indent5 { margin-left: 5%;} - .indent10 { margin-left: 10%;} - .indent15 { margin-left: 15%;} - .indent20 { margin-left: 20%;} - .indent30 { margin-left: 30%;} - .indent40 { margin-left: 40%;} - div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } - div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } - .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} - .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} - .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 1%; font-size: 0.6em; - font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; - text-align: right; background-color: #FFFACD; - border: 1px solid; padding: 0.3em;text-indent: 0em;} - .side { float: left; font-size: 75%; width: 15%; padding-left: 0.8em; - border-left: dashed thin; text-align: left; - text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; - font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} - .head { float: left; font-size: 90%; width: 98%; padding-left: 0.8em; - border-left: dashed thin; text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; - font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} - p.pfirst, p.noindent {text-indent: 0} - span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 0.8 } - pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} - -</style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Studies in The South and West, With -Comments on Canada, by Charles Dudley Warner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Studies in The South and West, With Comments on Canada - -Author: Charles Dudley Warner - -Release Date: June 9, 2016 [EBook #52290] -Last Updated: August 2, 2016 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN THE SOUTH *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - -</pre> - - <div style="height: 8em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h1> - STUDIES IN THE SOUTH AND WEST WITH COMMENTS ON CANADA - </h1> - <h2> - By Charles Dudley Warner - </h2> - <h4> - New York: Harper & Brothers - </h4> - <h3> - 1889 - </h3> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <p> - <b>CONTENTS</b> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> PREFATORY NOTE. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>STUDIES IN THE SOUTH AND WEST</b> </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> I.—IMPRESSIONS OF THE SOUTH IN 1885. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> II.—SOCIETY IN THE NEW SOUTH. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> III.—NEW ORLEANS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> IV.—A VOUDOO DANCE. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> V.—THE ACADIAN LAND. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VI.—THE SOUTH REVISITED, IN 1887. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VII.—A FAR AND FAIR COUNTRY. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VIII.—ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL TOPICS. - MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> IX.—CHICAGO. [<i>First Paper</i>.] </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> X.—CHICAGO [<i>Second Paper</i>.] </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> XI.—THREE CAPITALS—SPRINGFIELD, - INDIANAPOLIS, COLUMBUS. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> XII.—CINCINNATI AND LOUISVILLE. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> XIII.—MEMPHIS AND LITTLE ROCK. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> XIV.—ST. LOUIS AND KANSAS CITY. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> XV.—KENTUCKY. </a> - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> <b>COMMENTS ON CANADA.</b> </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> I. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> II. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> III. </a> - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - PREFATORY NOTE. - </h2> - <h3> - To Henry M. Alden, Esq., Editor of Harper’s Monthly: - </h3> - <p> - My dear Mr. Alden,—It was at your suggestion that these Studies were - undertaken; all of them passed under your eye, except “Society in the New - South,” which appeared in the <i>New Princeton Review</i>. The object was - not to present a comprehensive account of the country South and West—which - would have been impossible in the time and space given—but to note - certain representative developments, tendencies, and dispositions, the - communication of which would lead to a better understanding between - different sections. The subjects chosen embrace by no means all that is - important and interesting, but it is believed that they are fairly - representative. The strongest impression produced upon the writer in - making these Studies was that the prosperous life of the Union depends - upon the life and dignity of the individual States. - </p> - <h3> - C. D. W, - </h3> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - STUDIES IN THE SOUTH AND WEST - </h2> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - I.—IMPRESSIONS OF THE SOUTH IN 1885. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>t is borne in upon - me, as the Friends would say, that I ought to bear my testimony of certain - impressions made by a recent visit to the Gulf States. In doing this I am - aware that I shall be under the suspicion of having received kindness and - hospitality, and of forming opinions upon a brief sojourn. Both these - facts must be confessed, and allowed their due weight in discrediting what - I have to say. A month of my short visit was given to New Orleans in the - spring, during the Exposition, and these impressions are mainly of - Louisiana. - </p> - <p> - The first general impression made was that the war is over in spirit as - well as in deed. The thoughts of the people are not upon the war, not much - upon the past at all, except as their losses remind them of it, but upon - the future, upon business, a revival of trade, upon education, and - adjustment to the new state of things. The thoughts are not much upon - politics either, or upon offices; certainly they are not turned more in - this direction than the thoughts of people at the North are. When we read - a despatch which declares that there is immense dissatisfaction throughout - Arkansas because offices are not dealt out more liberally to it, we may - know that the case is exactly what it is in, say, Wisconsin—that a - few political managers are grumbling, and that the great body of the - people are indifferent, perhaps too indifferent, to the distribution of - offices. - </p> - <p> - Undoubtedly immense satisfaction was felt at the election of Mr. - Cleveland, and elation of triumph in the belief that now the party which - had been largely a non-participant in Federal affairs would have a large - share and weight in the administration. With this went, however, a new - feeling of responsibility, of a stake in the country, that manifested - itself at once in attachment to the Union as the common possession of all - sections. I feel sure that Louisiana, for instance, was never in its whole - history, from the day of the Jefferson purchase, so consciously loyal to - the United States as it is to-day. I have believed that for the past ten - years there has been growing in this country a stronger feeling of - nationality—a distinct American historic consciousness—and - nowhere else has it developed so rapidly of late as at the South. I am - convinced that this is a genuine development of attachment to the Union - and of pride in the nation, and not in any respect a political movement - for unworthy purposes. I am sorry that it is necessary, for the sake of - any lingering prejudice at the North, to say this. But it is time that - sober, thoughtful, patriotic people at the North should quit representing - the desire for office at the South as a desire to get into the Government - saddle and ride again with a “rebel” impulse. It would be, indeed, a - discouraging fact if any considerable portion of the South held aloof in - sullenness from Federal affairs. Nor is it any just cause either of - reproach or of uneasiness that men who were prominent in the war of the - rebellion should be prominent now in official positions, for with a few - exceptions the worth and weight of the South went into the war. It would - be idle to discuss the question whether the masses of the South were not - dragooned into the war by the politicians; it is sufficient to recognize - the fact that it became practically, by one means or another, a unanimous - revolt. - </p> - <p> - One of the strongest impressions made upon a Northerner who visits the - extreme South now, having been familiar with it only by report, is the - extent to which it suffered in the war. Of course there was extravagance - and there were impending bankruptcies before the war, debt, and methods of - business inherently vicious, and no doubt the war is charged with many - losses which would have come without it, just as in every crisis half the - failures wrongfully accuse the crisis. Yet, with all allowance for these - things, the fact remains that the war practically wiped out personal - property and the means of livelihood. The completeness of this loss and - disaster never came home to me before. In some cases the picture of the <i>ante - bellum</i> civilization is more roseate in the minds of those who lost - everything than cool observation of it would justify. But conceding this, - the actual disaster needs no embellishment of the imagination. It seems to - me, in the reverse, that the Southern people do not appreciate the - sacrifices the North made for the Union. They do not, I think, realize the - fact that the North put into the war its best blood, that every battle - brought mourning into our households, and filled our churches day by day - and year by year with the black garments of bereavement; nor did they ever - understand the tearful enthusiasm for the Union and the flag, and the - unselfish devotion that underlay all the self-sacrifice. Some time the - Southern people will know that it was love for the Union, and not hatred - of the South, that made heroes of the men and angels of renunciation of - the women. - </p> - <p> - Yes, say our Southern friends, we can believe that you lost dear ones and - were in mourning; but, after all, the North was prosperous; you grew rich; - and when the war ended, life went on in the fulness of material - prosperity. We lost not only our friends and relatives, fathers, sons, - brothers, till there was scarcely a household that was not broken up, we - lost not only the cause on which we had set our hearts, and for which we - had suffered privation and hardship, were fugitives and wanderers, and - endured the bitterness of defeat at the end, but our property was gone, we - were stripped, with scarcely a home, and the whole of life had to be begun - over again, under all the disadvantage of a sudden social revolution. - </p> - <p> - It is not necessary to dwell upon this or to heighten it, but it must be - borne in mind when we observe the temper of the South, and especially when - we are looking for remaining bitterness, and the wonder to me is that - after so short a space of time there is remaining so little of resentment - or of bitter feeling over loss and discomfiture. I believe there is not in - history any parallel to it. Every American must take pride in the fact - that Americans have so risen superior to circumstances, and come out of - trials that thoroughly threshed and winnowed soul and body in a temper so - gentle and a spirit so noble. It is good stuff that can endure a test of - this kind. - </p> - <p> - A lady, whose family sustained all the losses that were possible in the - war, said to me—and she said only what several others said in - substance—“We are going to get more out of this war than you at the - North, because we suffered more. We were drawn out of ourselves in - sacrifices, and were drawn together in a tenderer feeling of humanity; I - do believe we were chastened into a higher and purer spirit.” - </p> - <p> - Let me not be misunderstood. The people who thus recognize the moral - training of adversity and its effects upon character, and who are glad - that slavery is gone, and believe that a new and better era for the South - is at hand, would not for a moment put themselves in an attitude of - apology for the part they took in the war, nor confess that they were - wrong, nor join in any denunciation of the leaders they followed to their - sorrow. They simply put the past behind them, so far as the conduct of the - present life is concerned. They do not propose to stamp upon memories that - are tender and sacred, and they cherish certain sentiments whieh are to - them loyalty to their past and to the great passionate experiences of - their lives. When a woman, who enlisted by the consent of Jeff Davis, - whose name appeared for four years upon the rolls, and who endured all the - perils and hardships of the conflict as a field-nurse, speaks of - “President” Davis, what does it mean? It is only a sentiment. This heroine - of the war on the wrong side had in the Exposition a tent, where the - veterans of the Confederacy recorded their names. On one side, at the back - of the tent, was a table piled with touching relics of the war, and above - it a portrait of Robert E. Lee, wreathed in immortelles. It was surely a - harmless shrine. - </p> - <p> - On the other side was also a table, piled with fruit and cereals—not - relics, but signs of prosperity and peace—and above it a portrait of - Ulysses S. Grant. Here was the sentiment, cherished with an aching heart - maybe, and here was the fact of the Union and the future. - </p> - <p> - Another strong impression made upon the visitor is, as I said, that the - South has entirely put the past behind it, and is devoting itself to the - work of rebuilding on new foundations. There is no reluctance to talk - about the war, or to discuss its conduct and what might have been. But all - this is historic. It engenders no heat. The mind of the South to-day is on - the development of its resources, upon the rehabilitation of its affairs. - I think it is rather more concerned about national prosperity than it is - about the great problem of the negro—but I will refer to this - further on. There goes with this interest in material development the same - interest in the general prosperity of the country that exists at the North—the - anxiety that the country should prosper, acquit itself well, and stand - well with the other nations. There is, of course, a sectional feeling—as - to tariff, as to internal improvements—but I do not think the - Southern States are any more anxious to get things for themselves out of - the Federal Government than the Northern States are. That the most extreme - of Southern politicians have any sinister purpose (any more than any of - the Northern “rings” on either side have) in wanting to “rule” the - country, is, in my humble opinion, only a chimera evoked to make political - capital. - </p> - <p> - As to the absolute subsidence of hostile intention (this phrase I know - will sound queer in the South), and the laying aside of bitterness for the - past, are not necessary in the presence of a strong general impression, - but they might be given in great number. I note one that was significant - from its origin, remembering, what is well known, that women and clergymen - are always the last to experience subsidence of hostile feeling after a - civil war. On the Confederate Decoration Day in New Orleans I was standing - near the Confederate monument in one of the cemeteries when the veterans - marched in to decorate it. First came the veterans of the Army of - Virginia, last those of the Army of Tennessee, and between them the - veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic, Union soldiers now living in - Louisiana. I stood beside a lady whose name, if I mentioned it, would be - recognized as representative of a family which was as conspicuous, and did - as much and lost as much, as any other in the war—a family that - would be popularly supposed to cherish unrelenting feelings. As the - veterans, some of them on crutches, many of them with empty sleeves, - grouped themselves about the monument, we remarked upon the sight as a - touching one, and I said: “I see you have no address on Decoration Day. At - the North we still keep up the custom.” - </p> - <p> - “No,” she replied; “we have given it up. So many imprudent things were - said that we thought best to discontinue the address.” And then, after a - pause, she added, thoughtfully: “Each side did the best it could; it is - all over and done with, and let’s have an end of it.” In the mouth of the - lady who uttered it, the remark was very significant, but it expresses, I - am firmly convinced, the feeling of the South. - </p> - <p> - Of course the South will build monuments to its heroes, and weep over - their graves, and live upon the memory of their devotion and genius. In - Heaven’s name, why shouldn’t it? Is human nature itself to be changed in - twenty years? - </p> - <p> - A long chapter might be written upon the dis-likeness of North and South, - the difference in education, in training, in mental inheritances, the - misapprehensions, radical and very singular to us, of the civilization of - the North. We must recognize certain historic facts, not only the effect - of the institution of slavery, but other facts in Southern development. - Suppose we say that an unreasonable prejudice exists, or did exist, about - the people of the North. That prejudice is a historic fact, of which the - statesman must take account. It enters into the question of the time - needed to effect the revolution now in progress. There are prejudices in - the North about the South as well. We admit their existence. But what - impresses me is the rapidity with which they are disappearing in the - South. Knowing what human nature is, it seems incredible that they could - have subsided so rapidly. Enough remain for national variety, and enough - will remain for purposes of social badinage, but common interests in the - country and in making money are melting them away very fast. So far as - loyalty to the Government is concerned, I am not authorized to say that it - is as deeply rooted in the South as in the North, but it is expressed as - vividly, and felt with a good deal of fresh enthusiasm. The “American” - sentiment, pride in this as the most glorious of all lands, is genuine, - and amounts to enthusiasm with many who would in an argument glory in - their rebellion. “We had more loyalty to our States than you had,” said - one lady, “and we have transferred it to the whole country.” - </p> - <p> - But the negro? Granting that the South is loyal enough, wishes never - another rebellion, and is satisfied to be rid of slavery, do not the - people intend to keep the negroes practically a servile class, slaves in - all but the name, and to defeat by chicanery or by force the legitimate - results of the war and of enfranchisement? - </p> - <p> - This is a very large question, and cannot be discussed in my limits. If I - were to say what my impression is, it would be about this: the South is - quite as much perplexed by the negro problem as the North is, and is very - much disposed to await developments, and to let time solve it. One thing, - however, must be admitted in all this discussion. The Southerners will not - permit such Legislatures as those assembled once in Louisiana and South - Carolina to rule them again. “Will you disfranchise the blacks by - management or by force?” - </p> - <p> - “Well, what would you do in Ohio or in Connecticut? Would you be ruled by - a lot of ignorant field-hands allied with a gang of plunderers?” - </p> - <p> - In looking at this question from a Northern point of view we have to keep - in mind two things: first, the Federal Government imposed colored suffrage - without any educational qualification—a hazardous experiment; in the - second place, it has handed over the control of the colored people in each - State to the State, under the Constitution, as completely in Louisiana as - in New York. The responsibility is on Louisiana. The North cannot relieve - her of it, and it cannot interfere, except by ways provided in the - Constitution. In the South, where fear of a legislative domination has - gone, the feeling between the two races is that of amity and mutual help. - This is, I think, especially true in Louisiana. The Southerners never have - forgotten the loyalty of the slaves during the war, the security with - which the white families dwelt in the midst of a black population while - all the white men were absent in the field; they often refer to this. It - touches with tenderness the new relation of the races. I think there is - generally in the South a feeling of good-will towards the negroes, a - desire that they should develop into true manhood and womanhood. - Undeniably there are indifference and neglect and some remaining suspicion - about the schools that Northern charity has organized for the negroes. As - to this neglect of the negro, two things are to be said: the whole subject - of education (as we have understood it in the North) is comparatively new - in the South; and the necessity of earning a living since the war has - distracted attention from it. But the general development of education is - quite as advanced as could be expected. The thoughtful and the leaders of - opinion are fully awake to the fact that the mass of the people must be - educated, and that the only settlement of the negro problem is in the - education of the negro, intellectually and morally. They go further than - this. They say that for the South to hold its own—since the negro is - there and will stay there, and is the majority of the laboring class—it - is necessary that the great agricultural mass of unskilled labor should be - transformed, to a great extent, into a class of skilled labor, skilled on - the farm, in shops, in factories, and that the South must have a highly - diversified industry. To this end they want industrial as well as ordinary - schools for the colored people. - </p> - <p> - It is believed that, with this education and with diversified industry, - the social question will settle itself, as it does the world over. Society - cannot be made or unmade by legislation. In New Orleans the street-ears - are free to all colors; at the Exposition white and colored people mingled - freely, talking and looking at what was of common interest. - </p> - <p> - We who live in States where hotel-keepers exclude Hebrews cannot say much - about the exclusion of negroes from Southern hotels. There are prejudices - remaining. There are cases of hardship on the railways, where for the same - charge perfectly respectable and nearly white women are shut out of cars - while there is no discrimination against dirty and disagreeable white - people. In time all this will doubtless rest upon the basis it rests on at - the North, and social life will take care of itself. It is my impression - that the negroes are no more desirous to mingle socially with the whites - than the whites are with the negroes. Among the negroes there are social - grades as distinctly marked as in white society. What will be the final - outcome of the juxtaposition nobody can tell; meantime it must be recorded - that good-will exists between the races. - </p> - <p> - I had one day at the Exposition an interesting talk with the colored woman - in charge of the Alabama section of the exhibit of the colored people. - This exhibit, made by States, was suggested and promoted by Major Burke in - order to show the whites what the colored people could do, and as a - stimulus to the latter. There was not much time—only two or three - months—in which to prepare the exhibit, and it was hardly a fair - showing of the capacity of the colored people. The work was mainly women’s - work—embroidery, sewing, household stuffs, with a little of the - handiwork of artisans, and an exhibit of the progress in education; but - small as it was, it was wonderful as the result of only a few years of - freedom. The Alabama exhibit was largely from Mobile, and was due to the - energy, executive ability, and taste of the commissioner in charge. She - was a quadroon, a widow, a woman of character and uncommon mental and - moral quality. She talked exceedingly well, and with a practical - good-sense which would be notable in anybody. In the course of our - conversation the whole social and political question was gone over. - Herself a person of light color, and with a confirmed social prejudice - against black people, she thoroughly identified herself with the colored - race, and it was evident that her sympathies were with them. She confirmed - what I had heard of the social grades among colored people, but her whole - soul was in the elevation of her race as a race, inclining always to their - side, but with no trace of hostility to the whites. Many of her best - friends were whites, and perhaps the most valuable part of her education - was acquired in families of social distinction. “I can illustrate,” she - said, “the state of feeling between the two races in Mobile by an incident - last summer. There was an election coming off in the City Government, and - I knew that the reformers wanted and needed the colored vote. I went, - therefore, to some of the chief men, who knew me and had confidence in me, - for I had had business relations with many of them [she had kept a - fashionable boarding-house], and told them that I wanted the Opera-house - for the colored people to give an entertainment and exhibition in. The - request was extraordinary. Nobody but white people had ever been admitted - to the Opera-house. But, after some hesitation and consultation, the - request was granted. We gave the exhibition, and the white people all - attended. It was really a beautiful affair, lovely tableaux, with gorgeous - dresses, recitations, etc., and everybody was astonished that the colored - people had so much taste and talent, and had got on so far in education. - They said they were delighted and surprised, and they liked it so well - that they wanted the entertainment repeated—it was given for one of - our charities—but I was too wise for that. I didn’t want to run the - chance of destroying the impression by repeating, and I said we would wait - a while, and then show them something better. Well, the election came off - in August, and everything went all right, and now the colored people in - Mobile can have anything they want. There is the best feeling between the - races. I tell you we should get on beautifully if the politicians would - let us alone. It is politics that has made all the trouble in Alabama and - in Mobile.” And I learned that in Mobile, as in many other places, the - negroes were put in minor official positions, the duties of which they - were capable of discharging, and had places in the police. - </p> - <p> - On “Louisiana Day” in the Exposition the colored citizens took their full - share of the parade and the honors. Their societies marched with the - others, and the races mingled on the grounds in unconscious equality of - privileges. Speeches were made, glorifying the State and its history, by - able speakers, the Governor among them; but it was the testimony of - Democrats of undoubted Southern orthodoxy that the honors of the day were - carried off by a colored clergyman, an educated man, who united eloquence - with excellent good-sense, and who spoke as a citizen of Louisiana, proud - of his native State, dwelling with richness of allusion upon its history. - It was a perfectly manly speech in the assertion of the rights and the - position of his race, and it breathed throughout the same spirit of - good-will and amity in a common hope of progress that characterized the - talk of the colored woman commissioner of Mobile. It was warmly applauded, - and accepted, so far as I heard, as a matter of course. - </p> - <p> - No one, however, can see the mass of colored people in the cities and on - the plantations, the ignorant mass, slowly coming to moral consciousness, - without a recognition of the magnitude of the negro problem. I am glad - that my State has not the practical settlement of it, and I cannot do less - than express profound sympathy with the people who have. They inherit the - most difficult task now anywhere visible in human progress. They will make - mistakes, and they will do injustice now and then; but one feels like - turning away from these, and thanking God for what they do well. - </p> - <p> - There are many encouraging things in the condition of the negro. - Good-will, generally, among the people where he lives is one thing; their - tolerance of his weaknesses and failings is another. He is himself, here - and there, making heroic sacrifices to obtain an education. There are - negro mothers earning money at the wash-tub to keep their boys at school - and in college. In the South-west there is such a call for colored - teachers that the Straight University in New Orleans, which has about five - hundred pupils, cannot begin to supply the demand, although the teachers, - male and female, are paid from thirty-five to fifty dollars a month. A - colored graduate of this school a year ago is now superintendent of the - colored schools in Memphis, at a salary of $1200 a year. - </p> - <p> - Are these exceptional cases? Well, I suppose it is also exceptional to see - a colored clergyman in his surplice seated in the chancel of the most - important white Episcopal church in New Orleans, assisting in the service; - but it is significant. There are many good auguries to be drawn from the - improved condition of the negroes on the plantations, the more rational - and less emotional character of their religious services, and the hold of - the temperance movement on all classes in the country places. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - II.—SOCIETY IN THE NEW SOUTH. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>he American - Revolution made less social change in the South than in the North. Under - conservative influences the South developed her social life with little - alteration in form and spirit—allowing for the decay that always - attends conservatism—down to the Civil War. The social revolution - which was in fact accomplished contemporaneously with the political - severance from Great Britain, in the North, was not effected in the South - until Lee offered his sword to Grant, and Grant told him to keep it and - beat it into a ploughshare. The change had indeed been inevitable, and - ripening for four years, but it was at that moment universally recognized. - Impossible, of course, except by the removal of slavery, it is not wholly - accounted for by the removal of slavery; it results also from an - economical and political revolution, and from a total alteration of the - relations of the South to the rest of the world. The story of this social - change will be one of the most marvellous the historian has to deal with. - </p> - <p> - Provincial is a comparative term. All England is provincial to the - Londoner, all America to the Englishman. Perhaps New York looks upon - Philadelphia as provincial; and if Chicago is forced to admit that Boston - resembles ancient Athens, then Athens, by the Chicago standard, must have - been a very provincial city. The root of provincialism is localism, or a - condition of being on one side and apart from the general movement of - contemporary life. In this sense, and compared with the North in its - absolute openness to every wind from all parts of the globe, the South was - provincial. Provincialism may have its decided advantages, and it may - nurture many superior virtues and produce a social state that is as - charming as it is interesting, but along with it goes a certain - self-appreciation, which ultracosmopolitan critics would call - Concord-like, that seems exaggerated to outsiders. - </p> - <p> - The South, and notably Virginia and South Carolina, cherished English - traditions long after the political relation was severed. But it kept the - traditions of the time of the separation, and did not share the literary - and political evolution of England. Slavery divided it from the North in - sympathy, and slavery, by excluding European emigration, shut out the - South from the influence of the new ideas germinating in Europe. It was - not exactly true to say that the library of the Southern gentleman stopped - with the publications current in the reign of George the Third, but, well - stocked as it was with the classics and with the English literature become - classic, it was not likely to contain much of later date than the Reform - Bill in England and the beginning of the abolition movement in the North. - The pages of <i>De Bow’s Review</i> attest the ambition and direction of - Southern scholarship—a scholarship not much troubled by the new - problems that were at the time rending England and the North. The young - men who still went abroad to be educated brought back with them the - traditions and flavor of the old England and not the spirit of the new, - the traditions of the universities and not the new life of research and - doubt in them. The conservatism of the Southern life was so strong that - the students at Northern colleges returned unchanged by contact with a - different civilization. The South met the North in business and in - politics, and in a limited social intercourse, but from one cause and - another for three-quarters of a century it was practically isolated, and - consequently developed a peculiar social life. - </p> - <p> - One result of this isolation was that the South was more homogeneous than - the North, and perhaps more distinctly American in its characteristics. - This was to be expected, since it had one common and overmastering - interest in slavery, had little foreign admixture, and was removed from - the currents of commerce and the disturbing ideas of Reform. The South, so - far as society was concerned, was an agricultural aristocracy, based upon - a perfectly defined lowest class in the slaves, and holding all trade, - commerce, and industrial and mechanical pursuits in true mediæval - contempt. Its literature was monarchical, tempered by some Jeffersonian, - doctrinaire notions of the rights of man, which were satisfied, however, - by an insistence upon the sovereignty of the States, and by equal - privileges to a certain social order in each State. Looked at, then, from - the outside, the South appeared to be homogeneous, but from its own point - of view, socially, it was not at all so. Social life in these jealously - independent States developed almost as freely and variously as it did in - the Middle Ages in the free cities of Italy. Virginia was not at all like - South Carolina (except in one common interest), and Louisiana—especially - in its centre, New Orleans—more cosmopolitan than any other part of - the South by reason of its foreign elements, more closely always in - sympathy with Paris than with New York or Boston, was widely, in its - social life, separated from its sisters. Indeed, in early days, before the - slavery agitation, there was, owing to the heritage of English traditions, - more in common between Boston and Charleston than between New Orleans and - Charleston. And later, there was a marked social difference between towns - and cities near together—as, for instance, between agricultural - Lexington and commercial Louisville, in Kentucky. - </p> - <p> - The historian who writes the social life of the Southern States will be - embarrassed with romantic and picturesque material. Nowhere else in this - levelling age will he find a community developing so much of the dramatic, - so much splendor and such pathetic contrasts in the highest social - cultivation, as in the plantation and city life of South Carolina. - Already, in regarding it, it assumes an air of unreality, and vanishes in - its strong lights and heavy shades like a dream of the chivalric age. An - allusion to its character is sufficient for the purposes of this paper. - Persons are still alive who saw the prodigal style of living and the - reckless hospitality of the planters in those days, when in the Charleston - and Sea Island mansions the guests constantly entertained were only - outnumbered by the swarms of servants; when it was not incongruous and - scarcely ostentatious that the courtly company, which had the fine and - free manner of another age, should dine off gold and silver plate; and - when all that wealth and luxury could suggest was lavished in a princely - magnificence that was almost barbaric in its profusion. The young men were - educated in England; the young women were reared like helpless princesses, - with a servant for every want and whim; it was a day of elegant - accomplishments and deferential manners, but the men gamed like Fox and - drank like Sheridan, and the duel was the ordinary arbiter of any - difference of opinion or of any point of honor. Not even slavery itself - could support existence on such a scale, and even before the war it began - to give way to the conditions of our modern life. And now that old - peculiar civilization of South. Carolina belongs to romance. It can never - be repeated, even by the aid of such gigantic fortunes as are now - accumulating in the North. - </p> - <p> - The agricultural life of Virginia appeals with scarcely less attraction to - the imagination of the novelist. Mr. Thackeray caught the flavor of it in - his “Virginians” from an actual study of it in the old houses, when it was - becoming a faded memory. The vast estates—principalities in size—with - troops of slaves attached to each plantation; the hospitality, less - costly, but as free as that of South Carolina; the land in the hands of a - few people; politics and society controlled by a small number of historic - families, intermarried until all Virginians of a certain grade were - related—all this forms a picture as feudal-like and foreign to this - age as can be imagined. The writer recently read the will of a country - gentleman of the last century in Virginia, which raises a distinct image - of the landed aristocracy of the time. It devised his plantation of six - thousand acres with its slaves attached, his plantation of eighteen - hundred acres and slaves, his plantation of twelve hundred acres and - slaves, with other farms and outlying property; it mentioned all the - cattle, sheep, and hogs, the riding-horses in stables, the racing-steeds, - the several coaches with the six horses that drew them (an acknowledgment - of the wretched state of the roads), and so on in all the details of a - vast domain. All the slaves are called by name, all the farming implements - were enumerated, and all the homely articles of furniture down to the beds - and kitchen utensils. This whole structure of a unique civilization is - practically swept away now, and with it the peculiar social life it - produced. Let us pause a moment upon a few details of it, as it had its - highest development in Eastern Virginia. - </p> - <p> - The family was the fetich. In this high social caste the estates were - entailed to the limit of the law, for one generation, and this entail was - commonly religiously renewed by the heir. It was not expected that a widow - would remarry; as a rule she did not, and it was almost a matter of course - that the will of the husband should make the enjoyment of even the - entailed estate dependent upon the non-marriage of the widow. These - prohibitions upon her freedom of choice were not considered singular or - cruel in a society whose chief gospel was the preservation of the family - name. - </p> - <p> - The planters lived more simply than the great seaboard planters of South - Carolina and Georgia, with not less pride, but with less ostentation and - show. The houses were of the accepted colonial pattern, square, with four - rooms on a floor, but with wide galleries (wherein they differed from the - colonial houses in New England), and sometimes with additions in the way - of offices and lodging-rooms. The furniture was very simple and plain—a - few hundred dollars would cover the cost of it in most mansions. There - were not in all Virginia more than two or three magnificent houses. It was - the taste of gentlemen to adorn the ground in front of the house with - evergreens, with the locust and acanthus, and perhaps the maple-trees not - native to the spot; while the oak, which is nowhere more stately and noble - than in Virginia, was never seen on the lawn or the drive-way, but might - be found about the “quarters,” or in an adjacent forest park. As the - interior of the houses was plain, so the taste of the people was simple in - the matter of ornament—jewellery was very little worn; in fact, it - is almost literally true that there were in Virginia no family jewels. - </p> - <p> - So thoroughly did this society believe in itself and keep to its - traditions that the young gentleman of the house, educated in England, - brought on his return nothing foreign home with him—no foreign - tastes, no bric-à-brac for his home, and never a foreign wife. He came - back unchanged, and married the cousin he met at the first country dance - he went to. - </p> - <p> - The pride of the people, which was intense, did not manifest itself in - ways that are common elsewhere—it was sufficient to itself in its - own homespun independence. What would make one distinguished elsewhere was - powerless here. Literary talent, and even acquired wealth, gave no - distinction; aside from family and membership of the caste, nothing gave - it to any native or visitor. There was no lion-hunting, no desire whatever - to attract the attention of, or to pay any deference to, men of letters. - If a member of society happened to be distinguished in letters or in - scholarship, it made not the slightest difference in his social - appreciation. There was absolutely no encouragement for men of letters, - and consequently there was no literary class and little literature. There - was only one thing that gave a man any distinction in this society, except - a long pedigree, and that was the talent of oratory—that was prized, - for that was connected with prestige in the State and the politics of the - dominant class. The planters took few newspapers, and read those few very - little. They were a fox-hunting, convivial race, generally Whig in - politics, always orthodox in religion. The man of cultivation was rare, - and, if he was cultivated, it was usually only on a single subject. But - the planter might be an astute politician, and a man of wide knowledge and - influence in public affairs. There was one thing, however, that was held - in almost equal value with pedigree, and that was female beauty. There was - always the recognized “belle,” the beauty of the day, who was the toast - and the theme of talk, whose memory was always green with her chivalrous - contemporaries; the veterans liked to recall over the old Madeira the wit - and charms of the raving beauties who had long gone the way of the famous - vintages of the cellar. - </p> - <p> - The position of the clergyman in the Episcopal Church was very much what - his position was in England in the time of James II. He was patronized and - paid like any other adjunct of a well-ordered society. If he did not - satisfy his masters he was quietly informed that he could probably be more - useful elsewhere. If he was acceptable, one element of his popularity was - that he rode to hounds and could tell a good story over the wine at - dinner. - </p> - <p> - The pride of this society preserved itself in a certain high, chivalrous - state. If any of its members were poor, as most of them became after the - war, they took a certain pride in their poverty. They were too proud to - enter into a vulgar struggle to be otherwise, and they were too old to - learn the habit of labor. No such thing was known in it as scandal. If any - breach of morals occurred, it was apt to be acknowledged with a Spartan - regard for truth, and defiantly published by the families affected, who - announced that they accepted the humiliation of it. Scandal there should - be none. In that caste the character of women was not even to be the - subject of talk in private gossip and innuendo. No breach of social caste - was possible. The overseer, for instance, and the descendants of the - overseer, however rich, or well educated, or accomplished they might - become, could never marry into the select class. An alliance of this sort - doomed the offender to an absolute and permanent loss of social position. - This was the rule. Beauty could no more gain entrance there than wealth. - </p> - <p> - This plantation life, of which so much has been written, was repeated with - variations all over the South. In Louisiana and lower Mississippi it was - more prodigal than in Virginia. To a great extent its tone was determined - by a relaxing climate, and it must be confessed that it had in it an - element of the irresponsible—of the “after us the deluge.” The whole - system wanted thrift and, to an English or Northern visitor, certain - conditions of comfort. Yet everybody acknowledged its fascination; for - there was nowhere else such a display of open-hearted hospitality. An - invitation to visit meant an invitation to stay indefinitely. The longer - the visit lasted, if it ran into months, the better were the entertainers - pleased. It was an uncalculating hospitality, and possibly it went along - with littleness and meanness, in some directions, that were no more - creditable than the alleged meanness of the New England farmer. At any - rate, it was not a systematized generosity. The hospitality had somewhat - the character of a new country and of a society not crowded. Company was - welcome on the vast, isolated plantations. Society also was really small, - composed of a few families, and intercourse by long visits and profuse - entertainments was natural and even necessary. - </p> - <p> - This social aristocracy had the faults as well as the virtues of an - aristocracy so formed. One fault was an undue sense of superiority, a - sense nurtured by isolation from the intellectual contests and the - illusion-destroying tests of modern life. And this sense of superiority - diffused itself downward through the mass of the Southern population. The - slave of a great family was proud; he held himself very much above the - poor white, and he would not associate with the slave of the small farmer; - and the poor white never doubted his own superiority to the Northern - “mudsill”—as the phrase of the day was. The whole life was somehow - pitched to a romantic key, and often there was a queer contrast between - the Gascon-like pretension and the reality—all the more because of a - certain sincerity and single-mindedness that was unable to see the - anachronism of trying to live in the spirit of Scott’s romances in our day - and generation. - </p> - <p> - But with all allowance for this, there was a real basis for romance in the - impulsive, sun-nurtured people, in the conflict between the two distinct - races, and in the system of labor that was an anomaly in modern life. With - the downfall of this system it was inevitable that the social state should - radically change, and especially as this downfall was sudden and by - violence, and in a struggle that left the South impoverished, and reduced - to the rank of bread-winners those who had always regarded labor as a - thing impossible for themselves. - </p> - <p> - As a necessary effect of this change, the dignity of the agricultural - interest was lowered, and trade and industrial pursuits were elevated. - Labor itself was perforce dignified. To earn one’s living by actual work, - in the shop, with the needle, by the pen, in the counting-house or school, - in any honorable way, was a lot accepted with cheerful courage. And it is - to the credit of all concerned that reduced circumstances and the - necessity of work for daily bread have not thus far cost men and women in - Southern society their social position. Work was a necessity of the - situation, and the spirit in which the new life was taken up brought out - the solid qualities of the race. In a few trying years they had to reverse - the habits and traditions of a century. I think the honest observer will - acknowledge that they have accomplished this without loss of that social - elasticity and charm which were heretofore supposed to depend very much - upon the artificial state of slave labor. And they have gained much. They - have gained in losing a kind of suspicion that was inevitable in the - isolation of their peculiar institution. They have gained freedom of - thought and action in all the fields of modern endeavor, in the industrial - arts, in science, in literature. And the fruits of this enlargement must - add greatly to the industrial and intellectual wealth of the world. - </p> - <p> - Society itself in the new South has cut loose from its old moorings, but - it is still in a transition state, and offers the most interesting study - of tendencies and possibilities. Its danger, of course, is that of the - North—a drift into materialism, into a mere struggle for wealth, - undue importance attached to money, and a loss of public spirit in the - selfish accumulation of property. Unfortunately, in the transition of - twenty years the higher education has been neglected. The young men of - this generation have not given even as much attention to intellectual - pursuits as their fathers gave. Neither in polite letters nor in politics - and political history have they had the same training. They have been too - busy in the hard struggle for a living. It is true at the North that the - young men in business are not so well educated, not so well read, as the - young women of their own rank in society. And I suspect that this is still - more true in the South. It is not uncommon to find in this generation - Southern young women who add to sincerity, openness and frankness of - manner; to the charm born of the wish to please, the graces of - cultivation; who know French like their native tongue, who are well - acquainted with the French and German literatures, who are well read in - the English classics—though perhaps guiltless of much familiarity - with our modern American literature. But taking the South at large, the - schools for either sex are far behind those of the North both in - discipline and range. And this is especially to be regretted, since the - higher education is an absolute necessity to counteract the intellectual - demoralization of the newly come industrial spirit. - </p> - <p> - We have yet to study the compensations left to the South in their century - of isolation from this industrial spirit, and from the absolutely free - inquiry of our modern life. Shall we find something sweet and sound there, - that will yet be a powerful conservative influence in the republic? Will - it not be strange, said a distinguished biblical scholar and an old-time - antislavery radical, if we have to depend, after all, upon the orthodox - conservatism of the South? For it is to be noted that the Southern pulpit - holds still the traditions of the old theology, and the mass of Southern - Christians are still undisturbed by doubts. They are no more troubled by - agnosticism in religion than by altruism in sociology. There remains a - great mass of sound and simple faith. We are not discussing either the - advantage or the danger of disturbing thought, or any question of morality - or of the conduct of life, nor the shield or the peril of ignorance—it - is simply a matter of fact that the South is comparatively free from what - is called modern doubt. - </p> - <p> - Another fact is noticeable. The South is not and never has been disturbed - by “isms” of any sort. “Spiritualism” or “Spiritism” has absolutely no - lodgement there. It has not even appealed in any way to the excitable and - superstitious colored race. Inquiry failed to discover to the writer any - trace of this delusion among whites or blacks. Society has never been - agitated on the important subjects of graham-bread or of the divided - skirt. The temperance question has forced itself upon the attention of - deeply drinking communities here and there. Usually it has been treated in - a very common-sense way, and not as a matter of politics. Fanaticism may - sometimes be a necessity against an overwhelming evil; but the writer - knows of communities in the South that have effected a practical reform in - liquor selling and drinking without fanatical excitement. Bar-room - drinking is a fearful curse in Southern cities, as it is in Northern; it - is an evil that the colored people fall into easily, but it is beginning - to be met in some Southern localities in a resolute and sensible manner. - </p> - <p> - The students of what we like to call “progress,” especially if they are - disciples of Mr. Ruskin, have an admirable field of investigation in the - contrast of the social, economic, and educational structure of the North - and the South at the close of the war. After a century of free schools, - perpetual intellectual agitation, extraordinary enterprise in every domain - of thought and material achievement, the North presented a spectacle at - once of the highest hope and the gravest anxiety. What diversity of life! - What fulness! What intellectual and even social emancipation! What - reforms, called by one party Heavensent, and by the other reforms against - nature! What agitations, doubts, contempt of authority! What wild attempts - to conduct life on no basis philosophic or divine! And yet what - prosperity, what charities, what a marvellous growth, what an improvement - in physical life! With better knowledge of sanitary conditions and of the - culinary art, what an increase of beauty in women and of stalwartness in - men! For beauty and physical comeliness, it must be acknowledged - (parenthetically), largely depend upon food. - </p> - <p> - It is in the impoverished parts of the country, whether South or North, - the sandy barrens, and the still vast regions where cooking is an unknown - art, that scrawny and dyspeptic men and women abound—the - sallow-faced, flat-chested, spindle-limbed. - </p> - <p> - This Northern picture is a veritable nineteenth-century spectacle. Side by - side with it was the other society, also covering a vast domain, that was - in many respects a projection of the eighteenth century into the - nineteenth. It had much of the conservatism, and preserved something of - the manners, of the eighteenth century, and lacked a good deal the - so-called spirit of the age of the nineteenth, together with its doubts, - its isms, its delusions, its energies. Life in the South is still on - simpler terms than in the North, and society is not so complex. I am - inclined to think it is a little more natural, more sincere in manner - though not in fact, more frank and impulsive. One would hesitate to use - the word unworldly with regard to it, but it may be less calculating. A - bungling male observer would be certain to get himself into trouble by - expressing an opinion about women in any part of the world; but women make - society, and to discuss society at all is to discuss them. It is probably - true that the education of women at the South, taken at large, is more - superficial than at the North, lacking in purpose, in discipline, in - intellectual vigor. The aim of the old civilization was to develop the - graces of life, to make women attractive, charming, good talkers (but not - too learned), graceful, and entertaining companions. When the main object - is to charm and please, society is certain to be agreeable. In Southern - society beauty, physical beauty, was and is much thought of, much talked - of. The “belle” was an institution, and is yet. The belle of one city or - village had a wide reputation, and trains of admirers wherever she went—in - short, a veritable career, and was probably better known than a poetess at - the North. She not only ruled in her day, but she left a memory which - became a romance to the next generation. There went along with such - careers a certain lightness and gayety of life, and now and again a good - deal of pathos and tragedy. - </p> - <p> - With all its social accomplishments, its love of color, its climatic - tendency to the sensuous side of life, the South has been unexpectedly - wanting in a fine-art development—namely, in music and pictorial - art. Culture of this sort has been slow enough in the North, and only - lately has had any solidity or been much diffused. The love of art, and - especially of art decoration, was greatly quickened by the Philadelphia - Exhibition, and the comparatively recent infusion of German music has - begun to elevate the taste. But I imagine that while the South naturally - was fond of music of a light sort, and New Orleans could sustain and - almost make native the French opera when New York failed entirely to - popularize any sort of opera, the musical taste was generally very - rudimentary; and the poverty in respect to pictures and engravings was - more marked still. In a few great houses were fine paintings, brought over - from Europe, and here and there a noble family portrait. But the traveller - to-day will go through city after city, and village after village, and - find no art-shop (as he may look in vain in large cities for any sort of - book-store except a news-room); rarely will see an etching or a fine - engraving; and he will be led to doubt if the taste for either existed to - any great degree before the war. Of course he will remember that taste and - knowledge in the fine arts may be said in the North to be recent - acquirements, and that, meantime, the South has been impoverished and - struggling in a political and social revolution. - </p> - <p> - Slavery and isolation and a semi-feudal state have left traces that must - long continue to modify social life in the South, and that may not wear - out for a century to come. The new life must also differ from that in the - North by reason of climate, and on account of the presence of the alien, - <i>insouciant</i> colored race. The vast black population, however it may - change, and however education may influence it, must remain a powerful - determining factor. The body of the slaves, themselves inert, and with no - voice in affairs, inevitably influenced life, the character of - civilization, manners, even speech itself. With slavery ended, the - Southern whites are emancipated, and the influence of the alien race will - be other than what it was, but it cannot fail to affect the tone of life - in the States where it is a large element. - </p> - <p> - When, however, we have made all allowance for difference in climate, - difference in traditions, total difference in the way of looking at life - for a century, it is plain to be seen that a great transformation is - taking place in the South, and that Southern society and Northern society - are becoming every day more and more alike. I know there are those, and - Southerners, too, who insist that we are still two peoples, with more - points of difference than of resemblance—certainly farther apart - than Gascons and Bretons. - </p> - <p> - This seems to me not true in general, though it may be of a portion of the - passing generation. Of course there is difference in temperament, and - peculiarities of speech and manner remain and will continue, as they exist - in different portions of the North—the accent of the Bostonian - differs from that of the Philadelphian, and the inhabitant of Richmond is - known by his speech as neither of New Orleans nor New York. But the - influence of economic laws, of common political action, of interest and - pride in one country, is stronger than local bias in such an age of - intercommunication as this. The great barrier between North and South - having been removed, social assimilation must go on. It is true that the - small farmer in Vermont, and the small planter in Georgia, and the village - life in the two States, will preserve their strong contrasts. But that - which, without clearly defining, we call society becomes yearly more and - more alike North and South. It is becoming more and more difficult to tell - in any summer assembly—at Newport, the White Sulphur, Saratoga, Bar - Harbor—by physiognomy, dress, or manner, a person’s birthplace. - There are noticeable fewer distinctive traits that enable us to say with - certainty that one is from the South, or the West, or the East. No doubt - the type at such a Southern resort as the White Sulphur is more distinctly - American than at such a Northern resort as Saratoga. We are prone to make - a good deal of local peculiarities, but when we look at the matter broadly - and consider the vastness of our territory and the varieties of climate, - it is marvellous that there is so little difference in speech, manner, and - appearance. Contrast us with Europe and its various irreconcilable races - occupying less territory. Even little England offers greater variety than - the United States. When we think of our large, widely scattered - population, the wonder is that we do not differ more. - </p> - <p> - Southern society has always had a certain prestige in the North. One - reason for this was the fact that the ruling class South had more leisure - for social life. Climate, also, had much to do in softening manners, - making the temperament ardent, and at the same time producing that - leisurely movement which is essential to a polished life. It is probably - true, also, that mere wealth was less a passport to social distinction - than at the North, or than it has become at the North; that is to say, - family, or a certain charm of breeding, or the talent of being agreeable, - or the gift of cleverness, or of beauty, were necessary, and money was - not. In this respect it seems to be true that social life is changing at - the South; that is to say, money is getting to have the social power in - New Orleans that it has in New York. It is inevitable in a commercial and - industrial community that money should have a controlling power, as it is - regrettable that the enjoyment of its power very slowly admits a sense of - its responsibility. The old traditions of the South having been broken - down, and nearly all attention being turned to the necessity of making - money, it must follow that mere wealth will rise as a social factor. - Herein lies one danger to what was best in the old régime. Another danger - is that it must be put to the test of the ideas, the agitations, the - elements of doubt and disintegration that seem inseparable to “progress,” - which give Northern society its present complexity, and just cause of - alarm to all who watch its headlong career. Fulness of life is accepted as - desirable, but it has its dangers. - </p> - <p> - Within the past five years social intercourse between North and South has - been greatly increased. Northerners who felt strongly about the Union and - about slavery, and took up the cause of the freedman, and were accustomed - all their lives to absolute free speech, were not comfortable in the - post-reconstruction atmosphere. Perhaps they expected too much of human - nature—a too sudden subsidence of suspicion and resentment. They - felt that they were not welcome socially, however much their capital and - business energy were desired. On the other hand, most Southerners were too - poor to travel in the North, as they did formerly. But all these points - have been turned. Social intercourse and travel are renewed. If - difficulties and alienations remain they are sporadic, and melting away. - The harshness of the Northern winter climate has turned a stream of travel - and occupation to the Gulf States, and particularly to Florida, which is - indeed now scarcely a Southern State except in climate. The Atlanta and - New Orleans Exhibitions did much to bring people of all sections together - socially. With returning financial prosperity all the Northern summer - resorts have seen increasing numbers of Southern people seeking health and - pleasure. I believe that during the past summer more Southerners have been - travelling and visiting in the North than ever before. - </p> - <p> - This social intermingling is significant in itself, and of the utmost - importance for the removal of lingering misunderstandings. They who learn - to like each other personally will be tolerant in political differences, - and helpful and unsuspicious in the very grave problems that rest upon the - late slave States. Differences of opinion and different interests will - exist, but surely love is stronger than hate, and sympathy and kindness - are better solvents than alienation and criticism. The play of social - forces is very powerful in such a republic as ours, and there is certainly - reason to believe that they will be exerted now in behalf of that cordial - appreciation of what is good and that toleration of traditional - differences which are necessary to a people indissolubly bound together in - one national destiny. Alienated for a century, the society of the North - and the society of the South have something to forget but more to gain in - the union that every day becomes closer. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - III.—NEW ORLEANS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>he first time I - saw New Orleans was on a Sunday morning in the month of March. We alighted - from the train at the foot of Esplanade Street, and walked along through - the French Market, and by Jackson Square to the Hotel Royal. The morning, - after rain, was charming; there was a fresh breeze from the river; the - foliage was a tender green; in the balconies and on the mouldering - window-ledges flowers bloomed, and in the decaying courts climbing-roses - mingled their perfume with the orange; the shops were open; ladies tripped - along from early mass or to early market; there was a twittering in the - square and in the sweet old gardens; caged birds sang and screamed the - songs of South America and the tropics; the language heard on all sides - was French or the degraded jargon which the easy-going African has - manufactured out of the tongue of Bienville. Nothing could be more shabby - than the streets, ill-paved, with undulating sidewalks and open gutters - green with slime, and both stealing and giving odor; little canals in - which the cat, become the companion of the crawfish, and the vegetable in - decay sought in vain a current to oblivion; the streets with rows of - one-story houses, wooden, with green doors and batten window-shutters, or - brick, with the painted stucco peeling off, the line broken often by an - edifice of two stories, with galleries and delicate tracery of - wrought-iron, houses pink and yellow and brown and gray—colors all - blending and harmonious when we get a long vista of them and lose the - details of view in the broad artistic effect. Nothing could be shabbier - than the streets, unless it is the tumble-down, picturesque old market, - bright with flowers and vegetables and many-hued fish, and enlivened by - the genial African, who in the New World experiments in all colors, from - coal black to the pale pink of the sea-shell, to find one that suits his - mobile nature. I liked it all from the first; I lingered long in that - morning walk, liking it more and more, in spite of its shabbiness, but - utterly unable to say then or ever since wherein its charm lies. I suppose - we are all wrongly made up and have a fallen nature; else why is it that - while the most thrifty and neat and orderly city only wins our approval, - and perhaps gratifies us intellectually, such a thriftless, battered and - stained, and lazy old place as the French quarter of New Orleans takes our - hearts? - </p> - <p> - I never could find out exactly where New Orleans is. I have looked for it - on the map without much enlightenment. It is dropped down there somewhere - in the marshes of the Mississippi and the bayous and lakes. It is below - the one, and tangled up among the others, or it might some day float out - to the Gulf and disappear. How the Mississippi gets out I never could - discover. When it first comes in sight of the town it is running east; at - Carrollton it abruptly turns its rapid, broad, yellow flood and runs - south, turns presently eastward, circles a great portion of the city, then - makes a bold push for the north in order to avoid Algiers and reach the - foot of Canal Street, and encountering there the heart of the town, it - sheers off again along the old French quarter and Jackson Square due east, - and goes no one knows where, except perhaps Mr. Eads. - </p> - <p> - The city is supposed to lie in this bend of the river, but it in fact - extends eastward along the bank down to the Barracks, and spreads backward - towards Lake Pontchartrain over a vast area, and includes some very good - snipe-shooting. - </p> - <p> - Although New Orleans has only about a quarter of a million of inhabitants, - and so many only in the winter, it is larger than Pekin, and I believe - than Philadelphia, having an area of about one hundred and five square - miles. From Carrollton to the Barracks, which are not far from the - Battle-field, the distance by the river is some thirteen miles. From the - river to the lake the least distance is four miles. This vast territory is - traversed by lines of horse-cars which all meet in Canal Street, the most - important business thoroughfare of the city, which runs north-east from - the river, and divides the French from the American quarter. One taking a - horse-car in any part of the city will ultimately land, having boxed the - compass, in Canal Street. But it needs a person of vast local erudition to - tell in what part of the city, or in what section of the home of the frog - and crawfish, he will land if he takes a horse-ear in Canal Street. The - river being higher than the city, there is of course no drainage into it; - but there is a theory that the water in the open gutters does move, and - that it moves in the direction of the Bayou St. John, and of the cypress - swamps that drain into Lake Pontchartrain. The stranger who is accustomed - to closed sewers, and to get his malaria and typhoid through pipes - conducted into his house by the most approved methods of plumbing, is - aghast at this spectacle of slime and filth in the streets, and wonders - why the city is not in perennial epidemic; but the sun and the wind are - great scavengers, and the city is not nearly so unhealthy as it ought to - be with such a city government as they say it endures. - </p> - <p> - It is not necessary to dwell much upon the external features of New - Orleans, for innumerable descriptions and pictures have familiarized the - public with them. Besides, descriptions can give the stranger little idea - of the peculiar city. Although all on one level, it is a town of - contrasts. In no other city of the United States or of Mexico is the old - and romantic preserved in such integrity and brought into such sharp - contrast to the modern. There are many handsome public buildings, - churches, club-houses, elegant shops, and on the American side a great - area of well-paved streets solidly built up in business blocks. The Square - of the original city, included between the river and canal, Rampart and - Esplanade streets, which was once surrounded by a wall, is as closely - built, but the streets are narrow, the houses generally are smaller, and - although it swarms with people, and contains the cathedral, the old - Spanish buildings, Jackson Square, the French Market, the French - Opera-house, and other theatres, the Mint, the Custom-house, the old - Ursuline convent (now the residence of the archbishop), old banks, and - scores of houses of historic celebrity, it is a city of the past, and - specially interesting in its picturesque decay. Beyond this, eastward and - northward extend interminable streets of small houses, with now and then a - flowery court or a pretty rose garden, occupied mainly by people of French - and Spanish descent. The African pervades all parts of the town, except - the new residence portion of the American quarter. This, which occupies - the vast area in the bend of the river west of the business blocks as far - as Carrollton, is in character a great village rather than a city. Not all - its broad avenues and handsome streets are paved (and those that are not - are in some seasons impassable), its houses are nearly all of wood, most - of them detached, with plots of ground and gardens, and as the quarter is - very well shaded, the effect is bright and agreeable. In it are many - stately residences, occupying a square or half a square, and embowered in - foliage and flowers. Care has been given lately to turf-culture, and one - sees here thick-set and handsome lawns. The broad Esplanade Street, with - its elegant old-fashioned houses, and double rows of shade trees, which - has long been the rural pride of the French quarter, has now rivals in - respectability and style on the American side. - </p> - <p> - New Orleans is said to be delightful in the late fall months, before the - winter rains set in, but I believe it looks its best in March and April. - This is owing to the roses. If the town was not attached to the name of - the Crescent City, it might very well adopt the title of the City of - Roses. So kind are climate and soil that the magnificent varieties of this - queen of flowers, which at the North bloom only in hot-houses, or with - great care are planted out-doors in the heat of our summer, thrive here in - the open air in prodigal abundance and beauty. In April the town is - literally embowered in them; they fill door-yards and gardens, they - overrun the porches, they climb the sides of the houses, they spread over - the trees, they take possession of trellises and fences and walls, - perfuming the air and entrancing the heart with color. In the outlying - parks, like that of the Jockey Club, and the florists’ gardens at - Carrollton, there are fields of them, acres of the finest sorts waving in - the spring wind. Alas! can beauty ever satisfy? This wonderful spectacle - fills one with I know not what exquisite longing. These flowers pervade - the town, old women on the street corners sit behind banks of them, the - florists’ windows blush with them, friends despatch to each other great - baskets of them, the favorites at the theatre and the amateur performers - stand behind high barricades of roses which the good-humored audience - piles upon the stage, everybody carries roses and wears roses, and the - houses overflow with them. In this passion for flowers you may read a - prominent trait of the people. For myself I like to see a spot on this - earth where beauty is enjoyed for itself and let to run to waste, but if - ever the industrial spirit of the French-Italians should prevail along the - littoral of Louisiana and Mississippi, the raising of flowers for the - manufacture of perfumes would become a most profitable industry. - </p> - <p> - New Orleans is the most cosmopolitan of provincial cities. Its comparative - isolation has secured the development of provincial traits and manners, - has preserved the individuality of the many races that give it color, - morals, and character, while its close relations with France—an - affiliation and sympathy which the late war has not altogether broken—and - the constant influx of Northern men of business and affairs have given it - the air of a metropolis. To the Northern stranger the aspect and the - manners of the city are foreign, but if he remains long enough he is sure - to yield to its fascinations, and become a partisan of it. It is not - altogether the soft and somewhat enervating and occasionally treacherous - climate that beguiles him, but quite as much the easy terms on which life - can be lived. There is a human as well as a climatic amiability that wins - him. No doubt it is better for a man to be always braced up, but no doubt - also there is an attraction in a complaisance that indulges his - inclinations. - </p> - <p> - Socially as well as commercially New Orleans is in a transitive state. The - change from river to railway transportation has made her levees vacant; - the shipment of cotton by rail and its direct transfer to ocean carriage - have nearly destroyed a large middle-men industry; a large part of the - agricultural tribute of the South-west has been diverted; plantations have - either not recovered from the effects of the war or have not adjusted - themselves to new productions, and the city waits the rather blind - developments of the new era. The falling off of law business, which I - should like to attribute to the growth of common-sense and good-will is, I - fear, rather due to business lassitude, for it is observed that men - quarrel most when they are most actively engaged in acquiring each other’s - property. The business habits of the Creoles were conservative and slow; - they do not readily accept new ways, and in this transition time the - American element is taking the lead in all enterprises. The American - element itself is toned down by the climate and the contagion of the - leisurely habits of the Creoles, and loses something of the sharpness and - excitability exhibited by business men in all Northern cities, but it is - certainly changing the social as well as the business aspect of the city. - Whether these social changes will make New Orleans a more agreeable place - of residence remains to be seen. - </p> - <p> - For the old civilization had many admirable qualities. With all its love - of money and luxury and an easy life, it was comparatively simple. It - cared less for display than the society that is supplanting it. Its rule - was domesticity. I should say that it bad the virtues as well as the - prejudices and the narrowness of intense family feeling, and its - exclusiveness. But when it trusted, it had few reserves, and its - cordiality was equal to its <i>naivete</i>. The Creole civilization - differed totally from that in any Northern city; it looked at life, - literature, wit, manners, from altogether another plane; in order to - understand the society of New Orleans one needs to imagine what French - society would be in a genial climate and in the freedom of a new country. - Undeniably, until recently, the Creoles gave the tone to New Orleans. And - it was the French culture, the French view of life, that was diffused. The - young ladies mainly were educated in convents and French schools. This - education had womanly agreeability and matrimony in view, and the graces - of social life. It differed not much from the education of young ladies of - the period elsewhere, except that it was from the French rather than the - English side, but this made a world of difference. French was a study and - a possession, not a fashionable accomplishment. The Creole had gayety, - sentiment, spice with a certain climatic languor, sweetness of - disposition, and charm of manner, and not seldom winning beauty; she was - passionately fond of dancing and of music, and occasionally an adept in - the latter; and she had candor, and either simplicity or the art of it. - But with her tendency to domesticity and her capacity for friendship, and - notwithstanding her gay temperament, she was less worldly than some of her - sisters who were more gravely educated after the English manner. There was - therefore in the old New Orleans life something nobler than the spirit of - plutocracy. The Creole middle-class population had, and has yet, - captivating <i>naivete</i>, friendliness, cordiality. - </p> - <p> - But the Creole influence in New Orleans is wider and deeper than this. It - has affected literary sympathies and what may be called literary morals. - In business the Creole is accused of being slow, conservative, in regard - to improvements obstinate and reactionary, preferring to nurse a prejudice - rather than run the risk of removing it by improving himself, and of - having a conceit that his way of looking at life is better than the Boston - way. His literary culture is derived from France, and not from England or - the North. And his ideas a good deal affect the attitude of New Orleans - towards English and contemporary literature. The American element of the - town was for the most part commercial, and little given to literary - tastes. That also is changing, but I fancy it is still true that the most - solid culture is with the Creoles, and it has not been appreciated because - it is French, and because its point of view for literary criticism is - quite different from that prevailing elsewhere in America. It brings our - American and English contemporary authors, for instance, to comparison, - not with each other, but with French and other Continental writers. And - this point of view considerably affects the New Orleans opinion of - Northern literature. In this view it wants color, passion; it is too - self-conscious and prudish, not to say Puritanically mock-modest. I do not - mean to say that the Creoles as a class are a reading people, but the - literary standards of their scholars and of those among them who do - cultivate literature deeply are different from those at the North. We may - call it provincial, or we may call it cosmopolitan, but we shall not - understand New Orleans until we get its point of view of both life and - letters. - </p> - <p> - In making these observations it will occur to the reader that they are of - necessity superficial, and not entitled to be regarded as criticism or - judgment. But I am impressed with the foreignness of New Orleans - civilization, and whether its point of view is right or wrong, I am very - far from wishing it to change. It contains a valuable element of variety - for the republic. We tend everywhere to sameness and monotony. New Orleans - is entering upon a new era of development, especially in educational life. - The Tonlane University is beginning to make itself felt as a force both in - polite letters and in industrial education. And I sincerely hope that the - literary development of the city and of the South-west will be in the line - of its own traditions, and that it will not be a copy of New England or of - Dutch Manhattan. It can, if it is faithful to its own sympathies and - temperament, make an original and valuable contribution to our literary - life. - </p> - <p> - There is a great temptation to regard New Orleans through the romance of - its past; and the most interesting occupation of the idler is to stroll - about in the French part of the town, search the shelves of French and - Spanish literature in the second-hand book-shops, try to identify the - historic sites and the houses that are the seats of local romances, and - observe the life in the narrow streets and alleys that, except for the - presence of the colored folk, recall the quaint picturesqueness of many a - French provincial town. One never tires of wandering in the neighborhood - of the old cathedral, facing the smart Jackson Square, which is flanked by - the respectable Pontalba buildings, and supported on either side by the - ancient Spanish courthouse, the most interesting specimens of Spanish - architecture this side of Mexico. When the court is in session, iron - cables are stretched across the street to prevent the passage of wagons, - and justice is administered in silence only broken by the trill of birds - in the Place d’.rmee and in the old flower-garden in the rear of the - cathedral, and by the muffled sound of footsteps in the flagged passages. - The region is saturated with romance, and so full of present sentiment and - picturesqueness that I can fancy no ground more congenial to the artist - and the story-teller. To enter into any details of it would be to commit - one’s self to a task quite foreign to the purpose of this paper, and I - leave it to the writers who have done and are doing so much to make old - New Orleans classic. - </p> - <p> - Possibly no other city of the United States so abounds in stories pathetic - and tragic, many of which cannot yet be published, growing out of the - mingling of races, the conflicts of French and Spanish, the presence of - adventurers from the Old World and the Spanish Main, and especially out of - the relations between the whites and the fair women who had in their thin - veins drops of African blood. The quadroon and the octoroon are the staple - of hundreds of thrilling tales. Duels were common incidents of the Creole - dancing assemblies, and of the <i>cordon bleu</i> balls—the deities - of which were the quadroon women, “the handsomest race of women in the - world,” says the description, and the most splendid dancers and the most - exquisitely dressed—the affairs of honor being settled by a midnight - thrust in a vacant square behind the cathedral, or adjourned to a more - French daylight encounter at “The Oaks,” or “Les Trois Capalins.” But this - life has all gone. In a stately building in this quarter, said by - tradition to have been the quadroon ball-room, but I believe it was a - white assembly-room connected with the opera, is now a well-ordered school - for colored orphans, presided over by colored Sisters of Charity. - </p> - <p> - It is quite evident that the peculiar prestige of the quadroon and the - octoroon is a thing of the past. Indeed, the result of the war has greatly - changed the relations of the two races in New Orleans. The colored people - withdraw more and more to themselves. Isolation from white influence has - good results and bad results, the bad being, as one can see, in some - quarters of the town, a tendency to barbarism, which can only be - counteracted by free public schools, and by a necessity which shall compel - them to habits of thrift and industry. One needs to be very much an - optimist, however, to have patience for these developments. - </p> - <p> - I believe there is an instinct in both races against mixture of blood, and - upon this rests the law of Louisiana, which forbids such intermarriages; - the time may come when the colored people will be as strenuous in - insisting upon its execution as the whites, unless there is a great change - in popular feeling, of which there is no sign at present; it is they who - will see that there is no escape from the equivocal position in which - those nearly white in appearance find themselves except by a rigid - separation of races. The danger is of a reversal at any time to the - original type, and that is always present to the offspring of any one with - a drop of African blood in the veins. The pathos of this situation is - infinite, and it cannot be lessened by saying that the prejudice about - color is unreasonable; it exists. Often the African strain is so - attenuated that the possessor of it would pass to the ordinary observer - for Spanish or French; and I suppose that many so-called Creole - peculiarities of speech and manner are traceable to this strain. An - incident in point may not be uninteresting. - </p> - <p> - I once lodged in the old French quarter in a house kept by two maiden - sisters, only one of whom spoke English at all. They were refined, and had - the air of decayed gentlewomen. The one who spoke English had the vivacity - and agreeability of a Paris landlady, without the latter’s invariable - hardness and sharpness. I thought I had found in her pretty mode of speech - the real Creole dialect of her class. “You are French,” I said, when I - engaged my room. - </p> - <p> - “No,” she said, “no, m’sieu, I am an American; we are of the United - States,” with the air of informing a stranger that New Orleans was now - annexed. - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” I replied, “but you are of French descent?” - </p> - <p> - “Oh, and a little Spanish.” - </p> - <p> - “Can you tell me, madame,” I asked, one Sunday morning, “the way to - Trinity Church?” - </p> - <p> - “I cannot tell, m’sieu; it is somewhere the other side; I do not know the - other side.” - </p> - <p> - “But have you never been the other side of Canal Street?” - </p> - <p> - “Oh yes, I went once, to make a visit on a friend on New-Year’s.” - </p> - <p> - I explained that it was far uptown, and a Protestant church. - </p> - <p> - “M’sieu, is he Cat’olic?” - </p> - <p> - “Oh no; I am a Protestant.” - </p> - <p> - “Well, me, I am Cat’olic; but Protestan’ o’ Cat’olic, it is ‘mos’ ze - same.” - </p> - <p> - This was purely the instinct of politeness, and that my feelings might not - be wounded, for she was a good Catholic, and did not believe at all that - it was “‘mos’ ze same.” - </p> - <p> - It was Exposition year, and then April, and madame had never been to the - Exposition. I urged her to go, and one day, after great preparation for a - journey to the other side, she made the expedition, and returned enchanted - with all she had seen, especially with the Mexican band. A new world was - opened to her, and she resolved to go again. The morning of Louisiana Day - she rapped at my door and informed me that she was going to the fair. - “And”—she paused at the door-way, her eyes sparkling with her new - project—“you know what I goin’ do?” - </p> - <p> - “No.” - </p> - <p> - “I goin’ get one big bouquet, and give to the leader of the orchestre.” - </p> - <p> - “You know him, the leader?” - </p> - <p> - “No, not yet.” - </p> - <p> - I did not know then how poor she was, and how much sacrifice this would be - to her, this gratification of a sentiment. - </p> - <p> - The next year, in the same month, I asked for her at the lodging. She was - not there. “You did not know,” said the woman then in possession—“good - God! her sister died four days ago, from want of food, and madame has gone - away back of town, nobody knows where. They told nobody, they were so - proud; none of their friends knew, or they would have helped. They had no - lodgers, and could not keep this place, and took another opposite; but - they were unlucky, and the sheriff came.” I said that I was very sorry - that I had not known; she might have been helped. “No,” she replied, with - considerable spirit; “she would have accepted nothing; she would starve - rather. So would I.” The woman referred me to some well-known Creole - families who knew madame, but I was unable to find her hiding-place. I - asked who madame was. “Oh, she was a very nice woman, very respectable. - Her father was Spanish, her mother was an octoroon.” - </p> - <p> - One does not need to go into the past of New Orleans for the picturesque; - the streets have their peculiar physiognomy, and “character” such as the - artists delight to depict is the result of the extraordinary mixture of - races and the habit of out-door life. The long summer, from April to - November, with a heat continuous, though rarely so excessive as it - occasionally is in higher latitudes, determines the mode of life and the - structure of the houses, and gives a leisurely and amiable tone to the - aspect of people and streets which exists in few other American cities. - The French quarter is out of repair, and has the air of being for rent; - but in fact there is comparatively little change in occupancy, Creole - families being remarkably adhesive to localities. The stranger who sees - all over the French and the business parts of the town the immense number - of lodging-houses—some of them the most stately old mansions—let - largely by colored landladies, is likely to underestimate the home life of - this city. New Orleans soil is so wet that the city is without cellars for - storage, and its court-yards and odd corners become catch-alls of broken - furniture and other lumber. The solid window-shutters, useful in the glare - of the long summer, give a blank appearance to the streets. This is - relieved, however, by the queer little Spanish houses, and by the endless - variety of galleries and balconies. In one part of the town the iron-work - of the balconies is cast, and uninteresting in its set patterns; in - French-town much of it is hand-made, exquisite in design, and gives to a - street vista a delicate lace-work appearance. I do not know any foreign - town which has on view so much exquisite wrought-iron work as the old part - of New Orleans. Besides the balconies, there are recessed galleries, old - dormer-windows, fantastic little nooks and corners, tricked out with - flower-pots and vines. - </p> - <p> - The glimpses of street life are always entertaining, because unconscious, - while full of character. It may be a Creole court-yard, the walls draped - with vines, flowers blooming in bap-hazard disarray, and a group of pretty - girls sewing and chatting, and stabbing the passer-by with a charmed - glance. It may be a cotton team in the street, the mules, the rollicking - driver, the creaking cart. It may be a single figure, or a group in the - market or on the levee—a slender yellow girl sweeping up the grains - of rice, a colored gleaner recalling Ruth; an ancient darky asleep, with - mouth open, in his tipped-up two-wheeled cart, waiting for a job; the - “solid South,” in the shape of an immense “aunty” under a red umbrella, - standing and contemplating the river; the broad-faced women in gay - bandannas behind their cake-stands; a group of levee hands about a rickety - table, taking their noonday meal of pork and greens; the blind-man, - capable of sitting more patiently than an American Congressman, with a dog - trained to hold his basket for the pennies of the charitable; the black - stalwart vender of tin and iron utensils, who totes in a basket, and piled - on his head, and strung on his back, a weight of over two hundred and - fifty pounds; and negro women who walk erect with baskets of clothes or - enormous bundles balanced on their heads, smiling and “jawing,” - unconscious of their burdens. These are the familiar figures of a street - life as varied and picturesque as the artist can desire. - </p> - <p> - New Orleans amuses itself in the winter with very good theatres, and until - recently has sustained an excellent French opera. It has all the year - round plenty of <i>cafes chantants</i>, gilded saloons, and - gambling-houses, and more than enough of the resorts upon which the police - are supposed to keep one blind eye. “Back of town,” towards Lake - Pontchartrain, there is much that is picturesque and blooming, especially - in the spring of the year—the charming gardens of the Jockey Club, - the City Park, the old duelling-ground with its superb oaks, and the Bayou - St. John with its idling fishing-boats, and the colored houses and - plantations along the banks—a piece of Holland wanting the Dutch - windmills. On a breezy day one may go far for a prettier sight than the - river-bank and esplanade at Carrollton, where the mighty coffee-colored - flood swirls by, where the vast steamers struggle and cough against the - stream, or swiftly go with it round the bend, leaving their trail of - smoke, and the delicate line of foliage against the sky on the far - opposite shore completes the outline of an exquisite landscape. Suburban - resorts much patronized, and reached by frequent trains, are the old - Spanish Fort and the West End of Lake Pontchartrain. The way lies through - cypress swamp and palmetto thickets, brilliant at certain seasons with <i>fleur-de-lis</i>. - At each of these resorts are restaurants, dancing-halls, - promenade-galleries, all on a large scale; boat-houses, and semi-tropical - gardens very prettily laid out in walks and labyrinths, and adorned with - trees and flowers. Even in the heat of summer at night the lake is sure to - offer a breeze, and with waltz music and moonlight and ices and tinkling - glasses with straws in them and love’s young dream, even the <i>ennuyé</i> - globe-trotter declares that it is not half bad. - </p> - <p> - The city, indeed, offers opportunity for charming excursions in all - directions. Parties are constantly made up to visit the river plantations, - to sail up and down the stream, or to take an outing across the lake, or - to the many lovely places along the coast. In the winter, excursions are - made to these places, and in summer the well-to-do take the sea-air in - cottages, at such places as Mandeville across the lake, or at such resorts - on the Mississippi as Pass Christian. - </p> - <p> - I crossed the lake one spring day to the pretty town of Mandeville, and - then sailed up the Tehefuncta River to Covington. The winding Tchefuncta - is in character like some of the narrow Florida streams, has the same - luxuriant overhanging foliage, and as many shy lounging alligators to the - mile, and is prettier by reason of occasional open glades and large - moss-draped live-oaks and China-trees. From the steamer landing in the - woods we drove three miles through a lovely open pine forest to the town. - Covington is one of the oldest settlements in the State, is the centre of - considerable historic interest, and the origin of several historic - families. The land is elevated a good deal above the coast-level, and is - consequently dry. The town has a few roomy oldtime houses, a mineral - spring, some pleasing scenery along the river that winds through it, and - not much else. But it is in the midst of pine woods, it is sheltered from - all “northers,” it has the soft air, but not the dampness, of the Gulf, - and is exceedingly salubrious in all the winter months, to say nothing of - the summer. It has lately come into local repute as a health resort, - although it lacks sufficient accommodations for the entertainment of many - strangers. I was told by some New Orleans physicians that they regarded it - as almost a specific for pulmonary diseases, and instances were given of - persons in what was supposed to be advanced stages of lung and bronchial - troubles who had been apparently cured by a few months’ residence there; - and invalids are, I believe, greatly benefited by its healing, soft, and - piny atmosphere. - </p> - <p> - I have no doubt, from what I hear and my limited observation, that all - this coast about New Orleans would be a favorite winter resort if it had - hotels as good as, for instance, that at Pass Christian. The region has - many attractions for the idler and the invalid. It is, in the first place, - interesting; it has a good deal of variety of scenery and of historical - interest; there is excellent fishing and shooting; and if the visitor - tires of the monotony of the country, he can by a short ride on cars or a - steamer transfer himself for a day or a week to a large and most - hospitable city, to society, the club, the opera, balls, parties, and - every variety of life that his taste craves. The disadvantage of many - Southern places to which our Northern regions force us is that they are - uninteresting, stupid, and monotonous, if not malarious. It seems a long - way from New York to New Orleans, but I do not doubt that the region - around the city would become immediately a great winter resort if money - and enterprise were enlisted to make it so. - </p> - <p> - New Orleans has never been called a “strait-laced” city; its Sunday is - still of the Continental type; but it seems to me free from the - socialistic agnosticism which flaunts itself more or less in Cincinnati, - St. Louis, and Chicago; the tone of leading Presbyterian churches is - distinctly Calvinistic, one perceives comparatively little of religious - speculation and doubt, and so far as I could see there is harmony and - entire social good feeling between the Catholic and Protestant communions. - Protestant ladies assist at Catholic fairs, and the compliment is returned - by the society ladies of the Catholic faith when a Protestant good cause - is to be furthered by a bazaar or a “pink tea.” Denominational lines seem - to have little to do with social affiliations. There may be friction in - the management of the great public charities, but on the surface there is - toleration and united good-will. The Catholic faith long had the prestige - of wealth, family, and power, and the education of the daughters of - Protestant houses in convent schools tended to allay prejudice. - Notwithstanding the reputation New Orleans has for gayety and even - frivolity—and no one can deny the fast and furious living of - ante-bellum days—it possesses at bottom an old-fashioned religious - simplicity. If any one thinks that “faith” has died out of modern life, - let him visit the mortuary chapel of St. Roch. In a distant part of the - town, beyond the street of the Elysian Fields, and on Washington avenue, - in a district very sparsely built up, is the Campo Santo of the Catholic - Church of the Holy Trinity. In this foreign-looking cemetery is the pretty - little Gothic Chapel of St. Roch, having a background of common and swampy - land. It is a brown stuccoed edifice, wholly open in front, and was a year - or two ago covered with beautiful ivy. The small interior is paved in - white marble, the windows are stained glass, the side-walls are composed - of tiers of vaults, where are buried the members of certain societies, and - the spaces in the wall and in the altar area are thickly covered with - votive offerings, in wax and in <i>naive</i> painting—contributed by - those who have been healed by the intercession of the saints. Over the - altar is the shrine of St. Roch—a cavalier, staff in hand, with his - clog by his side, the faithful animal which accompanied this - eighth-century philanthropist in his visitations to the plague-stricken - people of Munich. Within the altar rail are rows of lighted candles, - tended and renewed by the attendant, placed there by penitents or by - seekers after the favor of the saint. On the wooden benches, kneeling, are - ladies, servants, colored women, in silent prayer. One approaches the - lighted, picturesque shrine through the formal rows of tombs, and comes - there into an atmosphere of peace and faith. It is believed that miracles - are daily wrought here, and one notices in all the gardeners, keepers, and - attendants of the place the accent and demeanor of simple faith. On the - wall hangs this inscription: - </p> - <p> - <i>“O great St. Roch, deliver us, we beseech thee, from the scourges of - God. Through thy intercessions preserve our bodies from contagious - diseases, and our souls from the contagion of sin. Obtain for us - salubrious air; but, above all, purity of heart. Assist us to make good - use of health, to bear suffering with patience, and after thy example to - live in the practice of penitence and charity, that we may one day enjoy - the happiness which thou hast merited by thy virtues.</i> - </p> - <p> - <i>“St. Roch, pray for us.</i> - </p> - <p> - <i>“St. Roch, pray for us.</i> - </p> - <p> - <i>“St. Roch, pray for us.”</i> - </p> - <p> - There is testimony that many people, even Protestants, and men, have had - wounds cured and been healed of diseases by prayer in this chapel. To this - distant shrine come ladies from all parts of the city to make the “novena”—the - prayer of nine days, with the offer of the burning taper—and here - daily resort hundreds to intercede for themselves or their friends. It is - believed by the damsels of this district that if they offer prayer daily - in this chapel they will have a husband within the year, and one may see - kneeling here every evening these trustful devotees to the welfare of the - human race. I asked the colored woman who sold medals and leaflets and - renewed the candles if she personally knew any persons who had been - miraculously cured by prayer, or novena, in St. Roch. “Plenty, sir, - plenty.” And she related many instances, which were confirmed by votive - offerings on the walls. “Why,” said she, “there was a friend of mine who - wanted a place, and could hear of none, who made a novena here, and right - away got a place, a good place, and” (conscious that she was making an - astonishing statement about a New Orleans servant) “she kept it a whole - year!” - </p> - <p> - “But one must come in the right spirit,” I said. - </p> - <p> - “Ah, indeed. It needs to believe. You can’t fool God!” - </p> - <p> - One might make various studies of New Orleans: its commercial life; its - methods, more or less antiquated, of doing business, and the leisure for - talk that enters into it; its admirable charities and its mediaeval - prisons; its romantic French and Spanish history, still lingering in the - old houses, and traits of family and street life; the city politics, which - nobody can explain, and no other city need covet; its sanitary condition, - which needs an intelligent despot with plenty of money and an ingenuity - that can make water run uphill; its colored population—about a - fourth of the city—with its distinct social grades, its - superstition, nonchalant good-humor, turn for idling and basking in the - sun, slowly awaking to a sense of thrift, chastity, truth-speaking, with - many excellent order-loving, patriotic men and women, but a mass that - needs moral training quite as much as the spelling-book before it can - contribute to the vigor and prosperity of the city; its schools and recent - libraries, and the developing literary and art taste which will sustain - book-shops and picture-galleries; its cuisine, peculiar in its mingling of - French and African skill, and determined largely by a market unexcelled in - the quality of fish, game, and fruit—the fig alone would go far to - reconcile one to four or five months of hot nights; the climatic influence - in assimilating races meeting there from every region of the earth. - </p> - <p> - But whatever way we regard New Orleans., it is in its aspect, social tone, - and character <i>sui generis</i>; its civilization differs widely from - that of any other, and it remains one of the most interesting places in - the republic. Of course, social life in these days is much the same in all - great cities in its observances, but that of New Orleans is markedly - cordial, ingenuous, warmhearted. I do not imagine that it could tolerate, - as Boston does, absolute freedom of local opinion on all subjects, and - undoubtedly it is sensitive to criticism; but I believe that it is - literally true, as one of its citizens said, that it is still more - sensitive to kindness. - </p> - <p> - The metropolis of the South-west has geographical reasons for a great - future. Louisiana is rich in alluvial soil, the capability of which has - not yet been tested, except in some localities, by skilful agriculture. - But the prosperity of the city depends much upon local conditions. Science - and energy can solve the problem of drainage, can convert all the - territory between the city and Lake Pontchartrain into a veritable garden, - surpassing in fertility the flat environs of the city of Mexico. And the - steady development of common-school education, together with technical and - industrial schools, will create a skill which will make New Orleans the - industrial and manufacturing centre of that region. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - IV.—A VOUDOO DANCE. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>here was nothing - mysterious about it. The ceremony took place in broad day, at noon in the - upper chambers of a small frame house in a street just beyond Congo Square - and the old Parish prison in New Orleans. It was an incantation rather - than a dance—a curious mingling of African Voudoo rites with modern - “spiritualism” and faith-cure. - </p> - <p> - The explanation of Voudooism (or Vaudouism) would require a chapter by - itself. It is sufficient to say for the purpose of this paper that the - barbaric rites of Voudooism originated with the Congo and Guinea negroes, - were brought to San Domingo, and thence to Louisiana. In Hayti the sect is - in full vigor, and its midnight orgies have reverted more and more to the - barbaric original in the last twenty-five years. The wild dance and - incantations are accompanied by sacrifice of animals and occasionally of - infants, and with cannibalism, and scenes of most indecent license. In its - origin it is serpent worship. The Voudoo signifies a being all-powerful on - the earth, who is, or is represented by, a harmless species of serpent (<i>couleuvre</i>), - and in this belief the sect perform rites in which the serpent is - propitiated. In common parlance, the chief actor is called the Voudoo—if - a man, the Voudoo King; if a woman, the Voudoo Queen. Some years ago Congo - Square was the scene of the weird midnight rites of this sect, as - unrestrained and barbarous as ever took place in the Congo country. All - these semi-public performances have been suppressed, and all private - assemblies for this worship are illegal, and broken up by the police when - discovered. It is said in New Orleans that Voudooism is a thing of the - past. But the superstition remains, and I believe that very few of the - colored people in New Orleans are free from it—that is, free from it - as a superstition. Those who repudiate it, have nothing to do with it, and - regard it as only evil, still ascribe power to the Voudoo, to some ugly - old woman or man, who is popularly believed to have occult power (as the - Italians believe in the “evil-eye”), can cast a charm and put the victims - under a spell, or by incantations relieve them from it. The power of the - Voudoo is still feared by many who are too intelligent to believe in it - intellectually. That persons are still Voudooed, probably few doubt; and - that people are injured by charms secretly placed in their beds, or are - bewitched in various ways, is common belief—more common than the - Saxon notion that it is ill-luck to see the new moon over the left - shoulder. - </p> - <p> - Although very few white people in New Orleans have ever seen the - performance I shall try to describe, and it is said that the police would - break it up if they knew of it, it takes place every Wednesday at noon at - the house where I saw it; and there are three or four other places in the - city where the rites are celebrated sometimes at night. Our admission was - procured through a friend who had, I suppose, vouched for our good - intentions. - </p> - <p> - We were received in the living-rooms of the house on the ground-floor by - the “doctor,” a good-looking mulatto of middle age, clad in a white shirt - with gold studs, linen pantaloons, and list slippers. He had the - simple-minded shrewd look of a “healing medium.” The interior was neat, - though in some confusion; among the rude attempts at art on the walls was - the worst chromo print of General Grant that was probably ever made. There - were several negroes about the door, many in the rooms and in the - backyard, and all had an air of expectation and mild excitement. After we - had satisfied the scruples of the doctor, and signed our names in his - register, we were invited to ascend by a narrow, crooked stair-way in the - rear. This led to a small landing where a dozen people might stand, and - from this a door opened into a chamber perhaps fifteen feet by ten, where - the rites were to take place; beyond this was a small bedroom. Around the - sides of these rooms were benches and chairs, and the close quarters were - already well filled. - </p> - <p> - The assembly was perfectly orderly, but a motley one, and the women - largely outnumbered the men. There were coal-black negroes, porters, and - stevedores, fat cooks, slender chamber-maids, all shades of complexion, - yellow girls and comely quadroons, most of them in common servant attire, - but some neatly dressed. And among them were, to my surprise, several - white people. - </p> - <p> - On one side of the middle room where we sat was constructed a sort of - buffet or bureau, used as an altar. On it stood an image of the Virgin - Mary in painted plaster, about two feet high, flanked by lighted candles - and a couple of cruets, with some other small objects. On a shelf below - were two other candles, and on this shelf and the floor in front were - various offerings to be used in the rites—plates of apples, grapes, - bananas, oranges; dishes of sugar, of sugarplums; a dish of powdered orris - root, packages of candles, bottles of brandy and of water. Two other - lighted candles stood on the floor, and in front an earthen bowl. The - clear space in front for the dancer was not more than four or five feet - square. - </p> - <p> - Some time was consumed in preparations, or in waiting for the worshippers - to assemble. From conversation with those near me, I found that the doctor - had a reputation for healing the diseased by virtue of his incantations, - of removing “spells,” of finding lost articles, of ministering to the - troubles of lovers, and, in short, of doing very much what clairvoyants - and healing mediums claim to do in what are called civilized communities. - But failing to get a very intelligent account of the expected performance - from the negro woman next me, I moved to the side of the altar and took a - chair next a girl of perhaps twenty years old, whose complexion and - features gave evidence that she was white. Still, finding her in that - company, and there as a participant in the Voudoo rites, I concluded that - I must be mistaken, and that she must have colored blood in her veins. - Assuming the privilege of an inquirer, I asked her questions about the - coming performance, and in doing so carried the impression that she was - kin to the colored race. But I was soon convinced, from her manner and her - replies, that she was pure white. She was a pretty, modest girl, very - reticent, well-bred, polite, and civil. None of the colored people seemed - to know who she was, but she said she had been there before. She told me, - in course of the conversation, the name of the street where she lived (in - the American part of the town), the private school at which she had been - educated (one of the best in the city), and that she and her parents were - Episcopalians. Whatever her trouble was, mental or physical, she was - evidently infatuated with the notion that this Voudoo doctor could conjure - it away, and said that she thought he had already been of service to her. - She did not communicate her difficulties to him or speak to him, but she - evidently had faith that he could discern what every one present needed, - and minister to them. When I asked her if, with her education, she did not - think that more good would come to her by confiding in known friends or in - regular practitioners, she wearily said that she did not know. After the - performance began, her intense interest in it, and the light in her eyes, - were evidence of the deep hold the superstition had upon her nature. In - coming to this place she had gone a step beyond the young ladies of her - class who make a novena at St. Roch. - </p> - <p> - While we still waited, the doctor and two other colored men called me into - the next chamber, and wanted to be assured that it was my own name I had - written on the register, and that I had no unfriendly intentions in being - present. Their doubts at rest, all was ready. - </p> - <p> - The doctor squatted on one side of the altar, and his wife, a stout woman - of darker hue, on the other. - </p> - <p> - “<i>Commençons</i>,” said the woman, in a low voice. All the colored - people spoke French, and French only, to each other and in the ceremony. - </p> - <p> - The doctor nodded, bent over, and gave three sharp raps on the floor with - a bit of wood. (This is the usual opening of Voudoo rites.) All the others - rapped three times on the floor with their knuckles. Anyone coming in to - join the circle afterwards, stooped and rapped three times. After a - moment’s silence, all kneeled and repeated together in French the - Apostles’ Creed, and still on their knees, they said two prayers to the - Virgin Mary. - </p> - <p> - The colored woman at the side of the altar began a chant in a low, - melodious voice. It was the weird and strange “Dansé Calinda.” A tall - negress, with a bright, good-natured face, entered the circle with the air - of a chief performer, knelt, rapped the floor, laid an offering of candles - before the altar, with a small bottle of brandy, seated herself beside the - singer, and took up in a strong, sweet voice the bizarre rhythm of the - song. Nearly all those who came in had laid some little offering before - the altar. The chant grew, the single line was enunciated in stronger - pulsations, and other voices joined in the wild refrain, - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - “Dansé Calinda, boudoum, boudoum - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - Dansé Calinda, boudoum, boudoum!” - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - bodies swayed, the hands kept time in soft patpatting, and the feet in - muffled accentuation. The Voudoo arose, removed his slippers, seized a - bottle of brandy, dashed some of the liquid on the floor on each side of - the brown bowl as a libation, threw back his head and took a long pull at - the bottle, and then began in the open space a slow measured dance, a - rhythmical shuffle, with more movement of the hips than of the feet, - backward and forward, round and round, but accelerating his movement as - the time of the song quickened and the excitement rose in the room. The - singing became wilder and more impassioned, a strange minor strain, full - of savage pathos and longing, that made it almost impossible for the - spectator not to join in the swing of its influence, while the dancer - wrought himself up into the wild passion of a Cairene dervish. Without a - moment ceasing his rhythmical steps and his extravagant gesticulation, he - poured liquid into the basin, and dashing in brandy, ignited the fluid - with a match. The liquid flamed up before the altar. He seized then a - bunch of candles, plunged them into the bowl, held them up all flaming - with the burning brandy, and, keeping his step to the maddening “Calinda,” - distributed them lighted to the devotees. In the same way he snatched up - dishes of apples, grapes, bananas, oranges, deluged them with burning - brandy, and tossed them about the room to the eager and excited crowd. His - hands were aflame, his clothes seemed to be on fire; he held the burning - dishes close to his breast, apparently inhaling the flame, closing his - eyes and swaying his head backward and forward in an ecstasy, the hips - advancing and receding, the feet still shuffling to the barbaric measure. - </p> - <p> - Every moment his own excitement and that of the audience increased. The - floor was covered with the débris of the sacrifice—broken candy, - crushed sugarplums, scattered grapes—and all more or less in flame. - The wild dancer was dancing in fire! In the height of his frenzy he - grasped a large plate filled with lump-sugar. That was set on fire. He - held the burning mass to his breast, he swung it round, and finally, with - his hand extended under the bottom of the plate (the plate only adhering - to his hand by the rapidity of his circular motion), he spun around like a - dancing dervish, his eyes shut, the perspiration pouring in streams from - his face, in a frenzy. The flaming sugar scattered about the floor, and - the devotees scrambled for it. In intervals of the dance, though the - singing went on, the various offerings which had been conjured were passed - around—bits of sugar and fruit and orris powder. That which fell to - my share I gave to the young girl next me, whose eyes were blazing with - excitement, though she had remained perfectly tranquil, and joined neither - by voice or hands or feet in the excitement. She put the conjured sugar - and fruit in her pocket, and seemed grateful to me for relinquishing it to - her. - </p> - <p> - Before this point had been reached the chant had been changed for the wild - <i>canga</i>, more rapid in movement than the <i>chanson africaine</i>: - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - “Eh! eli! Bomba, hen! hen! - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Canga bafio té - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Canga moune dé lé - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Canga do ki la - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Canga li.” - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - At intervals during the performance, when the charm had begun to work, the - believers came forward into the open space, and knelt for “treatment.” The - singing, the dance, the wild incantation, went on uninterruptedly; but - amid all his antics the dancer had an eye to business. The first group - that knelt were four stalwart men, three of them white laborers. All of - them, I presume, had some disease which they had faith the incantation - would drive away. Each held a lighted candle in each hand. The doctor - successively extinguished each candle by putting it in his mouth, and - performed a number of antics of a saltatory sort. During his dancing and - whirling he frequently filled his mouth with liquid, and discharged it in - spray, exactly as a Chinese laundryman sprinkles his clothes, into the - faces and on the heads of any man or woman within reach. Those so treated - considered themselves specially favored. Having extinguished the candles - of the suppliants, he scooped the liquid from the bowl, flaming or not as - it might be, and with his hands vigorously scrubbed their faces and heads, - as if he were shampooing them. While the victim was still sputtering and - choking he seized him by the right hand, lifted him up, spun him round - half a dozen times, and then sent him whirling. - </p> - <p> - This was substantially the treatment that all received who knelt in the - circle, though sometimes it was more violent. Some of them were slapped - smartly upon the back and the breast, and much knocked about. Occasionally - a woman was whirled till she was dizzy, and perhaps swung about in his - arms as if she had been a bundle of clothes. They all took it meekly and - gratefully. One little girl of twelve, who had rickets, was banged about - till it seemed as if every bone in her body would be broken. But the - doctor had discrimination, even in his wildest moods. Some of the women - were gently whirled, and the conjurer forbore either to spray them from - his mouth or to shampoo them. - </p> - <p> - Nearly all those present knelt, and were whirled and shaken, and those who - did not take this “cure” I suppose got the benefit of the incantation by - carrying away some of the consecrated offerings. Occasionally a woman in - the whirl would whisper something-in the doctor’s ear, and receive from - him doubtless the counsel she needed. But generally the doctor made no - inquiries of his patients, and they said nothing to him. - </p> - <p> - While the wild chanting, the rhythmic movement of hands and feet, the - barbarous dance, and the fiery incantations were at their height, it was - difficult to believe that we were in a civilized city of an enlightened - republic. Nothing indecent occurred in word or gesture, but it was so wild - and bizarre that one might easily imagine he was in Africa or in hell. - </p> - <p> - As I said, nearly all the participants were colored people; but in the - height of the frenzy one white woman knelt and was sprayed and whirled - with the others. She was a respectable married woman from the other side - of Canal Street. I waited with some anxiety to see what my modest little - neighbor would do. She had told me that she should look on and take no - part. I hoped that the senseless antics, the mummery, the rough treatment, - would disgust her. Towards the close of the séance, when the spells were - all woven and the flames had subsided, the tall, good-natured negress - motioned to me that it was my turn to advance into the circle and kneel. I - excused myself. But the young girl was unable to resist longer. She went - forward and knelt, with a candle in her hand. The conjurer was either - touched by her youth and race, or he had spent his force. He gently lifted - her by one hand, and gave her one turn around, and she came back to her - seat. - </p> - <p> - The singing ceased, The doctor’s wife passed round the hat for - contributions, and the ceremony, which had lasted nearly an hour and a - half, was over. The doctor retired exhausted with the violent exertions. - As for the patients, I trust they were well cured of rheumatism, of fever, - or whatever ill they had, and that the young ladies have either got - husbands to their minds or have escaped faithless lovers. In the breaking - up I had no opportunity to speak further to the interesting young white - neophyte; but as I saw her resuming her hat and cloak in the adjoining - room there was a strange excitement in her face, and in her eyes a light - of triumph and faith. We came out by the back way, and through an alley - made our escape into the sunny street and the air of the nineteenth - century. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - V.—THE ACADIAN LAND. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>f one crosses the - river from New Orleans to Algiers, and takes Morgan’s Louisiana and Texas - Railway (now a part of the Southern Pacific line), he will go west, with a - dip at first southerly, and will pass through a region little attractive - except to water-fowl, snakes, and alligators, by an occasional rice - plantation, an abandoned indigo field, an interminable stretch of cypress - swamps, thickets of Spanish-bayonets, black waters, rank and rampant - vegetation, vines, and water-plants; by-and-by firmer arable land, and - cane plantations, many of them forsaken and become thickets of - undergrowth, owing to frequent inundations and the low price of sugar. - </p> - <p> - At a distance of eighty miles Morgan City is reached, and the broad - Atchafalaya Bayou is crossed. Hence is steamboat communication with New - Orleans and Vera Cruz. The Atchafalaya Bayou has its origin near the mouth - of the Red River, and diverting from the Mississippi most of that great - stream, it makes its tortuous way to the Gulf, frequently expanding into - the proportions of a lake, and giving this region a great deal more water - than it needs. The Bayou Teche, which is, in fact, a lazy river, wanders - down from the rolling country of Washington and Opelousas, with a great - deal of uncertainty of purpose, but mainly south-easterly, and parallel - with the Atchafalaya, and joins the latter at Morgan City. Steamers of - good size navigate it as far as New Iberia, some forty to fifty miles, and - the railway follows it to the latter place, within sight of its fringe of - live-oaks and cotton-woods. The region south and west of the Bayou Teche, - a vast plain cut by innumerable small bayous and streams, which have - mostly a connection with the bay of Côte Blanche and Vermilion Bay, is the - home of the Nova Scotia Acadians. - </p> - <p> - The Acadians in 1755 made a good exchange, little as they thought so at - the time, of bleak Nova Scotia for these sunny, genial, and fertile lands. - They came into a land and a climate suited to their idiosyncrasies, and - which have enabled them to preserve their primitive traits. In a - comparative isolation from the disturbing currents of modern life, they - have preserved the habits and customs of the eighteenth century. The - immigrants spread themselves abroad among those bayous, made their homes - wide apart, and the traveller will nowhere find—at least I did not—large - and compact communities of them, unalloyed with the American and other - elements. Indeed, I imagine that they are losing, in the general - settlement of the country, their conspicuousness. They still give the - tone, however, to considerable districts, as in the village and - neighborhood of Abbeville. Some places, like the old town of St. - Martinsville, on the Teche, once the social capital of the region, and - entitled, for its wealth and gayety, the Petit Paris, had a large element - of French who were not Acadians. - </p> - <p> - The Teche from Morgan City to New Iberia is a deep, slow, and winding - stream, flowing through a flat region of sugar plantations. It is very - picturesque by reason of its tortuousness and the great spreading live-oak - trees, moss-draped, that hang over it. A voyage on it is one of the most - romantic entertainments offered to the traveller. The scenery is peaceful, - and exceedingly pretty. There are few conspicuous plantations with - mansions and sugar-stacks of any pretensions, but the panorama from the - deck of the steamer is always pleasing. There is an air of leisure and - “afternoon” about the expedition, which is heightened by the idle case of - the inhabitants lounging at the rude wharves and landing-places, and the - patience of the colored fishers, boys in scant raiment and women in - sun-bonnets, seated on the banks. Typical of this universal contentment is - the ancient colored man stretched on a plank close to the steamer’s - boiler, oblivious of the heat, apparently asleep, with his spacious mouth - wide open, but softly singing. - </p> - <p> - “Are you asleep, uncle?” - </p> - <p> - “No, not adzackly asleep, boss. I jes wake up, and thinkin’ how good de - Lord is, I couldn’t help singin’.” - </p> - <p> - The panorama is always interesting. There are wide silvery expanses of - water, into which fall the shadows of great trees. A tug is dragging along - a tow of old rafts composed of cypress logs all water-soaked, green with - weeds and grass, so that it looks like a floating garden. What pictures! - Clusters of oaks on the prairie; a picturesque old cotton-press; a house - thatched with palmettoes; rice-fields irrigated by pumps; darkies, - field-hands, men and women, hoeing in the cane-fields, giving stalwart - strokes that exhibit their robust figures; an old sugar-mill in ruin and - vine-draped; an old begass chimney against the sky; an antique - cotton-press with its mouldering roof supported on timbers; a darky on a - mule motionless on the bank, clad in Attakapas cloth, his slouch hat - falling about his head like a roof from which the rafters have been - withdrawn; palmettoes, oaks, and funereal moss; lines of Spanish-bayonets; - rickety wharves; primitive boats; spider-legged bridges. Neither on the - Teche nor the Atchafalaya, nor on the great plain near the Mississippi, - fit for amphibious creatures, where one standing on the level wonders to - sec the wheels of the vast river steamers above him, apparently without - cause, revolving, is there any lack of the picturesque. - </p> - <p> - New Iberia, the thriving mart of the region, which has drawn away the life - from St. Martinsville, ten miles farther up the bayou, is a village mainly - of small frame houses, with a smart court-house, a lively business street, - a few pretty houses, and some oldtime mansions on the bank of the bayou, - half smothered in old rose gardens, the ground in the rear sloping to the - water under the shade of gigantic oaks. One of them, which with its - outside staircases in the pillared gallery suggests Spanish taste on the - outside, and in the interior the arrangement of connecting rooms a French - chateau, has a self-keeping rose garden, where one might easily become - sentimental; the vines disport themselves like holiday children, climbing - the trees, the side of the house, and revelling in an abandon of color and - perfume. - </p> - <p> - The population is mixed—Americans, French, Italians, now and then a - Spaniard and even a Mexican, occasionally a basket-making Attakapas, and - the all-pervading person of color. The darky is a born fisherman, in - places where fishing requires no exertion, and one may see him any hour - seated on the banks of the Teche, especially the boy and the sun-bonneted - woman, placidly holding their poles over the muddy stream, and can study, - if he like, the black face in expectation of a bite. There too are the - washer-women, with their tubs and a plank thrust into the water, and a - handkerchief of bright colors for a turban. These people somehow never - fail to be picturesque, whatever attitude they take, and they are not at - all self-conscious. The groups on Sunday give an interest to church-going—a - lean white horse, with a man, his wife, and boy strung along its backbone, - an aged darky and his wife seated in a cart, in stiff Sunday clothes and - flaming colors, the wheels of the cart making all angles with the ground, - and wabbling and creaking along, the whole party as proud of its - appearance as Julius Caesar in a triumph. - </p> - <p> - I drove on Sunday morning early from New Iberia to church at St. - Martinsville. It was a lovely April morning. The way lay over fertile - prairies, past fine cane plantations, with some irrigation, and for a - distance along the pretty Teche, shaded by great live-oaks, and here and - there a fine magnolia-tree; a country with few houses, and those mostly - shanties, but a sunny, smiling land, loved of the birds. We passed on our - left the Spanish Lake, a shallow, irregular body of water. My driver was - an ex-Confederate soldier, whose tramp with a musket through Virginia had - not greatly enlightened him as to what it was all about. As to the - Acadians, however, he had a decided opinion, and it was a poor one. They - are no good. “You ask them a question, and they shrug their shoulders like - a tarrapin—don’t know no more’n a dead alligator; only language they - ever have is ‘no’ and ‘what?’.rdquo; - </p> - <p> - If St. Martinsville, once the scat of fashion, retains anything of its - past elegance, its life has departed from it. It has stopped growing - anything but old, and yet it has not much of interest that is antique; it - is a village of small white frame houses, with three or four big gaunt - brick structures, two stories and a half high, with galleries, and here - and there a Creole cottage, the stairs running up inside the galleries, - over which roses climb in profusion. - </p> - <p> - I went to breakfast at a French inn, kept by Madame Castillo, a large - red-brick house on the banks of the Teche, where the live-oaks cast - shadows upon the silvery stream. It had, of course, a double gallery. - Below, the waiting-room, dining-room, and general assembly-room were paved - with brick, and instead of a door, Turkey-red curtains hung in the - entrance, and blowing aside, hospitably invited the stranger within. The - breakfast was neatly served, the house was scrupulously clean, and the - guest felt the influence of that personal hospitality which is always so - pleasing. Madame offered me a seat in her pew in church, and meantime a - chair on the upper gallery, which opened from large square sleeping - chambers. In that fresh morning I thought I never had seen a more sweet - and peaceful place than this gallery. Close to it grew graceful - China-trees in full blossom and odor; up and down the Teche were charming - views under the oaks; only the roofs of the town could be seen amid the - foliage of China-trees; and there was an atmosphere of repose in all the - scene. - </p> - <p> - It was Easter morning. I felt that I should like to linger there a week in - absolute forgetfulness of the world. French is the ordinary language of - the village, spoken more or less corruptly by all colors. - </p> - <p> - The Catholic church, a large and ugly structure, stands on the plaza, - which is not at all like a Spanish plaza, but a veritable New England - “green,” with stores and shops on all sides—New England, except that - the shops are open on Sunday. In the church apse is a noted and not bad - painting of St. Martin, and at the bottom of one aisle a vast bank of - black stucco clouds, with the Virgin standing on them, and the legend, “<i>Je - suis l’immaculee conception</i>.” - </p> - <p> - Country people were pouring into town for the Easter service and - festivities—more blacks than whites—on horseback and in - rickety carriages, and the horses were hitched on either side of the - church. Before service the square was full of lively young colored lads - cracking Easter-eggs. Two meet and strike together the eggs in their - hands, and the one loses whose egg breaks. A tough shell is a valuable - possession. The custom provokes a good deal of larking and merriment. - While this is going on, the worshippers are making their way into the - church through the throng, ladies in the neat glory of provincial dress, - and high-stepping, saucy colored belles, yellow and black, the blackest in - the most radiant apparel of violent pink and light blue, and now and then - a society favorite in all the hues of the rainbow. The centre pews of the - church are reserved for the whites, the seats of the side aisles for the - negroes. When mass begins, the church is crowded. The boys, with - occasional excursions into the vestibule to dip the finger in the - holy-water, or perhaps say a prayer, are still winning and losing eggs on - the preen. - </p> - <p> - On the gallery at the inn it is also Sunday. The air is full of odor. A - strong south wind begins to blow. I think the south wind is the wind of - memory and of longing. I wonder if the gay spirits of the last generation - ever return to the scenes of their revelry? Will they come back to the - theatre this Sunday night, and to the Grand Ball afterwards? The admission - to both is only twenty-five cents, including gombo file. - </p> - <p> - From New Iberia southward towards Vermilion Bay stretches a vast prairie; - if it is not absolutely fiat, if it resembles the ocean, it is the ocean - when its long swells have settled nearly to a calm. This prairie would be - monotonous were it not dotted with small round ponds, like hand-mirrors - for the flitting birds and sailing clouds, were its expanse not spotted - with herds of cattle, scattered or clustering like fishing-boats on a - green sea, were it not for a cabin here and there, a field of cane or - cotton, a garden plot, and were it not for the forests which break the - horizon line, and send out dark capes into the verdant plains. On a gray - day, or when storms and fogs roll in from the Gulf, it might be a gloomy - region, but under the sunlight and in the spring it is full of life and - color; it has an air of refinement and repose that is very welcome. - Besides the uplift of the spirit that a wide horizon is apt to give, one - is conscious here of the neighborhood of the sea, and of the possibilities - of romantic adventure in a coast intersected by bayous, and the presence - of novel forms of animal and vegetable life, and of a people with habits - foreign and strange. There is also a grateful sense of freedom and - expansion. - </p> - <p> - Soon, over the plain, is seen on the horizon, ten miles from New Iberia, - the dark foliage on the island of Petite Anse, or Wery’s Island. This - unexpected upheaval from the marsh, bounded by the narrow, circling Petite - Anse Bayou, rises into the sky one hundred and eighty feet, and has the - effect in this flat expanse of a veritable mountain, comparatively a - surprise, like Pike’s Peak seen from the elevation of Denver. Perhaps - nowhere else would a hill of one hundred and eighty feet make such an - impression on the mind. Crossing the bayou, where alligators sun - themselves and eye with affection the colored people angling at the - bridge, and passing a long causeway over the marsh, the firm land of the - island is reached. This island, which is a sort of geological puzzle, has - a very uneven surface, and is some two and a half miles long by one mile - broad. It is a little kingdom in itself, capable of producing in its soil - and adjacent waters nearly everything one desires of the necessaries of - life. A portion of the island is devoted to a cane plantation and - sugar-works; a part of it is covered with forests; and on the lowlands and - gentle slopes, besides thickets of palmetto, are gigantic live-oaks, - moss-draped trees monstrous in girth, and towering into the sky with a - vast spread of branches. Scarcely anywhere else will one see a nobler - growth of these stately trees. In a depression is the famous saltmine, - unique in quality and situation in the world. Here is grown and put up the - Tobasco pepper; here, amid fields of clover and flowers, a large apiary - flourishes. Stones of some value for ornament are found. - </p> - <p> - Indeed, I should not be surprised at anything turning up there, for I am - told that good kaoline has been discovered; and about the residences of - the hospitable proprietors roses bloom in abundance, the China-tree - blossoms sweetly, and the mocking-bird sings. - </p> - <p> - But better than all these things I think I like the view from the broad - cottage piazzas, and I like it best when the salt breeze is strong enough - to sweep away the coast mosquitoes—a most undesirable variety. I do - not know another view of its kind for extent and color comparable to that - from this hill over the waters seaward. The expanse of luxuriant grass, - brown, golden, reddish, in patches, is intersected by a network of bayous, - which gleam like silver in the sun, or trail like dark fabulous serpents - under a cloudy sky. The scene is limited only by the power of the eye to - meet the sky line. Vast and level, it is constantly changing, almost in - motion with life; the long grass and weeds run like waves when the wind - blows, great shadows of clouds pass on its surface, alternating dark - masses with vivid ones of sunlight; fishing-boats and the masts of - schooners creep along the threads of water; when the sun goes down, a red - globe of fire in the Gulf mists, all the expanse is warm and ruddy, and - the waters sparkle like jewels; and at night, under the great field of - stars, marsh fires here and there give a sort of lurid splendor to the - scene. In the winter it is a temperate spot, and at all times of the year - it is blessed by an invigorating seabreeze. - </p> - <p> - Those who have enjoyed the charming social life and the unbounded - hospitality of the family who inhabit this island may envy them their - paradisiacal home, but they would be able to select none others so worthy - to enjoy it. - </p> - <p> - It is said that the Attakapas Indians are shy of this island, having a - legend that it was the scene of a great catastrophe to their race. Whether - this catastrophe has any connection with the upheaval of the salt mountain - I do not know. Many stories are current in this region in regard to the - discovery of this deposit. A little over a quarter of a century ago it was - unsuspected. The presence of salt in the water of a small spring led - somebody to dig in that place, and at the depth of sixteen feet below the - surface solid salt was struck. In stripping away the soil several relics - of human workmanship came to light, among them stone implements and a - woven basket, exactly such as the Attakapas make now. This basket, found - at the depth of sixteen feet, lay upon the salt rock, and was in perfect - preservation. Half of it can now be seen in the Smithsonian Institution. - At the beginning of the war great quantities of salt were taken from this - mine for the use of the Confederacy. But this supply was cut off by the - Unionists, who at first sent gunboats up the bayou within shelling - distance, and at length occupied it with troops. - </p> - <p> - The ascertained area of the mine is several acres; the depth of the - deposit is unknown. The first shaft was sunk a hundred feet; below this a - shaft of seventy feet fails to find any limit to the salt. The excavation - is already large. Descending, the visitor enters vast cathedral-like - chambers; the sides are solid salt, sparkling with crystals; the floor is - solid salt; the roof is solid salt, supported on pillars of salt left by - the excavators, forty or perhaps sixty feet square. When the interior is - lighted by dynamite the effect is superbly weird and grotesque. The salt - is blasted by dynamite, loaded into ears which run on rails to the - elevator, hoisted, and distributed into the crushers, and from the - crushers directly into the bags for shipment. The crushers differ in - crushing capacity, some producing fine and others coarse salt. No - bleaching or cleansing process is needed; the salt is almost absolutely - pure. Large blocks of it are sent to the Western plains for “cattle - licks.” The mine is connected by rail with the main line at New Iberia. - </p> - <p> - Across the marshes and bayous eight miles to the west from Petite Anse - Island rises Orange Island, famous for its orange plantation, but called - Jefferson Island since it became the property and home of Joseph - Jefferson. Not so high as Petite Anse, it is still conspicuous with its - crown of dark forest. From a high point on Petite Anse, through a lovely - vista of trees, with flowering cacti in the foreground, Jefferson’s house - is a white spot in the landscape. We reached it by a circuitous drive of - twelve miles over the prairie, sometimes in and sometimes out of the - water, and continually diverted from our course by fences. It is a good - sign of the thrift of the race, and of its independence, that the colored - people have taken up or bought little tracts of thirty or forty acres, put - up cabins, and new fences round their domains regardless of the travelling - public. We zigzagged all about the country to get round these little - enclosures. At one place, where the main road was bad, a thrifty Acadian - had set up a toll of twenty-five cents for the privilege of passing - through his premises. The scenery was pastoral and pleasing. - </p> - <p> - There were frequent round ponds, brilliant with lilies and <i>fleurs-de-lis</i>, - and hundreds of cattle feeding on the prairie or standing In the water, - and generally of a dun-color, made always an agreeable picture. The - monotony was broken by lines of trees, by cape-like woods stretching into - the plain, and the horizon line was always fine. Great variety of birds - enlivened the landscape, game birds abounding. There was the lively little - nonpareil, which seems to change its color, and is red and green and blue, - I believe of the oriole family, the papabotte, a favorite on New Orleans - tables in the autumn, snipe, killdee, the cherooke (snipe?), the - meadow-lark, and quantities of teal ducks in the ponds. These little ponds - are called “bull-holes.” The traveller is told that they are started in - this watery soil by the pawing of bulls, and gradually enlarged as the - cattle frequent them. He remembers that he has seen similar circular ponds - in the North not made by bulls. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Jefferson’s residence—a pretty rose-vine-covered cottage—is - situated on the slope of the hill, overlooking a broad plain and a vast - stretch of bayou country. Along one side of his home enclosure for a mile - runs a superb hedge of Chickasaw roses. On the slope back of the house, - and almost embracing it, is a magnificent grove of live-oaks, great gray - stems, and the branches hung with heavy masses of moss, which swing in the - wind like the pendent boughs of the willow, and with something of its - sentimental and mournful suggestion. The recesses of this forest are cool - and dark, but upon ascending the hill, suddenly bursts upon the view under - the trees a most lovely lake of clear blue water. This lake, which may be - a mile long and half a mile broad, is called Lake Peigneur, from its - fanciful resemblance, I believe, to a wool-comber. The shores are wooded. - On the island side the bank is precipitous; on the opposite shore amid the - trees is a hunting-lodge, and I believe there are plantations on the north - end, but it is in aspect altogether solitary and peaceful. But the island - did not want life. The day was brilliant, with a deep blue sky and - high-sailing fleecy clouds, and it seemed a sort of animal holiday: - squirrels chattered; cardinal-birds flashed through the green leaves; - there flitted about the red-winged blackbird, blue jays, redheaded - woodpeckers, thrushes, and occasionally a rain-crow crossed the scene; - high overhead sailed the heavy buzzards, describing great aerial circles; - and off in the still lake the ugly heads of alligators were toasting in - the sun. - </p> - <p> - It was very pleasant to sit on the wooded point, enlivened by all this - animal activity, looking off upon the lake and the great expanse of marsh, - over which came a refreshing breeze. There was great variety of - forest-trees. Besides the live-oaks, in one small area I noticed the - water-oak, red-oak, pin-oak, the elm, the cypress, the hackberry, and the - pecan tree. - </p> - <p> - This point is a favorite rendezvous for the buzzards. Before I reached it - I heard a tremendous whirring in the air, and, lo! there upon the oaks - were hundreds and hundreds of buzzards. Upon one dead tree, vast, gaunt, - and bleached, they had settled in black masses. When I came near they rose - and flew about with clamor and surprise, momentarily obscuring the - sunlight. With these unpleasant birds consorted in unclean fellowship - numerous long-necked water-turkeys. - </p> - <p> - Doré would have liked to introduce into one of his melodramatic pictures - this helpless dead tree, extending its gray arms loaded with these black - scavengers. It needed the blue sky and blue lake to prevent the scene from - being altogether uncanny. I remember still the harsh, croaking noise of - the buzzards and the water-turkeys when they were disturbed, and the - flapping of their funereal wings, and perhaps the alligators lying off in - the lake noted it, for they grunted and bellowed a response. But the birds - sang merrily, the wind blew softly; there was the repose as of a far - country undisturbed by man, and a silvery tone on the water and all the - landscape that refined the whole. - </p> - <p> - If the Acadians can anywhere be seen in the prosperity of their primitive - simplicity, I fancy it is in the parish of Vermilion, in the vicinity of - Abbeville and on the Bayou Tigre. Here, among the intricate bayous that - are their highways and supply them with the poorer sort of fish, and the - fair meadows on which their cattle pasture, and where they grow nearly - everything their simple habits require, they have for over a century - enjoyed a quiet existence, practically undisturbed by the agitations of - modern life, ignorant of its progress. History makes their departure from - the comparatively bleak meadows of Grand Pré a cruel hardship, if a - political necessity. But they made a very fortunate exchange. Nowhere else - on the continent could they so well have preserved their primitive habits, - or found climate and soil so suited to their humor. Others have - exhaustively set forth the history and idiosyncrasies of this peculiar - people; it is in my way only to tell what I saw on a spring day. - </p> - <p> - To reach the heart of this abode of contented and perhaps wise ignorance - we took boats early one morning at Petite Anse Island, while the dew was - still heavy and the birds were at matins, and rowed down the Petite Anse - Bayou. A stranger would surely be lost in these winding, branching, - interlacing streams. Evangeline and her lover might have passed each other - unknown within hail across these marshes. The party of a dozen people - occupied two row-boats. Among them were gentlemen who knew the route, but - the reserve of wisdom as to what bayous and cutoffs were navigable was an - ancient ex-slave, now a voter, who responded to the name of “Honorable”—a - weather-beaten and weather-wise darky, a redoubtable fisherman, whose - memory extended away beyond the war, and played familiarly about the - person of Lafayette, with whom he had been on agreeable terms in - Charleston, and who dated his narratives, to our relief, not from the war, - but from the year of some great sickness on the coast. From the Petite - Anse we entered the Carlin Bayou, and wound through it is needless to say - what others in our tortuous course. In the fresh morning, with the salt - air, it was a voyage of delight. Mullet were jumping in the glassy stream, - perhaps disturbed by the gar-fish, and alligators lazily slid from the - reedy banks into the water at our approach. All the marsh was gay with - flowers, vast patches of the blue <i>fleur-de-lis</i> intermingled with - the exquisite white spider-lily, nodding in clusters on long stalks; an - amaryllis (pancratium), its pure halfdisk fringed with delicate white - filaments. The air was vocal with the notes of birds, the nonpareil and - the meadow-lark, and most conspicuous of all the handsome boat-tail - grackle, a blackbird, which alighted on the slender dead reeds that swayed - with his weight as he poured forth his song. Sometimes the bayou narrowed - so that it was impossible to row with the oars, and poling was resorted - to, and the current was swift and strong. At such passes we saw only the - banks with nodding flowers, and the reeds, with the blackbirds singing, - against the sky. Again we emerged into placid reaches overhung by gigantic - live-oaks and fringed with cypress. It was enchanting. But the way was not - quite solitary. Numerous fishing parties were encountered, boats on their - way to the bay, and now and then a party of stalwart men drawing a net in - the bayou, their clothes being deposited on the banks. Occasionally a - large schooner was seen, tied to the bank or slowly working its way, and - on one a whole family was domesticated. There is a good deal of queer life - hidden in these bayous. - </p> - <p> - After passing through a narrow artificial canal, we came into the Bayou - Tigre, and landed for breakfast on a greensward, with meadow-land and - signs of habitations in the distance, under spreading live-oaks. Under one - of the most attractive of these trees, close to the stream, we did not - spread our table-cloth and shawls, because a large moccason snake was seen - to glide under the roots, and we did not know but that his modesty was - assumed, and he might join the breakfast party. It is said that these - snakes never attack any one who has kept all the ten commandments from his - youth up. Cardinal-birds made the wood gay for us while we breakfasted, - and we might have added plenty of partridges to our <i>menu</i> if we had - been armed. - </p> - <p> - Resuming our voyage, we presently entered the inhabited part of the bayou, - among cultivated fields, and made our first call on the Thibodeaux. They - had been expecting us, and Andonia came down to the landing to welcome us, - and with a formal, pretty courtesy led the way to the house. Does the - reader happen to remember, say in New England, say fifty years ago, the - sweetest maiden lady in the village, prim, staid, full of kindness, the - proportions of the figure never quite developed, with a row of small - corkscrew curls about her serene forehead, and all the juices of life that - might have overflowed into the life of others somehow withered into the - sweetness of her wistful face? Yes; a little timid and appealing, and yet - trustful, and in a scant, quaint gown? Well, Andonia was never married, - and she had such curls, and a high-waisted gown, and a kerchief folded - across her breast; and when she spoke, it was in the language of France as - it is rendered in Acadia. - </p> - <p> - The house, like all in this region, stands upon blocks of wood, is in - appearance a frame house, but the walls between timbers are of concrete - mixed with moss, and the same inside as out. It had no glass in tin - windows, which were closed with solid shutters. Upon the rough walls were - hung sacred pictures and other crudely colored prints. The furniture was - rude and apparently home-made, and the whole interior was as painfully - neat as a Dutch parlor. Even the beams overhead and ceiling had been - scrubbed. Andonia showed us with a blush of pride her neat little - sleeping-room, with its souvenirs of affection, and perhaps some of the - dried flowers of a possible romance, and the ladies admired the finely - woven white counterpane on the bed. Andonia’s married sister was a large, - handsome woman, smiling and prosperous. There were children and, I think, - a baby about, besides Mr. Thibodeaux. Nothing could exceed the kindly - manner of these people. Andonia showed us how they card, weave, and spin - the cotton out of which then-blankets and the jean for their clothing are - made. They use the old-fashioned hand-cards, spin on a little wheel with a - foot-treadle, have the most primitive warping-bars, and weave most - laboriously on a rude loom. But the cloth they make will wear forever, and - the colors they use are all fast. It is a great pleasure, we might almost - say shock, to encounter such honest work in these times. The Acadians grow - a yellow or nankeen sort of cotton which, without requiring any dye, is - woven into a handsome yellow stuff. When we departed Andonia slipped into - the door-yard, and returned with a rose for each of us. I fancied she was - loath to have us go, and that the visit was an event in the monotony of - her single life. - </p> - <p> - Embarking again on the placid stream, we moved along through a land of - peace. The houses of the Acadians are scattered along the bayou at - considerable distances apart. The voyager seems to be in an unoccupied - country, when suddenly the turn of the stream shows him a farm-house, with - its little landing-wharf, boats, and perhaps a schooner moored at the - bank, and behind it cultivated fields and a fringe of trees. In the - blossoming time of the year, when the birds are most active, these scenes - are idyllic. At a bend in the bayou, where a tree sent its horizontal - trunk half across it, we made our next call, at the house of Mr Vallet, a - large frame house, and evidently the abode of a man of means. The house - was ceiled outside and inside with native woods. As usual in this region, - the premises were not as orderly as those about some Northern farm-houses, - but the interior of the house was spotlessly clean, and in its polish and - barrenness of ornament and of appliances of comfort suggested a Brittany - home, while its openness and the broad veranda spoke of a genial climate. - Our call here was brief, for a sick man, very ill, they said, lay in the - front room—a stranger who had been overtaken with fever, and was - being cared for by these kind-hearted people. - </p> - <p> - Other calls were made—this visiting by boat recalls Venice—but - the end of our voyage was the plantation of Simonette Le Blanc, a sturdy - old man, a sort of patriarch in this region, the centre of a very large - family of sons, daughters, and grandchildren. The residence, a rambling - story-and-a-half house, grown by accretions as more room was needed, calls - for no comment. It was all very plain, and contained no books, nor any - adornments except some family photographs, the poor work of a travelling - artist. But in front, on the bayou, Mr. Le Blanc had erected a grand - ballroom, which gave an air of distinction to the place. This hall, which - had benches along the wail, and at one end a high dais for the fiddlers, - and a little counter where the gombo filé (the common refreshment) is - served, had an air of gayety by reason of engravings cut from the - illustrated papers, and was shown with some pride. Here neighborhood - dances take place once in two weeks, and a grand ball was to come off on - Easter-Sunday night, to which we were urgently invited to come. - </p> - <p> - Simonette Le Blanc, with several of his sons, had returned at midnight - from an expedition to Vermilion Bay, where they had been camping for a - couple of weeks, fishing and taking oysters. Working the schooner through - the bayou at night had been fatiguing, and then there was supper, and all - the news of the fortnight to be talked over, so that it was four o’clock - before the house was at rest, but neither the hale old man nor his - stalwart sons seemed the worse for the adventure. Such trips are not - uncommon, for these people seem to have leisure for enjoyment, and vary - the toil of the plantation with the pleasures of fishing and lazy - navigation. But to the women and the home-stayers this was evidently an - event. The men had been to the outer world, and brought back with them the - gossip of the bayous and the simple incidents of the camping life on the - coast. “There was a great deal to talk over that had happened in a - fortnight,” said Simonette—he and one of his sons spoke English. I - do not imagine that the talk was about politics, or any of the events that - seem important in other portions of the United States, only the faintest - echoes of which ever reach this secluded place. This is a purely domestic - and patriarchal community, where there are no books to bring in agitating - doubts, and few newspapers to disquiet the nerves. The only matter of - politics broached was in regard to an appropriation by Congress to improve - a cut-off between two bayous. So far as I could learn, the most - intelligent of these people had no other interest in or concern about the - Government. There is a neighborhood school where English is taught, but no - church nearer than Abbeville, six miles away. I should not describe the - population as fanatically religious, nor a churchgoing one except on - special clays. But by all accounts it is moral, orderly, sociable, fond of - dancing, thrifty, and conservative. - </p> - <p> - The Acadians are fond of their homes. It is not the fashion for the young - people to go away to better their condition. Few young men have ever been - as far from home as New Orleans; they marry young, and settle down near - the homestead. Mr. Le Blanc has a colony of his descendants about him, - within hail from his door. It must be large, and his race must be - prolific, judging by the number of small children who gathered at the - homestead to have a sly peep at the strangers. They took small interest in - the war, and it had few attractions for them. The conscription carried - away many of their young men, but I am told they did not make very good - soldiers, not because they were not stalwart and brave, but because they - were so intolerably homesick that they deserted whenever they had a - chance. The men whom we saw were most of them fine athletic fellows, with - honest, dark, sun-browned faces; some of the children were very pretty, - but the women usually showed the effects of isolation and toil, and had - the common plainness of French peasants. They are a self-supporting - community, raise their own cotton, corn, and sugar, and for the most part - manufacture their own clothes and articles of household use. Some of the - cotton jeans, striped with blue, indigo-dyed, made into garments for men - and women, and the blankets, plain yellow (from the native nankeen - cotton), curiously clouded, are very pretty and serviceable. Further than - that their habits of living are simple, and their ways primitive, I saw - few eccentricities. The peculiarity of this community is in its freedom - from all the hurry and worry and information of our modern life. I have - read that the gallants train their little horses to prance and curvet and - rear and fidget about, and that these are called “courtin’ horses,” and - are used when a young man goes courting, to impress his mistress with his - manly horsemanship. I have seen these horses perform under the saddle, but - I was not so fortunate as to see any courting going on. - </p> - <p> - In their given as well as their family names these people are classical - and peculiar. I heard, of men, the names L’Odias, Peigneur, Niolas, Elias, - Homère, Lemaire, and of women, Emilite, Ségoura, Antoinette, Clarise, - Elia. - </p> - <p> - We were very hospitably entertained by the Le Blancs. On our arrival tiny - cups of black coffee were handed round, and later a drink of syrup and - water, which some of the party sipped with a sickly smile of enjoyment. - Before dinner we walked up to the bridge over the bayou on the road - leading to Abbeville, where there is a little cluster of houses, a small - country store, and a closed drug-shop—the owner of which had put up - his shutters and gone to a more unhealthy region. Here is a fine grove of - oaks, and from the bridge we had in view a grand sweep of prairie, with - trees, single and in masses, which made with the winding silvery stream a - very pleasing picture. We sat down to a dinner—the women waiting on - the table—of gombo file, fried oysters, eggs, sweet-potatoes (the - delicious saccharine, sticky sort), with syrup out of a bottle served in - little saucers, and afterwards black coffee. We were sincerely welcome to - whatever the house contained, and when we departed the whole family, and - indeed all the neighborhood, accompanied us to our boats, and we went away - down the stream with a chorus of adieus and good wishes. - </p> - <p> - We were watching for a hail from the Thibodeaux. The doors and shutters - were closed, and the mansion seemed blank and forgetful. But as we came - opposite the landing, there stood Andonia, faithful, waving her - handkerchief. Ah me! - </p> - <p> - We went home gayly and more swiftly, current and tide with us, though a - little pensive, perhaps, with too much pleasure and the sunset effects on - the wide marshes through which we voyaged. Cattle wander at will over - these marshes, and are often stalled and lost. We saw some pitiful sights. - The cattle venturing too near the boggy edge to drink become inextricably - involved. We passed an ox sunken to his back, and dead; a cow frantically - struggling in the mire, almost exhausted, and a cow and calf, the mother - dead, the calf moaning beside her. On a cattle lookout near by sat three - black buzzards surveying the prospect with hungry eyes. - </p> - <p> - When we landed and climbed the hill, and from the rose-embowered veranda - looked back over the strange land we had sailed through, away to Bayou - Tigre, where the red sun was setting, we felt that we had been in a - country that is not of this world. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - VI.—THE SOUTH REVISITED, IN 1887. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>n speaking again - of the South in Harper’s Monthly, after an interval of about two years, - and as before at the request of the editor, I said, I shrink a good deal - from the appearance of forwardness which a second paper may seem to give - to observations which have the single purpose of contributing my mite - towards making the present spirit of the Southern people, their progress - in industries and in education, their aspirations, better known. On the - other hand, I have no desire to escape the imputation of a warm interest - in the South, and of a belief that its development and prosperity are - essential to the greatness and glory of the nation. Indeed, no one can go - through the South, with his eyes open, without having his patriotic fervor - quickened and broadened, and without increased pride in the republic. - </p> - <p> - We are one people. Different traditions, different education or the lack - of it, the demoralizing curse of slavery, different prejudices, made us - look at life from irreconcilable points of view; but the prominent common - feature, after all, is our Americanism. In any assembly of gentlemen from - the two sections the resemblances are greater than the differences. A - score of times I have heard it said, “We look alike, talk alike, feel - alike; how strange it is we should have fought!” Personal contact always - tends to remove prejudices, and to bring into prominence the national - feeling, the race feeling, the human nature common to all of us. - </p> - <p> - I wish to give as succinctly as I can the general impressions of a recent - six weeks’ tour, made by a company of artists and writers, which became - known as the “Harper party,” through a considerable portion of the South, - including the cities of Lynchburg, Richmond, Danville, Atlanta, Augusta - (with a brief call at Charleston and Columbia, for it was not intended to - take in the eastern seaboard on this trip), Knoxville, Chattanooga, South - Pittsburg, Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Pensacola, Mobile, New - Orleans, Baton Rouge, Vicksburg, Memphis, Louisville. Points of great - interest were necessarily omitted in a tour which could only include - representatives of the industrial and educational development of the New - South. Naturally we were thrown more with business men and with educators - than with others; that is, with those who are actually making the New - South; but we saw something of social life, something of the homes and - mode of living of every class, and we had abundant opportunities of - conversation with whites and blacks of every social grade and political - affinity. The Southern people were anxious to show us what they were - doing, and they expressed their sentiments with entire frankness; if we - were misled, it is our own fault. It must be noted, however, in estimating - the value of our observations, that they were mainly made in cities and - large villages, and little in the country districts. - </p> - <p> - Inquiries in the South as to the feeling of the North show that there is - still left some misapprehension of the spirit in which the North sent out - its armies, though it is beginning to be widely understood that the North - was not animated by hatred of the South, but by intense love of the Union. - On the other hand, I have no doubt there still lingers in the North a - little misapprehension of the present feeling of the Southern people about - the Union. It arises from a confusion of two facts which it is best to - speak of plainly. Everybody knows that the South is heartily glad that - slavery is gone, and that a new era of freedom has set in. Everybody who - knows the South at all is aware that any idea of any renewal of the - strife, now or at any time, is nowhere entertained, even as a speculation, - and that to the women especially, who are said to be first in war, last in - peace, and first in the hearts of their countrymen, the idea of war is a - subject of utter loathing. The two facts to which I refer are the loyalty - of the Southern whites to the Union, and their determination to rule in - domestic affairs. Naturally there are here and there soreness and some - bitterness over personal loss and ruin, life-long grief, maybe, over lost - illusions—the observer who remembers what human nature is wonders - that so little of this is left—but the great fact is that the South - is politically loyal to the Union of the States, that the sentiment for - its symbol is growing into a deep reality which would flame out in passion - under any foreign insult, and that nationality, pride in the republic, is - everywhere strong and prominent. It is hardly necessary to say this, but - it needs to be emphasized when the other fact is dwelt on, namely, the - denial of free suffrage to the colored man. These two things are confused, - and this confusion is the source of much political misunderstanding. Often - when a Southern election “outrage” is telegraphed, when intimidation or - fraud is revealed, it is said in print, “So that is Southern loyalty!” In - short, the political treatment of the negro is taken to be a sign of - surviving war feeling, if not of a renewed purpose of rebellion. In this - year of grace 1887 the two things have no isolation to each other. It - would be as true to say that election frauds and violence to individuals - and on the ballot-box in Cincinnati are signs of hatred of the Union and - of Union men, as that a suppressed negro vote at the South, by adroit - management or otherwise, is indication of remaining hostility to the - Union. In the South it is sometimes due to the same depraved party spirit - that causes frauds in the North—the determination of a party to get - or keep the upper-hand at all hazards; but it is, in its origin and - generally, simply the result of the resolution of the majority of the - brains and property of the South to govern the cities and the States, and - in the Southern mind this is perfectly consistent with entire allegiance - to the Government. I could name men who were abettors of what is called - the “shotgun policy” whose national patriotism is beyond question, and who - are warm promoters of negro education and the improvement of the condition - of the colored people. - </p> - <p> - We might as well go to the bottom of this state of things, and look it - squarely in the face. Under reconstruction, sometimes owing to a tardy - acceptance of the new conditions by the ruling class, the State - governments and the municipalities fell under the control of ignorant - colored people, guided by unscrupulous white adventurers. States and - cities were prostrate under the heel of ignorance and fraud, crushed with - taxes, and no improvements to show for them. It was ruin on the way to - universal bankruptcy. The regaining of power by the intelligent and the - property owners was a question of civilization. The situation was - intolerable. There is no Northern community that would have submitted to - it; if it could not have been changed by legal process, it would have been - upset by revolution, as it was at the South. Recognizing as we must the - existence of race prejudice and pride, it was nevertheless a struggle for - existence. The methods resorted to were often violent, and being sweeping, - carried injustice. To be a Republican, in the eyes of those smarting under - carpet-bag <i>government</i> and the rule of the ignorant lately - enfranchised, was to be identified with the detested carpetbag government - and with negro rule. The Southern Unionist and the Northern emigrant, who - justly regarded the name Republican as the proudest they could bear, - identified as it was with the preservation of the Union and the national - credit, could not show their Republican principles at the polls without - personal danger in the country and social ostracism in the cities. Social - ostracism on account of politics even outran social ostracism on account - of participation in the education of the negroes. The very men who would - say, “I respect a man who fought for the Union more than a Northern - Copperhead, and if I had lived North, no doubt I should have gone with my - section,” would at the same time say, or think, “But you cannot be a - Republican down here now, for to be that is to identify yourself with the - party here that is hostile to everything in life that is dear to us.” This - feeling was intensified by the memories of the war, but it was in a - measure distinct from the war feeling, and it lived on when the latter - grew weak, and it still survives in communities perfectly loyal to the - Union, glad that slavery is ended, and sincerely desirous of the - establishment and improvement of public education for colored and white - alike. - </p> - <p> - Any tampering with the freedom of the ballot-box in a republic, no matter - what the provocation, is dangerous; the methods used to regain white - ascendancy were speedily adopted for purely party purposes and factional - purposes; the chicanery, even the violence, employed to render powerless - the negro and “carpetbag” vote were freely used by partisans in local - elections against each other, and in time became means of preserving party - and ring ascendancy. Thoughtful men South as well as North recognize the - vital danger to popular government if voting and the ballot-box are not - sacredly protected. In a recent election in Texas, in a district where, I - am told, the majority of the inhabitants are white, and the majority of - the whites are Republicans, and the majority of the colored voters voted - the Republican ticket, and greatly the larger proportion of the wealth and - business of the district are in Republican hands, there was an election - row; ballot-boxes were destroyed in several precincts, persons killed on - both sides, and leading Republicans driven out of the State. This is - barbarism. If the case is substantiated as stated, that in the district it - was not a question of race ascendancy, but of party ascendancy, no - fair-minded man in the Sooth can do otherwise than condemn it, for under - such conditions not only is a republican form of government impossible, - but development and prosperity are impossible. - </p> - <p> - For this reason, and because separation of voters on class lines is always - a peril, it is my decided impression that throughout the South, though not - by everybody, a breaking up of the solidarity of the South would be - welcome; that is to say, a breaking up of both the negro and the white - vote, and the reforming upon lines of national and economic policy, as in - the old days of Whig and Democrat, and liberty of free action in all local - affairs, without regard to color or previous party relations. There are - politicians who would preserve a solid South, or as a counterpart a solid - North, for party purposes. But the sense of the country, the perception of - business men North and South, is that this condition of politics - interferes with the free play of industrial development, with emigration, - investment of capital, and with that untrammelled agitation and movement - in society which are the life of prosperous States. - </p> - <p> - Let us come a little closer to the subject, dealing altogether with facts, - and not with opinions. The Republicans of the North protest against the - injustice of an increased power in the Lower House and in the Electoral - College based upon a vote which is not represented. It is a valid protest - in law; there is no answer to it. What is the reply to it? The substance - of hundreds of replies to it is that “we dare not let go so long as the - negroes all vote together, regardless of local considerations or any - economic problems whatever; we are in danger of a return to a rule of - ignorance that was intolerable, and as long as you wave the bloody shirt - at the North, which means to us a return to that rule, the South will be - solid.” The remark made by one man of political prominence was perhaps - typical: “The waving of the bloody shirt suits me exactly as a political - game; we should have hard work to keep our State Democratic if you did not - wave it.” So the case stands. The Republican party will always insist on - freedom, not only of political opinion, but of action, in every part of - the Union; and the South will keep “solid” so long as it fears, or so long - as politicians can persuade it to fear, the return of the late disastrous - domination. And recognizing this fact, and speaking in the interest of no - party, but only in that of better understanding and of the prosperity of - the whole country, I cannot doubt that the way out of most of our - complications is in letting the past drop absolutely, and addressing - ourselves with sympathy and good-will all around to the great economical - problems and national issues. And I believe that in this way also lies the - speediest and most permanent good to the colored as well as the white - population of the South. - </p> - <p> - There has been a great change in the aspect of the South and in its - sentiment within two years; or perhaps it would be more correct to say - that the change maturing for fifteen years is more apparent in a period of - comparative rest from race or sectional agitation. The educational - development is not more marvellous than the industrial, and both are - unparalleled in history. Let us begin by an illustration. - </p> - <p> - I stood one day before an assembly of four hundred pupils of a colored - college—called a college, but with a necessary preparatory - department—children and well-grown young women and men. The - buildings are fine, spacious, not inferior to the best modern educational - buildings either in architectural appearance or in interior furnishing, - with scientific apparatus, a library, the appliances approved by recent - experience in teaching, with admirable methods and discipline, and an - accomplished corps of instructors. The scholars were neat, orderly, - intelligent in appearance. As I stood for a moment or two looking at their - bright expectant faces the profound significance of the spectacle and the - situation came over me, and I said: “I wonder if you know what you are - doing, if you realize what this means. Here you are in a school the equal - of any of its grade in the land, with better methods of instruction than - prevailed anywhere when I was a boy, with the gates of all knowledge - opened as freely to you as to any youth in the land—here, in this - State, where only about twenty years ago it was a misdemeanor, punishable - with fine and imprisonment, to teach a colored person to read and write. - And I am brought here to see this fine school, as one of the best things - he can show me in the city, by a Confederate colonel. Not in all history - is there any instance of a change like this in a quarter of a century: no, - not in one nor in two hundred years. It seems incredible.” - </p> - <p> - This is one of the schools instituted and sustained by Northern friends of - the South; but while it exhibits the capacity of the colored people for - education, it is not so significant in the view we are now taking of the - New South as the public schools. Indeed, next to the amazing industrial - change in the South, nothing is so striking as the interest and progress - in the matter of public schools. In all the cities we visited the people - were enthusiastic about their common schools. It was a common remark, “I - suppose we have one of the best school systems in the country.” There is a - wholesome rivalry to have the best. We found everywhere the graded system - and the newest methods of teaching in vogue. In many of the primary rooms - in both white and colored schools, when I asked if these little children - knew the alphabet when they came to school, the reply was, “Not generally - we prefer they should not; we use the new method of teaching words.” In - many schools the youngest pupils were taught to read music by sight, and - to understand its notation by exercises on the blackboard. In the higher - classes generally, the instruction in arithmetic, in reading, In - geography, in history, and in literature was wholly in the modern method. - In some of the geography classes and in the language classes I was - reminded of the drill in the German schools. In all the cities, as far as - I could learn, the public money was equally distributed to the colored and - to the white schools, and the number of schools bore a just proportion to - the number of the two races. When the town was equally divided in - population, the number of pupils in the colored schools was about the same - as the number in the white schools. There was this exception: though - provision was made for a high-school to terminate the graded for both - colors, the number in the colored high-school department was usually very - small; and the reason given by colored and white teachers was that the - colored children had not yet worked up to it. The colored people prefer - teachers of their own race, and they are quite generally employed; but - many of the colored schools have white teachers, and generally, I think, - with better results, although I saw many thoroughly good colored teachers, - and one or two colored classes under them that compared favorably with any - white classes of the same grade. - </p> - <p> - The great fact, however, is that the common-school system has become a - part of Southern life, is everywhere accepted as a necessity, and usually - money is freely voted to sustain it. But practically, as an efficient - factor in civilization, the system is yet undeveloped in the country - districts. I can only speak from personal observation of the cities, but - the universal testimony was that the common schools in the country for - both whites and blacks are poor. Three months’ schooling in the year is - about the rule, and that of a slack and inferior sort, under incompetent - teachers. In some places the colored people complain that ignorant - teachers are put over them, who are chosen simply on political - considerations. More than one respectable colored man told me that he - would not send his children to such schools, but combined with a few - others to get them private instruction. The colored people are more - dependent on public schools than the whites, for while there are vast - masses of colored people in city and country who have neither the money - nor the disposition to sustain schools, in all the large places the whites - are able to have excellent private schools, and do have them. Scarcely - anywhere can the colored people as yet have a private school without white - aid from somewhere. At the present rate of progress, and even of the - increase of tax-paying ability, it must be a long time before the ignorant - masses, white and black, in the country districts, scattered over a wide - area, can have public schools at all efficient. The necessity is great. - The danger to the State of ignorance is more and more apprehended; and it - is upon this that many of the best men of the South base their urgent - appeal for temporary aid from the Federal Government for public schools. - It is seen that a State cannot soundly prosper unless its laborers are to - some degree intelligent. This opinion is shown in little things. One of - the great planters of the Yazoo Delta told me that he used to have no end - of trouble in settling with his hands. But now that numbers of them can - read and cipher, and explain the accounts to the others, lie never has the - least trouble. - </p> - <p> - One cannot speak too highly of the private schools in the South, - especially of those for young women. I do not know what they were before - the war, probably mainly devoted to “accomplishments,” as most of girls’ - schools in the North were. Now most of them are wider in range, thorough - in discipline, excellent in all the modern methods. Some of them, under - accomplished women, are entirely in line with the best in the country. - Before leaving this general subject of education, it is necessary to say - that the advisability of industrial training, as supplementary to - book-learning, is growing in favor, and that in some colored schools it is - tried with good results. - </p> - <p> - When we come to the New Industrial South the change is marvellous, and so - vast and various that I scarcely know where to begin in a short paper that - cannot go much into details. Instead of a South devoted to agriculture and - politics, we find a South wide awake to business, excited and even - astonished at the development of its own immense resources in metals, - marbles, coal, timber, fertilizers, eagerly laying lines of communication, - rapidly opening mines, building furnaces, founderies, and all sorts of - shops for utilizing the native riches. It is like the discovery of a new - world. When the Northerner finds great founderies in Virginia using only - (with slight exceptions) the products of Virginia iron and coal mines; - when he finds Alabama and Tennessee making iron so good and so cheap that - it finds ready market in Pennsylvania, and founderies multiplying near the - great furnaces for supplying Northern markets; when he finds cotton-mills - running to full capacity on grades of cheap cottons universally in demand - throughout the South and South-west; when he finds small industries, such - as paper-box factories and wooden bucket and tub factories, sending all - they can make into the North and widely over the West; when he sees the - loads of most beautiful marbles shipped North; when he learns that some of - the largest and most important engines and mill machinery were made in - Southern shops; when he finds in Richmond a “pole locomotive,” made to run - on logs laid end to end, and drag out from Michigan forests and Southern - swamps lumber hitherto inaccessible; when he sees worn-out highlands in - Georgia and Carolina bear more cotton than ever before by help of a - fertilizer the base of which is the cotton-seed itself (worth more as a - fertilizer than it was before the oil was extracted from it); when he sees - a multitude of small shops giving employment to men, women, and children - who never had any work of that sort to do before; and when he sees Roanoke - iron cast in Richmond into car-irons, and returned to a car-factory in - Roanoke which last year sold three hundred cars to the New York and New - England Railroad—he begins to open his eyes. The South is - manufacturing a great variety of things needed in the house, on the farm, - and in the shops, for home consumption, and already sends to the North and - West several manufactured products. With iron, coal, timber contiguous and - easily obtained, the amount sent out is certain to increase as the labor - becomes more skilful. The most striking industrial development today is in - iron, coal, lumber, and marbles; the more encouraging for the - self-sustaining life of the Southern people is the multiplication of small - industries in nearly every city I visited. - </p> - <p> - When I have been asked what impressed me most in this hasty tour, I have - always said that the most notable thing was that everybody was at work. In - many cities this was literally true: every man, woman, and child was - actively employed, and in most there were fewer idlers than in many - Northern towns. There are, of course, slow places, antiquated methods, - easy-going ways, a-hundred-years-behind-the-time makeshifts, but the - spirit in all the centres, and leavening the whole country, is work. - Perhaps the greatest revolution of all in Southern sentiment is in regard - to the dignity of labor. Labor is honorable, made so by the example of the - best in the land. There are, no doubt, fossils or Bourbons, sitting in the - midst of the ruins of their estates, martyrs to an ancient pride; but - usually the leaders in business and enterprise bear names well known in - politics and society. The nonsense that it is beneath the dignity of any - man or woman to work for a living is pretty much eliminated from the - Southern mind. It still remains true that the Anglo-Saxon type is - prevalent in the South; but in all the cities the business sign-boards - show that the enterprising Hebrew is increasingly prominent as merchant - and trader, and he is becoming a plantation owner as well. - </p> - <p> - It cannot be too strongly impressed upon the public mind that the South, - to use a comprehensible phrase, “has joined the procession.” Its mind is - turned to the development of its resources, to business, to enterprise, to - education, to economic problems; it is marching with the North in the same - purpose of wealth by industry. It is true that the railways, mines, and - furnaces could not have been without enormous investments of Northern - capital, but I was continually surprised to find so many and important - local industries the result solely of home capital, made and saved since - the war. - </p> - <p> - In this industrial change, in the growth of manufactures, the Southern - people are necessarily divided on the national economic problems. Speaking - of it purely from the side of political economy and not of politics, great - sections of the South—whole States, in fact—are becoming more - in favor of “protection” every day. All theories aside, whenever a man - begins to work up the raw material at hand into manufactured articles for - the market, he thinks that the revenue should be so adjusted as to help - and not to hinder him. - </p> - <p> - Underlying everything else is the negro problem. It is the most difficult - ever given to a people to solve. - </p> - <p> - It must, under our Constitution, be left to the States concerned, and - there is a general hopefulness that time and patience will solve it to the - advantage of both races. The negro is generally regarded as the best - laborer in the world, and there is generally goodwill towards him, desire - that he shall be educated and become thrifty. The negro has more - confidence now than formerly in the white man, and he will go to him for - aid and advice in everything except politics. Again and again colored men - said to me, “If anybody tells you that any considerable number of colored - men are Democrats, don’t you believe him; it is not so.” The - philanthropist who goes South will find many things to encourage him, but - if he knows the colored people thoroughly, he will lose many illusions. - But to speak of things hopeful, the progress in education, in industry, in - ability to earn money, is extraordinary—much greater than ought to - have been expected in twenty years even by their most sanguine friends, - and it is greater now than at any other period. They are generally well - paid, according to the class of work they do. Usually I found the same - wages for the same class of work as whites received. I cannot say how this - is in remote country districts. The treatment of laborers depends, I have - no doubt, as elsewhere, upon the nature of the employer. In some districts - I heard that the negroes never got out of debt, never could lay up - anything, and were in a very bad condition. But on some plantations - certainly, and generally in the cities, there is an improvement in thrift - shown in the ownership of bits of land and houses, and in the possession - of neat and pretty homes. As to morals, the gain is slower, but it is - discernible, and exhibited in a growing public opinion against immorality - and lax family relations. He is no friend to the colored people who blinks - this subject, and does not plainly say to them that their position as - citizens in the enjoyment of all civil rights depends quite as much upon - their personal virtue and their acquiring habits of thrift as it does upon - school privileges. - </p> - <p> - I had many interesting talks with representative colored men in different - sections. While it is undoubtedly true that more are indifferent to - politics than formerly, owing to causes already named and to the - unfulfilled promises of wheedling politicians, it would be untrue to say - that there is not great soreness over the present situation. At Nashville - I had an interview with eight or ten of the best colored citizens, men of - all shades of color. One of them was a trusted clerk in the post-office; - another was a mail agent, who had saved money, and made more by an - investment in Birmingham; another was a lawyer of good practice in the - courts, a man of decided refinement and cultivation; another was at the - head of one of the leading transportation lines in the city, and another - had the largest provision establishment in town, and both were men of - considerable property; and another, a slave when the war ended, was a - large furniture dealer, and reputed worth a hundred thousand dollars. They - were all solid, sensible business men, and all respected as citizens. They - talked most intelligently of politics, and freely about social conditions. - In regard to voting in Tennessee there was little to complain of; but in - regard to Mississippi, as an illustration, it was an outrage that the - dominant party had increased power in Congress and in the election of - President, while the colored Republican vote did not count. What could - they do? Some said that probably nothing could be done; time must be left - to cure the wrong. Others wanted the Federal Government to interfere, at - least to the extent of making a test case on some member of Congress that - his election was illegal. They did not think that need excite anew any - race prejudice. As to exciting race and sectional agitation, we discussed - this question: whether the present marvellous improvement of the colored - people, with general good-will, or at least a truce everywhere, would not - be hindered by anything like a race or class agitation; that is to say, - whether under the present conditions of education and thrift the colored - people (whatever injustice they felt) were not going on faster towards the - realization of all they wanted than would be possible under any - circumstances of adverse agitation. As a matter of policy most of them - assented to this. I put this question: “In the first reconstruction days, - how many colored men were there in the State of Mississippi fitted either - by knowledge of letters, law, political economy, history, or politics to - make laws for the State?” Very few. Well then, it was unfortunate that - they should have attempted it. There are more to-day, and with education - and the accumulation of property the number will constantly increase. In a - republic, power usually goes with intelligence and property. - </p> - <p> - Finally I asked this intelligent company, every man of which stood upon - his own ability in perfect self-respect, “What do you want here in the way - of civil rights that you have not?” The reply from one was that he got the - respect of the whites just as he was able to command it by his ability and - by making money, and, with a touch of a sense of injustice, he said he had - ceased to expect that the colored race would get it in any other way. - Another reply was—and this was evidently the deep feeling of all: - “We want to be treated like men, like anybody else, regardless of color. - We don’t mean by this social equality at all; that is a matter that - regulates itself among whites and colored people everywhere. We want the - public conveyances open to us according to the fare we pay; we want - privilege to go to hotels and to theatres, operas and places of amusement. - We wish you could see our families and the way we live; you would then - understand that we cannot go to the places assigned us in concerts and - theatres without loss of self-respect.” I might have said, but I did not, - that the question raised by this last observation is not a local one, but - as wide as the world. - </p> - <p> - If I tried to put in a single sentence the most widespread and active - sentiment in the South to-day, it would be this: The past is put behind - us; we are one with the North in business and national ambition: we want a - sympathetic recognition of this fact. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - VII.—A FAR AND FAIR COUNTRY. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">L</span>ewis and Clarke, - sent out by Mr. Jefferson in 1804 to discover the North-west by the route - of the Missouri River, left the town of St. Charles early in the spring, - sailed and poled and dragged their boats up the swift, turbulent, and - treacherous stream all summer, wintered with the Mandan Indians, and - reached the Great Falls of the Missouri in about a year and a quarter from - the beginning of their voyage. Now, when we wish to rediscover this - interesting country, which is still virgin land, we lay down a - railway-track in the spring and summer, and go over there in the autumn in - a palace-car—a much more expeditious and comfortable mode of - exploration. - </p> - <p> - In beginning a series of observations and comments upon Western life it is - proper to say that the reader is not to expect exhaustive statistical - statements of growth or development, nor descriptions, except such as will - illustrate the point of view taken of the making of the Great West. - Materialism is the most obtrusive feature of a cursory observation, but it - does not interest one so much as the forces that underlie it, the - enterprise and the joyousness of conquest and achievement that it stands - for, or the finer processes evolved in the marvellous building up of new - societies. What is the spirit, what is the civilization of the West? I - have not the presumption to expect to answer these large questions to any - one’s satisfaction—least of all to my own—but if I may be - permitted to talk about them familiarly, in the manner that one speaks to - his friends of what interested him most in a journey, and with flexibility - in passing from one topic to another, I shall hope to contribute something - to a better understanding between the territories of a vast empire. How - vast this republic is, no one can at all appreciate who does not actually - travel over its wide areas. To many of us the West is still the West of - the geographies of thirty years ago; it is the simple truth to say that - comparatively few Eastern people have any adequate conception of what lies - west of Chicago and St. Louis: perhaps a hazy geographical notion of it, - but not the faintest idea of its civilization and society. Now, a good - understanding of each other between the great sections of the republic is - politically of the first importance. We shall hang together as a nation; - blood, relationship, steel rails, navigable waters, trade, absence of - natural boundaries, settle that. We shall pull and push and grumble, we - shall vituperate each other, parties will continue to make capital out of - sectional prejudice, and wantonly inflame it (what a pitiful sort of - “politics” that is!), but we shall stick together like wax. Still, - anything like smooth working of our political machine depends upon good - understanding between sections. And the remark applies to East and West as - well as to North and South. It is a common remark at the West that - “Eastern people know nothing about us; they think us half civilized and - there is mingled with slight irritability at this ignorance a waxing - feeling of superiority over the East in force and power.” One would not - say that repose as yet goes along with this sense of great capacity and - great achievement; indeed, it is inevitable that in a condition of - development and of quick growth unparalleled in the history of the world - there should be abundant self-assertion and even monumental boastfulness. - </p> - <p> - When the Western man goes East he carries the consciousness of playing a - great part in the making of an empire; his horizon is large; but he finds - himself surrounded by an atmosphere of indifference or non-comprehension - of the prodigiousness of his country, of incredulity as to the refinement - and luxury of his civilization; and self-assertion is his natural defence. - This longitudinal incredulity and swagger is a curious phenomenon. London - thinks New York puts on airs, New York complains of Chicago’s want of - modesty, Chicago can see that Kansas City and Omaha are aggressively - boastful, and these cities acknowledge the expansive self-appreciation of - Denver and Helena. - </p> - <p> - Does going West work a radical difference in a man’s character? Hardly. We - are all cut out of the same piece of cloth. The Western man is the Eastern - or the Southern man let loose, with his leading-strings cut. But the - change of situation creates immense diversity in interests and in spirit. - One has but to take up any of the great newspapers, say in St. Paul or - Minneapolis, to be aware that he is in another world of ideas, of news, of - interests. The topics that most interest the East he does not find there, - nor much of its news. Persons of whom he reads daily in the East drop out - of sight, and other persons, magnates in politics, packing, railways, loom - up. It takes columns to tell the daily history of places which have - heretofore only caught the attention of the Eastern reader for freaks of - the thermometer, and he has an opportunity to read daily pages about - Dakota, concerning which a weekly paragraph has formerly satisfied his - curiosity. Before he can be absorbed in these lively and intelligent - newspapers he must change the whole current of his thoughts, and take up - other subjects, persons, and places than those that have occupied his - mind. He is in a new world. - </p> - <p> - One of the most striking facts in the West is State pride, attachment to - the State, the profound belief of every citizen that his State is the - best. Engendered perhaps at first by a permanent investment and the spur - of self-interest, it speedily becomes a passion, as strong in the newest - State as it is in any one of the original thirteen. Rivalry between cities - is sharp, and civic pride is excessive, but both are outdone by the larger - devotion to the commonwealth. And this pride is developed in the - inhabitants of a Territory as soon as it is organized. Montana has - condensed the ordinary achievements of a century into twenty years, and - loyalty to its present and expectation of its future are as strong in its - citizens as is the attachment of men of Massachusetts to the State of - nearly three centuries of growth. In Nebraska I was pleased with the talk - of a clergyman who had just returned from three months’ travel in Europe. - He was full of his novel experiences; he had greatly enjoyed the trip; but - he was glad to get back to Nebraska and its full, vigorous life. In - England and on the Continent he had seen much to interest him; but he - could not help comparing Europe with Nebraska; and as for him, this was - the substance of it: give him Nebraska every time. What astonished him - most, and wounded his feelings (and there was a note of pathos in his - statement of it), was the general foreign ignorance abroad about Nebraska—the - utter failure in the European mind to take it in. I felt guilty, for to me - it had been little more than a geographical expression, and I presume the - Continent did not know whether Nebraska was a new kind of patent medicine - or a new sort of religion. To the clergymen this ignorance of the central, - richest, about-to-be-the-most-important of States, was simply incredible. - </p> - <p> - This feeling is not only admirable in itself, but it has an incalculable - political value, especially in the West, where there is a little haze as - to the limitations of Federal power, and a notion that the Constitution - was swaddling-clothes for an infant, which manly limbs may need to kick - off. Healthy and even assertive State pride is the only possible - counterbalance in our system against that centralization which tends to - corruption in the centre and weakness and discontent in the individual - members. - </p> - <p> - It should be added that the West, speaking of it generally, is defiantly - “American.” It wants a more vigorous and assertive foreign policy. - Conscious of its power, the growing pains in the limbs of the young giant - will not let it rest. That this is the most magnificent country, that we - have the only government beyond criticism, that our civilization is far - and away the best, does not admit of doubt. It is refreshing to see men - who believe in something heartily and with-out reserve, even if it is only - in themselves. There is a tonic in this challenge of all time and history. - A certain attitude of American assertion towards other powers is desired. - For want of this our late representatives to Great Britain are said to be - un-American; “political dudes” is what the Governor of Iowa calls them. It - is his indictment against the present Minister to St. James that “he is - numerous in his visits to the castles of English noblemen, and profuse in - his obsequiousness to British aristocrats.” And perhaps the Governor - speaks for a majority of Western voters and fighters when he says that - “timidity has characterized our State Department for the last twenty - years.” - </p> - <p> - By chance I begin these Western studies with the North-west. Passing by - for the present the intelligent and progressive State of Wisconsin, we - will consider Minnesota and the vast region at present more or less - tributary to it. It is necessary to remember that the State was admitted - to the Union in 1858, and that its extraordinary industrial development - dates from the building of the first railway in its limits—ten miles - from St. Paul to St. Anthony—in 1862. For this road the first stake - was driven and the first shovelful of earth lifted by a citizen of St. - Paul who has lived to see his State gridironed with railways, and whose - firm constructed in 1887 over eleven hundred miles of railroad. - </p> - <p> - It is unnecessary to dwell upon the familiar facts that Minnesota is a - great wheat State, and that it is intersected by railways that stimulate - the enormous yield and market it with facility. The discovery that the - State, especially the Red River Valley, and Dakota and the country beyond, - were peculiarly adapted to the production of hard spring-wheat, which is - the most desirable for flour, probably gave this vast region its first - immense advantage. Minnesota, a prairie country, rolling, but with no - important hills, well watered, well grassed, with a repellent reputation - for severe winters, not well adapted to corn, nor friendly to most fruits, - attracted nevertheless hardy and adventurous people, and proved specially - inviting to the Scandinavians, who are tough and industrious. It would - grow wheat without end. And wheat is the easiest crop to raise, and - returns the greatest income for the least labor. In good seasons and with - good prices it is a mine of wealth. But Minnesota had to learn that one - industry does not suffice to make a State, and that wheat-raising alone is - not only unreliable, but exhaustive. The grasshopper scourge was no doubt - a blessing in disguise. It helped to turn the attention of farmers to - cattle and sheep, and to more varied agriculture. I shall have more to say - about this in connection with certain most interesting movements in - Wisconsin. - </p> - <p> - The notion has prevailed that the North-west was being absorbed by owners - of immense tracts of land, great capitalists who by the aid of machinery - were monopolizing the production of wheat, and crowding out small farmers. - There are still vast wheat farms under one control, but I am happy to - believe that the danger of this great land monopoly has reached its - height, and the tendency is the other way. Small farms are on the - increase, practising a more varied agriculture. The reason is this: A - plantation of 5000 or 15,000 acres, with a good season, freedom from - blight and insects, will enrich the owner if prices are good; but one poor - crop, with low prices, will bankrupt him. Whereas the small farmer can get - a living under the most adverse circumstances, and taking one year with - another, accumulate something, especially if he varies his products and - feeds them to stock, thus returning the richness of his farm to itself. - The skinning of the land by sending away its substance in hard wheat is an - improvidence of natural resources, which belongs, like cattle-ranging, to - a half-civilized era, and like cattle-ranging has probably seen its best - days. One incident illustrates what can be done. Mr. James J. Hill, the - president of the Manitoba railway system, an importer and breeder of fine - cattle on his Minnesota country place, recently gave and loaned a number - of blooded bulls to farmers over a wide area in Minnesota and Dakota. The - result of this benefaction has been surprising in adding to the wealth of - those regions and the prosperity of the farmers. It is the beginning of a - varied farming and of cattle production, which will be of incalculable - benefit to the North-west. - </p> - <p> - It is in the memory of men still in active life when the Territory of - Minnesota was supposed to be beyond the pale of desirable settlement. The - State, except in the north-east portion, is now well settled, and well - sprinkled with thriving villages and cities. Of the latter, St. Paul and - Minneapolis are still a wonder to themselves, as they are to the world. I - knew that they were big cities, having each a population nearly - approaching 175,000, but I was not prepared to find them so handsome and - substantial, and exhibiting such vigor and activity of movement. One of - the most impressive things to an Eastern man in both of them is their - public spirit, and the harmony with which business men work together for - anything which will build up and beautify the city. I believe that the - ruling force in Minneapolis is of New England stock, while St. Paul has a - larger proportion of New York people, with a mixture of Southern; and I - have a fancy that there is a social shading that shows this distinction. - It is worth noting, however, that the Southerner, transplanted to - Minnesota or Montana, loses the <i>laisser faire</i> with which he is - credited at home, and becomes as active and pushing as anybody. Both - cities have a very large Scandinavian population. The laborers and the - domestic servants are mostly Swedes. In forecasting what sort of a State - Minnesota is to be, the Scandinavian is a largely determining force. It is - a virile element. The traveller is impressed with the idea that the women - whom he sees at the stations in the country and in the city streets are - sturdy, ruddy, and better able to endure the protracted season of cold and - the highly stimulating atmosphere than the American-born women, who tend - to become nervous in these climatic conditions. The Swedes are thrifty, - taking eagerly to polities, and as ready to profit by them as anybody; - unreservedly American in intention, and on the whole, good citizens. - </p> - <p> - The physical difference of the two cities is mainly one of situation. - Minneapolis spreads out on both sides of the Mississippi over a plain, - from the gigantic flouring-mills and the canal and the Falls of St. - Anthony as a centre (the falls being, by-the-way, planked over with a - wooden apron to prevent the total wearing away of the shaly rock) to - rolling land and beautiful building sites on moderate elevations. Nature - has surrounded the city with a lovely country, diversified by lakes and - forests, and enterprise has developed it into one of the most inviting of - summer regions. Twelve miles west of it, Lake Minnetonka, naturally - surpassingly lovely, has become, by an immense expenditure of money, - perhaps the most attractive summer resort in the North-west. Each city has - a hotel (the West in Minneapolis, the Ryan in St. Paul) which would be - distinguished monuments of cost and elegance in any city in the world, and - each city has blocks of business houses, shops, and offices of solidity - and architectural beauty, and each has many private residences which are - palaces in size, in solidity, and interior embellishment, but they are - scattered over the city in Minneapolis, which can boast of no single - street equal to Summit avenue in St. Paul. The most conspicuous of the - private houses is the stone mansion of Governor Washburn, pleasing in - color, harmonious in design, but so gigantic that the visitor (who may - have seen palaces abroad) expects to find a somewhat vacant interior. He - is therefore surprised that the predominating note is homelikeness and - comfort, and he does not see how a family of moderate size could well get - along with less than the seventy rooms (most of them large) which they - have at their disposal. - </p> - <p> - St. Paul has the advantage of picturesqueness of situation. The business - part of the town lies on a spacious uneven elevation above the river, - surrounded by a semicircle of bluffs averaging something like two hundred - feet high. Up the sides of these the city climbs, beautifying every - vantage-ground with handsome and stately residences. On the north the - bluffs maintain their elevation in a splendid plateau, and over this dry - and healthful plain the two cities advance to meet each other, and already - meet in suburbs, colleges, and various public buildings. Summit avenue - curves along the line of the northern bluff, and then turns northward, two - hundred feet broad, graded a distance of over two miles, and with a - magnificent asphalt road-way for more than a mile. It is almost literally - a street of palaces, for although wooden structures alternate with the - varied and architecturally interesting mansions of stone and brick on both - sides, each house is isolated, with a handsome lawn and ornamental trees, - and the total effect is spacious and noble. This avenue commands an almost - unequalled view of the sweep of bluffs round to the Indian Mounds, of the - city, the winding river, and the town and heights of West St. Paul. It is - not easy to recall a street and view anywhere finer than this, and this is - only one of the streets on this plateau conspicuous for handsome houses. I - see no reason why St. Paul should not become, within a few years, one of - the notably most beautiful cities in the world. And it is now wonderfully - well advanced in that direction. Of course the reader understands that - both these rapidly growing cities are in the process of “making,” and that - means cutting and digging and slashing, torn-up streets, shabby structures - alternating with gigantic and solid buildings, and the usual unsightliness - of transition and growth. - </p> - <p> - Minneapolis has the State University, St. Paul the Capitol, an ordinary - building of brick, which will not long, it is safe to say, suit the needs - of the pride of the State. I do not set out to describe the city, the - churches, big newspaper buildings, great wholesale and ware houses, - handsome club-house (the Minnesota Club), stately City Hall, banks, - Chamber of Commerce, and so on. I was impressed with the size of the - buildings needed to house the great railway offices. Nothing can give one - a livelier idea of the growth and grasp of Western business than one of - these plain structures, five or six stories high, devoted to the several - departments of one road or system of roads, crowded with busy officials - and clerks, offices of the president, vice-president, assistant of the - president, secretary, treasurer, engineer, general manager, general - superintendent, general freight, general traffic, general passenger, - perhaps a land officer, and so on—affairs as complicated and vast in - organization and extensive in detail as those of a State government. - </p> - <p> - There are sixteen railways which run in Minnesota, having a total mileage - of 5024 miles in the State. Those which have over two hundred miles of - road in the State are the Chicago and North-western, Chicago, Milwaukee, - and St. Paul, Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha, Minneapolis and - St. Louis, Northern Pacific, St. Paul and Duluth, and the St. Paul, - Minneapolis, and Manitoba. The names of these roads give little indication - of their location, as the reader knows, for many of them run all over the - North-west like spider-webs. - </p> - <p> - It goes without saying that the management of these great interests—imperial, - almost continental in scope—requires brains, sobriety, integrity; - and one is not surprised to find that the railways command and pay - liberally for the highest talent and skill. It is not merely a matter of - laying rails and running trains, but of developing the resources—one - might almost say creating the industries—of vast territories. These - are gigantic interests, concerning which there is such sharp rivalry and - competition, and as a rule it is the generous, large-minded policy that - wins. Somebody has said that the railway managers and magnates (I do not - mean those who deal in railways for the sake of gambling) are the <i>élite</i> - of Western life. I am not drawing distinctions of this sort, but I will - say, and it might as well be said here and simply, that next to the - impression I got of the powerful hand of the railways in the making of the - West, was that of the high character, the moral stamina, the ability, the - devotion to something outside themselves, of the railway men I met in the - North-west. Specialists many of them are, and absorbed in special work, - but I doubt if any other profession or occupation can show a - proportionally larger number of broad-minded, fair-minded men, of higher - integrity and less pettiness, or more inclined to the liberalizing culture - in art and social life. Either dealing with large concerns has lifted up - the men, or the large opportunities have attracted men of high talent and - character; and I sincerely believe that we should have no occasion for - anxiety if the average community did not go below the standard of railway - morality and honorable dealing. - </p> - <p> - What is the <i>raison d’etre</i> of these two phenomenal, cities? why do - they grow? why are they likely to continue to grow? I confess that this - was an enigma to me until I had looked beyond to see what country was - tributary to them, what a territory they have to supply. Of course, the - railways, the flouring-mills, the vast wholesale dry goods and grocery - houses speak for themselves. But I had thought of these cities as on the - confines of civilization. They are, however, the two posts of the gate-way - to an empire. In order to comprehend their future, I made some little - trips north-east and north-west. - </p> - <p> - Duluth, though as yet with only about twenty-five to thirty thousand - inhabitants, feels itself, by its position, a rival of the cities on the - Mississippi. A few figures show the basis of this feeling. In 1880 the - population was 3740; in 1886, 25,000. In 1880 the receipts of wheat were - 1,347,679 bushels; in 1886, 22,425,730 bushels; in 1860 the shipments of - wheat 1,453,647 bushels; in 1886,17,981,965 bushels. In 1880 the shipments - of flour were 551,800 bushels; in 1886, 1,500,000 bushels. In 1886 there - were grain elevators with a capacity of 18,000,000 bushels. The tax - valuation had increased from 8669,012 in 1880 to 811,773,729 in 1886. The - following comparisons are made: The receipt of wheat in Chicago in 1885 - was 19,266,000 bushels; in Duluth, 14,880,000 bushels. The receipt of - wheat in 1886 was at Duluth 22,425,730 bushels; at Minneapolis, - 33,394,450; at Chicago, 15,982,524; at Milwaukee, 7,930,102. This shows - that an increasing amount of the great volume of wheat raised in north - Dakota and north-west Minnesota (that is, largely in the Red River Valley) - is seeking market by way of Duluth and water transportation. In 1869 - Minnesota raised about 18,000,000 bushels of wheat; in 1886, about - 50,000,000. In 1869 Dakota grew no grain at all; in 1886 it produced about - 50,000,000 bushels of wheat. To understand the amount of transportation - the reader has only to look on the map and see the railway lines—the - Northern Pacific, the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha, the St. - Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba, and other lines, running to Duluth, and - sending out spurs, like the roots of an elm-tree, into the wheat lands of - the North-west. - </p> - <p> - Most of the route from St. Paul to Duluth is uninteresting; there is - nothing picturesque except the Dalles of the St. Louis River, and a good - deal of the country passed through seems agriculturally of no value. The - approaches to Duluth, both from the Wisconsin and the Minnesota side, are - rough and vexatious by reason of broken, low, hummocky, and swamp land. - Duluth itself, with good harbor facilities, has only a strip of level - ground for a street, and inadequate room for railway tracks and transfers. - The town itself climbs up the hill, whence there is a good view of the - lake and the Wisconsin shore, and a fair chance for both summer and winter - breezes. The residence portion of the town, mainly small wooden houses, - has many highly ornamental dwellings, and the long street below, following - the shore, has many noble buildings of stone and brick, which would be a - credit to any city. Grading and sewer-making render a large number of the - streets impassable, and add to the signs of push, growth, and business - excitement. - </p> - <p> - For the purposes of trade, Duluth, and the towns of Superior and West - Superior, in Wisconsin, may be considered one port; and while Duluth may - continue to be the money and business centre, the expansion for railway - terminal facilities, elevators, and manufactures is likely to be in the - Wisconsin towns on the south side of the harbor. From the Great Northern - Elevator in West Superior the view of the other elevators, of the immense - dock room, of the harbor and lake, of a net-work of miles and miles of - terminal tracks of the various roads, gives one an idea of gigantic - commerce; and the long freight trains laden with wheat, glutting all the - roads and sidings approaching Duluth, speak of the bursting abundance of - the tributary country. This Great Northern Elevator, belonging to the - Manitoba system, is the largest In the world; its dimensions are 360 feet - long, 95 in width, 115 in height, with a capacity of 1,800,000 bushels, - and with facilities for handling 40 car-loads an hour, or 400 cars in a - day of 10 hours. As I am merely illustrating the amount of the present - great staple of the North-west, I say nothing here of the mineral, stone, - and lumber business of this region. Duluth has a cool, salubrious summer - and a snug winter climate. I ought to add that the enterprising - inhabitants attend to education as well as the elevation of grain; the - city has eight commodious school buildings. - </p> - <p> - To return to the Mississippi. To understand what feeds Minneapolis and St. - Paul, and what country their great wholesale houses supply, one must take - the rail and penetrate the vast North-west. The famous Park or Lake - district, between St. Cloud (75 miles north-west of St. Paul) and Fergus - Falls, is too well known to need description. A rolling prairie, with - hundreds of small lakes, tree fringed, it is a region of surpassing - loveliness, and already dotted, as at Alexandria, with summer resorts. The - whole region, up as far as Moorhead (240 miles from St. Paul), on the Red - River, opposite Fargo, Dakota, is well settled, and full of prosperous - towns. At Fargo, crossing the Northern Pacific, we ran parallel with the - Red River, through a line of bursting elevators and wheat farms, clown to - Grand Forks, where we turned westward, and passed out of the Red River - Valley, rising to the plateau at Larimore, some three hundred feet above - it. - </p> - <p> - The Red River, a narrow but deep and navigable stream, has from its source - to Lake Winnipeg a tortuous course of about 600 miles, while the valley - itself is about 285 miles long, of which 180 miles Is in the United - States. This valley, which has astonished the world by its wheat - production, is about 160 miles in breadth, and level as a floor, except - that it has a northward slope of, I believe, about five feet to the mile. - The river forms the boundary between Minnesota and Dakota; the width of - valley on the Dakota side varies from 50 to 100 miles. The rich soil is - from two to three feet deep, underlaid with clay. Fargo, the centre of - this valley, is 940 feet above the sea. The climate is one of extremes - between winter and summer, but of much constancy of cold or heat according - to the season. Although it is undeniable that one does not feel the severe - cold there as much as in more humid atmospheres, it cannot be doubted that - the long continuance of extreme cold is trying to the system. And it may - be said of all the North-west, including Minnesota, that while it is more - favorable to the lungs than many regions where the thermometer has less - sinking power, it is not free from catarrh (the curse of New England), nor - from rheumatism. The climate seems to me specially stimulating, and I - should say there is less excuse here for the use of stimulants (on account - of “lowness” or lassitude) than in almost any other portion of the United - States with which I am acquainted. - </p> - <p> - But whatever attractions or drawbacks this territory has as a place of - residence, its grain and stock growing capacity is inexhaustible, and - having seen it, we begin to comprehend the vigorous activity and growth of - the twin cities. And yet this is the beginning of resources; there lies - Dakota, with its 149,100 square miles (96,596,480 acres of land), larger - than all the New England States and New York combined, and Montana beyond, - together making a belt of hard spring-wheat land sufficient, one would - think, to feed the world. When one travels over 1200 miles of it, doubt - ceases. - </p> - <p> - I cannot better illustrate the resources and enterprise of the North-west - than by speaking in some detail of the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba - Railway (known as the Manitoba system), and by telling briefly the story - of one season’s work, not because this system is bigger or more - enterprising or of more importance in the West than some others I might - name, but because it has lately pierced a comparatively unknown region, - and opened to settlement a fertile empire. - </p> - <p> - The Manitoba system gridirons north Minnesota, runs to Duluth, puts two - tracks down the Red River Valley (one on each side of the river) to the - Canada line, sends out various spurs into Dakota, and operates a main line - from Grand Forks westward through the whole of Dakota, and through Montana - as far as the Great Falls of the Missouri, and thence through the canon of - the Missouri and the canon of the Prickly-Pear to Helena—in all - about 3000 miles of track. Its president is Mr. James J. Hill, a Canadian - by birth, whose rapid career from that of a clerk on the St. Paul levee to - his present position of influence, opportunity, and wealth is a romance in - itself, and whose character, integrity, tastes, and accomplishments, and - domestic life, were it proper to speak of them, would satisfactorily - answer many of the questions that are asked about the materialistic West. - </p> - <p> - The Manitoba line west had reached Minot, 530 miles from St. Paul, in - 1886. I shall speak of its extension in 1887, which was intrusted to Mr. - D. C. Shepard, a veteran engineer and railway builder of St. Paul, and his - firm, Messrs. Shepard, Winston & Co. Credit should be given by name to - the men who conducted this Napoleonic enterprise; for it required not only - the advance of millions of money, but the foresight, energy, vigilance, - and capacity that insure success in a distant military campaign. - </p> - <p> - It needs to be noted that the continuation of the St. Paul, Minneapolis, - and Manitoba road from Great Falls to Helena, 98 miles, is called the - Montana Central. The work to be accomplished in 1887 was to grade 500 - miles of railroad to reach Great Falls, to put in the bridging and - mechanical structures (by hauling all material brought up by rail ahead of - the track by teams, so as not to delay the progress of the track) on 530 - miles of continuous railway, and to lay and put in good running condition - 643 miles of rails continuously and from one end only. - </p> - <p> - In the winter of 1886-87 the road was completed to a point five miles west - of Minot, and work was done beyond which if consolidated would amount to - about fifty miles of completed grading, and the mechanical structures were - done for twenty miles west from Minot. On the Montana Central the grading - and mechanical structures were made from Helena as a base, and completed - before the track reached Great Falls. St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Duluth - were the primary bases of operations, and generally speaking all - materials, labor, fuel, and supplies originated at these three points; - Minot was the secondary base, and here in the winter of 1886-87 large - depots of supplies and materials for construction were formed. - </p> - <p> - Track-laying began April 2,1887, but was greatly retarded by snow and ice - in the completed cuts, and by the grading, which was heavy. The cuts were - frozen more or less up to May 15th. The forwarding of grading forces to - Minot began April 6th, but it was a labor of considerable magnitude to - outfit them at Minot and get them forward to the work; so that it was as - late as May 10th before the entire force was under employment. - </p> - <p> - The average force on the grading was 3300 teams and about 8000 men. Upon - the track-laving, surfacing, piling, and timber-work there were 225 teams - and about 650 men. The heaviest work was encountered on the eastern end, - so that the track was close upon the grading up to the 10th of June. Some - of the cuttings and embankments were heavy. After the 10th of June - progress upon the grading was very rapid. From the mouth of Milk River to - Great Falls (a distance of 200 miles) grading was done at an average rate - of seven miles a day. Those who saw this army of men and teams stretching - over the prairie and casting up this continental highway think they beheld - one of the most striking achievements of civilization. - </p> - <p> - I may mention that the track is all cast up (even where the grading is - easy) to such a height as to relieve it of drifting snow; and to give some - idea of the character of the work, it is noted that in preparing it there - were moved 9,700,000 cubic yards of earth, 15,000 cubic yards of loose - rock, and 17,500 cubic yards of solid rock, and that there were hauled - ahead of the track and put in the work to such distance as would not - obstruct the track-laying (in some instances 30 miles), 9,000,000 feet - (board measure) of timber and 390,000 lineal feet of piling. - </p> - <p> - On the 5th of August the grading of the entire line to Great Falls was - either finished or properly manned for its completion the first day of - September, and on the 10th of August it became necessary to remove outfits - to the east as they completed their work, and about 2500 teams and their - quota of men were withdrawn between the 10th and 20th of August, and - placed upon work elsewhere. - </p> - <p> - The record of track laid is as follows: April 2d to 30th, 30 miles; May, - 82 miles; June, 79.8 miles; July, 100.8 miles; August, 115.4 miles; - September, 102.4 miles; up to October 15th to Great Falls, 34.0 miles—a - total to Great Falls of 545 miles. October 10th being Sunday, no track was - laid. The track started from Great Falls Monday, October 17th, and reached - Helena on Friday, November 18th, a distance of 98 miles, making a grand - total of 043 miles, and an average rate for every working-day of three and - one-quarter miles. It will thus be seen that laying a good road was a much - more expeditious method of reaching the Great Falls of the Missouri than - that adopted by Lewis and Clarke. - </p> - <p> - Some of the details of this construction and tracklaying will interest - railroad men. On the 16th of July 7 miles and 1040 feet of track were - laid, and on the 8th of August 8 miles and 60 feet were laid, in each - instance by daylight, and by the regular gang of track-layers, without any - increase of their numbers whatever. The entire work was done by handling - the iron on low iron cars, and depositing it on the track from the car at - the front end. The method pursued was the same as when one mile of track - is laid per day in the ordinary manner. The force of track-layers was - maintained at the proper number for the ordinary daily work, and was never - increased to obtain any special result. The result on the 11th of August - was probably decreased by a quarter to a half mile by the breaking of an - axle of an iron car while going to the front with its load at about 4 p.m. - From six to eight iron cars were employed in doing this day’s work. The - number ordinarily used was four to five. - </p> - <p> - Sidings were graded at intervals of seven to eight miles, and spur tracks, - laid on the natural surface, put in at convenient points, sixteen miles - apart, for storage of materials and supplies at or near the front. As the - work went on, the spur tracks in the rear were taken up. The construction - train contained box cars two and three stories high, in which workmen were - boarded and lodged. Supplies, as a rule, were taken by wagon-trains from - the spur tracks near the front to their destination, an average distance - of one hundred miles and an extreme one of two hundred miles. Steamboats - were employed to a limited extent on the Missouri River in supplying such - remote points as Fort Benton and the Coal Banks, but not more than fifteen - per cent, of the transportation was done by steamers. A single item - illustrating the magnitude of the supply transportation is that there were - shipped to Minot and forwarded and consumed on the work 590,000 bushels of - oats. - </p> - <p> - It is believed that the work of grading 500 miles of railroad in five - months, and the transportation into the country of everything consumed, - grass and water excepted, and of every rail, tie, bit of timber, pile, - tool, machine, man, or team employed, and laying 643 miles of track in - seven and a half months, from one end, far exceeds in magnitude and - rapidity of execution any similar undertaking in this or any other - country. It reflects also the greatest credit on the managers of the - railway transportation (it is not invidious to mention the names of Mr. A. - Manvel, general manager, and Mr. J. M. Egan, general superintendent, upon - whom the working details devolved) when it is stated that the delays for - material or supplies on the entire work did not retard it in the aggregate - one hour. And every hour counted in this masterly campaign. - </p> - <p> - The Western people apparently think no more of throwing down a railroad, - if they want to go anywhere, than a conservative Easterner does of taking - an unaccustomed walk across country; and the railway constructors and - managers are a little amused at the Eastern slowness and want of facility - in construction and management. One hears that the East is antiquated, and - does not know anything about railroad building. Shovels, carts, and - wheelbarrows are of a past age; the big wheel-scraper does the business. - It is a common remark that a contractor accustomed to Eastern work is not - desired on a Western job. - </p> - <p> - On Friday afternoon, November 18th, the news was flashed that the last - rail was laid, and at 6 p.m. a special train was on the way from St. Paul - with a double complement of engineers and train-men. For the first 500 - miles there was more or less delay in avoiding the long and frequent - freight trains, but after that not much except the necessary stops for - cleaning the engine. Great Falls, about 1100 miles, was reached Sunday - noon, in thirty-six hours, an average of over thirty miles an hour. A part - of the time the speed was as much as fifty miles an hour. The track was - solid, evenly graded, heavily tied, well aligned, and the cars ran over it - with no more swing and bounce than on an old road. The only exception to - this is the piece from Great Falls to Helena, which had not been surfaced - all the way. It is excellent railway construction, and it is necessary to - emphasize this when we consider the rapidity with which it was built. - </p> - <p> - The company has built this road without land grant or subsidy of any kind. - The Montana extension, from Minot, Dakota, to Great Falls, runs mostly - through Indian and military reservations, permission to pass through being - given by special Act of Congress, and the company buying 200 feet - road-way. Little of it, therefore, is open to settlement. - </p> - <p> - These reservations, naming them in order westward, are as follows: The - Fort Berthold Indian reservation, Dakota, the eastern boundary of which is - twenty-seven miles west of Minot, has an area of 4550 square miles (about - as large as Connecticut), or 2,912,000 acres. The Fort Buford military - reservation, lying in Dakota and Montana, has an area of 900 square miles, - or 576,000 acres. The Blackfeet Indian reserve has an area of 34,000 - square miles (the State of New York has 46,000), or 21,760,000 acres. The - Fort Assiniboin military reserve has an area of 869.82 square miles, or - 556,684 acres. - </p> - <p> - It is a liberal estimate that there are 6000 Indians on the Blackfeet and - Fort Berth old reservations. As nearly as I could ascertain, there are not - over 3500 Indians (some of those I saw were Créés on a long visit from - Canada) on the Blackfeet reservation of about 22,000,000 acres. Some - judges put the number as low as 2500 to all this territory, and estimate - that there was about one Indian to ten square miles, or one Indian family - to fifty square miles. We rode through 300 miles of this territory along - the Milk River, nearly every acre of it good soil, with thick, abundant - grass, splendid wheat land. - </p> - <p> - I have no space to take up the Indian problem. But the present condition - of affairs is neither fair to white settlers nor just or humane to the - Indians. These big reservations are of no use to them, nor they to the - reservations. The buffaloes have disappeared; they do not live by hunting; - they cultivate very little ground; they use little even to pasture their - ponies. They are fed and clothed by the Government, and they camp about - the agencies in idleness, under conditions that pauperize them, destroy - their manhood, degrade them into dependent, vicious lives. The - reservations ought to be sold, and the proceeds devoted to educating the - Indians and setting them up in a self-sustaining existence. They should be - allotted an abundance of good land, in the region to which they are - acclimated, in severalty, and under such restrictions that they cannot - alienate it at least for a generation or two. As the Indian is now, he - will neither work, nor keep clean, nor live decently. Close to, the Indian - is not a romantic object, and certainly no better now morally than Lewis - and Clarke depicted him in 1804. But he is a man; he has been barbarously - treated; and it is certainly not beyond honest administration and - Christian effort to better his condition. And his condition will not be - improved simply by keeping from settlement and civilization the - magnificent agricultural territory that is reserved to him. - </p> - <p> - Of this almost unknown country, pierced by the road west from Larimore, I - can only make the briefest notes. I need not say that this open, - unobstructed highway of arable land and habitable country, from the Red - River to the Rocky Mountains, was an astonishment to me; but it is more to - the purpose to say that the fertile region was a surprise to railway men - who are perfectly familiar with the West. - </p> - <p> - We had passed some snow in the night, which had been very cold, but there - was very little at Larimore, a considerable town; there was a high, raw - wind during the day, and a temperature of about 10° above, which heavily - frosted the car windows. At Devil’s Lake (a body of brackish water - twenty-eight miles long) is a settlement three years old, and from this - and two insignificant stations beyond were shipped, in 1887, 1,500,000 - bushels of wheat. The country beyond is slightly rolling, fine land, has - much wheat, little houses scattered about, some stock, very promising - altogether. Minot, where we crossed the Mouse River the second time, is a - village of 700 people, with several brick houses and plenty of saloons. - Thence we ran up to a plateau some three hundred feet higher than the - Mouse River Valley, and found a land more broken, and interspersed with - rocky land and bowlders—the only touch of “bad lands” I recall on - the route. We crossed several small streams, White Earth, Sandy, Little - Muddy, and Muddy, and before reaching Williston descended into the valley - of the Missouri, reached Fort Buford, where the Yellowstone comes in, - entered what is called Paradise Valley, and continued parallel with the - Missouri as far as the mouth of Milk River. Before reaching this we - crossed the Big Muddy and the Poplar rivers, both rising in Canada. At - Poplar Station is a large Indian agency, and hundreds of Teton Sioux - Indians (I was told 1800) camped there in their conical tepees. I climbed - the plateau above the station where the Indians bury their dead, wrapping - the bodies in blankets and buffalo-robes, and suspending them aloft on - crossbars supported by stakes, to keep them from the wolves. Beyond - Assiniboin I saw a platform in a cottonwood-tree on which reposed the - remains of a chief and his family. This country is all good, so far as I - could see and learn. - </p> - <p> - It gave me a sense of geographical deficiency in my education to travel - three hundred miles on a river I had never heard of before. But it - happened on the Milk River, a considerable but not navigable stream, - although some six hundred miles long. The broad Milk River Valley is in - itself an empire of excellent land, ready for the plough and the - wheat-sower. Judging by the grass (which cures into the most nutritious - feed as it stands), there had been no lack of rain during the summer; but - if there is lack of water, all the land can be irrigated by the Milk - River, and it may also be said of the country beyond to Great Falls that - frequent streams make irrigation easy, if there is scant rainfall. I - should say that this would be the only question about water. - </p> - <p> - Leaving the Milk River Valley, we began to curve southward, passing Fort - Assiniboin on our right. In this region and beyond at Fort Benton great - herds of cattle are grazed by Government contractors, who supply the posts - with beef. At the Big Sandy Station they were shipping cattle eastward. We - crossed the Marias River (originally named Maria’s River), a stream that - had the respectful attention of Lewis and Clarke, and the Teton, a - wilfully erratic watercourse in a narrow valley, which caused the railway - constructors a good deal of trouble. We looked down, in passing, on Fort - Benton, nestled in a bend of the Missouri; a smart town, with a daily - newspaper, an old trading station. Shortly after leaving Assiniboin we saw - on our left the Bear Paw Mountains and the noble Highwood Mountains, fine - peaks, snow-dusted, about thirty miles from us, and adjoining them the - Belt Mountains. Between them is a shapely little pyramid called the Wolf - Butte. Far to our right were the Sweet Grass Hills, on the Canada line, - where gold-miners are at work. I have noted of all this country that it is - agriculturally fine. After Fort Benton we had glimpses of the Rockies, off - to the right (we had seen before the Little Rockies in the south, towards - Yellowstone Park); then the Bird-tail Divide came in sight, and the - mathematically Square Butte, sometimes called Fort Montana. - </p> - <p> - At noon, November 20th, we reached Great Falls, where the Sun River, - coming in from the west, joins the Missouri. The railway crosses the Sun - River, and runs on up the left bank of the Missouri. Great Falls, which - lies in a bend of the Missouri on the cast side, was not then, but soon - will be, connected with the line by a railway bridge. I wish I could - convey to the reader some idea of the beauty of the view as we came out - upon the Sun River Valley, or the feeling of exhilaration and elevation we - experienced. I had come to no place before that did not seem remote, far - from home, lonesome. Here the aspect was friendly, livable, almost - home-like. We seemed to have come out, after a long journey, to a place - where one might be content to stay for some time—to a far but fair - country, on top of the world, as it were. Not that the elevation is great—only - about 3000 feet above the sea—nor the horizon illimitable, as on the - great plains; its spaciousness is brought within human sympathy by - guardian hills and distant mountain ranges. - </p> - <p> - A more sweet, smiling picture than the Sun River Valley the traveller may - go far to see. With an average breadth of not over two and a half to five - miles, level, richly grassed, flanked by elevations that swell up to - plateaus, through the valley the Sun River, clear, full to the grassy - banks, comes down like a ribbon of silver, perhaps 800 feet broad before - its junction. Across the far end of it, seventy-five miles distant, but - seemingly not more than twenty, run the silver serrated peaks of the Rocky - Mountains, snow-clad and sparkling in the sun. At distances of twelve and - fifty miles up the valley have been for years prosperous settlements, with - school-houses and churches, hitherto cut off from the world. - </p> - <p> - The whole rolling, arable, though treeless country in view is beautiful, - and the far prospects are magnificent. I suppose that something of the - homelikeness of the region is due to the presence of the great Missouri - River (a connection with the world we know), which is here a rapid, clear - stream, in permanent rock-laid banks. At the town a dam has been thrown - across it, and the width above the dam, where we crossed it, is about 1800 - feet. The day was fair and not cold, but a gale of wind from the - south-west blew with such violence that the ferry-boat was unmanageable, - and we went over in little skiffs, much tossed about by the white-capped - waves. - </p> - <p> - In June, 1886, there was not a house within twelve miles of this place. - The country is now taken up and dotted with claim shanties, and Great - Falls is a town of over 1000 inhabitants, regularly laid out, with streets - indeed extending far on to the prairie, a handsome and commodious hotel, - several brick buildings, and new houses going up in all directions. - Central lots, fifty feet by two hundred and fifty, are said to sell for - $5000, and I was offered a corner lot on Tenth Street, away out on the - prairie, for $1500, including the corner stake. - </p> - <p> - It is difficult to write of this country without seeming exaggeration, and - the habitual frontier boastfulness makes the acquisition of bottom facts - difficult. It is plain to be seen that it is a good grazing country, and - the experimental fields of wheat near the town show that it is equally - well adapted to wheatraising. The vegetables grown there are enormous and - solid, especially potatoes and turnips; I have the outline of a turnip - which measured seventeen inches across, seven inches deep, and weighed - twenty-four pounds. The region is underlaid by bituminous coal, good - coking quality, and extensive mines are opening in the neighborhood. I - have no doubt from what I saw and heard that iron of good quality - (hematite) is abundant. It goes without saying that the Montana mountains - are full of other minerals. The present advantage of Great Falls is in the - possession of unlimited water-power in the Missouri River. - </p> - <p> - As to rainfall and climate? The grass shows no lack of rain, and the wheat - was raised in 1887 without irrigation. But irrigation from the Missouri - and Sun rivers is easy, if needed. The thermometer shows a more temperate - and less rigorous climate than Minnesota and north Dakota. Unless - everybody fibs, the winters are less severe, and stock ranges and fattens - all winter. Less snow falls here than farther east and south, and that - which falls does not usually remain long. The truth seems to be that the - mercury occasionally goes very low, but that every few days a warm Pacific - wind from the south-west, the “Chinook,” blows a gale, which instantly - raises the temperature, and sweeps off the snow in twenty-four hours. I - was told that ice rarely gets more than ten inches thick, and that - ploughing can be done as late as the 20th of December, and recommenced - from the 1st to the 15th of March. I did not stay long enough to verify - these statements. There had been a slight fall of snow in October, which - speedily disappeared. November 20th was pleasant, with a strong Chinook - wind. November 21st there was a driving snow-storm. - </p> - <p> - The region is attractive to the sight-seer. I can speak of only two - things, the Springs and the Falls. - </p> - <p> - There is a series of rapids and falls, for twelve miles below the town; - and the river drops down rapidly into a canyon which is in some places - nearly 200 feet deep. The first fall is twenty-six feet high. The most - beautiful is the Rainbow Fall, six miles from town. This cataract, in a - wild, deep gorge, has a width of 1400 feet, nearly as straight across as - an artificial dam, with a perpendicular plunge of fifty feet. What makes - it impressive is the immense volume of water. Dashed upon the rocks below, - it sends up clouds of spray, which the sun tinges with prismatic colors - the whole breadth of the magnificent fall. Standing half-way down the - precipice another considerable and regular fall is seen above, while below - are rapids and falls again at the bend, and beyond, great reaches of - tumultuous river in the canon. It is altogether a wild and splendid - spectacle. Six miles below, the river takes a continuous though not - perpendicular plunge of ninety-six feet. - </p> - <p> - One of the most exquisitely beautiful natural objects I know is the - Spring, a mile above Rainbow Fall. Out of a rocky ledge, sloping up some - ten feet above the river, burst several springs of absolutely crystal - water, powerfully bubbling up like small geysers, and together forming - instantly a splendid stream, which falls into the Missouri. So perfectly - transparent is the water that the springs seem to have a depth of only - fifteen inches; they are fifteen feet deep. In them grow flat-leaved - plants of vivid green, shades from lightest to deepest emerald, and when - the sunlight strikes into their depths the effect is exquisitely - beautiful. Mingled with the emerald are maroon colors that heighten the - effect. The vigor of the outburst, the volume of water, the transparency, - the play of sunlight on the lovely colors, give one a positively new - sensation. - </p> - <p> - I have left no room to speak of the road of ninety-eight miles through the - canon of the Missouri and the canon of the Prickly-Pear to Helena—about - 1400 feet higher than Great Falls. It is a marvellously picturesque road, - following the mighty river, winding through crags and precipices of - trap-rock set on end in fantastic array, and wild mountain scenery. On the - route are many pleasant places, openings of fine valleys, thriving - ranches, considerable stock and oats, much laud ploughed and cultivated. - The valley broadens out before we reach Helena and enter Last Chance - Gulch, now the main street of the city, out of which millions of gold have - been taken. - </p> - <p> - At Helena we reach familiar ground. The 21st was a jubilee day for the - city and the whole Territory. Cannon, bells, whistles, welcomed the train - and the man, and fifteen thousand people hurrahed; the town was gayly - decorated; there was a long procession, speeches and music in the - Opera-house in the afternoon, and fireworks, illumination, and banquet in - the evening. The reason of the boundless enthusiasm of Helena was in the - fact that the day gave it a new competing line to the East, and opened up - the coal, iron, and wheat fields of north Montana. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - VIII.—ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL TOPICS. MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">A</span> visitor at a club - in Chicago was pointed out a table at which usually lunched a hundred and - fifty millions of dollars! This impressive statement was as significant in - its way as the list of the men, in the days of Emerson, Agassiz, and - Longfellow, who dined together as the Saturday Club in Boston. We cannot, - however, generalize from this that the only thing considered in the - North-west is money, and that the only thing held in esteem in Boston is - intellect. - </p> - <p> - The chief concerns in the North-west are material, and the making of - money, sometimes termed the “development of resources,” is of the first - importance. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, social position is more - determined by money than it is in most Eastern cities, and this makes - social life more democratic, so far as traditions and family are - concerned. I desire not to overstate this, for money is potent everywhere; - but I should say that a person not devoted to business, or not succeeding - in it, but interested rather in intellectual pursuits—study, - research, art (not decorative), education, and the like—would find - less sympathy there than in Eastern cities of the same size and less - consideration. Indeed, I was told, more than once, that the spirit of - plutocracy is so strong in these cities as to make a very disagreeable - atmosphere for people who value the higher things in life more than money - and what money only will procure, and display which is always more or less - vulgar. But it is necessary to get closer to the facts than this - statement. - </p> - <p> - The materialistic spirit is very strong in the West; of necessity it is, - in the struggle for existence and position going on there, and in the - unprecedented opportunities for making fortunes. And hence arises a - prevailing notion that any education is of little value that does not bear - directly upon material success. I should say that the professions, - including divinity and the work of the scholar and the man of letters, do - not have the weight there that they do in some other places. The - professional man, either in the college or the pulpit, is expected to look - alive and keep up with the procession. Tradition is weak; it is no - objection to a thing that it is new, and in the general strain - “sensations” are welcome. The general motto is, “Be alive; be practical.” - Naturally, also, wealth recently come by desires to assert itself a little - in display, in ostentatious houses, luxurious living, dress, jewellery, - even to the frank delight in the diamond shirt-stud. - </p> - <p> - But we are writing of Americans, and the Americans are the quickest people - in the world to adapt themselves to new situations. The Western people - travel much, at home and abroad, and they do not require a very long - experience to know what is in bad taste. They are as quick as anybody—I - believe they gave us the phrase—to “catch on” to quietness and a low - tone. Indeed, I don’t know but they would boast that if it is a question - of subdued style, they can beat the world. The revolution which has gone - all over the country since the Exposition of 1876 in house-furnishing and - decoration is quite as apparent in the West as in the East. The West has - not suffered more than the East from eccentricities of architecture in the - past twenty years. Violations of good taste are pretty well distributed, - but of new houses the proportion of handsome, solid, good structures is as - large in the West as in the East, and in the cities I think the West has - the advantage in variety. It must be frankly said that if the Easterner is - surprised at the size, cost, and palatial character of many of their - residences, he is not less surprised by the refinement and good taste of - their interiors. There are cases where money is too evident, where the - splendor has been ordered, but there are plenty of other cases where - individual taste is apparent, and love of harmony and beauty. What I am - trying to say is that the East undervalues the real refinement of living - going along with the admitted cost and luxury in the West. The art of - dining is said to be a test of civilization—on a certain plane. - Well, dining, in good houses (I believe that is the phrase), is much the - same East and West as to appointments, service, cuisine, and talk, with a - trifle more freedom and sense of newness in the West. No doubt there is a - difference in tone, appreciable but not easy to define. It relates less to - the things than the way the things are considered. Where a family has had - “things” for two or three generations they are less an object than an - unregarded matter of course; where things and a manner of living are newly - acquired, they have more importance in themselves. An old community, if it - is really civilized (I mean a state in which intellectual concerns are - paramount), values less and less, as an end, merely material refinement. - The tendency all over the United States is for wealth to run into - vulgarity. - </p> - <p> - In St. Paul and Minneapolis one thing notable is the cordial hospitality, - another is the public spirit, and another is the intense devotion to - business, the forecast and alertness in new enterprises. Where society is - fluid and on the move, it seems comparatively easy to interest the - citizens in any scheme for the public good. The public spirit of those - cities is admirable. One notices also an uncommon power of organization, - of devices for saving time. An illustration of this is the immense railway - transfer ground here. Midway between the cities is a mile square of land - where all the great railway lines meet, and by means of communicating - tracks easily and cheaply exchange freight cars, immensely increasing the - facility and lessening the cost of transportation. Another illustration of - system is the State office of Public Examiner, an office peculiar to - Minnesota, an office supervising banks, public institutions, and county - treasuries, by means of which a uniform system of accounting is enforced - for all public funds, and safety is insured. - </p> - <p> - There is a large furniture and furnishing store in Minneapolis, well - sustained by the public, which gives one a new idea of the taste of the - North-west. A community that buys furniture so elegant and chaste in - design, and stuffs and decorations so aesthetically good, as this shop - offers it, is certainly not deficient either in material refinement or the - means to gratify the love of it. - </p> - <p> - What is there besides this tremendous energy, very material prosperity, - and undeniable refinement in living? I do not know that the excellently - managed public-school system offers anything peculiar for comment. But the - High-school in St. Paul is worth a visit. So far as I could judge, the - method of teaching is admirable, and produces good results. It has no - rules, nor any espionage. Scholars are put upon their honor. One object of - education being character, it is well to have good behavior consist, not - in conformity to artificial laws existing only in school, but to - principles of good conduct that should prevail everywhere. There is system - here, but the conduct expected is that of well-bred boys and girls - anywhere. The plan works well, and there are very few cases of discipline. - A manual training school is attached—a notion growing in favor in - the West, and practised in a scientific and truly educational spirit. - Attendance is not compulsory, but a considerable proportion of the pupils, - boys and girls, spend a certain number of hours each week in the - workshops, learning the use of tools, and making simple objects to an - accurate scale from drawings on the blackboard. The design is not at all - to teach a trade. The object is strictly educational, not simply to give - manual facility and knowledge in the use of tools, but to teach accuracy, - the mental training that there is in working out a definite, specific - purpose. - </p> - <p> - The State University is still in a formative condition, and has attached - to it a preparatory school. Its first class graduated only in 1872. It - sends out on an average about twenty graduates a year in the various - departments, science, literature, mechanic arts, and agriculture. The bane - of a State university is politics, and in the West the hand of the Granger - is on the college, endeavoring to make it “practical.” Probably this - modern idea of education will have to run its course, and so long as it is - running its course the Eastern colleges which adhere to the idea of - intellectual discipline will attract the young men who value a liberal - rather than a material education. The State University of Minnesota is - thriving in the enlargement of its facilities. About one-third of its - scholars are women, but I notice that in the last catalogue, in the Senior - Class of twenty-six there is only one woman. There are two independent - institutions also that should be mentioned, both within the limits of St. - Paul, the Hamline University, under Methodist auspices, and the McAllister - College, under Presbyterian. I did not visit the former, but the latter, - at least, though just beginning, has the idea of a classical education - foremost, and does not adopt co-education. Its library is well begun by - the gift of a miscellaneous collection, containing many rare and old - books, by the Rev. E. D. Neill, the well-known antiquarian, who has done - so much to illuminate the colonial history of Virginia and Maryland. In - the State Historical Society, which has rooms in the Capitol in St. Paul, - a vigorous and well-managed society, is a valuable collection of books - illustrating the history of the North-west. The visitor will notice in St. - Paul quite as much taste for reading among business men as exists - elsewhere, a growing fancy for rare books, and find some private - collections of interest. Though music and art cannot be said to be - generally cultivated, there are in private circles musical enthusiasm and - musical ability, and many of the best examples of modern painting are to - be found in private houses. Indeed, there is one gallery in which is a - collection of pictures by foreign artists that would be notable in any - city. These things are mentioned as indications of a liberalizing use of - wealth. - </p> - <p> - Wisconsin is not only one of the most progressive, but one of the most - enlightened, States in the Union. Physically it is an agreeable and - beautiful State, agriculturally it is rich, in the southern and central - portions at least, and it is overlaid with a perfect network of railways. - All this is well known. I wish to speak of certain other things which give - it distinction. I mean the prevailing spirit in education and in - social-economic problems. In some respects it leads all the other States. - </p> - <p> - There seem to be two elements in the State contending for the mastery, one - the New England, but emancipated from tradition, the other the foreign, - with ideas of liberty not of New England origin. Neither is afraid of new - ideas nor of trying social experiments. Co-education seems to be - everywhere accepted without question, as if it were already demonstrated - that the mingling of the sexes in the higher education will produce the - sort of men and women most desirable in the highest civilization. The - success of women in the higher schools, the capacity shown by women in the - management of public institutions and in reforms and charities, have - perhaps something to do with the favor to woman suffrage. It may be that, - if women vote there in general elections as well as school matters, on the - ground that every public office “relates to education,” Prohibition will - be agitated as it is in most other States, but at present the lager-bier - interest is too strong to give Prohibition much chance. The capital - invested in the manufacture of beer makes this interest a political - element of great importance. - </p> - <p> - Milwaukee and Madison may be taken to represent fairly the civilization of - Wisconsin. Milwaukee, having a population of about 175,000, is a beautiful - city, with some characteristics peculiar to itself, having the settled air - of being much older than it is, a place accustomed to money and - considerable elegance of living. The situation on the lake is fine, the - high curving bluffs offering most attractive sites for residences, and the - rolling country about having a quiet beauty. Grand avenue, an extension of - the main business thoroughfare of the city, runs out into the country some - two miles, broad, with a solid road, a stately avenue, lined with fine - dwellings, many of them palaces in size and elegant in design. Fashion - seems to hesitate between the east side and the west side, but the east or - lake side seems to have the advantage in situation, certainly in views, - and contains a greater proportion of the American population than the - other. Indeed, it is not easy to recall a quarter of any busy city which - combines more comfort, evidences of wealth and taste and refinement, and a - certain domestic character, than this portion of the town on the bluffs, - Prospect avenue and the adjacent streets. With the many costly and elegant - houses there is here and there one rather fantastic, but the whole effect - is pleasing, and the traveller feels no hesitation in deciding that this - would be an agreeable place to live. From the avenue the lake prospect is - wonderfully attractive—the beauty of Lake Michigan in changing color - and variety of lights in sun and storm cannot be too much insisted on—and - this is especially true of the noble Esplanade, where stands the bronze - statue (a gift of two citizens) of Solomon Juneau, the first settler of - Milwaukee in 1818. It is a very satisfactory figure, and placed where it - is, it gives a sort of foreign distinction to the open place which the - city has wisely left for public use. In this part of the town is the house - of the Milwaukee Club, a good building, one of the most tasteful - internally, and one of the best appointed, best arranged, and comfortable - club-houses In the country. Near this is the new Art Museum (also the gift - of a private citizen), a building greatly to be commended for its - excellent proportions, simplicity, and chasteness of style, and - adaptability to its purpose. It is a style that will last, to please the - eye, and be more and more appreciated as the taste of the community - becomes more and more refined. - </p> - <p> - In this quarter are many of the churches, of the average sort, but none - calling for special mention except St. Paul’s, which is noble in - proportions and rich in color, and contains several notable windows of - stained glass, one of them occupying the entire end of one transept, the - largest, I believe, in the country. It is a copy of Doré’. painting of - Christ on the way to the Crucifixion, an illuminated street scene, with - superb architecture of marble and porphyry, and crowded with hundreds of - figures in colors of Oriental splendor. The colors are rich and - harmonious, but it is very brilliant, flashing in the sunlight with - magnificent effect, and I am not sure but it would attract the humble - sinners of Milwaukee from a contemplation of their little faults which - they go to church to confess. - </p> - <p> - The city does not neglect education, as the many thriving public schools - testify. It has a public circulating library of 42,000 volumes, sustained - at an expense of $22,000 a year by a tax; is free, and well patronized. - There are good private collections of books also, one that I saw large and - worthy to be called a library, especially strong in classic English - literature. - </p> - <p> - Perhaps the greatest industry of the city, certainly the most conspicuous, - is brewing. I do not say that the city is in the hands of the brewers, but - with their vast establishments they wield great power. One of them, about - the largest in the country, and said to equal in its capacity any in - Europe, has in one group seven enormous buildings, and is impressive by - its extent and orderly management, as well as by the rivers of amber fluid - which it pours out for this thirsty country. Milwaukee, with its large - German element—two-thirds of the population, most of whom are - freethinkers—has no Sunday except in a holiday sense; the theatres - are all open, and the pleasure-gardens, which are extensive, are crowded - with merrymakers in the season. It is, in short, the Continental fashion, - and while the churches and church-goers are like churches and church-goers - everywhere, there is an air of general Continental freedom. - </p> - <p> - The general impression of Milwaukee is that it is a city of much wealth - and a great deal of comfort, with a settled, almost conservative feeling, - like an Eastern city, and charming, cultivated social life, with the grace - and beauty that are common in American society anywhere. I think the men - generally would be called well-looking, robust, of the quiet, assured - manner of an old community. The women seen on the street and In the shops - are of good physique and good color and average good looks, without - anything startling in the way of beauty or elegance. I speak of the - general aspect of the town, and I mention the well-to-do physical - condition because it contradicts the English prophecy of a physical - decadence in the West, owing to the stimulating climate and the restless - pursuit of wealth. On the train to Madison (the line runs through a - beautiful country) one might have fancied that he was on a local New - England train: the same plain, good sort of people, and in abundance the - well-looking, domestic sort of young women. - </p> - <p> - Madison is a great contrast to Milwaukee. Although it is the political and - educational centre, has the Capitol and the State University, and a - population of about 15,000, it is like a large village, with the village - habits and friendliness. On elevated, hilly ground, between two charming - lakes, it has an almost unrivalled situation, and is likely to possess, in - the progress of years and the accumulation of wealth, the picturesqueness - and beauty that travellers ascribe to Stockholm. With the hills of the - town, the gracefully curving shores of the lakes and their pointed bays, - the gentle elevations beyond the lakes, and the capacity of these two - bodies of water as pleasure resorts, with elegant music pavilions and - fleets of boats for the sail and the oar—why do we not take a hint - from the painted Venetian sail?—there is no limit to what may be - expected in the way of refined beauty of Madison in the summer, if it - remains a city of education and of laws, and does not get up a “boom,” and - set up factories, and blacken all the landscape with coal smoke! - </p> - <p> - The centre of the town is a big square, pleasantly tree-planted, so large - that the facing rows of shops and houses have a remote and dwarfed - appearance, and in the middle of it is the great pillared State-house, - American style. The town itself is one of unpretentious, comfortable - houses, some of them with elegant interiors, having plenty of books and - the spoils of foreign travel. In one of them, the old-fashioned but - entirely charming mansion of Governor Fairchild, I cannot refrain from - saying, is a collection which, so far as I know, is unique in the world—a - collection to which the helmet of Don Quixote gives a certain flavor; it - is of barbers’ basins, of all ages and countries. - </p> - <p> - Wisconsin is working out its educational ideas on an intelligent system, - and one that may be expected to demonstrate the full value of the popular - method—I mean a more intimate connection of the university with the - life of the people than exists elsewhere. What effect this will have upon - the higher education in the ultimate civilization of the State is a - question of serious and curious interest. Unless the experience of the - ages is misleading, the tendency of the “practical” in all education is a - downward and material one, and the highest civilization must continue to - depend upon a pure scholarship, and upon what are called abstract ideas. - Even so practical a man as Socrates found the natural sciences inadequate - to the inner needs of the soul. “I thought,” he says, “as I have failed in - the contemplation of true existence (by means of the sciences), I ought to - be careful that I did not lose the eye of the soul, as people may injure - their bodily eye by gazing on the sun during an eclipse.... That occurred - to me, and I was afraid that my soul might be blinded altogether if I - looked at things with my eyes, or tried by the help of the senses to - apprehend them. And I thought I had better have recourse to ideas, and - seek in them the truth of existence.” The intimate union of the university - with the life of the people is a most desirable object, if the university - does not descend and lose its high character in the process. - </p> - <p> - The graded school system of the State is vigorous, all working up to the - University. This is a State institution, and the State is fairly liberal - to it, so far as practical education is concerned. It has a magnificent - new Science building, and will have excellent shops and machinery for the - sciences (especially the applied) and the mechanic arts. The system is - elective. A small per cent, of the students take Greek, a larger number - Latin, French, and German, but the University is largely devoted to - science. In all the departments, including law, there are about six - hundred students, of whom above one hundred are girls. There seems to be - no doubt about co-education as a practical matter in the conduct of the - college, and as a desirable thing for women. The girls are good students, - and usually take more than half the highest honors on the marking scale. - Notwithstanding the testimony of the marks, however, the boys say that the - girls don’t “know” as much as they do about things generally, and they - (the boys) have no doubt of their ability to pass the girls either in - scholarship or practical affairs in the struggle of life. The idea seems - to be that the girls are serious in education only up to a certain point, - and that marriage will practically end the rivalry. - </p> - <p> - The distinguishing thing, however, about the State University is its vital - connection with the farmers and the agricultural interests. I do not refer - to the agricultural department, which it has in common with many colleges, - nor to the special short agricultural course of three months in the - winter, intended to give farmers’ boys, who enter it without examination - or other connection with the University, the most available agricultural - information in the briefest time, the intention being not to educate boys - away from a taste for farming but to make them better farmers. The - students must be not less than sixteen years old, and have a common-school - education. During the term of twelve weeks they have lectures by the - professors and recitations on practical and theoretical agriculture, on - elementary and agricultural chemistry, on elemental botany, with - laboratory practice, and on the anatomy of our domestic animals and the - treatment of their common diseases. But what I wish to call special - attention to is the connection of the University with the farmers’ - institutes. - </p> - <p> - A special Act of the Legislature, drawn by a lawyer, Mr. C. E. Estabrook, - authorized the farmers’ institutes, and placed them under the control of - the regents of the University, who have the power to select a State - superintendent to control them. A committee of three of the regents has - special charge of the institutes. Thus the farmers are brought into direct - relation with the University, and while, as a prospectus says, they are - not actually non-resident students of the University, they receive - information and instruction directly from it. The State appropriates - twelve thousand dollars a year to this work, which pays the salaries of - Mr. W. H. Morrison, the superintendent, to whose tact and energy the - success of the institutes is largely due, and his assistants, and enables - him to pay the expenses of specialists and agriculturists who can instruct - the farmers and wisely direct the discussions at the meetings. By reason - of this complete organization, which penetrates every part of the State, - subjects of most advantage are considered, and time is not wasted in - merely amateur debates. - </p> - <p> - I know of no other State where a like system of popular instruction on a - vital and universal interest of the State, directed by the highest - educational authority, is so perfectly organized and carried on with such - unity of purpose and detail of administration; no other in which the - farmer is brought systematically into such direct relations to the - university. In the current year there have been held eighty-two farmers’ - institutes in forty-five counties. The list of practical topics discussed - is 279, and in this service have been engaged one hundred and seven - workers, thirty-one of whom are specialists from other States. This is an - “agricultural college,” on a grand scale, brought to the homes of the - people. The meetings are managed by local committees in such a way as to - evoke local pride, interest, and talent. I will mention some of the topics - that were thoroughly discussed at one of the institutes: clover as a - fertilizer; recuperative agriculture; bee-keeping; taking care of the - little things about the house and farm; the education for farmers’ - daughters; the whole economy of sheep husbandry; egg production; poultry; - the value of thought and application in farming; horses to breed for the - farm and market; breeding and management of swine; mixed farming; - grain-raising; assessment and collection of taxes; does knowledge pay? - (with illustrations of money made by knowledge of the market); breeding - and care of cattle, with expert testimony as to the best sorts of cows; - points in corn culture; full discussion of small-fruit culture; - butter-making as a line art; the daily; our country roads; agricultural - education. So, during the winter, every topic that concerns the well-being - of the home, the prolit of the farm, the moral welfare of the people and - their prosperity, was intelligently discussed, with audiences fully awake - to the value of this practical and applied education. Some of the best of - these discussions are printed and widely distributed. Most of them are - full of wise details in the way of thrift and money-making, but I am glad - to see that the meetings also consider the truth that as much care should - be given to the rearing of boys and girls as of calves and colts, and that - brains are as necessary in farming as in any other occupation. - </p> - <p> - As these farmers’ institutes are conducted, I do not know any influence - comparable to them in waking up the farmers to think, to inquire into new - and improved methods, and to see in what real prosperity consists. With - prosperity, as a rule, the farmer and his family are conservative, - law-keeping, church-going, good citizens. The little appropriation of - twelve thousand dollars has already returned to the State a hundred-fold - financially and a thousand-fold in general intelligence. - </p> - <p> - I have spoken of the habit in Minnesota and Wisconsin of depending mostly - upon one crop—that of spring wheat—and the disasters from this - single reliance in bad years. Hard lessons are beginning to teach the - advantage of mixed farming and stockraising. In this change the farmers’ - institutes of Wisconsin have been potent. As one observer says, “They have - produced a revolution in the mode of farming, raising crops, and caring - for stock.” The farmers have been enabled to protect themselves against - the effects of drought and other evils. Taking the advice of the institute - in 1886, the farmers planted 50,000 acres of ensilage corn, which took the - place of the short hay crop caused by the drought. This provision saved - thousands of dollars’ worth of stock in several counties. From all over - the State comes the testimony of farmers as to the good results of the - institute work, like this: “Several thousand dollars’ worth of improved - stock have been brought in. Creameries and cheese-factories have been - established and well supported. Farmers are no longer raising grain - exclusively as heretofore. Our hill-sides are covered with clover. Our - farmers are encouraged to labor anew. A new era of prosperity in our State - dates from the farmers’ institutes.” - </p> - <p> - There is abundant evidence that a revolution is going on in the farming of - Wisconsin, greatly assisted, if not inaugurated, by this systematic - popular instruction from the University as a centre. It may not greatly - interest the reader that the result of this will be greater agricultural - wealth in Wisconsin, but it does concern him that putting intelligence - into farming must inevitably raise the level of the home life and the - general civilization of Wisconsin. I have spoken of this centralized, - systematic effort in some detail because it seems more efficient than the - work of agricultural societies and sporadic institutes in other States. - </p> - <p> - In another matter Wisconsin has taken a step in advance of other States; - that is, in the care of the insane. The State has about 2600 insane, - increasing at the rate of about 167 a year. The provisions in the State - for these are the State Hospital (capacity of 500), Northern Hospital - (capacity of 600), the Milwaukee Asylum (capacity of 255), and fifteen - county asylums for the chronic insane, including two nearly ready - (capacity 1220). The improvement in the care of the insane consists in - several particulars—the doing away of restraints, either by - mechanical appliances or by narcotics, reasonable separation of the - chronic cases from the others, increased liberty, and the substitution of - wholesome labor for idleness. Many of these changes have been brought - about by the establishment of county asylums, the feature of which I wish - specially to speak. The State asylums were crowded beyond their proper - capacity, classification was difficult in them, and a large number of the - insane were miserably housed in county jails and poor-houses. The evils of - great establishments were more and more apparent, and it was determined to - try the experiment of county asylums. These have now been in operation for - six years, and a word about their constitution and perfectly successful - operation may be of public service. - </p> - <p> - These asylums, which are only for the chronic insane, are managed by local - authorities, but under constant and close State supervision; this last - provision is absolutely essential, and no doubt accounts for the success - of the undertaking. It is not necessary here to enter into details as to - the construction of these buildings. They are of brick, solid, plain, - comfortable, and of a size to accommodate not less than fifty nor more - than one hundred inmates: an institution with less than fifty is not - economical; one with a larger number than one hundred is unwieldy, and - beyond the personal supervision of the superintendent. A farm is needed - for economy in maintenance and to furnish occupation for the men; about - four acres for each inmate is a fair allowance. The land should be - fertile, and adapted to a variety of crops as well as to cattle, and it - should have woodland to give occupation in the winter. The fact is - recognized that idleness is no better for an insane than for a sane - person. The house-work is all done by the women; the farm, garden, and - general out-door work by the men. Experience shows that three-fourths of - the chronic insane can be furnished occupation of some sort, and greatly - to their physical and moral well-being. The nervousness incident always to - restraint and idleness disappears with liberty and occupation. Hence - greater happiness and comfort to the insane, and occasionally a complete - or partial cure. - </p> - <p> - About one attendant to twenty insane persons is sufficient, but it is - necessary that these should have intelligence and tact; the men capable of - leading in farm-work, the women to instruct in house-work and - dress-making, and it is well if they can play some musical instrument and - direct in amusements. One of the most encouraging features of this - experiment in small asylums has been the discovery of so many efficient - superintendents and matrons among the intelligent farmers and business men - of the rural districts, who have the practical sagacity and financial - ability to carry on these institutions successfully. - </p> - <p> - These asylums are as open as a school; no locked doors (instead of - window-bars, the glass-frames are of iron painted white), no pens made by - high fences. The inmates are free to go and come at their work, with no - other restraint than the watch of the attendants. The asylum is a home and - not a prison. The great thing is to provide occupation. The insane, it is - found, can be trained to regular industry, and it is remarkable how little - restraint is needed if an earnest effort is made to do without it. In the - county asylums of Wisconsin about one person in a thousand is in restraint - or seclusion each day. The whole theory seems to be to treat the insane - like persons in some way diseased, who need occupation, amusement, - kindness. The practice of this theory in the Wisconsin county asylums is - so successful that it must ultimately affect the treatment of the insane - all over the country. - </p> - <p> - And the beauty of it is that it is as economical as it is enlightened and - humane. The secret of providing occupation for this class is to buy as - little material and hire as little labor as possible; let the women make - the clothes, and the men do the farm-work without the aid of machinery. - The surprising result of this is that some of these asylums approach the - point of being self-supporting, and all of them save money to the - counties, compared with the old method. The State has not lost by these - asylums, and the counties have gained; nor has the economy been purchased - at the expense of humanity to the insane; the insane in the county asylums - have been as well clothed, lodged, and fed as in the State institutions, - and have had more freedom, and consequently more personal comfort and a - better chance of abating their mania. This is the result arrived at by an - exhaustive report on these county asylums in the report of the State Board - of Charities and Reforms, of which Mr. Albert O. Wright is secretary. The - average cost per week per capita of patients in the asylums by the latest - report was, in the State Hospital, $4.39; in the Northern Hospital, $4.33; - in the county asylums, $1.89. - </p> - <p> - The new system considers the education of the chronic insane an important - part of their treatment; not specially book-learning (though that may be - included), but training of the mental, moral, and physical faculties in - habits of order, propriety, and labor. By these means wonders have been - worked for the insane. The danger, of course, is that the local asylums - may fall into unproductive routine, and that politics will interfere with - the intelligent State supervision. If Wisconsin is able to keep her State - institutions out of the clutches of men with whom politics is a business - simply for what they can make out of it (as it is with those who oppose a - civil service not based upon partisan dexterity and subserviency), she - will carry her enlightened ideas into the making of a model State. The - working out of such a noble reform as this in the treatment of the insane - can only be intrusted to men specially qualified by knowledge, sympathy, - and enthusiasm, and would be impossible in the hands of changing political - workers. The systematized enlightenment of the farmers in the farmers’ - institutes by means of their vital connection with the University needs - the steady direction of those who are devoted to it, and not to any party - success. As to education generally, it may be said that while for the - present the popular favor to the State University depends upon its being - “practical” in this and other ways, the time will come when it will be - seen that the highest service it can render the State is by upholding pure - scholarship, without the least material object. - </p> - <p> - Another institution of which Wisconsin has reason to be proud is the State - Historical Society—a corporation (dating from 1853) with perpetual - succession, supported by an annual appropriation of five thousand dollars, - with provisions for printing the reports of the society and the catalogues - of the library. It is housed in the Capitol. The society has accumulated - interesting historical portraits, cabinets of antiquities, natural - history, and curiosities, a collection of copper, and some valuable MSS. - for the library. The library is one of the best historical collections in - the country. The excellence of it is largely due to Lyman C. Draper, - LL.D., who was its secretary for thirty-three years, but who began as - early as 1834 to gather facts and materials for border history and - biography, and who had in 1852 accumulated thousands of manuscripts and - historical statements, the nucleus of the present splendid library, which - embraces rare and valuable works relating to the history of nearly every - State. This material is arranged by States, and readily accessible to the - student. Indeed, there are few historical libraries in the country where - historical research in American subjects can be better prosecuted than in - this. The library began in January, 1854, with fifty volumes. In January, - 1887, it had 57,935 volumes and 60,731 pamphlets and documents, making a - total of 118,666 titles. - </p> - <p> - There is a large law library in the State-house, the University has a fair - special library for the students, and in the city is a good public - circulating library, free, supported by a tax, and much used. For a young - city, it is therefore very well off for books. - </p> - <p> - Madison is not only an educational centre, but an intelligent city; the - people read and no doubt buy books, but they do not support book-stores. - The shops where books are sold are variety-shops, dealing in stationery, - artists’ materials, cheap pictures, bric-à-brac. Books are of minor - importance, and but few are “kept in stock.” Indeed, bookselling is not a - profitable part of the business; it does not pay to “handle” books, or to - keep the run of new publications, or to keep a supply of standard works. - In this the shops of Madison are not peculiar. It is true all over the - West, except in two or three large cities, and true, perhaps, not quite so - generally in the East; the book-shops are not the literary and - intellectual centres they used to be. - </p> - <p> - There are several reasons given for this discouraging state of the - book-trade. Perhaps it is true that people accustomed to newspapers full - of “selections,” to the flimsy publications found on the cheap counters, - and to the magazines, do not buy “books that are books,” except for - “furnishing;” that they depend more and more upon the circulating - libraries for anything that costs more than an imported cigar or half a - pound of candy. The local dealers say that the system of the great - publishing houses is unsatisfactory as to prices and discounts. Private - persons can get the same discounts as the dealers, and can very likely, by - ordering a list, buy more cheaply than of the local bookseller, and - therefore, as a matter of business, he says that it does not pay to keep - books; he gives up trying to sell them, and turns his attention to - “varieties.” Another reason for the decline in the trade may be in the - fact that comparatively few booksellers are men of taste in letters, men - who read, or keep the run of new publications. If a retail grocer knew no - more of his business than many booksellers know of theirs, he would - certainly fail. It is a pity on all accounts that the book-trade is in - this condition. A bookseller in any community, if he is a man of literary - culture, and has a love of books and knowledge of them, can do a great - deal for the cultivation of the public taste. His shop becomes a sort of - intellectual centre of the town. If the public find there an atmosphere of - books, and are likely to have their wants met for publications new or - rare, they will generally sustain the shop; at least this is my - observation. Still, I should not like to attempt to say whether the - falling off in the retail book-trade is due to want of skill in the - sellers, to the publishing machinery, or to public indifference. The - subject is worthy the attention of experts. It is undeniably important to - maintain everywhere these little depots of intellectual supply. In a town - new to him the visitor is apt to estimate the taste, the culture, the - refinement, as well as the wealth of the town, by its shops. The stock in - the dry goods and fancy stores tells one thing, that in the art-stores - another thing, that in the book-stores another thing, about the - inhabitants. The West, even on the remote frontiers, is full of - magnificent stores of goods, telling of taste as well as luxury; the - book-shops are the poorest of all. - </p> - <p> - The impression of the North-west, thus far seen, is that of tremendous - energy, material refinement, much open-mindedness, considerable - self-appreciation,’ uncommon sagacity in meeting new problems, generous - hospitality, the Old Testament notion of possessing this world, rather - more recognition of the pecuniary as the only success than exists in the - East and South, intense national enthusiasm, and unblushing and most - welcome “Americanism.” - </p> - <p> - In these sketchy observations on the North-west nothing has seemed to me - more interesting and important than the agricultural changes going on in - eastern Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. In the vast wheat farms, as well - as in the vast cattle ranges, there is an element of speculation, if not - of gambling, of the chance of immense profits or of considerable loss, - that is neither conducive to the stable prosperity nor to the moral - soundness of a State. In the breaking up of the great farms, and in the - introduction of varied agriculture and cattle-raising on a small scale, - there will not be so many great fortunes made, but each State will be - richer as a whole, and less liable to yearly fluctuations in prosperity. - But the gain most worth considering will be in the home life and the - character of the citizens. The best life of any community depends upon - varied industries. No part of the United States has ever prospered, as - regards the well-being of the mass of the people, that relied upon the - production of a single staple. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - IX.—CHICAGO. [<i>First Paper</i>.] - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">C</span>hicago is becoming - modest. Perhaps the inhabitants may still be able to conceal their - modesty, but nevertheless they feel it. The explanation is simple. The - city has grown not only beyond the most sanguine expectations of those who - indulged in the most inflated hope of its future, but it has grown beyond - what they said they expected. This gives the citizens pause—as it - might an eagle that laid a roc’s egg. - </p> - <p> - The fact is, Chicago has become an independent organism, growing by a - combination of forces and opportunities, beyond the contrivance of any - combination of men to help or hinder, beyond the need of flaming circulars - and reports of boards of trade, and process pictures. It has passed the - danger or the fear of rivalry, and reached the point where the growth of - any other portion of the great North-west, or of any city in it (whatever - rivalry that city may show in industries or in commerce), is in some way a - contribution to the power and wealth of Chicago. To them that have shall - be given. Cities, under favoring conditions for local expansion, which - reach a certain amount of population and wealth, grow by a kind of natural - increment, the law of attraction, very well known in human nature, which - draws a person to an active city of two hundred thousand rather than to a - stagnant city of one hundred thousand. And it is a fortunate thing for - civilization that this attraction is almost as strong to men of letters as - it is to men of affairs. Chicago has, it seems to me, only recently turned - this point of assured expansion, and, as I intimated, the inhabitants have - hardly yet become accustomed to this idea; but I believe that the time is - near when they will be as indifferent to what strangers think of Chicago - as the New-Yorkers are to what strangers think of New York. New York is - to-day the only American city free from this anxious note of provincialism—though - in Boston it rather takes the form of pity for the unenlightened man who - doubts its superiority; but the impartial student of Chicago to-day can - see plenty of signs of the sure growth of this metropolitan indifference. - And yet there is still here enough of the old Chicago stamp to make the - place interesting. - </p> - <p> - It is everything in getting a point of view. Last summer a lady of New - Orleans who had never before been out of her native French city, and who - would look upon the whole North with the impartial eyes of a foreigner—and - more than that, with Continental eyes—visited Chicago, and - afterwards New York. “Which city did you like best?” I asked, without - taking myself seriously in the question. To my surprise, she hesitated. - This hesitation was fatal to all my preconceived notions. It mattered not - thereafter which she preferred: she had hesitated. She was actually - comparing Chicago to New York in her mind, as one might compare Paris and - London. The audacity of the comparison I saw was excused by its innocence. - I confess that it had never occurred to me to think of Chicago in that - Continental light. “Well,” she said, not seeing at all the humor of my - remark, “Chicago seems to me to have finer buildings and residences, to be - the more beautiful city; but of course there is more in New York; it is a - greater city; and I should prefer to live there for what I want.” This - naïve observation set me thinking, and I wondered if there was a point of - view, say that of divine omniscience and fairness, in which Chicago would - appear as one of the great cities of the world, in fact a metropolis, - by-and-by to rival in population and wealth any city of the seaboard. It - has certainly better commercial advantages, so far as water communication - and railways go, than Paris or Pekin or Berlin, and a territory to supply - and receive from infinitely vaster, richer, and more promising than - either. This territory will have many big cities, but in the nature of - things only one of surpassing importance. And taking into account its - geographical position—a thousand miles from the Atlantic seaboard on - the one side, and from the mountains on the other, with the acknowledged - tendency of people and of money to it as a continental centre—it - seems to me that Chicago is to be that one. - </p> - <p> - The growth of Chicago is one of the marvels of the world. I do not wonder - that it is incomprehensible even to those who have seen it year by year. - As I remember it in 1860, it was one of the shabbiest and most - unattractive cities of about a hundred thousand inhabitants anywhere to be - found; but even then it had more than trebled its size in ten years; the - streets were mud sloughs, the sidewalks were a series of stairs and more - or less rotten planks, half the town was in process of elevation above the - tadpole level, and a considerable part of it was on wheels—the - moving house being about the only wheeled vehicle that could get around - with any comfort to the passengers. The west side was a straggling - shanty-town, the north side was a country village with two or three - “aristocratic” houses occupying a square, the south side had not a - handsome business building in it, nor a public edifice of any merit except - a couple of churches, but there were a few pleasant residences on Michigan - avenue fronting the encroaching lake, and on Wabash avenue. Yet I am not - sure that even then the exceedingly busy and excited traders and - speculators did not feel that the town was more important than New York. - For it had a great business. Aside from its real estate operations, its - trade that year was set down at $97,000,000, embracing its dealing in - produce, its wholesale supply business, and its manufacturing. - </p> - <p> - No one then, however, would have dared to predict that the value of trade - in 1887 would be, as it was, $1,103,000,000. Nor could any one have - believed that the population of 100,000 would reach in 1887 nearly 800,000 - (estimated 782,644), likely to reach in 1888, with the annexation of - contiguous villages that have become physically a part of the city, the - amount of 900,000. Growing at its usual rate for several years past, the - city is certain in a couple of years to count its million of people. And - there is not probably anywhere congregated a more active and aggressive - million, with so great a proportion of young, ambitious blood. Other - figures keep pace with those of trade and population. I will mention only - one or two of them here. The national banks, in 1887, had a capital of - $15,800,000, in which the deposits were $80,473,740, the loans and - discounts $63,113,821, the surplus and profits $6,320,559. The First - National is, I believe, the second or third largest banking house in the - country, having a deposit account of over twenty-two millions. The figures - given only include the national banks; add to these the private banks, and - the deposits of Chicago in 1887 were $105,307,000. The aggregate bank - clearings of the city were $2,969,216,210.00, an increase of 14 per cent, - over 1880. It should be noted that there were only twenty-one banks in the - clearing house (with an aggregate capital and surplus of $28,514,000), and - that the fewer the banks the smaller the total clearings will be. The - aggregate Board of Trade clearings for 1887 were $78,179,809. In the year - 1880 Chicago imported merchandise entered for consumption to the value of - $11,574,449, and paid $4,349,237 duties on it. I did not intend to go into - statistics, but these and a few other figures will give some idea of the - volume of business in this new city. I found on inquiry that—owing - to legislation that need not be gone into—there are few - savings-banks, and the visible savings of labor cut a small figure in this - way. The explanation is that there are several important loan and building - associations. Money is received on deposit in small amounts, and loaned at - a good rate of interest to those wishing to build or buy houses, the - latter paying in small instalments. The result is that these loan - institutions have been very profitable to those who have put money in - them, and that the laborers who have borrowed to build have also been - benefited by putting all their savings into houses. I believe there is no - other large city, except Philadelphia perhaps, where so large a proportion - of the inhabitants own the houses they live in. There is no better - prevention of the spread of anarchical notions and communist foolishness - than this. - </p> - <p> - It is an item of interest that the wholesale drygoods jobbing - establishments increased their business in 1887 12 1/2 per cent, over - 1886. Five houses have a capital of $9,000,000, and the sales in 1887 were - nearly $74,000,000. And it is worth special mention that one man in - Chicago, Marshall Field, is the largest wholesale and retail dry-goods - merchant in the world. In his retail shop and wholesale store there are - 3000 employes on the pay-roll. As to being first in his specialty, the - same may be said of Philip D. Armour, who not only distances all rivals in - the world as a packer, but no doubt also as a merchant of such products as - the hog contributes to the support of life. His sales in one year have - been over $51,000,000. The city has also the distinction of having among - its citizens Henry W. King, the largest dealer, in establishments here and - elsewhere, in clothing in the world. - </p> - <p> - In nothing has the growth of Chicago been more marked in the past five - years than in manufactures. I cannot go into the details of all the - products, but the totals of manufacture for 1887 were, in 2396 firms, - $113,960,000 capital employed, 134,615 workers, $74,567,000 paid in wages, - and the value of the product was $403,109,500—an increase of product - over 1886 of about 15 1/2 per cent. A surprising item in this is the book - and publishing business. The increase of sales of books in 1887 over 1886 - was 20 per cent. The wholesale sales for 1887 are estimated at - $10,000,000. It is now claimed that as a book-publishing centre Chicago - ranks second only to New York, and that in the issue of subscription-books - it does more business than New York, Boston, and Philadelphia combined. In - regard to musical instruments the statement is not less surprising. In - 1887 the sales of pianos amounted to about $2,600,000—a gain of - $300,000 over 1886. My authority for this, and for some, but not all, of - the other figures given, is the <i>Tribune</i>, which says that Chicago is - not only the largest reed-organ market in the world, but that more organs - are manufactured here than in any other city in Europe or America. The - sales for 1887 were $2,000,000—an increase over 1880 of $500,000. - There were $1,000,000 worth of small musical instruments sold, and of - sheet music and music-books a total of $450,000. This speaks well for the - cultivation of musical taste in the West, especially as there was a marked - improvement in the class of the music bought. - </p> - <p> - The product of the iron manufactures in 1887, including rolling-mills - ($23,952,000) and founderies ($10,000,000), was $61,187,000 against - $46,790,000 in 1886, and the wages paid in iron and steel work was - $14,899,000. In 1887 there were erected 4833 buildings, at a reported cost - of $19,778,100—a few more build-’ ings, but yet at nearly two - millions less cost, than in 1886. A couple of items interested me: that - Chicago made in 1887 $900,000 worth of toys and $500,000 worth of - perfumes. The soap-makers waged a gallant but entirely unsuccessful war - against the soot and smoke of the town in producing $6,250,000 worth of - soap and candles. I do not see it mentioned, but I should think the - laundry business in Chicago would be the most profitable one at present. - </p> - <p> - Without attempting at all to set forth the business of Chicago in detail, - a few more figures will help to indicate its volume. At the beginning of - 1887 the storage capacity for grain in 29 elevators was 27,025,000 - bushels. The total receipts of flour and grain in 1882, ‘3, ‘4, ‘5, and - ‘6, in bushels, were respectively, 126,155,483, 164,924,732, 159,561,474, - 156,408,228, 151,932,995. In 1887 the receipts in bushels were: flour, - 6,873,544; wheat, 21,848,251; corn, 51,578,410; oats, 45,750,842; rye, - 852,726; barley, 12,476,547—total, 139,380,320. It is useless to go - into details of the meat products, but interesting to know that in 1886 - Chicago shipped 310,039,600 pounds of lard and 573,496,012 pounds of - dressed beef. - </p> - <p> - I was surprised at the amount of the lake commerce, the railway traffic - (nearly 50,000 miles tributary to the city) making so much more show. In - 1882 the tonnage of vessels clearing this port was 4,904,999; in 1880 it - was 3,950,762. The report of the Board of Trade for 1886 says the arrivals - and clearances, foreign and coastwise, for this port for the year ending - June 30th were 22,096, which was 869 more than at the ports of Baltimore, - Boston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Portland and Falmouth, and San - Francisco combined; 315 more than at New York, New Orleans, Portland and - Falmouth, and San Francisco; and 100 more than at New York, Baltimore, and - Portland and Falmouth. It will not be overlooked that this lake commerce - is training a race of hardy sailors, who would come to the front in case - of a naval war, though they might have to go out on rafts. - </p> - <p> - In 1888 Chicago is a magnificent city. Although it has been incorporated - fifty years, during which period its accession of population has been - rapid and steady—hardly checked by the devastating fires of 1871 and - 1874—its metropolitan character and appearance is the work of less - than fifteen years. There is in history no parallel to this product of a - freely acting democracy: not St. Petersburg rising out of the marshes at - an imperial edict, nor Berlin, the magic creation of a consolidated empire - and a Caesar’s power. The north-side village has become a city of broad - streets, running northward to the parks, lined with handsome residences - interspersed with stately mansions of most varied and agreeable - architecture, marred by very little that is bizarre and pretentious—a - region of churches and club-houses and public buildings of importance. The - west side, the largest section, and containing more population than the - other two divisions combined, stretching out over the prairie to a horizon - fringed with villages, expanding in three directions, is more mediocre in - buildings, but impressive in its vastness; and the stranger driving out - the stately avenue of Washington some four miles to Garfield Park will be - astonished by the evidences of wealth and the vigor of the city expansion. - </p> - <p> - But it is the business portion of the south side that is the miracle of - the time, the solid creation of energy and capital since the fire—the - square mile containing the Post-office and City Hall, the giant hotels, - the opera-houses and theatres, the Board of Trade building, the - many-storied offices, the great shops, the clubhouses, the vast retail and - wholesale warehouses. This area has the advantage of some other great - business centres in having broad streets at right angles, but with all - this openness for movement, the throng of passengers and traffic, the - intersecting street and cable railways, the loads of freight and the crush - of carriages, the life and hurry and excitement are sufficient to satisfy - the most eager lover of metropolitan pandemonium. Unfortunately for a - clear comprehension of it, the manufactories vomit dense clouds of - bituminous coal smoke, which settle in a black mass in this part of the - town, so that one can scarcely see across the streets in a damp day, and - the huge buildings loom up in the black sky in ghostly dimness. The - climate of Chicago, though some ten degrees warmer than the average of its - immediately tributary territory, is a harsh one, and in the short winter - days the centre of the city is not only black, but damp and chilly. In - some of the November and December days I could without any stretch of the - imagination fancy myself in London. On a Sunday, when business gives place - to amusement and religion, the stately city is seen in all its fine - proportions. No other city in the Union can show business warehouses and - offices of more architectural nobility. The mind inevitably goes to - Florence for comparison with the structures of the Medicean merchant - princes. One might name the Pullman Building for offices as an example, - and the wholesale warehouse of Marshall Field, the work of that truly - original American architect, Richardson, which in massiveness, simplicity - of lines, and admirable blending of artistic beauty with adaptability to - its purpose, seems to me unrivalled in this country. A few of these - buildings are exceptions to the general style of architecture, which is - only good of its utilitarian American kind, but they give distinction to - the town, and I am sure are prophetic of the concrete form the wealth of - the city will take. The visitor is likely to be surprised at the number - and size of the structures devoted to offices, and to think, as he sees - some of them unfilled, that the business is overdone. At any given moment - it may be, but the demand for “offices” is always surprising to those who - pay most attention to this subject, and I am told that if the erection of - office buildings should cease for a year, the demand would pass beyond the - means of satisfying it. - </p> - <p> - Leaving the business portion of the south side, the city runs in - apparently limitless broad avenues southward into suburban villages and a - region thickly populated to the Indiana line. The continuous slightly - curving lake front of the city is about seven miles, pretty solidly - occupied with houses. The Michigan avenue of 1860, with its wooden fronts - and cheap boarding-houses, has taken on quite another appearance, and - extends its broad way in unbroken lines of fine residences five miles, - which will be six miles next summer, when its opening is completed to the - entrance of Washington Park. I do not know such another street in the - world. In the evening the converging lines of gas lamps offer a - prospective of unequalled beauty of its kind. The south parks are reached - now by turning either into the Drexel Boulevard or the Grand Boulevard, a - magnificent avenue a mile in length, tree-planted, gay with flower-beds in - the season, and crowded in the sleighing-time with fast teams and fancy - turnouts. - </p> - <p> - This leads me to speak of another feature of Chicago, which has no rival - in this country: I mean the facility for pleasure driving and riding. - Michigan avenue from the mouth of the river, the centre of town, is - macadamized. It and the other avenues immediately connected with the park - system are not included in the city street department, but are under the - care of the Commissioners of Parks. No traffic is permitted on them, and - consequently they are in superb condition for driving, summer and winter. - The whole length of Michigan avenue you will never see a loaded team. - These roads—that is, Michigan avenue and the others of the park - system, and the park drives—are superb for driving or riding, - perfectly made for drainage and permanency, with a top-dressing of - pulverized granite. The cost of the Michigan avenue drive was two hundred - thousand dollars a mile. The cost of the parks and boulevards in each of - the three divisions is met by a tax on the property in that division. The - tax is considerable, but the wise liberality of the citizens has done for - the town what only royalty usually accomplishes—given it magnificent - roads; and if good roads are a criterion of civilization, Chicago must - stand very high. But it needed a community with a great deal of daring and - confidence in the future to create this park system. - </p> - <p> - One in the heart of the city has not to drive three or four miles over - cobble-stones and ruts to get to good driving-ground. When he has entered - Michigan avenue he need not pull rein for twenty to thirty miles. This is - almost literally true as to extent, without counting the miles of fine - drives in the parks; for the city proper is circled by great parks, - already laid out as pleasure-grounds, tree-planted and beautified to a - high degree, although they are nothing to what cultivation will make them - in ten years more. On the lake shore, at the south, is Jackson Park; next - is Washington Park, twice as large as Central Park, New York; then, - farther to the west, and north, Douglas Park and Garfield Park; then - Humboldt Park, until we come round to Lincoln Park, on the lake shore on - the north side. These parks are all connected by broad boulevards, some of - which are not yet fully developed, thus forming a continuous park drive, - with enough of nature and enough of varied architecture for variety, - unsurpassed, I should say, in the world within any city limits. Washington - Park, with a slightly rolling surface and beautiful landscape-gardening, - has not only fine drive-ways, but a splendid road set apart for horsemen. - This is a dirt road, always well sprinkled, and the equestrian has a - chance besides of a gallop over springy turf. Water is now so abundantly - provided that this park is kept green in the driest season. From anywhere - in the south side one may mount his horse or enter his carriage for a turn - of fifteen or twenty miles on what is equivalent to a country road—that - is to say, an English country road. Of the effect of this facility on - social life I shall have occasion to speak. On the lake side of Washington - Park are the grounds of the Washington Park Racing Club, with a splendid - track, and stables and other facilities which, I am told, exceed anything - of the kind in the country. The club-house itself is very handsome and - commodious, is open to the members and their families summer and winter, - and makes a favorite rendezvous for that part of society which shares its - privileges. Besides its large dining and dancing halls, it has elegant - apartments set apart for ladies. In winter its hospitable rooms and big - wood fires are very attractive after a zero drive. - </p> - <p> - Almost equal facility for driving and riding is had on the north side by - taking the lake-shore drive to Lincoln Park. Too much cannot be said of - the beauty of this drive along the curving shore of an inland sea, ever - attractive in the play of changing lights and colors, and beginning to be - fronted by palatial houses—a foretaste of the coming Venetian - variety and splendor. The park itself, dignified by the Lincoln statue, is - an exquisite piece of restful landscape, looked over by a thickening - assemblage of stately residences. It is a quarter of spacious elegance. - </p> - <p> - One hardly knows how to speak justly of either the physical aspect or the - social life of Chicago, the present performance suggesting such promise - and immediate change. The excited admiration waits a little upon - expectation. I should like to sec it in five years—in ten years; it - is a formative period, but one of such excellence of execution that the - imagination takes a very high flight in anticipating the result of another - quarter of a century. What other city has begun so nobly or has planned so - liberally for metropolitan solidity, elegance, and recreation? What other - has such magnificent, avenues and boulevards, and such a system of parks? - The boy is born here who will see the town expanded far beyond these - splendid pleasure-grounds, and what is now the circumference of the city - will be to Chicago what the vernal gardens from St. James to Hampton are - to London. This anticipation hardly seems strange when one remembers what - Chicago was fifteen years ago. - </p> - <p> - Architecturally, Chicago is more interesting than many older cities. Its - wealth and opportunity for fine building coming when our national taste is - beginning to be individual, it has escaped the monotony and mediocrity in - which New York for so many years put its money, and out of the sameness of - which it is escaping in spots. Having also plenty of room, Chicago has - been able to avoid the block system in its residences, and to give play to - variety and creative genius. It is impossible to do much with the interior - of a house in a block, however much you may load the front with ornament. - Confined to a long parallelogram, and limited as to light and air, neither - comfort nor individual taste can be consulted or satisfied. Chicago is a - city of detached houses, in the humbler quarters as well as in the - magnificent avenues, and the effect is home-like and beautiful at the same - time. There is great variety—stone, brick, and wood intermingled, - plain and ornamental; but drive where you will in the favorite residence - parts of the vast city, you will be continually surprised with the sight - of noble and artistic houses and homes displaying taste as well as luxury. - In addition to the business and public buildings of which I spoke, there - are several, like the Art Museum, the Studebaker Building, and the new - Auditorium, which would be conspicuous and admired in any city in the - world. The city is rich in a few specimens of private houses by Mr. - Richardson (whose loss to the country is still apparently irreparable), - houses worth a long journey to see, so simple, so noble, so full of - comfort, sentiment, unique, having what may be called a charming - personality. As to interiors, there has been plenty of money spent in - Chicago in mere show; but, after all, I know of no other city that has - more character and individuality in its interiors, more evidences of - personal refinement and taste. There is, of course—Boston knows that—a - grace and richness in a dwelling in which generations have accumulated the - best fruits of wealth and cultivation; but any tasteful stranger here, I - am sure, will be surprised to find in a city so new so many homes pervaded - by the atmosphere of books and art and refined sensibility, due, I - imagine, mainly to the taste of the women, for while there are plenty of - men here who have taste, there are very few who have leisure to indulge - it; and I doubt if there was ever anywhere a livable house—a man can - build a palace, but he cannot make a home—that was not the creation - of a refined woman. I do not mean to say that Chicago is not still very - much the victim of the upholsterer, and that the eye is not offended by a - good deal that is gaudy and pretentious, but there is so much here that is - in exquisite taste that one has a hopeful heart about its future. - Everybody is not yet educated up to the “Richardson houses,” but nothing - is more certain than that they will powerfully influence all the future - architecture of the town. - </p> - <p> - Perhaps there never was before such an opportunity to study the growth of - an enormous city, physically and socially, as is offered now in Chicago, - where the development of half a century is condensed into a decade. In one - respect it differs from all other cities of anything like its size. It is - not only surrounded by a complete net-work of railways, but it is - permeated by them. The converging lines of twenty-one (I think it is) - railways paralleling each other or criss-crossing in the suburbs - concentrate upon fewer tracks as they enter the dense part of the city, - but they literally surround it, and actually pierce its heart. So complete - is this environment and interlacing that you cannot enter the city from - any direction without encountering a net-work of tracks. None of the - water-front, except a strip on the north side, is free from them. The - finest residence part of the south side, including the boulevards and - parks, is surrounded and cut by them. There are a few viaducts, but for - the most part the tracks occupy streets, and the crossings are at grade. - Along the Michigan avenue water-front and down the lake shore to Hyde - Park, on the Illinois Central and the Michigan Central and their - connections, the foreign and local trains pass incessantly (I believe over - sixty a day), and the Illinois crosses above Sixteenth Street, cutting all - the great southward avenues; and farther down, the tracks run between - Jackson Park and Washington Park, crossing at grade the 500-feet-wide - boulevard which connects these great parks and makes them one. These - tracks and grade crossings, from which so few parts of the city are free, - are a serious evil and danger, and the annoyance is increased by the - multiplicity of street railway’s, and by the swiftly running cable-cars, - which are a constant source of alarm to the timid. The railways present a - difficult problem. The town covers such a vast area (always extending in a - ratio that cannot be calculated) that to place all the passenger stations - outside would be a great inconvenience, to unite the lines in a single - station probably impracticable. In time, however, the roads must come in - on elevated viaducts, or concentrate in three or four stations which - communicate with the central parts of the town by elevated roads. - </p> - <p> - This state of things arose from the fact that the railways antedated, and - we may say made, the town, which has grown up along their lines. To a town - of pure business, transportation was the first requisite, and the newer - roads have been encouraged to penetrate as far into the city as they - could. Now that it is necessary to make it a city to live in safely and - agreeably, the railways are regarded from another point of view. I suppose - a sociologist would make some reflections on the effect of such a thorough - permeation of tracks, trains, engines, and traffic upon the temperament of - a town, the action of these exciting and irritating causes upon its - nervous centres. Living in a big railway-station must have an effect on - the nerves. At present this seems a legitimate part of the excited - activity of the city; but if it continues, with the rapid increase of - wealth and the growth of a leisure class, the inhabitants who can afford - to get away will live here only the few months necessary to do their - business and take a short season of social gayety, and then go to quieter - places early in the spring and for the summer months. - </p> - <p> - It is at this point of view that the value of the park system appears, not - only as a relief, as easily accessible recreation-grounds for the - inhabitants in every part of the city, but as an element in society life. - These parks, which I have already named, contain 1742 acres. The two south - parks, connected so as to be substantially one, have 957 acres. Their - great connecting boulevards are interfered with somewhat by - railway-tracks, and none of them, except Lincoln, can be reached without - crossing tracks on which locomotives run, yet, as has been said, the most - important of them are led to by good driving-roads from the heart of the - city. They have excellent roads set apart for equestrians as well as for - driving. These facilities induce the keeping of horses, the setting up of - fine equipages, and a display for which no other city has better - opportunity. This cannot but have an appreciable effect upon the growth of - luxury and display in this direction. Indeed, it is already true that the - city keeps more private carriages—for the pleasure not only of the - rich, but of the well-to-do—in proportion to its population, than - any other large city I know. These broad thoroughfares, kept free from - traffic, furnish excellent sleighing when it does not exist in the city - streets generally, and in the summer unequalled avenues for the show of - wealth and beauty and style. In a few years the turnouts on the Grand - Boulevard and the Lincoln Park drive will be worth going far to see for - those who admire—and who does not? for, the world over, wealth has - no spectacle more attractive to all classes—fine horses and the - splendor of moving equipages. And here is no cramped mile or two for - parade, like most of the fashionable drives of the world, but space - inviting healthful exercise as well as display. These broad avenues and - park outlooks, with ample ground-room, stimulate architectural rivalry, - and this opportunity for driving and riding and being on view cannot but - affect very strongly the social tone. The foresight of the busy men who - planned this park system is already vindicated. The public appreciate - their privileges. On fair days the driving avenues are thronged. One - Sunday afternoon in January, when the sleighing was good, some one - estimated that there were as many as ten thousand teams flying up and down - Michigan avenue and the Grand Boulevard. This was, of course, an - over-estimate, but the throng made a ten-thousand impression on the mind. - Perhaps it was a note of Western independence that a woman was here and - there seen “speeding” a fast horse, in a cutter, alone. - </p> - <p> - I suppose that most of these people had been to church in the morning, for - Chicago, which does everything it puts its hand to with tremendous energy, - is a church-going city, and I believe presents some contrast to Cincinnati - in this respect. Religious, mission, and Sunday-school work is very - active, churches are many, whatever the liberality of the creeds of a - majority of them, and there are several congregations of over two thousand - people. One vast music-hall and one theatre are thronged Sunday after - Sunday with organized, vigorous, worshipful congregations. Besides these - are the Sunday meetings for ethical culture and Christian science. It is - true that many of the theatres are open as on week-days, and there is a - vast foreign population that takes its day of rest in idleness or - base-ball and garden amusements, but the prevailing aspect of the city is - that of Sunday observance. There is a good deal of wholesome New England - in its tone. And it welcomes any form of activity—orthodoxy, - liberalism, revivals, ethical culture. - </p> - <p> - A special interest in Chicago at the moment is because it is forming—full - of contrasts and of promise, palaces and shanties side by side. Its forces - are gathered and accumulating, but not assimilated. What a mass of crude, - undigested material it has! In one region on the west side are twenty - thousand Bohemians and Poles; the street signs are all foreign and of - unpronounceable names—a physically strong, but mentally and morally - brutal, people for the most part; the adults generally do not speak - English, and claning as they do, they probably never will. There is no - hope that this generation will be intelligent American citizens, or be - otherwise than the political prey of demagogues. But their children are in - the excellent public schools, and will take in American ideas and take on - American ways. Still, the mill has about as much grist as it can grind at - present. - </p> - <p> - Social life is, speaking generally, as unformed, unselected, as the city—that - is, more fluid and undetermined than in Eastern large cities. That is - merely to say, however, that while it is American, it is young. When you - come to individuals, the people in society are largely from the East, or - have Eastern connections that determine their conduct. For twenty years - the great universities, Harvard, Yale, Amherst, Princeton, and the rest, - have been pouring in their young men here. There is no better element in - the world, and it is felt in every pulse of the town. Young couples marry - and come here from every sort of Eastern circle. But the town has grown so - fast, and so many new people have come into the ability suddenly to spend - money in fine houses and equipages, that the people do not know each - other. You may drive past miles of good houses, with a man who has grown - up with the town, who cannot tell you who any of the occupants of the - houses are. Men know each other on change, in the courts, in business, and - are beginning to know each other in clubs, but society has not got itself - sorted out and arranged, or discovered its elements. This is a - metropolitan trait, it is true, but the condition is socially very - different from what it is in New York or Boston; the small village - associations survive a little yet, struggling against the territorial - distances, but the social mass is still unorganized, although “society” is - a prominent feature in the newspapers. Of course it is understood that - there are people “in society,” and dinners, and all that, in nowise - different from the same people and events the world over. - </p> - <p> - A striking feature of the town is “youth,” visible in social life as well - as in business. An Eastern man is surprised to see so many young men in - responsible positions, at the head, or taking the managing oar, in great - moneyed institutions, in railway corporations, and in societies of charity - and culture. A young man, graduate of the city high-school, is at the same - time president of a prominent bank, president of the Board of Trade, and - president of the Art Institute. This youthful spirit must be contagious, - for apparently the more elderly men do not permit themselves to become - old, either in the business or the pleasures of life. Everything goes on - with youthful vim and spirit. - </p> - <p> - Next to the youth, and perhaps more noticeable, the characteristic feature - of Chicago is money-making, and the money power is as obtrusive socially - as on change. When we come to speak of educational and intellectual - tendencies, it will be seen how this spirit is being at once utilized and - mitigated; but for the moment money is the recognized power. How could it - be otherwise? Youth and energy did not flock here for pleasure or for - society, but simply for fortune. And success in money-getting was about - the only one considered. And it is still that by which Chicago is chiefly - known abroad, by that and by a certain consciousness of it which is - noticed. And as women reflect social conditions most vividly, it cannot be - denied that there is a type known in Europe and in the East as the Chicago - young woman, capable rather than timid, dashing rather than retiring, - quite able to take care of herself. But this is not by any means an - exhaustive account of the Chicago woman of to-day. - </p> - <p> - While it must be said that the men, as a rule, are too much absorbed in - business to give heed to anything else, yet even this statement will need - more qualification than would appear at first, when we come to consider - the educational, industrial, and reformatory projects. And indeed a - veritable exception is the Literary Club, of nearly two hundred members, a - mingling of business and professional men, who have fine rooms in the Art - Building, and meet weekly for papers and discussions. It is not in every - city that an equal number of busy men will give the time to this sort of - intellectual recreation. The energy here is superabundant; in whatever - direction it is exerted it is very effective; and it may be said, in the - language of the street, that if the men of Chicago seriously take hold of - culture, they will make it hum. - </p> - <p> - Still it remains true here, as elsewhere in the United States, that women - are in advance in the intellectual revival. One cannot yet predict what - will be the result of this continental furor for literary, scientific, and - study clubs—in some places in the East the literary wave has already - risen to the height of the scientific study of whist—but for the - time being Chicago women are in the full swing of literary life. Mr. - Browning says that more of his books are sold in Chicago than in any other - American city. Granting some affectation, some passing fashion, in the - Browning, Dante, and Shakespeare clubs, I think it is true that the - Chicago woman, who is imbued with the energy of the place, is more serious - in her work than are women in many other places; at least she is more - enthusiastic. Her spirit is open, more that of frank admiration than of - criticism of both literature and of authors. This carries her not only - further into the heart of literature itself, but into a genuine enjoyment - of it—wanting almost to some circles at the East, who are too - cultivated to admire with warmth or to surrender themselves to the - delights of learning, but find their avocation rather in what may be - called literary detraction, the spirit being that of dissection of authors - and books, much as social gossips pick to pieces the characters of those - of their own set. And one occupation is as good as the other. Chicago has - some reputation for beauty, for having pretty, dashing, and attractive - women; it is as much entitled to be considered for its intelligent women - who are intellectually agreeable. Comparisons are very unsafe, but it is - my impression that there is more love for books in Chicago than in New - York society, and less of the critical, <i>nil admirari</i> spirit than in - Boston. - </p> - <p> - It might be an indication of no value (only of the taste of individuals) - that books should be the principal “favors” at a fashionable german, but - there is a book-store in the city whose evidence cannot be set aside by - reference to any freak of fashion. McClurg’s book-store is a very - extensive establishment in all departments—publishing, - manufacturing, retailing, wholesaling, and importing. In some respects it - has not its equal in this country. The book-lover, whether he comes from - London or New York, will find there a stock, constantly sold and - constantly replenished, of books rare, curious, interesting, that will - surprise him. The general intelligence that sustains a retail shop of this - variety and magnitude must be considerable, and speaks of a taste for - books with which the city has not been credited; but the cultivation, the - special love of books for themselves, which makes possible this rich - corner of rare and imported books at McClurg’s, would be noticeable in any - city, and women as well as men in Chicago are buyers and appreciators of - first editions, autograph and presentation copies, and books valued - because they are scarce and rare. - </p> - <p> - Chicago has a physical peculiarity that radically affects its social - condition, and prevents its becoming homogeneous. It has one business - centre and three distinct residence parts, divided by the branching river. - Communication between the residence sections has to be made through the - business city, and is further hindered by the bridge crossings, which - cause irritating delays the greater part of the year. The result is that - three villages grew up, now become cities in size, and each with a - peculiar character. The north side was originally the more aristocratic, - and having fewer railways and a less-occupied-with-business lake front, - was the more agreeable as a place of residence, always having the drawback - of the bridge crossings to the business part. After the great fire, - building lots were cheaper there than on the south side within reasonable - distance of the active city. It has grown amazingly, and is beautified by - stately bouses and fine architecture, and would probably still be called - the more desirable place of residence. But the south side has two great - advantages—easy access to the business centre and to the great - southern parks and pleasure-grounds. This latter would decide many to live - there. The vast west side, with its lumber-yards and factories, its - foreign settlements, and its population outnumbering the two other - sections combined, is practically an unknown region socially to the north - side and south side. The causes which produced three villages surrounding - a common business centre will continue to operate. The west side will - continue to expand with cheap houses, or even elegant residences on the - park avenues—it is the glory of Chicago that such a large proportion - of its houses are owned by their occupants, and that there are few - tenement rookeries, and even few gigantic apartment houses—over a - limitless prairie; the north side will grow in increasing beauty about - Lincoln Park; and the south side will more and more gravitate with - imposing houses about the attractive south parks. Thus the two fashionable - parts of the city, separated by five, eight, and ten miles, will develop a - social life of their own, about as distinct as New York and Brooklyn. It - remains to be seen which will call the other “Brooklyn.” At present these - divisions account for much of the disorganization of social life, and - prevent that concentration which seems essential to the highest social - development. - </p> - <p> - In this situation Chicago is original, as she is in many other ways, and - it makes one of the interesting phases in the guesses at her future. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - X.—CHICAGO [<i>Second Paper</i>.] - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>he country gets - its impression of Chicago largely from the Chicago newspapers. In my - observation, the impression is wrong. The press is able, vigorous, - voluminous, full of enterprise, alert, spirited; its news columns are - marvellous in quantity, if not in quality; nowhere are important events, - public meetings, and demonstrations more fully, graphically, and - satisfactorily reported; it has keen and competent writers in several - departments of criticism—theatrical, musical, and occasionally - literary; independence, with less of personal bias than in some other - cities; the editorial pages of most of the newspapers are bright, - sparkling, witty, not seldom spiced with knowing drollery, and strong, - vivid, well-informed and well-written, in the discussion of public - questions, with an allowance always to be made for the “personal equation” - in dealing with particular men and measures—as little provincial in - this respect as any press in the country. - </p> - <p> - But it lacks tone, elevation of purpose; it represents to the world the - inferior elements of a great city rather than the better, under a mistaken - notion in the press and the public, not confined to Chicago, as to what is - “news.” It cannot escape the charge of being highly sensational; that is, - the elevation into notoriety of mean persons and mean events by every - rhetorical and pictorial device. Day after day the leading news, the most - displayed and most conspicuous, will be of vulgar men and women, and all - the more expanded if it have in it a spice of scandal. This sort of - reading creates a diseased appetite, which requires a stronger dose daily - to satisfy; and people who read it lose their relish for the higher, more - decent, if less piquant, news of the world. Of course the Chicago - newspapers are not by any means alone in this course; it is a disease of - the time. Even New York has recently imitated successfully this feature of - what is called “Western journalism.” - </p> - <p> - But it is largely from the Chicago newspapers that the impression has gone - abroad that the city is preeminent in divorces, pre-eminent in scandals, - that its society is fast, that it is vulgar and pretentious, that its tone - is “shoddy,” and its culture a sham. The laws of Illinois in regard to - divorces are not more lax than in some Eastern States, and divorces are - not more numerous there of residents (according to population) than in - some Eastern towns; but while the press of the latter give merely an - official line to the court separations, the Chicago papers parade all the - details, and illustrate them with pictures. Many people go there to get - divorces, because they avoid scandal at their homes, and because the - Chicago courts offer unusual facilities in being open every month in the - year. Chicago has a young, mobile population, an immense foreign brutal - element. I watched for some weeks the daily reports of divorces and - scandals. Almost without exception they related to the lower, not to say - the more vulgar, portions of social life. In several years the city has - had, I believe, only two <i>causes célèbres</i> in what is called good - society—a remarkable record for a city of its size. Of course a city - of this magnitude and mobility is not free from vice and immorality and - fast living; but I am compelled to record the deliberate opinion, formed - on a good deal of observation and inquiry, that the moral tone in Chicago - society, in all the well-to-do industrious classes which give the town its - distinctive character, is purer and higher than in any other city of its - size with which I am acquainted, and purer than in many much smaller. The - tone is not so fast, public opinion is more restrictive, and women take, - and are disposed to take, less latitude in conduct. This was not my - impression from the newspapers. But it is true not only that social life - holds itself to great propriety, but that the moral atmosphere is - uncommonly pure and wholesome. At the same time, the city does not lack - gayety of movement, and it would not be called prudish, nor in some - respects conventional. - </p> - <p> - It is curious, also, that the newspapers, or some of them, take pleasure - in mocking at the culture of the town. Outside papers catch this spirit, - and the “culture” of Chicago is the butt of the paragraphers. It is a - singular attitude for newspapers to take regarding their own city. Not - long ago Mr. McClurg published a very neat volume, in vellum, of the - fragments of Sappho, with translations. If the volume had appeared in - Boston it would have been welcomed and most respectfully received in - Chicago. But instead of regarding it as an evidence of the growing - literary taste of the new town, the humorists saw occasion in it for - exquisite mockery in the juxtaposition of Sappho with the modern ability - to kill seven pigs a minute, and in the cleverest and most humorous manner - set all the country in a roar over the incongruity. It goes without saying - that the business men of Chicago were not sitting up nights to study the - Greek poets in the original; but the fact was that there was enough - literary taste in the city to make the volume a profitable venture, and - that its appearance was an evidence of intellectual activity and scholarly - inclination that would be creditable to any city in the land. It was not - at all my intention to intrude my impressions of a newspaper press so very - able and with such magnificent opportunities as that of Chicago, but it - was unavoidable to mention one of the causes of the misapprehension of the - social and moral condition of the city. - </p> - <p> - The business statistics of Chicago, and the story of its growth, and the - social movement, which have been touched on in a previous paper, give only - a half-picture of the life of the town. The prophecy for its great and - more hopeful future is in other exhibitions of its incessant activity. My - limits permit only a reference to its churches, extensive charities (which - alone would make a remarkable and most creditable chapter), hospitals, - medical schools, and conservatories of music. Club life is attaining - metropolitan proportions. There is on the south side the Chicago, the - Union League, the University, the Calumet, and on the north side the Union—all - vigorous, and most of them housed in superb buildings of their own. The - Women’s Exchange is a most useful organization, and the Ladies’ - Fortnightly ranks with the best intellectual associations in the country. - The Commercial Club, composed of sixty representative business men in all - departments, is a most vital element in the prosperity of the city. I - cannot dwell upon these. But at least a word must be said about the - charities, and some space must be given to the schools. - </p> - <p> - The number of solicitors for far West churches and colleges who pass by - Chicago and come to Xew York and New England for money have created the - impression that Chicago is not a good place to go for this purpose. - Whatever may be the truth of this, the city does give royally for private - charities, and liberally for mission work beyond her borders. It is - estimated by those familiar with the subject that Chicago contributes for - charitable and religious purposes, exclusive of the public charities of - the city and county, not less than five millions of dollars annually. I - have not room to give even the partial list of the benevolent societies - that lies before me, but beginning with the Chicago Relief and Aid, and - the Armour Mission, and going down to lesser organizations, the sum - annually given by them is considerably over half a million dollars. The - amount raised by the churches of various denominations for religious - purposes is not less than four millions yearly. These figures prove the - liberality, and I am able to add that the charities are most - sympathetically and intelligently administered. - </p> - <p> - Inviting, by its opportunities for labor and its facilities for business, - comers from all the world, a large proportion of whom are aliens to the - language and institutions of America, Chicago is making a noble fight to - assimilate this material into good citizenship. The popular schools are - liberally sustained, intelligently directed, practise the most advanced - and inspiring methods, and exhibit excellent results. I have not the - statistics of 1887; but in 1886, when the population was only 703,000, - there were 129,000 between the ages of six and sixteen, of whom 83,000 - were enrolled as pupils, and the average daily attendance in schools was - over 65,000. Besides these there were about 43,000 in private schools. The - census of 1886 reports only 34 children between the ages of six and - twenty-one who could neither read nor write. There were 91 school - buildings owned by the city, and two rented. Of these, three are - high-schools, one in each division, the newest, on the west side, having - 1000 students. The school attendance increases by a large per cent, each - year. The principals of the high-schools were men; of the grammar and - primary schools, 35 men and 42 women. The total of teachers was 1440, of - whom 56 were men. By the census of 1886 there were 106,929 children in the - city under six years of age. No kindergartens are attached to the public - schools, but the question of attaching them is agitated. In the lower - grades, however, the instruction is by object lessons, drawing, writing, - modelling, and exercises that train the eye to observe, the tongue to - describe, and that awaken attention without weariness. The alertness of - the scholars and the enthusiasm of the teachers were marked. It should be - added that German is extensively taught in the grammar schools, and that - the number enrolled in the German classes in 1886 was over 28,000. There - is some public sentiment for throwing out German from the public schools, - and generally for restricting studies in the higher branches. - </p> - <p> - The argument against this is that very few of the children, and the - majority of those girls, enter the high-schools; the boys are taken out - early for business, and get no education afterwards. In 1885 were - organized public elementary evening schools (which had, in 1886, 6709 - pupils), and an evening high-school, in which book-keeping, stenography, - mechanical drawing, and advanced mathematics were taught. The Sehool - Committee also have in charge day schools for the education of deaf and - dumb children. - </p> - <p> - The total expenditure for 1880 was $2,000,803; this includes $1,023,394 - paid to superintendents and teachers, and large sums for new buildings, - apparatus, and repairs. The total cash receipts for sehool purposes were - $2,091,951. Of this was from the school tax fund $1,758,053 (the total - city tax for all purposes was $5,308,409), and the rest from State - dividend and sehool fund bonds and miscellaneous sources. These figures - show that education is not neglected. - </p> - <p> - Of the quality and efficacy of this education there cannot be two - opinions, as seen in the schools whieh I visited. The high-school on the - west side is a model of its kind; but perhaps as interesting an example of - popular education as any is the Franklin grammar and primary school on the - north side, in a district of laboring people. Here were 1700 pupils, all - children of working people, mostly Swedes and Germans, from the age of six - years upwards. Here were found some of the children of the late - anarchists, and nowhere else can one see a more interesting attempt to - manufacture intelligent American citizens. The instruction rises through - the several grades from object lessons, drawing, writing and reading (and - writing and reading well), to elementary physiology, political and - constitutional history, and physical geography. Here is taught to young - children what they cannot learn at home, and might never clearly - comprehend otherwise; not only something of the geography and history of - the country, but the distinctive principles of our government, its - constitutional ideas, the growth, creeds, and relations of political - parties, and the personality of the great men who have represented them. - That the pupils comprehend these subjects fairly well I had evidence in - recitations that were as pleasing as surprising. In this way Chicago is - teaching its alien population American ideas, and it is fair to presume - that the rising generation will have some notion of the nature and value - of our institutions that will save them from the inclination to destroy - them. - </p> - <p> - The public mind is agitated a good deal on the question of the - introduction of manual training into the public schools. The idea of some - people is that manual training should only be used as an aid to mental - training, in order to give definiteness and accuracy to thought; others - would like actual trades taught; and others think that it is outside the - function of the State to teach anything but elementary mental studies. The - subject would require an essay by itself, and I only allude to it to say - that Chicago is quite alive to the problems and the most advanced - educational ideas. If one would like to study the philosophy and the - practical working of what may be called physico-mental training, I know no - better place in the country to do so than the Cook County Normal School, - near Englewood, under the charge of Colonel F. W. Parker, the originator - of what is known as the Quincy (Massachusetts) System. This is a training - school for about 100 teachers, in a building where they have practice on - about 500 children in all stages of education, from the kindergarten up to - the eighth grade. This may be called a thorough manual training school, - but not to teach trades, work being done in drawing, modelling in clay, - making raised maps, and wood-carving. The Quincy System, which is - sometimes described as the development of character by developing mind and - body, has a literature to itself. This remarkable school, which draws - teachers for training from all over the country, is a notable instance of - the hospitality of the West to new and advanced ideas. It does not neglect - the literary side in education. Here and in some of the grammar schools of - Chicago the experiment is successfully tried of interesting young children - in the best literature by reading to them from the works of the best - authors, ancient and modern, and giving them a taste for what is - excellent, instead of the trash that is likely to fall into their hands—the - cultivation of sustained and consecutive interest in narratives, essays, - and descriptions in good literature, in place of the scrappy selections - and reading-books written down to the childish level. The written comments - and criticisms of the children on what they acquire in this way are a - perfect vindication of the experiment. It is to be said also that this - sort of education, coupled with the manual training, and the inculcated - love for order and neatness, is beginning to tell on the homes of these - children. The parents are actually being educated and civilized through - the public schools. - </p> - <p> - An opportunity for superior technical education is given in the Chicago - Manual Training School, founded and sustained by the Commercial Club. It - has a handsome and commodious building on the corner of Michigan avenue - and Twelfth Street, which accommodates over two hundred pupils, under the - direction of Dr. Henry H. Belfield, assisted by an able corps of teachers - and practical mechanics. It has only been in operation since 1884, but has - fully demonstrated its usefulness in the training of young men for places - of responsibility and profit. Some of the pupils are from the city - schools, but it is open to all boys of good character and promise. The - course is three years, in which the tuition is $80, $100, and $120 a year; - but the club provides for the payment of the tuition of a limited number - of deserving boys whose parents lack the means to give them this sort of - education. The course includes the higher mathematics, English, and French - or Latin, physics, chemistry—in short, a high-school course—with - drawing, and all sorts of technical training in work in wood and iron, the - use and making of tools, and the building of machinery, up to the - construction of steam-engines, stationary and locomotive. Throughout the - course one hour each day is given to drawing, two hours to shop-work, and - the remainder of the school day to study and recitation. The shops—the - wood-work rooms, the foundery, the forge-room, the machine-shop—are - exceedingly well equipped and well managed. The visitor cannot but be - pleased by the tone of the school and the intelligent enthusiasm of the - pupils. It is an institution likely to grow, and perhaps become the - nucleus of a great technical school, which the West much needs. It is - worthy of notice also as an illustration of the public spirit, sagacity, - and liberality of the Chicago business men. They probably sec that if the - city is greatly to increase its importance as a manufacturing centre, it - must train a considerable proportion of its population to the highest - skilled labor, and that splendidly equipped and ably taught technical - schools would do for Chicago what similar institutions in Zurich have done - for Switzerland. Chicago is ready for a really comprehensive technical and - industrial college, and probably no other investment would now add more to - the solid prosperity and wealth of the town. - </p> - <p> - Such an institution would not hinder, but rather help, the higher - education, without which the best technical education tends to materialize - life. Chicago must before long recognize the value of the intellectual - side by beginning the foundation of a college of pure learning. For in - nothing is the Western society of to-day more in danger than in the - superficial half-education which is called “practical,” and in the lack of - logic and philosophy. The tendency to the literary side—awakening a - love for good books—in the public schools is very hopeful. The - existence of some well-chosen private libraries shows the same tendency. - In art and archæology there is also much promise. The Art Institute is a - very fine building, with a vigorous school in drawing and painting, and - its occasional loan exhibitions show that the city contains a good many - fine pictures, though scarcely proportioned to its wealth. The Historical - Society, which has had the irreparable misfortune twice to lose its entire - collections by fire, is beginning anew with vigor, and will shortly erect - a building from its own funds. Among the private collections which have a - historical value is that relating to the Indian history of the West made - by Mr. Edward Ayer, and a large library of rare and scarce books, mostly - of the English Shakespeare period, by the Rev. Frank M. Bristoll. These, - together with the remarkable collection of Mr. C. F. Gunther (of which - further mention will be made), are prophecies of a great literary and - archaeological museum. - </p> - <p> - The city has reason to be proud of its Free Public Library, organized - under the general library law of Illinois, which permits the support of a - free library in every incorporated city, town, and township by taxation. - This library is sustained by a tax of one halfmill on the assessed value - of all the city property. This brings it in now about $80,000 a year, - which makes its income for 1888, together with its fund and fines, about - $90,000. It is at present housed in the City Hall, but will soon have a - building of its own (on Dearborn Park), towards the erection of which it - has a considerable fund. It has about 130,000 volumes, including a fair - reference library and many expensive art books. The institution has been - well managed hitherto, notwithstanding its connection with politics in the - appointment of the trustees by the mayor, and its dependence upon the city - councils. The reading-rooms are thronged daily; the average daily - circulation has increased yearly; it was 2263 in 1887—a gain of - eleven per cent, over the preceding year. This is stimulated by the - establishment of eight delivering stations in different parts of the city. - The cosmopolitan character of the users of the library is indicated by the - uncommon number of German, French, Dutch, Bohemian, Polish, and - Scandinavian books. Of the books issued at the delivery stations in 1887 - twelve per cent, were in the Bohemian language. The encouraging thing - about this free library is that it is not only freely used, but that it is - as freely sustained by the voting population. - </p> - <p> - Another institution, which promises to have still more influence on the - city, and indeed on the whole North-west, is the Newberry Library, now - organizing under an able board of trustees, who have chosen Mr. W. F. - Poole as librarian. The munificent fund of the donor is now reckoned at - about 82,500,000, but the value of the property will be very much more - than this in a few years. A temporary building for the library, which is - slowly forming, will be erected at once, but the library, which is to - occupy a square on the north side, will not be erected until the plans are - fully matured. It is to be a library of reference and study solely, and it - is in contemplation to have the books distributed in separate rooms for - each department, with ample facilities for reading and study in each room. - If the library is built and the collections are made in accordance with - the ample means at command, and in the spirit of its projectors, it will - powerfully tend to make Chicago not only the money but the intellectual - centre of the North-west, and attract to it hosts of students from all - quarters. One can hardly over-estimate the influence that such a library - as this may be will have upon the character and the attractiveness of the - city. - </p> - <p> - I hope that it will have ample space for, and that it will receive, - certain literary collections, such as are the glory and the attraction, - both to students and sight-seers, of the great libraries of the world. And - this leads me to speak of the treasures of Mr. Gunther, the most - remarkable private collection I have ever seen, and already worthy to rank - with some of the most famous on public exhibition. Mr. Gunther is a candy - manufacturer, who has an archaeological and “curio” taste, and for many - years has devoted an amount of money to the purchase of historical relics - that if known would probably astonish the public. Only specimens of what - he has can be displayed in the large apartment set apart for the purpose - over his shop. The collection is miscellaneous, forming a varied and most - interesting museum. It contains relics—many of them unique, and most - of them having a historical value—from many lands and all periods - since the Middle Ages, and is strong in relics and documents relating to - our own history, from the colonial period down to the close of our civil - war. But the distinction of the collection is in its original letters and - manuscripts of famous people, and its missals, illuminated manuscripts, - and rare books. It is hardly possible to mention a name famous since - America was discovered that is not here represented by an autograph letter - or some personal relics. We may pass by such mementos as the Appomattox - table, a sampler worked by Queen Elizabeth, a prayer-book of Mary, Queen - of Scots, personal belongings of Washington, Lincoln, and hundreds of - other historical characters, but we must give a little space to the books - and manuscripts, in order that it may be seen that all the wealth of - Chicago is not in grain and meat. - </p> - <p> - It is only possible here to name a few of the original letters, - manuscripts, and historical papers in this wonderful collection of over - seventeen thousand. Most of the great names in the literature of our era - are represented. There is an autograph letter of Molière, the only one - known outside of France, except one in the British Museum; there are - letters of Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Madame Roland, and other French writers. - It is understood that this is not a collection of mere autographs, but of - letters or original manuscripts of those named. In Germany, nearly all the - great poets and writers—Goethe, Schiller, Uhland, Lessing, etc.; in - England, Milton, Pope, Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Cowper, - Hunt, Gray, etc.; the manuscript of Byron’s “Prometheus,” the “Auld Lang - Syne” of Burns, and his “Journal in the Highlands,” “Sweet Home” in the - author’s hand; a poem by Thackeray; manuscript stories of Scott and - Dickens. Among the Italians, Tasso. In America, the known authors, almost - without exception. There are letters from nearly all the prominent - reformers—Calvin, Melanehthon, Zwingle, Erasmus, Savonarola; a - letter of Luther in regard to the Pope’s bull; letters of prominent - leaders—William the Silent, John the Steadfast, Gustavus Adolphus, - Wallenstein. There is a curious collection of letters of the saints—St. - Francis de Sales, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Borromeo; letters of the Popes - for three centuries and a half, and of many of the great cardinals. - </p> - <p> - I must set down a few more of the noted names, and that without much - order. There is a manuscript of Charlotte Corday (probably the only one in - this country), John Bunyan, Izaak Walton, John Cotton, Michael Angelo, - Galileo, Lorenzo the Magnificent; letters of Queen Elizabeth, Mary, Queen - of Scots, Mary of England, Anne, several of Victoria (one at the age of - twelve), Catherine de’ Medici, Marie Antoinette, Josephine, Marie Louise; - letters of all the Napoleons, of Frederick the Great, Marat, Robespierre, - St. Just; a letter of Hernando Cortez to Charles the Fifth; a letter of - Alverez; letters of kings of all European nations, and statesmen and - generals without number. - </p> - <p> - The collection is rich in colonial and Revolutionary material; original - letters from Plymouth Colony, 1621, 1622,1623—I believe the only - ones known; manuscript sermons of the early American ministers; letters of - the first bishops, White and Seabury; letters of John André, Nathan Hale, - Kosciusko, Pulaski, De Kalb, Steuben, and of great numbers of the general - and subordinate officers of the French and Revolutionary wars; William - Tudor’s manuscript account of the battle of Bunker Hill; a letter of - Aide-de-camp Robert Orhm to the Governor of Pennsylvania relating - Braddock’s defeat; the original of Washington’s first Thanksgiving - proclamation; the report of the committee of the Continental Congress on - its visit to Valley Forge on the distress of the army; the original - proceedings of the Commissioners of the Colonies at Cambridge for the - organization of the Continental army; original returns of the Hessians - captured at Princeton; orderly books of the Continental army; manuscripts - and surveys of the early explorers; letters of Lafitte, the pirate, Paul - Jones, Captain Lawrence, Bainbridge, and so on. Documents relating to the - Washington family are very remarkable: the original will of Lawrence - Washington bequeathing Mount Vernon to George; will of John Custis to his - family; letters of Martha, of Mary, the mother of George, of Betty Lewis, - his sister, of all his step and grand children of the Custis family. - </p> - <p> - In music there are the original manuscript compositions of all the leading - musicians in our modern world, and there is a large collection of the - choral books from ancient monasteries and churches. There are exquisite - illuminated missals on parchment of all periods from the eighth century. - Of the large array of Bibles and other early printed books it is - impossible to speak, except in a general way. There is a copy of the first - English Bible, Coverdale’s, also of the very rare second Matthews, and of - most of the other editions of the English Bible; the first Scotch, Irish, - French, Welsh, and German Luther Bibles; the first Eliot’s Indian Bible, - of 1662, and the second, of 1685; the first American Bibles; the first - American primers, almanacs, newspapers, and the first patent, issued in - 1794; the first book printed in Boston; the first printed accounts of New - York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia; the - first picture of New York City, an original plan of the city in 1700, and - one of it in 1765; early surveys of Boston, Philadelphia, and New York; - the earliest maps of America, including the first, second, and third map - of the world in which America appears. - </p> - <p> - Returning to England, there are the Shakespeare folio editions of 1632 and - 1685; the first of his printed “Poems” and the “Rape of Lucrece;” an early - quarto of “Othello;” the first edition of Ben Jonson, 1616, in which - Shakespeare’s name appears in the cast for a play; and letters from the - Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare’s friend, and Sir Walter Raleigh, Francis - Bacon, and Essex. There is also a letter written by Oliver Cromwell while - he was engaged in the conquest of Ireland. - </p> - <p> - The relics, documents, and letters illustrating our civil war are - constantly being added to. There are many old engravings, caricatures, and - broadsides. Of oil-portraits there are three originals of Washington, one - by Stuart, one by Peale, one by Polk, and I think I remember one or two - miniatures. There is also a portrait in oil of Shakespeare which may - become important. The original canvas has been remounted, and there are - indubitable signs of its age, although the picture can be traced back only - about one hundred and fifty years. The Owner hopes to be able to prove - that it is a contemporary work. The interesting fact about it is that - whilc it is not remarkable as a work of art, it is recognizable at once as - a likeness of what we suppose from other portraits and the busts to be the - face and head of Shakespeare, and yet it is different from all other - pictures w know, so that it does not suggest itself as a copy. - </p> - <p> - The most important of Mr. Gunther’s collection is an autograph of - Shakespeare; if it prove to be genuine, it will be one of the four in the - world, and a great possession for America. This autograph is pasted on the - fly-leaf of a folio of 1632, which was the property of one John Ward. In - 1839 there was published in London, from manuscripts in possession of the - Medical Society, extracts from the diary of John Ward (1648-1679), who was - vicar and doctor at Stratford-on-Avon. It is to this diary that we owe - certain facts theretofore unknown about Shakespeare. The editor, Mr. - Stevens, had this volume in his hands while he was compiling his book, and - refers to it in his preface. He supposed it to have belonged to the John - Ward, vicar, who kept the diary. It turns out, however, to have been the - property of John Ward the actor, who was in Stratford in 1740, was an - enthusiast in the revival of Shakespeare, and played Hamlet there in order - to raise money to repair the bust of the poet in the church. This folio - has the appearance of being much used. On the fly-leaf is writing by Ward - and his signature; there are marginal notes and directions in his hand, - and several of the pages from which parts were torn off have been repaired - by manuscript text neatly joined. - </p> - <p> - The Shakespeare signature is pasted on the leaf above Ward’s name. The - paper on which it is written is unlike that of the book in texture. The - slip was pasted on when the leaf was not as brown as it is now, as can be - seen at one end where it is lifted. The signature is written out fairly - and in full, <i>William Shakspeare</i>, like the one to the will, and - differs from the two others, which are hasty scrawls, as if the writer - were cramped for room, or finished off the last syllable with a flourish, - indifferent to the formation of the letters. I had the opportunity to - compare it with a careful tracing of the signature to the will sent over - by Mr. Hallowell-Phillips. At first sight the two signatures appear to be - identical; but on examination they are not; there is just that difference - in the strokes, spaces, and formation of the letters that always appears - in two signatures by the same hand. One is not a copy of the other, and - the one in the folio had to me the unmistakable stamp of genuineness. The - experts in handwriting and the micro-scopists in this country who have - examined ink and paper as to antiquity, I understand, regard it as - genuine. - </p> - <p> - There seems to be all along the line no reason to suspect forgery. What - more natural than that John Ward, the owner of the book, and a Shakespeare - enthusiast, should have enriched his beloved volume with an autograph - which he found somewhere in Stratford? And in 1740 there was no craze or - controversy about Shakespeare to make the forgery of his autograph an - object. And there is no suspicion that the book has been doctored for a - market. It never was sold for a price. It was found in Utah, whither it - had drifted from England in the possession of an emigrant, and he readily - gave it in exchange for a new and fresh edition of Shakespeare’s works. - </p> - <p> - I have dwelt upon this collection at some length, first because of its - intrinsic value, second because of its importance to Chicago as a nucleus - for what (I hope in connection with the Newberry Library) will become one - of the most interesting museums in the country, and lastly as an - illustration of what a Western business man may do with his money. - </p> - <p> - New York is the first and Chicago the second base of operations on this - continent—the second in point of departure, I will not say for - another civilization, but for a great civilizing and conquering movement, - at once a reservoir and distributing point of energy, power, and money. - And precisely here is to be fought out and settled some of the most - important problems concerning labor, supply, and transportation. Striking - as are the operations of merchants, manufacturers, and traders, nothing in - the city makes a greater appeal to the imagination than the railways that - centre there, whether we consider their fifty thousand miles of track, the - enormous investment in them, or their competition for the carrying trade - of the vast regions they pierce, and apparently compel to be tributary to - the central city. The story of their building would read like a romance, - and a simple statement of their organization, management, and business - rivals the affairs of an empire. The present development of a belt road - round the city, to serve as a track of freight exchange for all the lines, - like the transfer grounds between St. Paul and Minneapolis, is found to be - an affair of great magnitude, as must needs be to accommodate lines of - traffic that represent an investment in stock and bonds of $1,305,000,000. - </p> - <p> - As it is not my purpose to describe the railway systems of the West, but - only to speak of some of the problems involved in them, it will suffice to - mention two of the leading corporations. Passing by the great eastern - lines, and those like the Illinois Central, and the Chicago, Alton, and - St. Louis, and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé, which are operating - mainly to the south and south-west, and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. - Paul, one of the greatest corporations, with a mileage which had reached - 4921, December 1, 1885, and has increased since, we may name the Chicago - and North-western, and the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. Each of these - great systems, which has grown by accretion and extension and - consolidations of small roads, operates over four thousand miles of road, - leaving out from the North-western’s mileage that of the Omaha system, - which it controls. Looked at on the map, each of these systems completely - occupies a vast territory, the one mainly to the north of the other, but - they interlace to some extent and parallel each other in very important - competitions. - </p> - <p> - The North-western system, which includes, besides the lines that-have its - name, the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha, the Fremont; Elkhorn, and - Missouri Valley, and several minor roads, occupies northern Illinois and - southern Wisconsin, sends a line along Lake Michigan to Lake Superior, - with branches, a line to St. Paul, with branches tapping Lake Superior - again at Bayfield and Duluth, sends another trunk line, with branches, - into the far fields of Dakota, drops down a tangle of lines through Iowa - and into Nebraska, sends another great line through northern Nebraska into - Wyoming, with a divergence into the Black Hills, and runs all these - feeders into Chicago by another trunk line from Omaha. By the report of - 1887 the gross earnings of this system (in round numbers) were over - twenty-six millions, expenses over twenty millions, leaving a net income - of over six million dollars. In these items the receipts for freight were - over nineteen millions, and from passengers less than six millions. Not to - enter into confusing details, the magnitude of the system is shown in the - general balance-sheet for May, 1887, when the cost of road (4101 miles), - the sinking funds, the general assets, and the operating assets foot up - $176,048,000. Over 3500 miles of this road are laid with steel rails; the - equipment required 735 engines and over 23,000 cars of all sorts. It is - worthy of note that a table makes the net earnings of 4000 miles of road, - 1887, only a little more than those of 3000 miles of road in 1882—a - greater gain evidently to the public than to the railroad. - </p> - <p> - In speaking of this system territorially, I have included the Chicago, St. - Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha, but not in the above figures. The two - systems have the same president, but different general managers and other - officials, and the reports are separate. To the over 4000 miles of the - other North-western lines, therefore, are to be added the 1360 miles of - the Omaha system (report of December, 1886, since considerably increased). - The balance-sheet of the Omaha system (December, 1886) shows a cost of - over fifty-seven millions. Its total net earnings over operating expenses - and taxes were about $2,304,000. It then required an equipment of 194 - locomotives and about 6000 cars. These figures are not, of course, given - for specific railroad information, but merely to give a general idea of - the magnitude of operations. This may be illustrated by another item. - During the year for which the above figures have been given the entire - North-western system ran on the average 415 passenger and 732 freight - trains each day through the year. It may also be an interesting comparison - to say that all the railways in Connecticut, including those that run into - other States, have 416 locomotives, 668 passenger cars, and 11,502 other - cars, and that their total mileage in the State is 1405 miles. - </p> - <p> - The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy (report of December, 1886) was - operating 4036 miles of road. Its only eccentric development was the - recent Burlington and Northern, up the Mississippi River to St. Paul. Its - main stem from Chicago branches out over northern and western Illinois, - runs down to St. Louis, from thence to Kansas City by way of Hannibal, has - a trunk line to Omaha, criss-crosses northern Missouri and southern Iowa, - skirts and pierces Kansas, and fairly occupies three-quarters of Nebraska - with a network of tracks, sending out lines north of the Platte, and one - to Cheyenne and one to Denver. The whole amount of stock and bonds, - December, 1886, was reported at $155,920,000. The gross earnings for 1886 - were over twenty-six millions (over nineteen of which was for freight and - over five for passengers), operating expenses over fourteen millions, - leaving over twelve millions net earnings. The system that year paid eight - per cent, dividends (as it had done for a long series of years), leaving - over fixed charges and dividends about a million and a half to be carried - to surplus or construction outlays. The equipment for the year required - 619 engines and over 24,000 cars. These figures do not give the exact - present condition of the road, but only indicate the magnitude of its - affairs. - </p> - <p> - Both these great systems have been well managed, and both have been, and - continue to be, great agents in developing the West. Both have been - profitable to investors. The comparatively small cost of building roads in - the West and the profit hitherto have invited capital, and stimulated the - construction of roads not absolutely needed. There are too many miles of - road for capitalists. Are there too many for the accommodation of the - public? What locality would be willing to surrender its road? - </p> - <p> - It is difficult to understand the attitude of the Western Granger and the - Western Legislatures towards the railways, or it would be if we didn’t - understand pretty well the nature of demagogues the world over. The people - are everywhere crazy for roads, for more and more roads. The whole West we - are considering is made by railways. Without them the larger part of it - would be uninhabitable, the lands of small value, produce useless for want - of a market. No railways, no civilization. Year by year settlements have - increased in all regions touched by railways, land has risen in price, and - freight charges have diminished. And yet no sooner do the people get the - railways near them than they become hostile to the companies; hostility to - railway corporations seems to be the dominant sentiment in the Western - mind, and the one most naturally invoked by any political demagogue who - wants to climb up higher in elective office. The roads are denounced as - “monopolies”—a word getting to be applied to any private persons who - are successful in business—and their consolidation is regarded as a - standing menace to society. - </p> - <p> - Of course it goes without saying that great corporations with exceptional - privileges are apt to be arrogant, unjust, and grasping, and especially - when, as in the case of railways, they unite private interests and public - functions, they need the restraint of law and careful limitations of - powers. But the Western situation is nevertheless a very curious one. - Naturally when capital takes great risks it is entitled to proportionate - profits; but profits always encourage competition, and the great Western - lines are already in a war for existence that does not need much - unfriendly legislation to make fatal. In fact, the lowering of rates in - railway wars has gone on so rapidly of late years that the most active - Granger Legislature cannot frame hostile bills fast enough to keep pace - with it. Consolidation is objected to. Yet this consideration must not be - lost sight of: the West is cut up by local roads that could not be - maintained; they would not pay running expenses if they had not been made - parts of a great system. Whatever may be the danger of the consolidation - system, the country has doubtless benefited by it. - </p> - <p> - The present tendency of legislation, pushed to its logical conclusion, is - towards a practical confiscation of railway property; that is, its - tendency is to so interfere with management, so restrict freedom of - arrangement, so reduce rates, that the companies will with difficulty - continue operations. The first effect of this will be, necessarily, poorer - service and deteriorated equipments and tracks. Roads that do not prosper - cannot keep up safe lines. Experienced travellers usually shun those that - are in the hands of a receiver. The Western roads of which I speak have - been noted for their excellent service and the liberality towards the - public in accommodations, especially in fine cars and matters pertaining - to the comfort of passengers. Some dining cars on the Omaha system were - maintained last year at a cost to the company of ten thousand dollars over - receipts. The Western Legislatures assume that because a railway which is - thickly strung with cities can carry passengers for two cents a mile, a - railway running over an almost unsettled plain can carry for the same - price. They assume also that because railway companies in a foolish fight - for business cut rates, the lowest rate they touch is a living one for - them. The same logic that induces Legislatures to fix rates of - transportation, directly or by means of a commission, would lead it to set - a price on meat, wheat, and groceries. Legislative restriction is one - thing; legislative destruction is another. There is a craze of prohibition - and interference. Iowa has an attack of it. In Nebraska, not only the - Legislature but the courts have been so hostile to railway enterprise that - one hundred and fifty miles of new road graded last year, which was to - receive its rails this spring, will not be railed, because it is not safe - for the company to make further investments in that State. Between the - Grangers on the one side and the labor unions on the other, the railways - are in a tight place. Whatever restrictions great corporations may need, - the sort of attack now made on them in the West is altogether irrational. - Is it always made from public motives? The legislators of one Western - State had been accustomed to receive from the various lines that centred - at the capital trip passes, in addition to their personal annual passes. - Trip passes are passes that the members can send to their relations, - friends, and political allies who want to visit the capital. One year the - several roads agreed that they would not issue trip passes. When the - members asked the agent for them they were told that they were not ready. - As days passed and no trip passes were ready, hostile and annoying bills - began to be introduced into the Legislature. In six weeks there was a - shower of them. The roads yielded, and began to give out the passes. After - that, nothing more was heard of the bills. - </p> - <p> - What the public have a right to complain of is the manipulation of - railways in Wall Street gambling. But this does not account for the - hostility to the corporations which are developing the West by an - extraordinary outlay of money, and cutting their own throats by a war of - rates. The vast interests at stake, and the ignorance of the relation of - legislation to the laws of business, make the railway problem to a - spectator in Chicago one of absorbing interest. - </p> - <p> - In a thorough discussion of all interests it must be admitted that the - railways have brought many of their troubles upon themselves by their - greedy wars with each other, and perhaps in some cases by teaching - Legislatures that have bettered their instructions, and that tyrannies in - management and unjust discriminations (such as the Inter-State Commerce - Law was meant to stop) have much to do in provoking hostility that - survives many of its causes. - </p> - <p> - I cannot leave Chicago without a word concerning the town of Pullman, - although it has already been fully studied in the pages of Harper’s - Monthly. It is one of the most interesting experiments in the world. As it - is only a little over seven years old, it would be idle to prophesy about - it, and I can only say that thus far many of the predictions as to the - effect of “paternalism” have not come true. If it shall turn out that its - only valuable result is an “object lesson” in decent and orderly living, - the experiment will not have been in vain. It is to be remembered that it - is not a philanthropic scheme, but a purely business operation, conducted - on the idea that comfort, cleanliness, and agreeable surroundings conduce - more to the prosperity of labor and of capital than the opposites. - </p> - <p> - Pullman is the only city in existence built from the foundation on - scientific and sanitary principles, and not more or less the result of - accident and variety of purpose and incapacity. Before anything else was - done on the flat prairie, perfect drainage, sewerage, and water supply - were provided. The shops, the houses, the public buildings, the parks, the - streets, the recreation grounds, then followed in intelligent creation. - Its public buildings are fine, and the grouping of them about the open - flower-planted spaces is very effective. It is a handsome city, with the - single drawback of monotony in the well-built houses. Pullman is within - the limits of the village of Hyde Park, but it is not included in the - annexation of the latter to Chicago. - </p> - <p> - It is certainly a pleasing industrial city. The workshops are spacious, - light, and well ventilated, perfectly systematized; for instance, timber - goes into one end of the long car-shop and, without turning back, comes - out a freight car at the other, the capacity of the shop being one freight - car every fifteen minutes of the working hours. There are a variety of - industries, which employ about 4500 workmen. Of these about 500 live - outside the city, and there are about 1000 workmen who live in the city - and work elsewhere. The company keeps in order the streets, parks, lawns, - and shade trees, but nothing else except the schools is free. The schools - are excellent, and there are over 1300 children enrolled in them. The - company has a well-selected library of over 6000 volumes, containing many - scientific and art books, which is open to all residents on payment of an - annual subscription of three dollars. Its use increases yearly, and study - classes are formed in connection with it. The company rents shops to - dealers, but it carries on none of its own. Wages are paid to employés - without deduction, except as to rent, and the women appreciate a provision - that secures them a home beyond peradventure. - </p> - <p> - The competition among dealers brings prices to the Chicago rates, or - lower, and then the great city is easily accessible for shopping. House - rent is a little higher for ordinary workmen than in Chicago, but not - higher in proportion to accommodations, and living is reckoned a little - cheaper. The reports show that the earnings of operatives exceed those of - other working communities, averaging per capita (exclusive of the higher - pay of the general management) $590 a year. I noticed that piece-wages - were generally paid, and always when possible. The town is a hive of busy - workers; employment is furnished to all classes except the - school-children, and the fine moral and physical appearance of the young - women in the upholstery and other work rooms would please a - philanthropist. - </p> - <p> - Both the health and the <i>morale</i> of the town are exceptional; and the - moral tone of the workmen has constantly improved under the agreeable - surroundings. Those who prefer the kind of independence that gives them - filthy homes and demoralizing associations seem to like to live elsewhere. - Pullman has a population of 10,000. I do not know another city of 10,000 - that has not a place where liquor is sold, nor a house nor a professional - woman of ill repute. With the restrictions as to decent living, the - community is free in its political action, its church and other societies, - and in all healthful social activity. It has several ministers; it seems - to require the services of only one or two policemen; it supports four - doctors and one lawyer. - </p> - <p> - I know that any control, any interference with individual responsibility, - is un-American. Our theory is that every person knows what is best for - himself. It is not true, but it may be safer, in working out all the - social problems, than any lessening of responsibility either in the home - or in civil affairs. When I contrast the dirty tenements, with contiguous - seductions to vice and idleness, in some parts of Chicago, with the homes - of Pullman, I am glad that this experiment has been made. It may be worth - some sacrifice to teach people that it is better for them, morally and - pecuniarily, to live cleanly and under educational influences that - increase their self-respect. No doubt it is best that people should own - their homes, and that they should assume all the responsibilities of - citizenship. But let us wait the full evolution of the Pullman idea. The - town could not have been built as an object lesson in any other way than - it was built. The hope is that laboring people will voluntarily do - hereafter what they have here been induced to accept. The model city - stands there as a lesson, the wonderful creation of less than eight years. - The company is now preparing to sell lots on the west side of the - railway-tracks, and we shall see what influence this nucleus of order, - cleanliness, and system will have upon the larger community rapidly - gathering about it. Of course people should be free to go up or go down. - Will they be injured by the opportunity of seeing how much pleasanter it - is to go up than to go down? - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XI.—THREE CAPITALS—SPRINGFIELD, INDIANAPOLIS, COLUMBUS. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>o one travelling - over this vast country, especially the northern and western portions, the - superficial impression made is that of uniformity, and even monotony: - towns are alike, cities have a general resemblance, State lines are not - recognized, and the idea of conformity and centralization is easily - entertained. Similar institutions, facility of communication, a - disposition to stronger nationality, we say, are rapidly fusing us into - one federal mass. - </p> - <p> - But when we study a State at its centre, its political action, its - organization, its spirit, the management of its institutions of learning - and of charity, the tendencies, restrictive or liberal, of its - legislation, even the tone of social life and the code of manners, we - discover distinctions, individualities, almost as many differences as - resemblances. And we see—the saving truth in our national life—that - each State is a well-nigh indestructible entity, an empire in itself, - proud and conscious of its peculiarities, and jealous of its rights. We - see that State boundaries are not imaginary lines, made by the - geographers, which could be easily altered by the central power. Nothing, - indeed, in our whole national development, considering the common - influences that have made us, is so remarkable as the difference of the - several States. Even on the lines of a common settlement, say from New - England and New York, note the differences between northern Ohio, northern - Indiana, northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Or take another - line, and see the differences between southern Ohio, southern Indiana, - southern Illinois, and northern Missouri. But each State, with its diverse - population, has a certain homogeneity and character of its own. We can - understand this where there are great differences of climate, or when one - is mountainous and the other flat. But why should Indiana be so totally - unlike the two States that flank it, in so many of the developments of - civilized life or in retarded action; and why should Iowa, in its entire - temper and spirit, be so unlike Illinois? One State copies the - institutions of another, but there is always something in its life that it - does not copy from any other. And the perpetuity of the Union rests upon - the separateness and integrity of this State life. I confess that I am not - so much impressed by the magnitude of our country as I am by the wonderful - system of our complex government in unity, which permits the freest - development of human nature, and the most perfect adaptability to local - conditions. I can conceive of no greater enemy to the Union than he who - would by any attempt at further centralization weaken the self-dependence, - pride, and dignity of a single State. It seems to me that one travels in - vain over the United States if he does not learn that lesson. - </p> - <p> - The State of Illinois is geographically much favored both for agriculture - and commerce. With access to the Gulf by two great rivers that bound it on - two sides, and communicating with the Atlantic by Lake Michigan, - enterprise has aided these commercial advantages by covering it with - railways. Stretching from Galena to Cairo, it has a great variety of - climate; it is well watered by many noble streams, and contains in its - great area scarcely any waste land. It has its contrasts of civilization. - In the northern half are the thriving cities; the extreme southern - portion, owing in part to a more debilitating, less wholesome climate, and - in part to a less virile, ambitious population, still keeps its “Egyptian” - reputation. But the railways have already made a great change in southern - Illinois, and education is transforming it. The establishment of a normal - school at Carbondale in 1874-75 has changed the aspect of a great region. - I am told by the State Superintendent of Education that the contrast in - dress, manners, cultivation, of the country crowd which came to witness - the dedication of the first building, and those who came to see the - inauguration of the new school, twelve years later, was something - astonishing. - </p> - <p> - Passing through the central portion of the State to Springfield, after an - interval of many years, let us say a generation, I was impressed with the - transformation the country had undergone by tree-planting and the growth - of considerable patches of forest. The State is generally prosperous. The - farmers have money, some surplus to spend in luxuries, in the education of - their children, in musical instruments, in the adornment of their homes. - This is the universal report of the commercial travellers, those modern - couriers of business and information, who run in swarms to and fro over - the whole land. To them it is significant—their opinion can go for - what it is worth—that Illinois has not tried the restrictive and - prohibitory legislation of its western neighbor, Iowa, which, with its - rolling prairies and park-like timber, loved in the season of birds and - flowers, is one of the most fertile and lovely States in the West. - </p> - <p> - Springfield, which spreads its 30,000 people extensively over a plain on - the Sangamon River, is prosperous, and in the season when any place can be - agreeable, a beautiful city. The elm grows well in the rich soil, and its - many broad, well-shaded streets, with pretty detached houses and lawns, - make it very attractive, a delightful rural capital. The large Illinois - towns are slowly lifting themselves out of the slough of rich streets, - better adapted to crops than to trade; though good material for pavement - is nowhere abundant. Springfield has recently improved its condition by - paving, mostly with cedar blocks, twenty-five miles of streets. I notice - that in some of the Western towns tile pavement is being tried. - Manufacturing is increasing—there is a prosperous rolling-mill and a - successful watch factory—but the overwhelming interest of the city - is that it is the centre of the political and educational institutions—of - the life emanating from the State-honse. - </p> - <p> - The State-house is, I believe, famous. It is a big building, a great deal - has been spent on it in the way of ornamentation, and it enjoys the - distinction of the highest State-honse dome in the country—350 feet. - It has the merit also of being well placed on an elevation, and its rooms - are spacious and very well planned. It is an incongruous pile externally, - mixing many styles of architecture, placing Corinthian capitals on Doric - columns, and generally losing the impression of a dignified mass in - details. Within, it is especially rich in wall-casings of beautiful and - variegated marbles, each panel exquisite, but all together tending to - dissipate any idea of unity of design or simplicity. Nothing whatever can - be said for many of the scenes in relief, or the mural paintings (except - that they illustrate the history of the State), nor for most of the - statues in the corridors, but the decoration of the chief rooms, in - mingling of colors and material, is frankly barbarous. - </p> - <p> - Illinois has the reputation of being slow in matters of education and - reform. A day in the State offices, however, will give the visitor an - impression of intelligence and vigor in these directions. The office of - the State Board of Pharmacy in the Capitol shows a strict enforcement of - the law in the supervision of drugs and druggists. Prison management has - also most intelligent consideration. The two great penitentiaries, the - Southern, at Chester (with about 800 convicts), and the Northern, at - Joliet (with about 1600 convicts), call for no special comment. The one at - Joliet is a model of its kind, with a large library, and such schooling as - is practicable in the system, and is well administered; and I am glad to - see that Mr. McClaughry, the warden, believes that incorrigibles should be - permanently held, and that grading, the discipline of labor and education, - with a parole system, can make law-abiding citizens of many convicts. - </p> - <p> - In school education the State is certainly not supine in efforts. Out of a - State population of about 8,500,000, there were, in 1887, 1,627,841 under - twenty-one years, and 1,096,464 between the ages of six and twenty-one. - The school age for free attendance is from six to twenty-one; for - compulsory attendance, from eight to fourteen. There were 749,994 children - enrolled, and 500,197 in daily attendance. Those enrolled in private - schools numbered 87,725. There were 2258 teachers in private schools, and - 22,925 in public schools; of this latter, 7402 were men and 15,403 women. - The average monthly salary of men was $51.48, and of women $42.17. The sum - available for school purposes in 1887 was $12,890,515, in an assessed - value of taxable property of $797,752,888. These figures are from Dr. X. - W. Edwards, Superintendent of Public Instruction, whose energy is felt In - every part of the State. - </p> - <p> - The State prides itself on its institutions of charity. I saw some of them - at Jacksonville, an hour’s ride west of Springfield. Jacksonville is a - very pretty city of some 15,000, with elm-shaded avenues that crest but do - not rival New Haven—one of those intellectual centres that are a - continual surprise to our English friends in their bewildered exploration - of our monotonous land. In being the Western centre of Platonic - philosophy, it is more like Concord than like New Haven. It is the home of - a large number of people who have travelled, who give intelligent - attention to art, to literary study in small societies and clubs—its - Monday Evening Club of men long antedated most of the similar institutions - at the East—and to social problems. I certainly did not expect to - find, as I did, water-colors by Turner in Jacksonville, besides many other - evidences of a culture that must modify many Eastern ideas of what the - West is and is getting to be. - </p> - <p> - The Illinois College is at Jacksonville. It is one of twenty-five small - colleges in the State, and I believe the only one that adheres to the old - curriculum, and does not adopt co-education. It has about sixty students - in the college proper, and about one hundred and thirty in the preparatory - academy. Most of the Illinois colleges have preparatory departments, and - so long as they do, and the various sects scatter their energies among so - many institutions, the youth of the State who wish a higher education will - be obliged to go East. The school perhaps the most vigorous just now is - the University of Illinois, at Urbana, a school of agriculture and applied - science mainly. The Central Hospital for the Insane (one of three in the - State), under the superintendence of Dr. Henry F. Carriel, is a fine - establishment, a model of neatness and good management, with over nine - hundred patients, about a third of whom do some light work on the farm or - in the house. A large conservatory of plants and flowers is rightly - regarded as a remedial agency in the treatment of the patients. Here also - is a fine school for the education of the blind. - </p> - <p> - The Institution for the Education of Deaf-Mutes, Dr. Philip H. Gillette, - superintendent, is, I believe, the largest in the world, and certainly one - of the most thoroughly equipped and successful in its purposes. It has - between five hundred and six hundred pupils. All the departments found in - many other institutions are united here. The school has a manual training - department; articulation is taught; the art school exhibits surprising - results in aptitude for both drawing and painting; and industries are - taught to the extent of giving every pupil a trade or some means of - support—shoemaking, cabinet-making, printing, sewing, gardening, and - baking. - </p> - <p> - Such an institution as this raises many interesting questions. It is at - once evident that the loss of the sense of hearing has an effect on - character, moral and intellectual. Whatever may be the education of the - deaf-mute, he will remain, in some essential and not easily to be - characterized respects, different from other people. It is exceedingly - hard to cultivate in them a spirit of self-dependence, or eradicate the - notion that society owes them perpetual care and support. The education of - deaf-mutes, and the teaching them trades, so that they become intelligent - and productive members of society, of course induce marriages among them. - Is not this calculated to increase the number of deaf-mutes? Dr. Gillette - thinks not. The vital statistics show that consanguineous marriages are a - large factor in deaf-muteism; about ten per cent., it is estimated, of the - deaf-mutes are the offspring of parents related by blood. Ancestral - defects are not always perpetuated in kind; they may descend in physical - deformity, in deafness, in imbecility. Deafness is more apt to descend in - collateral branches than in a straight line. It is a striking fact in a - table of relationships prepared by Dr. Gillette that, while the 450 - deaf-mutes enumerated had 770 relationships to other deaf-mutes, making a - total of 1220, only twelve of them had deaf-mute parents, and only two of - them one deaf-mute parent, the mother of these having been able to hear, - and that in no case was the mother alone a deaf-mute. Of the pupils who - have left this institution, 251 have married deaf-mutes, and 19 hearing - persons. These marriages have been as fruitful as the average, and among - them all only sixteen have deaf-mute children; in some of the families - having a deaf child there are other children who hear. These facts, says - the report, clearly indicate that the probability of deaf offspring from - deaf parentage is remote, while other facts may clearly indicate that a - deaf person probably has or will have a deaf relation other than a child. - </p> - <p> - Springfield is old enough to have a historic flavor and social traditions; - perhaps it might be called a Kentucky flavor, so largely did settlers from - Kentucky determine it. There was a leisurely element in it, and it - produced a large number of men prominent in politics and in the law, and - women celebrated for beauty and spirit. It was a hospitable society, with - a certain tone of “family” that distinguished it from other frontier - places, a great liking for the telling of racy stories, and a hearty - enjoyment of life. The State has provided a Gubernatorial residence which - is at once spacious and pleasant, and is a mansion, with its present - occupants, typical in a way of the old regime and of modern culture. - </p> - <p> - To the country at large Springfield is distinguished as the home of - Abraham Lincoln to an extent perhaps not fully realized by the residents - of the growing capital, with its ever new interests. And I was perhaps - unreasonably disappointed in not finding that sense of his personality - that I expected. It is, indeed, emphasized by statues in the Capitol and - by the great mausoleum in the cemetery—an imposing structure, with - an excellent statue in bronze, and four groups, relating to the civil war, - of uncommon merit. But this great monumental show does not satisfy the - personal longing of which I speak. Nor is the Lincoln residence much more - satisfactory in this respect. The plain two-story wooden house has been - presented to the State by his son Robert, and is in charge of a custodian. - And although the parlor is made a show-room and full of memorials, there - is no atmosphere of the man about it. On Lincoln’s departure for - Washington the furniture was sold and the house rented, never to be again - occupied by him. There is here nothing of that personal presence that - clings to the Hermitage, to Marshfield, to Mount Vernon, to Monticello. - Lincoln was given to the nation, and—a frequent occurrence in our - uprooting business life—the home disappeared. Lincoln was honored - and beloved in Springfield as a man, but perhaps some of the feeling - towards him as a party leader still lingers, although it has disappeared - almost everywhere else in the country. Nowhere else was the personal - partisanship hotter than in this city, and it is hardly to be expected - that political foes in this generation should quite comprehend the - elevation of Lincoln, in the consenting opinion of the world, among the - greatest characters of all ages. It has happened to Lincoln that every - year and a more intimate knowledge of his character have added to his fame - and to the appreciation of his moral grandeur. There is a natural desire - to go to some spot pre-eminently sacred to his personality. This may be - his birthplace. At any rate, it is likely that before many years Kentucky - will be proud to distinguish in some way the spot where the life began of - the most illustrious man born in its borders. - </p> - <p> - When we come to the capital of Indiana we have, in official language, to - report progress. One reason assigned for the passing of emigrants through - Indiana to Illinois was that the latter was a prairie country, more easily - subdued than the more wooded region of Indiana. But it is also true that - the sluggish, illiterate character of its early occupants turned aside the - stream of Western emigration from its borders. There has been a great deal - of philosophic speculation upon the acknowledged backwardness of - civilization in Indiana, its slow development in institutions of - education, and its slow change in rural life, compared with its sister - States. But this concerns us less now than the awakening which is visible - at the capital and in some of the northern towns. The forests of hard - timber which were an early disadvantage are now an important element in - the State industry and wealth. Recent developments of coal-fields and the - discovery of natural gas have given an impetus to manufacturing, which - will powerfully stimulate agriculture and traffic, and open a new career - to the State. - </p> - <p> - Indianapolis, which stood still for some years in a reaction from - real-estate speculation, is now a rapidly improving city, with a - population of about 125,000. It is on the natural highway of the old - National Turnpike, and its central location in the State, in the midst of - a rich agricultural district, has made it the centre of fifteen railway - lines, and of active freight and passenger traffic. These lines are all - connected for freight purposes by a belt road, over which pass about 5000 - freight cars daily. This belt road also does an enormous business for the - stock-yards, and its convenient line is rapidly filling up with - manufacturing establishments. As a consequence of these facilities the - trade of the city in both wholesale and retail houses is good and - increasing. With this increase of business there has been an accession of - banking capital. The four national and two private banks have an aggregate - capital of about three millions, and the Clearing-house report of 1887 - showed a business of about one hundred millions, an increase of nearly - fifty per cent, over the preceding year. But the individual prosperity is - largely due to the building and loan associations, of which there are - nearly one hundred, with an aggregate capital of seven millions, the loans - of which exceed those of the banks. These take the place of savings-banks, - encourage the purchase of homesteads, and are preventives of strikes and - labor troubles in the factories. - </p> - <p> - The people of Indianapolis call their town a Park City. Occupying a level - plain, its streets (the principal ones with a noble width of ninety feet) - intersect each other at right angles; but in the centre of the city is a - Circle Park of several acres, from which radiate to the four quarters of - the town avenues ninety feet broad that relieve the monotony of the right - lines. These streets are for the most part well shaded, and getting to be - well paved, lined with pleasant but not ambitious residences, so that the - whole aspect of the city is open and agreeable. The best residences are - within a few squares of the most active business streets, and if the city - has not the distinction of palaces, it has fewer poor and shabby quarters - than most other towns of its size. In the Circle Park, Here now stands a - statue of Governor Morton, is to be erected immediately the Soldiers’ - Monument, at a cost of $250,000. - </p> - <p> - The city is fortunate in its public buildings. The County Court-house - (which cost $1,000,000) and City Hall are both fine buildings; in the - latter are the city markets, and above, a noble auditorium with seats for - 4000 people. But the State Capitol, just finished within the appropriation - of $2,000,000, is pre-eminent among State Capitols in many respects. It is - built of the Bedford limestone, one of the best materials both for color - and endurance found in the country. It follows the American plan of two - wings and a dome; but it is finely proportioned; and the exterior, with - rows of graceful Corinthian columns above the basement story, is - altogether pleasing. The interior is spacious and impressive, the Chambers - fine, the furnishing solid and in good taste, with nowhere any - over-ornamentation or petty details to mar the general noble effect. The - State Library contains, besides the law-books, about 20,000 miscellaneous - volumes. - </p> - <p> - When Matthew Arnold first came to New York the place in the West about - which he expressed the most curiosity was Indianapolis; that he said he - must see, if no other city. He had no knowledge of the place, and could - give no reason for his preference except that the name had always had a - fascination for him. He found there, however, a very extensive book-store, - where his own works were sold in numbers that pleased and surprised him. - The shop has a large miscellaneous stock, and does a large jobbing and - retail business, but the miscellaneous books dealt in are mostly cheap - reprints of English works, with very few American copyright books. This is - a significant comment on the languishing state of the market for works of - American authors in the absence of an international copyright law. - </p> - <p> - The city is not behind any other in educational efforts. In its five free - public libraries are over 70,000 volumes. The city has a hundred churches - and a vigorous Young Men’s Christian Association, which cost $75,000. Its - private schools have an excellent reputation. There are 20,000 children - registered of school age, and 11,000 in daily attendance in twenty-eight - free-school houses. In methods of efficacy these are equal to any in the - Union, as is shown by the fact that there are reported in the city only - 325 persons between the ages of six and twenty-one unable to read and - write. The average cost of instruction for each pupil is $19.04 a year. In - regard to advanced methods and manual training, Indianapolis schools claim - to be pioneers. - </p> - <p> - The latest reports show educational activity in the State as well as in - the capital. In 1880 the revenues expended in public schools were about - $5,000,000. The State supports the Indiana University at Bloomington, with - about 300 students, the Agricultural College at Lafayette, with over 300, - and a normal school at Terre Haute, with an attendance of about 500. There - are, besides, seventeen private colleges and several other normal schools. - In 1886 the number of school-children enrolled in the State was 500,000, - of whom 340,000 were in daily attendance. To those familiar with Indiana - these figures show a greatly increased interest in education. - </p> - <p> - Several of the State benevolent institutions are in Indianapolis: a - hospital for the insane, which cost $1,200,000, and accommodates 1000 - patients; an asylum for the blind, which has 132 pupils; and a school for - deaf-mutes which cost $500,000, and has about 400 scholars. The novel - institution, however, that I saw at Indianapolis is a reformatory for - women and girls, controlled entirely by women. The board of trustees are - women, the superintendent, physician, and keepers are women. In one - building, but in separate departments, were the female convicts, 42 in - number, several of them respectable-looking elderly women who had killed - their husbands, and about 150 young girls. The convicts and the girls—who - are committed for restraint and reform—never meet except in chapel, - but it is more than doubtful if it is wise for the State to subject girls - to even this sort of contiguity with convicts, and to the degradation of - penitentiary suggestions. The establishment is very neat and well ordered - and well administered. The work of the prison is done by the convicts, who - are besides kept employed at sewing and in the laundry. The girls in the - reformatory work half a day, and are in school the other half. - </p> - <p> - This experiment of the control of a State-prison by women is regarded as - doubtful by some critics, who say that women will obey a man when they - will not obey a woman. Female convicts, because they have fallen lower - than men, or by reason of their more nervous organization, are commonly - not so easily controlled as male convicts, and it is insisted that they - indulge in less “tantrums” under male than under female authority. This is - denied by the superintendent of this prison, though she has incorrigible - cases who can only be controlled by solitary confinement. She has daily - religious exercises, Bible reading and exposition, and a Sunday-school; - and she doubts if she could control the convicts without this religious - influence. It not only has a daily quieting effect, but has resulted in - several cases in “conversion.” There are in the institution several girls - and women of color, and I asked the superintendent if the white inmates - exhibited any prejudice against them on account of their color. To my - surprise, the answer was that the contrary is the case. The whites look up - to the colored girls, and seem either to have a respect for them or to be - fascinated by them. This surprising statement was supplemented by another, - that the influence of the colored girls on the whites is not good; the - white girl who seeks the company of the colored girl deteriorates, and the - colored girl does not change. - </p> - <p> - Indianapolis, which is attractive by reason of a climate that avoids - extremes, bases its manufacturing and its business prosperity upon the - large coal-beds lying to the west and south of it, the splendid and very - extensive quarries of Bedford limestone contiguous to the coal-fields, the - abundant supply of various sorts of hard-wood for the making of furniture, - and the recent discovery of natural gas. The gas-field region, which is - said to be very much larger than any other in the country, lies to the - north-west, and comes within eight miles of the city. Pipes are already - laid to the city limits, and the whole heating and manufacturing of the - city will soon be done by the gas. I saw this fuel in use in a large and - successful pottery, where are made superior glazed and encaustic tiles, - and nothing could be better for the purpose. The heat in the kilns is - intense; it can be perfectly regulated; as fuel the gas is free from smoke - and smut, and its cost is merely nominal. The excitement over this new - agent is at present extraordinary. The field where it has been found is so - extensive as to make the supply seem inexhaustible. It was first - discovered in Indiana at Eaton, in Delaware County, in 1880. From January - 1, 1887, to February, 1888, it is reported that 1000 wells were opened in - the gas territory, and that 245 companies were organized for various - manufactures, with an aggregate capital of $25,000,000. Whatever the - figures may he, there are the highest expectations of immense increase of - manufactures in Indianapolis and in all the gas region. Of some effects of - this revolution in fuel we may speak when we come to the gas wells of - Ohio. - </p> - <p> - I had conceived of Columbus as a rural capital, pleasant and slow, rather - a village than a city. I was surprised to find a city of 80,000 people, - growing with a rapidity astonishing even for a Western town, with miles of - prosperous business blocks (High Street is four miles long), and wide - avenues of residences extending to suburban parks. Broad Street, with its - four rows of trees and fine houses and beautiful lawns, is one of the - handsomest avenues in the country, and it is only one of many that are - attractive. The Capitol Square, with several good buildings about it, - makes an agreeable centre of the city. Of the Capitol building not much is - to be said. The exterior is not wholly bad, but it is surmounted by a - truncated something that is neither a dome nor a revolving turret, and the - interior is badly arranged for room, light, and ventilation. Space is - wasted, and many of the rooms, among them the relic-room and the - flag-room, are inconvenient and almost inaccessible. The best is the room - of the Supreme Court, which has attached a large law library. The general - State Library contains about 54,000 volumes, with a fair but not large - proportion of Western history. - </p> - <p> - Columbus is a city of churches, of very fine public schools, of many - clubs, literary and social, in which the intellectual element - predominates, and of an intelligent, refined, and most hospitable society. - Here one may study the educational and charitable institutions of the - State, many of the more important of which are in the city, and also the - politics. It was Ohio’s hard fate to be for many years an “October State,” - and the battle-field and corruption-field of many outside influences. This - no doubt demoralized the politics of the State, and lowered the tone of - public morality. With the removal of the cause of this decline, I believe - the tone is being raised. Recent trials for election frauds, and the - rehabilitation of the Cincinnati police, show that a better spirit - prevails. - </p> - <p> - Ohio is growing in wealth as it is in population, and is in many - directions an ambitious and progressive State. Judged by its institutions - of benevolence and of economies, it is a leading State. No other State - provides more liberally for its unfortunates, in asylums for the insane, - the blind, the deaf-mutes, the idiotic, the young waifs and strays, nor - shows a more intelligent comprehension of the legitimate functions of a - great commonwealth, in the creation of boards of education and of - charities and of health, in a State inspection of workshops and factories, - in establishing bureaus of meteorology and of forestry, a fish commission, - and an agricultural experiment station. The State has thirty-four colleges - and universities, a public-school system which has abolished distinctions - of color, and which by the reports is as efficient as any in the Union. - Cincinnati, the moral tone of which, the Ohio people say, is not fairly - represented by its newspapers, is famous the world over for its - cultivation in music and its progress in the fine and industrial arts. It - would be possible for a State to have and be all this and yet rise in the - general scale of civilization only to a splendid mediocrity, without the - higher institutions of pure learning, and without a very high standard of - public morality. Ohio is in no less danger of materialism, with all its - diffused intelligence, than other States. There is a recognizable limit to - what a diffused level of education, say in thirty-four colleges, can do - for the higher life of a State. I heard an address in the Capitol by - ex-President Hayes on the expediency of adding a manual-training school to - the Ohio State University at Columbus. The comment of some of the - legislators on it was that we have altogether too much book-learning; what - we need is workshops in our schools and colleges. It seems to a stranger - that whatever first-class industrial and technical schools Ohio needs, it - needs more the higher education, and the teaching of philosophy, logic, - and ethics. In 1886 Governor Foraker sent a special message to the - Legislature pointing out the fact that notwithstanding the increase of - wealth in the State, the revenue was inadequate to the expenditure, - principally by reason of the undervaluation of taxable property (there - being a yearly decline in the reported value of personal property), and a - fraudulent evasion of taxes. There must have been a wide insensibility to - the wrong of cheating the State to have produced this state of things, and - one cannot but think that it went along with the low political tone before - mentioned. Of course Ohio is not a solitary sinner among States in this - evasion of duty, but she helps to point the moral that the higher life of - a State needs a great deal of education that is neither commercial nor - industrial nor simply philanthropic. - </p> - <p> - It is impossible and unnecessary for the purposes of this paper to speak - of many of the public institutions of the State, even of those in the - city. But educators everywhere may study with profit the management of the - public schools under the City Board of Education, of which Mr. R. W. - Stevenson is superintendent. The High-school, of over 600 pupils, is - especially to be commended. Manual training is not introduced into the - schools, and the present better sentiment is against it; but its - foundation, drawing, is thoroughly taught from the primaries up to the - High-school, and the exhibits of the work of the schools of all grades in - modelling, drawing, and form and color studies, which were made last year - in New York and Chicago, gave these Columbus schools a very high rank in - the country. Any visitor to them must be impressed with the intelligence - of the methods employed, the apprehension of modern notions, and also the - conservative spirit of common-sense. - </p> - <p> - The Ohio State University has an endowment from the State of over half a - million dollars, and a source of ultimate wealth in its great farm and - grounds, which must Increase in value as the city extends. It is a very - well equipped institution for the study of the natural sciences and - agriculture, and might easily be built up into a university in all - departments, worthy of the State. At present it has 335 students, of whom - 150 are in the academic department, 41 in special practical courses, and - 143 in the preparatory school. All the students are organized in - companies, under an officer of the United States, for military discipline; - the uniform, the drill, the lessons of order and obedience, are invaluable - in the transforming of carriage and manners. The University has a museum - of geology which ranks among the important ones of the country. It is a - pity that a consolidation of other State institutions with this cannot be - brought about. - </p> - <p> - The Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus is an old building, not in keeping with - the modern notions of prison construction. In 1887 it had about 1300 - convicts, some 100 less than in the preceding year. The management is - subject to political changes, and its officers have to be taken from - various parts of the State at the dictation of political workers. Under - this system the best management is liable to be upset by an election. The - special interest in the prison at this time was in the observation of the - working of the Parole Law. Since the passage of the Act in May, 1885, 283 - prisoners have been paroled, and while several of the convicts have been - returned for a violation of parole, nearly the whole number are reported - as law-abiding citizens. The managers are exceedingly pleased with the - working of the law; it promotes good conduct in the prison, and reduces - the number in confinement. The reduction of the number of convicts in 1887 - from the former year was ascribed partially to the passage of the General - Sentence Law in 1884, and the Habitual Crimes Act in 1885. The criminals - dread these laws, the first because it gives no fixed time to build their - hopes upon, but all depends upon their previous record and good conduct in - prison, while the latter affects the incorrigible, who are careful to shun - the State after being convicted twice, and avoid imprisonment for life. - The success of these laws and the condition of the State finances delay - the work on the Intermediate Prison, or Reformatory, begun at Mansfield. - This Reformatory is intended for first offenders, and has the distinct - purpose of prevention of further deterioration, and of reformation by - means of the discipline of education and labor. The success of the - tentative laws in this direction, as applied to the general prisons, is, - in fact, a strong argument for the carrying out of the Mansfield scheme. - </p> - <p> - There cannot be a more interesting study of the “misfits” of humanity than - that offered in the Institution for Feeble-minded Youth, under the - superintendence of Dr. G. A. Doren. Here are 715 imbeciles in all stages - of development from absolute mental and physical incapacity. There is - scarcely a problem that exists in education, in the relation of the body - and mind, in the inheritance of mental and physical traits, in regard to - the responsibility for crime, in psychology or physiology, that is not - here illustrated. It is the intention of the school to teach the idiot - child some trade or occupation that will make him to some degree useful, - and to carry him no further than the common branches in learning. The - first impression, I think, made upon a visitor is the almost invariable - physical deformity that attends imbecility—ill-proportioned, - distorted bodies, dwarfed, misshapen gelatinoids, with bones that have no - stiffness. The next impression is the preponderance of the animal nature, - the persistence of the lower passions, and the absence of moral qualities - in the general immaturity. And perhaps the next impression is of the - extraordinary effect that physical training has in awakening the mind, and - how soon the discipline of the institution creates the power of - self-control. From almost blank imbecility and utter lack of - self-restraint the majority of these children, as we saw them in their - schoolrooms and workshops, exhibited a sense of order, of entire decency, - and very considerable intelligence. It was demonstrated that most - imbeciles are capable of acquiring the rudiments of an education and of - learning some useful occupation. Some of the boys work on the farm, others - learn trades. The boys in the shoe-shop were making shoes of excellent - finish. The girls do plain sewing and house-work apparently almost as well - as girls of their age outside. Two or three things that we saw may be - mentioned to show the scope of the very able management and the capacities - of the pupils. There was a drill of half a hundred boys and girls in the - dumb-bell exercise, to music, under the leadership of a pupil, which in - time, grace, and exact execution of complicated movements would have done - credit to any school. The institution has two bands, one of brass and one - of strings, which perform very well. The string band played for dancing in - the large amusement hall. Several hundred children were on the floor - dancing cotillons, and they went through the variety of changes not only - in perfect time and decorum, but without any leader to call the figures. - It would have been a remarkable performance for any children. There were - many individual cases of great and deplorable interest. Cretins, it was - formerly supposed, were only born in mountainous regions. There are three - here born in Ohio. There were five imbeciles of what I should call the ape - type, all of one Ohio family. Two of them were the boys exhibited some - years ago by Barnum as the Aztec children—the last of an extinct - race. He exhibited them as a boy and a girl. When they had grown a little - too large to show as children, or the public curiosity was satisfied about - the extinct race, he exhibited them as wild Australians. - </p> - <p> - The humanity of so training these imbeciles that they can have some - enjoyment of life, and be occasionally of some use to their relations, is - undeniable. But since the State makes this effort in the survival of the - unfittest, it must go further and provide a permanent home for them. The - girls who have learned to read and write and sew and do house-work, and - are of decent appearance, as many of them are, are apt to marry when they - leave the institution. Their offspring are invariably idiots. I saw in - this school the children of mothers who had been trained here. It is no - more the intention of the State to increase the number of imbeciles than - it is the number of criminals. Many of our charitable and penal - institutions at present do both. - </p> - <p> - I should like to approach the subject of Natural Gas in a proper spirit, - but I have neither the imagination nor the rhetoric to do justice to the - expectations formed of it. In the restrained language of one of the - inhabitants of Findlay, its people “have, caught the divine afflatus which - came with the discovery of natural gas.” If Findlay had only natural gas, - “she would be the peer, if not the superior, of any municipality on - earth;” but she has much more, “and in all things has no equal or superior - between the oceans and the lakes and the gulf, and is marching on to the - grandest destiny ever prepared for any people, in any land, or in any - period, since the morning stars first sang together, and the flowers in - the garden of Eden budded and blossomed for man.” In fact, “this she has - been doing in the past two years in the grandest and most satisfactory - way, and that she will continue to progress is as certain as the stars - that hold their midnight revel around the throne of Omnipotence.” - </p> - <p> - Notwithstanding this guarded announcement, it is evident that the - discovery of natural gas has begun a revolution in fuel, which will have - permanent and far-reaching economic and social consequences, whether the - supply of gas is limited or inexhaustible. - </p> - <p> - Those who have once used fuel in this form are not likely to return to the - crude and wasteful heating by coal. All the cities and large towns west of - the Alleghanies are made disagreeable by bituminous coal smoke. The extent - of this annoyance and its detraction from the pleasure of daily living - cannot be exaggerated. The atmosphere is more or less vitiated, and the - sky obscured, houses, furniture, clothing, are dirty, and clean linen and - clean hands and face are not expected. All this is changed where gas is - used for fuel. The city becomes cheerful, and the people can see each - other. But this is not all. One of the great burdens of our Northern life, - fire building and replenishing, disappears, house-keeping is simplified, - the expense of servants reduced, cleanliness restored. Add to this that in - the gas regions the cost of fuel is merely nominal, and in towns distant - some thirty or forty miles it is not half that of coal. It is easy to see - that this revolution in fuel will make as great a change in social life as - in manufacturing, and that all the change may not be agreeable. This - natural gas is a very subtle fluid, somewhat difficult to control, though - I have no doubt that invention will make it as safe in our houses as - illuminating gas is. So far as I have seen its use, the heat from it is - intense and withering. In a closed stove it is intolerable; in an open - grate, with a simulated pile of hard coal or logs, it is better, but much - less agreeable than soft coal or wood. It does not, as at present used, - promote a good air in the room, and its intense dryness ruins the - furniture. But its cheapness, convenience, and neatness will no doubt - prevail; and we are entering upon a gas age, in which, for the sake of - progress, we shall doubtless surrender something that will cause us to - look back to the more primitive time with regret. If the gas-wells fail, - artificial gas for fuel will doubtless be manufactured. - </p> - <p> - I went up to the gas-fields of northern Ohio in company with Prof. Edward - Orton, the State Geologist, who has made a study of the subject, and - pretty well defined the fields of Indiana and Ohio. The gas is found at a - depth of between 1100 and 1200 feet, after passing through a great body of - shale and encountering salt-water, in a porous Trenton limestone. The - drilling and tubing enter this limestone several feet to get a good - holding. This porous limestone holds the gas like a sponge, and it rushes - forth with tremendous force when released. It is now well settled that - these are reservoirs of gas that are tapped, and not sources of perpetual - supply by constant manufacture. How large the supply may be in any case - cannot be told, but there is a limit to it. It can be exhausted, like a - vein of coal. But the fields are so large, both in Indiana and Ohio, that - it seems probable that by sinking new wells the supply will be continued - for a long time. The evidence that it is not inexhaustible in any one well - is that in all in which the flow of gas has been tested at intervals the - force of pressure is found to diminish. For months after the discovery the - wells were allowed to run to waste, and billions of feet of gas were lost. - A better economy now prevails, and this wastefulness is stopped. The wells - are all under control, and large groups of them are connected by common - service-pipes. The region about Fostoria is organized under the - North-western Gas Company, and controls a large territory. It supplies the - city of Toledo, which uses no other fuel, through pipes thirty miles long, - Fremont, and other towns. The loss per mile in transit through the pipes - is now known, so that the distance can be calculated at which it will pay - to send it. I believe that this is about fifty to sixty miles. The gas - when it comes from the well is about the temperature of 32° Fahr., and the - common pressure is 400 pounds to the square inch. The velocity with which - it rushes, unchecked, from the pipe at the mouth of the well may be said - to be about that of a minie-ball from an ordinary rifle. The Ohio area of - gas is between 2000 and 3000 square miles. The claim for the Indiana area - is that it is 20,000 square miles, but the geologists make it much less. - </p> - <p> - The speculation in real estate caused by this discovery has been perhaps - without parallel in the history of the State, and, as is usual in such - cases, it is now in a lull, waiting for the promised developments. But - these have been almost as marvellous as the speculation. Findlay was a - sleepy little village in the black swamp district, one of the most - backward regions of Ohio. For many years there had been surface - indications of gas, and there is now a house standing in the city which - used gas for fuel forty years ago. When the first gas-well was opened, ten - years ago, the village had about 4500 inhabitants. It has now probably - 15,-. 000, it is a city, and its limits have been extended to cover an - area six miles long by four miles wide. This is dotted over with hastily - built houses, and is rapidly being occupied by manufacturing - establishments. The city owns all the gas-wells, and supplies fuel to - factories and private houses at the simple cost of maintaining the - service-pipes. So rapid has been the growth and the demand for gas that - there has not been time to put all the pipes underground, and they are - encountered on the surface all over the region. The town is pervaded by - the odor of the gas, which is like that of petroleum, and the traveller is - notified of his nearness to the town by the smell before he can see the - houses. The surface pipes, hastily laid, occasionally leak, and at these - weak places the gas is generally ignited in order to prevent its tainting - the atmosphere. This immediate neighborhood has an oil-field contiguous to - the gas, plenty of limestone (the kilns are burned by gas), good building - stone, clay fit for making bricks and tiles, and superior hard-wood - forests. The cheap fuel has already attracted here manufacturing - industries of all sorts, and new plants are continually made. - </p> - <p> - I have a list of over thirty different mills and factories which are - either in full operation or getting under way. Among the most interesting - of these are the works for making window-glass and table glass. The - superiority of this fuel for the glass-furnaces seems to be admitted. - </p> - <p> - Although the wells about Findlay are under control, the tubing is - anchored, and the awful force is held under by gates and levers of steel, - it is impossible to escape a feeling of awe in this region at the - subterranean energies which seem adequate to blow the whole country - heavenward. Some of the wells were opened for us. Opening a well is - unscrewing the service-pipe and letting the full force of the gas issue - from the pipe at the mouth of the well. When one of these wells is thus - opened the whole town is aware of it by the roaring and the quaking of the - air. The first one exhibited was in a field a mile and a half from the - city. At the first freedom from the screws and clamps the gas rushed out - in such density that it was visible. Although we stood several rods from - it, the roar was so great that one could not make himself heard shouting - in the ear of his neighbor. The geologist stuffed cotton in his ears and - tied a shawl about his head, and, assisted by the chemist, stood close to - the pipe to measure the flow. The chemist, who had not taken the - precaution to protect himself, was quite deaf for some time after the - experiment. A four-inch pipe, about sixty feet in length, was then screwed - on, and the gas ignited as it issued from the end on the ground. The - roaring was as before. For several feet from the end of the tube there was - no flame, but beyond was a sea of fire sweeping the ground and rioting - high in the air—billows of red and yellow and blue flame, fierce and - hot enough to consume everything within reach. It was an awful display of - power. - </p> - <p> - We had a like though only a momentary display at the famous Karg well, an - eight-million-feet well. This could only be turned on for a few seconds at - a time, for it is in connection with the general system. If the gas is - turned off, the fires in houses and factories would go out, and if it were - turned on again without notice, the rooms would be full of gas, and an - explosion follow an attempt to relight it. This danger is now being - removed by the invention of an automatic valve in the pipe supplying each - fire, which will close and lock when the flow of gas ceases, and admit no - more gas until it is opened. The ordinary pressure for house service is - about two pounds to the square inch. The Karg well is on the bank of the - creek, and the discharge-pipe through which the gas (though not in its - full force) was turned for our astonishment extends over the water. The - roar was like that of Niagara; all the town shakes when the Karg is loose. - When lighted, billows of flame rolled over the water, brilliant in color - and fantastic in form, with a fury and rage of conflagration enough to - strike the spectator with terror. I have never seen any other display of - natural force so impressive as this. When this flame issues from an - upright pipe, the great mass of fire rises eighty feet into the air, - leaping and twisting in fiendish fury. For six weeks after this well was - first opened its constant roaring shook the nerves of the town, and by - night its flaming torch lit up the heaven and banished darkness. With the - aid of this new agent anything seems possible. - </p> - <p> - The feverishness of speculation will abate; many anticipations will not be - realized. It will be discovered that there is a limit to manufacturing, - even with fuel that costs next to nothing. The supply of natural gas no - doubt has its defined limits. But nothing seems more certain to me than - that gas, manufactured if not to be the fuel of the future in the West, - and that the importance of this economic change in social life is greater - than we can at present calculate. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XII.—CINCINNATI AND LOUISVILLE. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">C</span>incinnati is a - city that has a past. As Daniel Webster said, that at least is secure. - Among the many places that have been and are the Athens of America, this - was perhaps the first. As long ago as the first visit of Charles Dickens - to this country it was distinguished as a town of refinement as well as - cultivation; and the novelist, who saw little to admire, though much to - interest him in our raw country, was captivated by this little village on - the Ohio. It was already the centre of an independent intellectual life, - and produced scholars, artists, writers, who subsequently went east - instead of west. According to tradition, there seems to have been early a - tendency to free thought, and a response to the movement which, for lack - of a better name, was known in Massachusetts as transcendentalism. - </p> - <p> - The evolution of Cincinnati seems to have been a little peculiar in - American life. It is a rich city, priding itself on the solidity of its - individual fortunes and business, and the freedom of its real property - from foreign mortgages. Usually in our development the pursuit of wealth - comes first, and then all other things are added thereto, as we read the - promise. In Cincinnati there seems to have been a very considerable - cultivation first in time, and we have the spectacle of what wealth will - do in the way of the sophistication and materialization of society. - Ordinarily we have the process of an uncultivated community gradually - working itself out into a more or less ornamented and artistic condition - as it gets money. The reverse process we might see if the philosophic town - of Concord, Massachusetts, should become the home of rich men engaged in - commerce and manufacturing. I may be all wrong in my notion of Cincinnati, - but there is a sort of tradition, a remaining flavor of old-time culture - before the town became commercially so important as it was before the war. - </p> - <p> - It is difficult to think of Cincinnati as in Ohio. I cannot find their - similarity of traits. Indeed, I think that generally in the State there is - a feeling that it is an alien city; the general characteristics of the - State do not flow into and culminate in Cincinnati as its metropolis. It - has had somehow an independent life. If you look on a geologic map of the - State, you see that the glacial drift, I believe it is called, which - flowed over three-fourths of the State and took out its wrinkles did not - advance into the south-west. And Cincinnati lies in the portion that was - not smoothed into a kind of monotony. When a settlement was made here it - was a good landing-place for trade up and down the river, and was probably - not so much thought of as a distributing and receiving point for the - interior north of it. Indeed, up to the time of the war, it looked to the - South for its trade, and naturally, even when the line of war was drawn, a - good deal of its sympathies lay in the direction of its trade. It had - become a great city, and grown rich both in trade and manufactures, but in - the decline of steamboating and in the era of railways there were physical - difficulties in the way of adapting itself easily to the new conditions. - It was not easy to bring the railways down the irregular hills and to find - room for them on the landing. The city itself had to contend with great - natural obstacles to get adequate foothold, and its radiation over, - around, and among the hills produced some novel features in business and - in social life. - </p> - <p> - What Cincinnati would have been, with its early culture and its increasing - wealth, if it had not become so largely German in its population, we can - only conjecture. The German element was at once conservative as to - improvements and liberalizing, as the phrase is, in theology and in life. - Bituminous coal and the Germans combined to make a novel American city. - When Dickens saw the place it was a compact, smiling little city, with a - few country places on the hills. It is now a scattered city of country - places, with a little nucleus of beclouded business streets. The traveller - does not go there to see the city, but to visit the suburbs, climbing into - them, out of the smoke and grime, by steam “inclines” and grip railways. - The city is indeed difficult to see. When you are in it, by the river, you - can see nothing; when you are outside of it you are in any one of half a - dozen villages, in regions of parks and elegant residences, altogether - charming and geographically confusing; and if from some commanding point - you try to recover the city idea, you look down upon black roofs half hid - in black smoke, through which the fires of factories gleam, and where the - colored Ohio rolls majestically along under a dark canopy. Looked at in - one way, the real Cincinnati is a German city, and you can only study its - true character “Over the Rhine,” and see it successfully through the - bottom of an upturned beer glass. Looked at another way, it is mainly an - affair of elegant suburbs, beautifully wooded hills, pleasure-grounds, and - isolated institutions of art or charity. I am thankful that there is no - obligation on me to depict it. - </p> - <p> - It would probably be described as a city of art rather than of theology, - and one of rural homes rather than metropolitan society. Perhaps the - German element has had something to do in giving it its musical character, - and the early culture may have determined its set more towards art than - religion. As the cloud of smoke became thicker and thicker in the old city - those who disliked this gloom escaped out upon the hills in various - directions. Many, of course, still cling to the solid ancestral houses in - the city, but the country movement was so general that church-going became - an affair of some difficulty, and I can imagine that the church-going - habit was a little broken up while the new neighborhoods were forming on - the hills and in the winding valleys, and before the new churches in the - suburbs were erected. Congregations were scattered, and society itself was - more or less disintegrated. Each suburb is fairly accessible from the - centre of the city, either by a winding valley or by a bold climb up a - precipice, but owing to the configuration of the ground, it is difficult - to get from one suburb to another without returning to the centre and - taking a fresh start. This geographical hinderance must necessarily - interfere with social life, and tend to isolation of families, or to - merely neighborhood association. - </p> - <p> - Although much yet remains to be done in the way of good roads, nature and - art have combined to make the suburbs of the city wonderfully beautiful. - The surface is most picturesquely broken, the forests are fine, from this - point and that there are views pleasing, poetic, distant, perfectly - satisfying in form and variety, and in advantageous situations taste has - guided wealth in the construction of stately houses, having ample space in - the midst of manorial parks. You are not out of sight of these fine places - in any of the suburbs, and there are besides, in every direction, miles of - streets of pleasing homes. I scarcely know whether to prefer Clifton, with - its wide sweeping avenues rounding the hills, or the perhaps more - commanding heights of Walnut, nearer the river, and overlooking Kentucky. - On the East Walnut Hills is a private house worth going far to see for its - color. It is built of broken limestone, the chance find of a quarry, - making the richest walls I have anywhere seen, comparable to nothing else - than the exquisite colors in the rocks of the Yellowstone Falls, as I - recall them in Mr. Moran’s original studies. - </p> - <p> - If the city itself could substitute gas fuel for its smutty coal, I fancy - that, with its many solid homes and stately buildings, backed by the - picturesque hills, it would be a city at once curious and attractive to - the view. The visitor who ascends from the river as far as Fourth Street - is surprised to find room for fair avenues, and many streets and buildings - of mark. The Probasco fountain in another atmosphere would be a thing of - beauty, for one may go far to find so many groups in bronze so good. The - Post-office building is one of the best of the Mullet-headed era of our - national architecture—so good generally that one wonders that the - architect thought it expedient to destroy the effect of the monolith - columns by cutting them to resemble superimposed blocks. A very remarkable - building also is the new Chamber of Commerce structure, from Richardson’s - design, massive, mediæval, challenging attention, and compelling criticism - to give way to genuine admiration. There are other buildings, public and - private, that indicate a city of solid growth; and the activity of its - strong Chamber of Commerce is a guarantee that its growth will be - maintained with the enterprise common to American cities. The effort is to - make manufacturing take the place in certain lines of business that, as in - the item of pork-packing, has been diverted by various causes. Money and - effort have been freely given to regain the Southern trade interrupted by - the war, and I am forced to believe that the success in this respect would - have been greater if some of the city newspapers had not thought it - all-important to manufacture political capital by keeping alive old - antagonisms and prejudices. Whatever people may say, sentiment does play a - considerable part in business, and it is within the knowledge of the - writer that prominent merchants in at least one Southern city have refused - trade contracts that would have been advantageous to Cincinnati, on - account of this exhibition of partisan spirit, as if the war were not - over. Nothing would be more contemptible than to see a community selling - its principles for trade; but it is true that men will trade, other things - being equal, where they are met with friendly cordiality and toleration, - and where there is a spirit of helpfulness instead of suspicion. - Professional politicians, North and South, may be able to demonstrate to - their satisfaction that they should have a chance to make a living, but - they ask too much when this shall be at the expense of free-flowing trade, - which is in itself the best solvent of any remaining alienation, and the - surest disintegrator of the objectionable political solidity, and to the - hinderance of that entire social and business good feeling which is of all - things desirable and necessary in a restored and compacted Union. And it - is as bad political as it is bad economic policy. As a matter of fact, the - politicians of Kentucky are grateful to one or two Republican journals for - aid in keeping their State “solid.” It is a pity that the situation has - its serious as well as its ridiculous aspect. - </p> - <p> - Cincinnati in many respects is more an Eastern than a Western town; it is - developing its own life, and so far as I could see, without much infusion - of young fortune-hunting blood from the East. It has attained its - population of about 275,000 by a slower growth than some other Western - cities, and I notice in its statistical reports a pause rather than - excitement since 1878-79-80. The valuation of real and personal property - has kept about the same for nearly ten years (1886, real estate about - $129,000,000, personal about $42,000,000), with a falling off in the - personalty, and a noticeable decrease in the revenue from taxation. At the - same time manufacturing has increased considerably. In 1880 there was a - capital of $60,623,350, employing 74,798 laborers, with a product of - $148,957,280. In 1886 the capital was $76,248,200, laborers 93,103, - product $190,722,153. The business at the Post-office was a little less in - 1886 than in 1883. In the seven years ending with 1886 there was a - considerable increase in banking capital, which reached in the city proper - over ten millions, and there was an increase in clearings from 1881 to - 1886. - </p> - <p> - It would teach us nothing to follow in detail the fluctuations of the - various businesses in Cincinnati, either in appreciation or decline, but - it may be noted that it has more than held its own in one of the great - staples—leaf tobacco—and still maintains a leading position. - Yet I must refer to one of the industries for the sake of an important - experiment made in connection with it. This is the experiment of - profit-sharing at Ivorydale, the establishment of Messrs. Procter and - Gamble, now, I believe, the largest soap factory in the world. The soap - and candle industry has always been a large one in Cincinnati, and it has - increased about seventy-five per cent, within the past two years. The - proprietors at Ivorydale disclaim any intention of philanthropy in their - new scheme—that is, the philanthropy that means giving something for - nothing, as a charity: it is strictly a business operation. It is an - experiment that I need not say will be watched with a good deal of - interest as a means of lessening the friction between the interests of - capital and labor. The plan is this: Three trustees are named who are to - declare the net profits of the concern every six months; for this purpose - they are to have free access to the books and papers at all times, and - they are to permit the employes to designate a book-keeper to make an - examination for them also. In determining the net profits, interest on all - capital invested is calculated as an expense at the rate of six per cent., - and a reasonable salary is allowed to each member of the firm who gives - his entire time to the business. In order to share in the profits, the - employé must have been at work for three consecutive months, and must be - at work when the semi-annual account is made up. All the men share whose - wages have exceeded $5 a week, and all the women whose wages have exceeded - $4.25 a week. The proportion divided to each employé is determined by the - amount of wages earned; that is, the employés shall share as between - themselves in the profits exactly as they have shared in the entire fund - paid as wages to the whole body, excluding the first three months’ wages. - In order to determine the profits for distribution, the total amount of - wages paid to all employés (except travelling salesmen, who do not share) - is ascertained. The amount of all expenses, Including interest and - salaries, is ascertained, and the total net profits shall be divided - between the firm and the employés sharing in the fund. The amount of the - net profit to be distributed will be that proportion of the whole net - profit which will correspond to the proportion of the wages paid as - compared with the entire cost of production and the expense of the - business. To illustrate: If the wages paid to all employés shall equal - twenty per cent, of the entire expenditure in the business, including - interest and salaries of members of the firm, then twenty per cent, of the - net profit will be distributed to employés. - </p> - <p> - It will be noted that this plan promotes steadiness in work, stimulates to - industry, and adds a most valuable element of hopefulness to labor. As a - business enterprise for the owners it is sound, for it makes every workman - an interested party in increasing the profits of the firm—interested - not only in production, but in the marketableness of the thing produced. - There have been two divisions under this plan. At the declaration of the - first the workmen had no confidence in it; many of them would have sold - their chances for a glass of beer. They expected that “expenses” would - make such a large figure that nothing would be left to divide. When they - received, as the good workmen did, considerable sums of money, life took - on another aspect to them, and we may suppose that their confidence in - fair dealing was raised. The experiment of a year has been entirely - satisfactory; it has not only improved the class of employés, but has - introduced into the establishment a spirit of industrial cheerfulness. Of - course it is still an experiment. So long as business is good, all will go - well; but if there is a bad six months, and no profits, it is impossible - that suspicion should not arise. And there is another consideration: the - publishing to the world that the business of six months was without profit - might impair credit. But, on the other hand, this openness in legitimate - business may be contagious, and in the end promotive of a wider and more - stable business confidence. Ivorydale is one of the best and most solidly - built industrial establishments anywhere to be found, and doubly - interesting for the intelligent attempt to solve the most difficult - problem in modern society. The first semi-annual dividend amounted to - about an eighth increase of wages. A girl who was earning five dollars a - week would receive as dividend about thirty dollars a year. I think it was - not in my imagination that the laborers in this establishment worked with - more than usual alacrity, and seemed contented. If this plan shall prevent - strikes, that alone will be as great a benefit to the workmen as to those - who risk capital in employing them. - </p> - <p> - Probably to a stranger the chief interest of Cincinnati is not in its - business enterprises, great as they are, but in another life just as real - and important, but which is not always considered in taking account of the - prosperity of a community—the development of education and of the - fine arts. For a long time the city has had an independent life in art and - in music. Whether a people can be saved by art I do not know. The pendulum - is always swinging backward and forward, and we seem never to be able to - be enthusiastic in one direction without losing something in another. The - art of Cincinnati has a good deal the air of being indigenous, and the - outcome in the arts of carving and design and in music has exhibited - native vigor. The city has made itself a reputation for wood-carving and - for decorative pottery. The Rockwood pottery, the private enterprise of - Mrs. Bellamy Storer, is the only pottery in this country in which the - instinct of beauty is paramount to the desire of profit. Here for a series - of years experiments have been going on with clays and glazing, in regard - to form and color, and in decoration purely for effect, which have - resulted in pieces of marvellous interest and beauty. The effort has - always been to satisfy a refined sense rather than to cater to a vicious - taste, or one for startling effects already formed. I mean that the effort - has not been to suit the taste of the market, but to raise that taste. The - result is some of the most exquisite work in texture and color anywhere to - be found, and I was glad to learn that it is gaining an appreciation which - will not in this case leave virtue to be its own reward. - </p> - <p> - The various private attempts at art expression have been consolidated in a - public Museum and an Art School, which are among the best planned and - equipped in the country. The Museum Building in Eden Park, of which the - centre pavilion and west wing are completed (having a total length of 214 - feet from east to west), is in Romanesque style, solid and pleasing, with - exceedingly well-planned exhibition-rooms and picture-galleries, and its - collections are already choice and interesting. The fund was raised by the - subscriptions of 455 persons, and amounts to $310,501, of which Mr. - Charles R. West led off with the contribution of $150,000, invested as a - permanent fund. Near this is the Art School, also a noble building, the - gift of Mr. David Sinton, who in 1855 gave the Museum Association $75,000 - for this purpose. It should be said that the original and liberal - endowment of the Art School was made by Mr. Nicholas Longworth, in - accordance with the wish of his father, and that the association also - received a legacy of $40,000 from Mr. R. R. Springer. Altogether the - association has received considerably over a million of dollars, and has - in addition, by gift and purchase, property gained at nearly $200,000. The - Museum is the fortunate possessor of one of the three Russian - Reproductions, the other two being in the South Kensington Museum of - London and the Metropolitan of New York. Thus, by private enterprise, in - the true American way, the city is graced and honored by art buildings - which give it distinction, and has a school of art so well equipped and - conducted that it attracts students from far and near, filling its - departments of drawing, painting, sculpture, and wood-carving with eager - learners. It has over 400 scholars in the various departments. The ample - endowment fund makes the school really free, there being only a nominal - charge of about $5 a year. - </p> - <p> - In the collection of paintings, which has several of merit, is one with a - history, which has a unique importance. This is B. R. Haydon’s “Public - Entry of Christ into Jerusalem.” This picture of heroic size, and in the - grand style which had a great vogue in its day, was finished in 1820, sold - for £170 in 1831, and brought to Philadelphia, where it was exhibited. The - exhibition did not pay expenses, and the picture was placed in the Academy - as a companion piece to Benjamin West’s “Death on the Pale Horse.” In the - fire of 1845 both canvases were rescued by being cut from the frames and - dragged out like old blankets. It was finally given to the Cathedral in - Cincinnati, where its existence was forgotten until it was discovered - lately and loaned to the Museum. The interest in the picture now is mainly - an accidental one, although it is a fine illustration of the large - academic method, and in certain details is painted with the greatest care. - Haydon’s studio was the resort of English authors of his day, and the - portraits of several of them are introduced into this picture. The face of - William Hazlitt does duty as St. Peter; Wordsworth and Sir Isaac Newton - and Voltaire appear as spectators of the pageant—the cynical - expression of Voltaire is the worldly contrast to the believing faith of - the disciples—and the inspired face of the youthful St. John is that - of John Keats. This being the only portrait of Keats in life, gives this - picture extraordinary interest. - </p> - <p> - The spirit of Cincinnati, that is, its concern for interests not - altogether material, is also illustrated by its College of Music. This - institution was opened in 1878. It was endowed by private subscription, - the largest being $100,000 by Mr. R. R. Springer. It is financially very - prosperous; its possessions in real estate, buildings—including a - beautiful concert hall—and invested endowments amount to over - $300,000. Its average attendance is about 550, and during the year 1887 it - had about 650 different scholars. From tuition alone about $45,000 were - received, and although the expenditures were liberal, the college had at - the beginning of 1888 a handsome cash balance. The object of the college - is the development of native talent, and to evoke this the best foreign - teachers obtainable have been secured. In the departments of the voice, - the piano, and the violin, American youth are said to show special - proficiency, and the result of the experiment thus far is to strengthen - the belief that out of our mixed nationality is to come most artistic - development in music. Free admission is liberally given to pupils who have - talent but not the means to cultivate it. Recognizing the value of broad - culture in musical education, the managers have provided courses of - instruction in English literature, lectures upon American authors, and for - the critical study of Italian. The college proper has forty teachers, and - as many rooms for instruction. Near it, and connected by a covered way, is - the great Music Hall, with a seating capacity of 5400, and the room to - pack in nearly 7000 people. In this superb hall the great annual musical - festivals are held. It has a plain interior, sealed entirely in wood, and - with almost no ornamentation to impair its resonance. The courage of the - projectors who dared to build this hall for a purely musical purpose and - not for display is already vindicated. It is no doubt the best auditorium - in the country. As age darkens the wood, the interior grows rich, and it - is discovered that the effect of the seasoning of the wood or of the - musical vibrations steadily improves the acoustic properties, having the - same effect upon the sonorousness of the wood that long use has upon a - good violin. The whole interior is a magnificent sounding-board, if that - is the proper expression, and for fifty years, if the hall stands, it will - constantly improve, and have a resonant quality unparalleled in any other - auditorium. - </p> - <p> - The city has a number of clubs, well housed, such as are common to other - cities, and some that are peculiar. The Cuvier Club, for the preservation - of game, has a very large museum of birds, animals, and fishes, - beautifully prepared and arranged. The Historical and Philosophical - Society has also good quarters, a library of about 10,000 books and 44,000 - pamphlets, and is becoming an important depository of historical - manuscripts. The Literary Society, composed of 100 members, who meet - weekly, in commodious apartments, to hear an essay, discuss general - topics, and pass an hour socially about small tables, with something to - eat and drink, has been vigorously-maintained since 1848. - </p> - <p> - An institution of more general importance is the Free Public Library, - which has about 150,000 books and 18,000 pamphlets. This is supported in - part by an accumulated fund, but mainly by a city tax, which is - appropriated through the Board of Education. The expenditures for it in - 1887 were about $50,000. It has a notably fine art department. The Library - is excellently managed by Mr. A. W. Whelpley, the librarian, who has - increased its circulation and usefulness by recognizing the new idea that - a librarian is not a mere custodian of books, but should be a stimulator - and director of the reading of a community. This office becomes more and - more important now that the good library has to compete for the attention - of the young with the “cheap and nasty” publications of the day. It is - probably due somewhat to direction in reading that books of fiction taken - from the Library last year were only fifty-one per cent, of the whole. - </p> - <p> - An institution established in many cities as a helping hand to women is - the Women’s Exchange. The Exchange in Cincinnati is popular as a - restaurant. Many worthy women support themselves by preparing food which - is sold here over the counter, or served at the tables. The city has for - many years sustained a very good Zoological Garden, which is much - frequented except in the winter. Interest in it is not, however, as lively - as it was formerly. It seems very difficult to keep a “zoo” up to the mark - in America. - </p> - <p> - I do not know that the public schools of Cincinnati call for special - mention. They seem to be conservative schools, not differing from the best - elsewhere, and they appear to be trying no new experiments. One of the - high-schools which I saw with 600 pupils is well conducted, and gives good - preparation for college. The city enumeration is over 87,000 children - between the ages of six and twenty-one, and of these about 36,000 are - reported not in school. Of the 2300 colored children in the city, about - half were in school. When the Ohio Legislature repealed the law - establishing separate schools for colored people, practically creating - mixed schools, a majority of the colored parents in the city petitioned - and obtained branch schools of their own, with colored teachers in charge. - The colored people everywhere seem to prefer to be served by teachers and - preachers of their own race. - </p> - <p> - The schools of Cincinnati have not adopted manual training, but a - Technical School has been in existence about a year, with promise of - success. The Cincinnati University under the presidency of Governor Cox - shows new vitality. It is supported in part by taxation, and is open free - to all resident youth, so that while it is not a part of the public-school - system, it supplements it. - </p> - <p> - Cincinnati has had a great many discouragements of late, turbulent - politics and dishonorable financial failures. But, for all that, it - impresses one as a solid city, with remarkable development in the higher - civilization. - </p> - <p> - In its physical aspect Louisville is in every respect a contrast to - Cincinnati. Lying on a plain, sloping gently up from the river, it spreads - widely in rectangular uniformity of streets—a city of broad avenues, - getting to be well paved and well shaded, with ample spaces in lawns, - houses detached, somewhat uniform in style, but with an air of comfort, - occasionally of elegance and solid good taste. The city has an exceedingly - open, friendly, cheerful appearance. In May, with its abundant foliage and - flowery lawns, it is a beautiful city: a beautiful, healthful city in a - temperate climate, surrounded by a fertile country, is Louisville. Beyond - the city the land rises into a rolling country of Blue-Grass farms, and - eastward along the river are fine bluffs broken into most advantageous - sites for suburban residences. Looking northward across the Ohio are seen - the Indiana “Knobs.” In high-water the river is a majestic stream, - covering almost entirely the rocks which form the “Falls,” and the beds of - “cement” which are so profitably worked. The canal, which makes navigation - round the rapids, has its mouth at Shipping-port Island. About this spot - clusters much of the early romance of Louisville. Here are some of the old - houses and the old mill built by the Frenchman Tarascon in the early part - of the century. Here in a weather-beaten wooden tenement, still standing, - Taras-con offered border hospitality to many distinguished guests; Aaron - Burr and Blennerhasset were among his visitors, and General Wilkinson, the - projector of the canal, then in command of the armies of the United - States; and it was probably here that the famous “Spanish conspiracy” was - concocted. Corn Island, below the rapids, upon which the first settlement - of Louisville was made in 1778, disappeared some years ago, gradually - washed away by the swift river. - </p> - <p> - Opposite this point, in Indiana, is the village of Clarksville, which has - a unique history. About 1785 Virginia granted to Gen. George Rogers Clark, - the most considerable historic figure of this region, a large tract of - land in recognition of his services in the war. When Virginia ceded this - territory to Indiana the township of Clarksville was excepted from the - grant. It had been organized with a governing board of trustees, - self-perpetuating, and this organization still continues. Clarksville has - therefore never been ceded to the United States, and if it is not an - independent community, the eminent domain must still rest in the State of - Virginia. - </p> - <p> - Some philosophers say that the character of a people is determined by - climate and soil. There is a notion in this region that the underlying - limestone and the consequent succulent Blue-Grass produce a race of large - men, frank in manner, brave in war, inclined to oratory and ornamental - conversation, women of uncommon beauty, and the finest horses in the - Union. Of course a fertile soil and good living conduce to beauty of form - and in a way to the free graces of life. But the contrast of Cincinnati - and Louisville in social life and in the manner of doing business cannot - all be accounted for by Blue-Grass. It would be very interesting, if one - had the knowledge, to study the causes of this contrast in two cities not - very far apart. In late years Louisville has awakened to a new commercial - life, as one finds in it a strong infusion of Western business energy and - ambition. It is jubilant in its growth and prosperity. It was always a - commercial town, but with a dash of Blue-Grass leisure and hospitality, - and a hereditary flavor of manners and fine living. Family and pedigree - have always been held in as high esteem as beauty. The Kentuckian of - society is a great contrast to the Virginian, but it may be only the - development of the tide-water gentleman in the freer, wider opportunities - of the Blue-Grass region. The pioneers of Kentucky were backwoodsmen, but - many of the early settlers, whose descendants are now leaders in society - and in the professions, came with the full-blown tastes and habits of - Virginia civilization, as their spacious colonial houses, erected in the - latter part of the last century and the early part of this, still attest. - They brought and planted in the wilderness a highly developed social - state, which was modified into a certain freedom by circumstances. One can - fancy in the abundance of a temperate latitude a certain gayety and - joyousness in material existence, which is contented with that, and has - not sought the art and musical development which one finds in Cincinnati. - All over the South, Louisville is noted for the beauty of its women, but - the other ladies of the South say that they can always tell one from - Louisville by her dress, something in it quite aware of the advanced - fashion, something in the “cut”—a mystery known only to the feminine - eye. - </p> - <p> - I did not intend, however, to enter upon a disquisition of the different - types of civilization in Cincinnati and in Louisville. One observes them - as evidences of what has heretofore been mentioned, the great variety in - American life, when one looks below the surface. The traveller enjoys both - types, and is rejoiced to find such variety, culture, taking in one city - the form of the worship of beauty and the enjoyment of life, and in the - other greater tendency to the fine arts. Louisville is a city of churches, - of very considerable religious activity, and of pretty stanch orthodoxy. I - do not mean to say that what are called modern ideas do not leaven its - society. In one of its best literary clubs I heard the Spencerian - philosophy expounded and advocated with the enthusiasm and keenness of an - emancipated Eastern town. But it is as true of Louisville as it is of - other Southern cities that traditional faith is less disturbed by doubts - and isms than in many Eastern towns. One notes here also, as all over the - South, the marked growth of the temperance movement. The Kentuckians - believe that they produce the best fluid from rye and corn in the Union, - and that they are the best judges of it. Neither proposition will be - disputed, nor will one trifle with a legitimate pride in a home - production; but there is a new spirit abroad, and both Bourbon and the - game that depends quite as much upon the knowledge of human nature as upon - the turn of the cards are silently going to the rear. Always Kentuckians - have been distinguished in politics, in oratory, in the professions of law - and of medicine; nor has the city ever wanted scholars in historical lore, - men who have not only kept alive the traditions of learning and local - research, like Col. John Mason Brown, but have exhibited the true - antiquarian spirit of Col. H. T. Durrett, whose historical library is - worth going far to see and study. It will be a great pity if his - exceedingly valuable collection is not preserved to the State to become - the nucleus of a Historical Society worthy of the State’s history. When I - spoke of art it was in a public sense; there are many individuals who have - good pictures and especially interesting portraits, and in the early days - Kentucky produced at least one artist, wholly self-taught, who was a rare - genius. Matthew H. Jouett was born in Mercer County in 1780, and died in - Louisville in 1820. In the course of his life he painted as many as three - hundred and fifty portraits, which are scattered all over the Union. In - his mature years he was for a time with Stuart in Boston. Some specimens - of his work in Louisville are wonderfully fine, recalling the style and - traditions of the best masters, some of them equal if not superior to the - best by Stuart, and suggesting in color and solidity the vigor and grace - of Vandyck. He was the product of no school but nature and his own genius. - Louisville has always had a scholarly and aggressive press, and its - traditions are not weakened in Mr. Henry Watterson. On the social side the - good-fellowship of the city is well represented in the Pendennis Club, - which is thoroughly home-like and agreeable. The town has at least one - book-store of the first class, but it sells very few American copyright - books. The city has no free or considerable public library. The - Polytechnic Society, which has a room for lectures, keeps for circulation - among subscribers about 38,000 books. It has also a geological and mineral - collection, and a room devoted to pictures, which contains an allegorical - statue by Canova. - </p> - <p> - In its public schools and institutions of charity the city has a great - deal to show that is interesting. In medicine it has always been famous. - It has four medical colleges, a college of dentistry, a college of - pharmacy, and a school of pharmacy for women. In nothing, however, is the - spirit of the town better exhibited than in its public-school system. With - a population of less than 180,000, the school enrolment, which has - advanced year by year, was in 1887, 21,601, with an aggregate belonging of - 17,392. The amount expended on schools, which was in 1880 $197,699, had - increased to $323,943 in 1887—a cost of $18.62 per pupil. Equal - provision is made for colored schools as for white, but the number of - colored pupils is less than 3000, and the colored high-school is small, as - only a few are yet fitted to go so far in education. The negroes all - prefer colored teachers, and so far as I could learn, they are quite - content with the present management of the School Board. Co-education is - not in the Kentucky idea, nor in its social scheme. There are therefore - two high-schools—one for girls and one for boys—both of the - highest class and efficiency, in excellent buildings, and under most - intelligent management. Among the teachers in the schools are ladies of - position, and the schools doubtless owe their good character largely to - the fact that they are in the fashion: as a rule, all the children of the - city are educated in them. Manual training is not introduced, but all the - advanced methods in the best modern schools, object-lessons, - word-building, moulding, and drawing, are practised. During the fall and - winter months there are night schools, which are very well attended. In - one of the intermediate schools I saw an exercise which illustrates the - intelligent spirit of the schools. This was an account of the early - settlement, growth, and prosperity of Louisville, told in a series of very - short papers—so many that a large number of the pupils had a share - in constructing the history. Each one took up connectively a brief period - or the chief events in chronological order, with illustrations of manners - and customs, fashions of dress and mode of life. Of course this mosaic was - not original, but made up of extracts from various local histories and - statistical reports. This had the merit of being a good exercise as well - as inculcating an intelligent pride in the city. - </p> - <p> - Nearly every religious denomination is represented in the 142 churches of - Louisville. Of these 9 are Northern Presbyterian and 7 Southern - Presbyterian, 11 of the M.E. Church South and 6 of the M.E. Church North, - 18 Catholic, 7 Christian, 1 Unitarian, and 31 colored. There are seven - convents and monasteries, and a Young Men’s Christian Association. In - proportion to its population, the city is pre-eminent for public and - private charities: there are no less than thirty-eight of these - institutions, providing for the infirm and unfortunate of all ages and - conditions. Unique among these in the United States is a very fine - building for the maintenance of the widows and orphans of deceased - Freemasons of the State of Kentucky, supported mainly by contributions of - the Masonic lodges. One of the best equipped and managed industrial - schools of reform for boys and girls is on the outskirts of the city. Mr. - P. Caldwell is its superintendent, and it owes its success, as all similar - schools do, to the peculiar fitness of the manager for this sort of work. - The institution has three departments. There were 125 white boys and 79 - colored boys, occupying separate buildings in the same enclosure, and 41 - white girls in their own house in another enclosure. - </p> - <p> - The establishment has a farm, a garden, a greenhouse, a library building, - a little chapel, ample and pleasant play-yards. There is as little as - possible the air of a prison about the place, and as much as possible that - of a home and school. The boys have organized a very fair brass band. The - girls make all the clothes for the establishment; the boys make shoes, and - last year earned $8000 in bottoming chairs. The school is mainly sustained - by taxation and city appropriations; the yearly cost is about $26,000. - Children are indentured out when good homes can be found for them. - </p> - <p> - The School for the Education of the Blind is a State institution, and - admits none from outside the State. The fine building occupies a - commanding situation on hills not far from the river, and is admirably - built, the rooms spacious and airy, and the whole establishment is well - ordered. There are only 79 scholars, and the few colored are accommodated - by themselves in a separate building, in accordance with an Act of the - Legislature in 1884 for the education of colored blind children. The - distinction of this institution is that it has on its premises the United - States printing-office for furnishing publications for the blind asylums - of the country. Printing is done here both in letters and in points, by - very ingenious processes, and the library is already considerable. The - space required to store a library of books for the blind may be reckoned - from the statement that the novel of “Ivan-hoe” occupies three volumes, - each larger than Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. The weekly <i>Sunday-school - Times</i> is printed here. The point writing consists entirely of dots in - certain combinations to represent letters, and it is noticed that about - half the children prefer this to the alphabet. The preference is not - explained by saying that it is merely a matter of feeling. - </p> - <p> - The city has as yet no public parks, but the very broad streets—from - sixty to one hundred and twenty feet in width—the wide spacing of - the houses in the residence parts, and the abundant shade make them less a - necessity than elsewhere. The city spreads very freely and openly over the - plain, and short drives take one into lovely Blue-Grass country. A few - miles out on Churchill Downs is the famous Jockey Club Park, a perfect - racing track and establishment, where worldwide reputations are made at - the semi-annual meetings. The limestone region, a beautifully rolling - country, almost rivals the Lexington plantations in the raising of fine - horses. Driving out to one of these farms one day, we passed, not far from - the river, the old Taylor mansion and the tomb of Zachary Taylor. It is in - the reserved family burying-ground, where lie also the remains of Richard - Taylor, of Revolutionary memory. The great tomb and the graves are overrun - thickly with myrtle, and the secluded irregular ground is shaded by - forest-trees. The soft wind of spring was blowing sweetly over the fresh - green fields, and there was about the place an air of repose and dignity - most refreshing to the spirit. Near the tomb stands the fine commemorative - shaft bearing on its summit a good portrait statue of the hero of Buena - Vista. I liked to linger there, the country was so sweet; the great river - flowing in sight lent a certain grandeur to the resting-place, and I - thought how dignified and fit it was for a President to be buried at his - home. - </p> - <p> - The city of Louisville in 1888 has the unmistakable air of confidence and - buoyant prosperity. This feeling of confidence is strengthened by the - general awakening of Kentucky in increased immigration of agriculturists, - and in the development of extraordinary mines of coal and iron, and in the - railway extension. But locally the Board of Trade (an active body of 700 - members) has in its latest report most encouraging figures to present. In - almost every branch of business there was an increase in 1887 over 1886; - in both manufactures and trade the volume of business increased from - twenty to fifty per cent. For instance, stoves and castings increased from - 16,574,547 pounds to 19,386,808; manufactured tobacco, from 12,729,421 - pounds to 17,059,006; gas and water pipes, from 56,083,380 pounds to - 63,745,216; grass and clover seed, from 4,240,908 bushels to 6,601,451. A - conclusive item as to manufactures is that there were received in 1887 - 951,767 tons of bituminous coal, against 204,221 tons in 1886. Louisville - makes the claim of being the largest tobacco market in the world in bulk - and variety. It leads largely the nine principal leaf-tobacco markets in - the West. The figures for 1887 are—receipts, 123,569 hogsheads; - sales, 135,192 hogsheads; stock in hand, 36,431 hogsheads, against the - corresponding figures of 62,074, 65,924, 13,972 of its great rival, - Cincinnati. These large figures are a great increase over 1886, when the - value of tobacco handled here was estimated at nearly $20,000,000. Another - great interest always associated with Louisville, whiskey, shows a like - increase, there being shipped in 1887 119,637 barrels, against 101,943 - barrels in 1886. In the Louisville collection district there were - registered one hundred grain distilleries, with a capacity of 80,000 - gallons a day. For the five years ending June 30, 1887, the revenue taxes - on this product amounted to nearly $30,000,000. I am not attempting a - conspectus of the business of Louisville, only selecting some figures - illustrating its growth. Its manufacture of agricultural implements has - attained great proportions. The reputation of Louisville for tobacco and - whiskey is widely advertised, but it is not generally known that it has - the largest plough factory in the world. This is one of four which - altogether employ about 2000 hands, and make a product valued at - $2,275,000. In 1880 Louisville made 80,000 ploughs; in 1886, 190,000. The - capacity of manufacture in 1887 was increased by the enlargement of the - chief factory to a number not given, but there were shipped that year - 11,005,151 pounds of ploughs. There is a steadily increasing manufacture - of woollen goods, and the production of the mixed fabric known as Kentucky - jeans is another industry in which Louisville leads the world, making - annually 7,500,000 yards of cloth, and its four mills increased their - capacity twenty per cent, in 1887. The opening of the hard-wood lumber - districts in eastern Kentucky has made Louisville one of the important - lumber markets: about 125,000,000 feet of lumber, logs, etc., were sold - here in 1887. But it is unnecessary to particularize. The Board of Trade - think that the advantages of Louisville as a manufacturing centre are - sufficiently emphasized from the fact that during the year 1887 - seventy-three new manufacturing establishments, mainly from the North and - East, were set up, using a capital of $1,290,500, and employing 1621 - laborers. The city has twenty-two banks, which had, July 1, 1887, - $8,200,200 capital, and $19,927,138 deposits. The clearings for 1887 were - $281,110,402—an increase of nearly $50,000,000 over 1886. - </p> - <p> - Another item which helps to explain the buoyant feeling of Louisville is - that its population increased over 10,000 from 1886 to 1887, reaching, - according to the best estimate, 177,000 people. I should have said also - that no city in the Union is better served by street railways, which are - so multiplied and arranged as to “correspondences” that for one fare - nearly every inhabitant can ride within at least two blocks of his - residence. In these cars, as in the railway cars of the State, there is - the same absence of discrimination against color that prevails in - Louisiana and in Arkansas. And it is an observation hopeful, at least to - the writer, of the good time at hand when all party lines shall be drawn - upon the broadest national issues, that there seems to be in Kentucky no - social distinction between Democrats and Republicans. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XIII.—MEMPHIS AND LITTLE ROCK. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>he State of - Tennessee gets its diversity of climate and productions from the - irregularity of its surface, not from its range over degrees of latitude, - like Illinois; for it is a narrow State, with an average breadth of only a - hundred and ten miles, while it is about four hundred miles in length, - from the mountains in the east—the highest land east of the Rocky - Mountains—to the alluvial bottom of the Mississippi in the west. In - this range is every variety of mineral and agricultural wealth, with some - of the noblest scenery and the fairest farming-land in the Union, and all - the good varieties of a temperate climate. - </p> - <p> - In the extreme south-west corner lies Memphis, differing as entirely in - character from Knoxville and Nashville as the bottom-lands of the - Mississippi differ from the valleys of the Great Smoky Mountains. It is - the natural centre of the finest cotton-producing district in the world, - the county of Shelby, of which it is legally known as the Taxing District, - yielding more cotton than any other county in the Union except that of - Washington in Mississippi. It is almost as much aloof politically from - east and middle Tennessee as it is geographically. A homogeneous State - might be constructed by taking west Tennessee, all of Mississippi above - Vicksburg and Jackson, and a slice off Arkansas, with Memphis for its - capital. But the redistricting would be a good thing neither for the - States named nor for Memphis, for the more variety within convenient - limits a State can have, the better, and Memphis could not wish a better - or more distinguished destiny than to become the commercial metropolis of - a State of such great possibilities and varied industries as Tennessee. - Her political influence might be more decisive in the homogeneous State - outlined, but it will be abundant for all reasonable ambition in its - inevitable commercial importance. And besides, the western part of the - State needs the moral tonic of the more elevated regions. - </p> - <p> - The city has a frontage of about four miles on the Mississippi River, but - is high above it on the Chickasaw Bluffs, with an uneven surface and a - rolling country back of it, the whole capable of perfect drainage. Its - site is the best on the river for a great city from St. Louis to the Gulf; - this advantage is emphasized by the concentration of railways at this - point, and the great bridge, which is now on the eve of construction, to - the Arkansas shore, no doubt fixes its destiny as the inland metropolis of - the South-west. Memphis was the child of the Mississippi, and this - powerful, wayward stream is still its fostering mother, notwithstanding - the decay of river commerce brought about by the railways; for the river - still asserts its power as a regulator of rates of transportation. I do - not mean to say that the freighting on it in towed barges is not still - enormous, but if it did not carry a pound to the markets of the world it - is still the friend of all the inner continental regions, which says to - the railroads, beyond a certain rate of charges you shall not go. With - this advantage of situation, the natural receiver of the products of an - inexhaustible agricultural region (one has only to take a trip by rail - through the Yazoo Valley to be convinced of that), and an equally good - point for distribution of supplies, it is inevitable that Memphis should - grow with an accelerating impulse. - </p> - <p> - The city has had a singular and instructive history, and that she has - survived so many vicissitudes and calamities, and entered upon an - extraordinary career of prosperity, is sufficient evidence of the - territorial necessity of a large city just at this point on the river. The - student of social science will find in its history a striking illustration - of the relation of sound sanitary and business conditions to order and - morality. Before the war, and for some time after it, Memphis was a place - for trade in one staple, where fortunes were quickly made and lost, where - no attention was paid to sanitary laws. The cloud of impending pestilence - always hung over it, the yellow-fever was always a possibility, and a - devastating epidemic of it must inevitably be reckoned with every few - years. It seems to be a law of social life that an epidemic, or the - probability of it, engenders a recklessness of life and a low condition of - morals and public order. Memphis existed, so to speak, on the edge of a - volcano, and it cannot be denied that it had a reputation for violence and - disorder. While little or nothing was done to make the city clean and - habitable, or to beautify it, law was weak in its mobile, excitable - population, and differences of opinion were settled by the revolver. In - spite of these disadvantages, the profits of trade were so great there - that its population of twenty thousand at the close of the war had doubled - by 1878. In that year the yellow-fever came as an epidemic, and so - increased in 1879 as nearly to depopulate the city; its population was - reduced from nearly forty thousand to about fourteen thousand, two-thirds - of which were negroes; its commerce was absolutely cut off, its - manufactures were suspended, it was bankrupt. There is nothing more - unfortunate for a State or a city than loss of financial credit. Memphis - struggled in vain with its enormous debt, unable to pay it, unable to - compromise it. - </p> - <p> - Under these circumstances the city resorted to a novel expedient. It - surrendered its charter to the State, and ceased to exist as a - municipality. The leaders of this movement gave two reasons for it, the - wish not to repudiate the city debt, but to gain breathing-time, and that - municipal government in this country is a failure. The Legislature erected - the former Memphis into The Taxing District of Shelby County, and provided - a government for it. This government consists of a Legislative Council of - eight members, made up of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, - consisting of three, and the Board of Public Works, consisting of five. - These are all elected by popular vote to serve a term of four years, but - the elections are held every two years, so that the council always - contains members who have had experience. The Board of Fire and Police - Commissioners elects a President, who is the executive officer of the - Taxing District, and has the power and duties of a mayor; he has a salary - of $2000, inclusive of his fees as police magistrate, and the other - members of his board have salaries of $500. The members of the Board of - Public Works serve without compensation. No man can be eligible to either - board who has not been a resident of the district for five years. In - addition there is a Board of Health, appointed by the council. This - government has the ordinary powers of a city government, defined carefully - in the Act, but it cannot run the city in debt, and it cannot appropriate - the taxes collected except for the specific purpose named by the State - Legislature, which specific appropriations are voted annually by the - Legislature on the recommendation of the council. Thus the government of - the city is committed to eight men, and the execution of its laws to one - man, the President of the Taxing District, who has extraordinary power. - The final success of this scheme will be watched with a great deal of - interest by other cities. On the surface it can be seen that it depends - upon securing a non-partisan council, and an honest, conscientious - President of the Taxing District—that is to say, upon the choice by - popular vote of the best eight men to rule the city. Up to this time, with - only slight hitches, it has worked exceedingly well, as will appear in a - consideration of the condition of the city. The slight hitch mentioned was - that the President was accused of using temporarily the sum appropriated - for one city purpose for another. - </p> - <p> - The Supreme Court of the United States decided that Memphis had not evaded - its obligations by a change of name and form of government. The result was - a settlement with the creditors at fifty cents on the dollar; and then the - city gathered itself together for a courageous effort and a new era of - prosperity. The turning-point in its career was the adoption of a system - of drainage and sewerage which transformed it immediately into a fairly - healthful city. With its uneven surface and abundance of water at hand, it - was well adapted to the Waring system, which works to the satisfaction of - all concerned, and since its introduction the inhabitants are relieved - from apprehension of the return of a yellow-fever epidemic. Population and - business returned with this sense of security, and there has been a change - in the social atmosphere as well. In 1880 it had a population of less than - 34,000; it can now truthfully claim between 75,000 and 80,000; and the - business activity, the building both of fine business blocks and handsome - private residences, are proportioned to the increase in inhabitants. In - 1879-80 the receipt of cotton was 409,809 bales, valued at $23,752,529; in - 1886-87, 603,277 bales, valued at $30,099,510. The estimate of the Board - of Trade for 1888, judging from the first months of the year, is 700,000 - bales. I notice in the comparative statement of leading articles of - commerce and consumption an exceedingly large increase in 1887 over 1886. - The banking capital in 1887 was $3,300,000—an increase of $1,560,000 - over 1886. The clearings were $101,177,377 in 1877, against $82,642,192 in - 1880. - </p> - <p> - The traveller, however, does not need figures to convince him of the - business activity of the town; the piles of cotton beyond the capacity of - storage, the street traffic, the extension of streets and residences far - beyond the city limits, all speak of growth. There is in process of - construction a union station to accommodate the six railways now meeting - there and others projected. On the west of the river it has lines to - Kansas City and Little Rock and to St. Louis; on the east, to Louisville - and to the Atlantic seaboard direct, and two to New Orleans. With the - building of the bridge, which is expected to be constructed in a couple of - years, Memphis will be admirably supplied with transportation facilities. - </p> - <p> - As to its external appearance, it must be said that the city has grown so - fast that city improvements do not keep pace with its assessable value. - The inability of the city to go into debt is a wholesome provision, but - under this limitation the city offices are shabby, the city police - quarters and court would disgrace an indigent country village, and most of - the streets are in bad condition for want of pavement. There are fine - streets, many attractive new residences, and some fine old places, with - great trees, and the gravelled pikes running into the country are in fine - condition, and are favorite drives. There is a beautiful country round - about, with some hills and pleasant woods. Looked at from an elevation, - the town is seen to cover a large territory, and presents in the early - green of spring a charming appearance. Some five miles out is the - Montgomery race-track, park, and club-house—a handsome - establishment, prettily laid out and planted, already attractive, and sure - to be notable when the trees are grown. - </p> - <p> - The city has a public-school system, a Board of Education elected by - popular vote, and divides its fund fairly between schools for white and - colored children. But it needs good school-houses as much as it needs good - pavements. In 1887 the tax of one and a half mills produced $54,000 for - carrying on the schools, and $19,000 for the building fund. It was not - enough—at least $75,000 were needed. The schools were in debt. There - is a plan adopted for a fine High-school building, but the city needs - altogether more money and more energy for the public schools. According to - some reports the public schools have suffered from politics, and are not - as good as they were years ago, but they are undoubtedly gaining in public - favor, notwithstanding some remaining Bourbon prejudice against them. The - citizens are making money fast enough to begin to be liberal in matters - educational, which are only second to sanitary measures in the well-being - of the city. The new free Public Library, which will be built and opened - in a couple of years, will do much for the city in this direction. It is - the noble gift of the late F. H. Cossitt, of New York, formerly a citizen - of Memphis, who left $75,000 for that purpose. - </p> - <p> - Perhaps the public schools of Memphis would be better (though not so - without liberal endowment) if the city had not two exceptionally good - private schools for young ladies. These are the Clara Conway Institute and - the Higby School for Young Ladies, taking their names from their - principals and founders. Each of these schools has about 350 pupils, from - the age of six to the mature age of graduation, boys being admitted until - they are twelve years old. Each has pleasant grounds and fine buildings, - large, airy, well planned, with ample room for all the departments—literature, - science, art, music—of the most advanced education. One finds in - them the best methods of the best schools, and a most admirable spirit. It - is not too much to say that these schools give distinction to Memphis, and - that the discipline and intellectual training the young ladies receive - there will have a marked effect upon the social life of the city. If one - who spent some delightful hours in the company of these graceful and - enthusiastic scholars, and who would like heartily to acknowledge their - cordiality, and his appreciation of their admirable progress in general - study, might make a suggestion, it would be that what the frank, impulsive - Southern girl, with her inborn talent for being agreeable and her vivid - apprehension of life, needs least of all is the cultivation of the - emotional, the rhetorical, the sentimental side. However cleverly they are - done, the recitation of poems of sentiment, of passion, of lovemaking and - marriage, above all, of those doubtful dialect verses in which a touch of - pseudo-feeling is supposed to excuse the slang of the street and the - vulgarity of the farm, is not an exercise elevating to the taste. I happen - to speak of it here, but I confess that it is only a text from which a - little sermon might be preached about “recitations” and declamations - generally, in these days of overdone dialect and innuendoes about the - hypocrisy of old-fashioned morality. - </p> - <p> - The city has a prosperous college of the Christian Brothers, another - excellent school for girls in the St. Agnes Academy, and a colored - industrial school, the Lemoyne, where the girls are taught cooking and the - art of house-keeping, and the boys learn carpentering. This does not - belong to the public-school system. - </p> - <p> - Whatever may be the opinion about the propriety of attaching industrial - training to public schools generally, there is no doubt that this sort of - training is indispensable to the colored people of the South, whose - children do not at present receive the needed domestic training at borne, - and whose education must contribute to their ability to earn a living. - Those educated in the schools, high and low, cannot all be teachers or - preachers, and they are not in the way of either social elevation or - thrifty lives if they have neither a trade nor the taste to make neat and - agreeable homes. The colored race cannot have it too often impressed upon - them that their way to all the rights and privileges under a free - government lies in industry, thrift, and morality. Whatever reason they - have to complain of remaining discrimination and prejudice, there is only - one way to overcome both, and that is by the acquisition of property and - intelligence. In the history of the world a people were never elevated - otherwise. No amount of legislation can do it. In Memphis—in - Southern cities generally—the public schools are impartially - administered as to the use of money for both races. In the country - districts they are as generally inadequate, both in quality and in the - length of the school year. In the country, where farming and domestic - service must be the occupations of the mass of the people, industrial - schools are certainly not called for; but in the cities they are a - necessity of the present development. - </p> - <p> - Ever since Memphis took itself in hand with a new kind of municipal - government, and made itself a healthful city, good-fortune of one kind and - another seems to have attended it. Abundant water it could get from the - river for sewerage purposes, but for other uses either extensive filters - were needed or cisterns were resorted to. The city was supplied with - water, which the stranger would hesitate to drink or bathe in, from Wolf - River, a small stream emptying into the Mississippi above the city. But - within the year a most important discovery has been made for the health - and prosperity of the town. This was the striking, in the depression of - the Gayoso Bayou, at a depth of 450 feet, perfectly pure water, at a - temperature of about 62°, in abundance, with a head sufficient to bring it - in fountains some feet about the level of the ground. Ten wells had been - sunk, and the water flowing was estimated at ten millions of gallons - daily, or half enough to supply the city. It was expected that with more - wells the supply would be sufficient for all purposes, and then Memphis - will have drinking water not excelled in purity by that of any city in the - land. It is not to be wondered at that this incalculable good-fortune - should add buoyancy to the business, and even to the advance in the price, - of real estate. The city has widely outgrown its corporate limits, there - is activity in building and improvements in all the pleasant suburbs, and - with the new pavements which are in progress, the city will be as - attractive as it is prosperous. - </p> - <p> - Climate is much a matter of taste. The whole area of the alluvial land of - the Mississippi has the three requisites for malaria—heat, moisture, - and vegetable decomposition. The tendency to this is overcome, in a - measure, as the land is thoroughly drained and cultivated. Memphis has a - mild winter, long summer, and a considerable portion of the year when the - temperature is just about right for enjoyment. In the table of temperature - for 1887 I find that the mean was 61.9°, the mean of the highest by months - was 84.9°, and the mean lowest was 37.4°. The coldest month was January, - when the range of the thermometer was from 72.2° to 4.3°, and the hottest - was July, when the range was from 99° to 67.30. There is a preponderance - of fair, sunny weather. The record for 1887 was: 157 days of clear, 132 - fair, 65 cloudy, 91 days of frost. From this it appears that Memphis has a - pretty agreeable climate for those who do not insist upon a good deal of - “bracing,” and it has a most genial and hospitable society. - </p> - <p> - Early on the morning of the 12th of April we crossed the river to the - lower landing of the Memphis and Little Rock Railway, the upper landing - being inaccessible on account of the high water. It was a delicious spring - morning, the foliage, half unfolded, was in its first flush of green, and - as we steamed down the stream the town, on bluffs forty feet high, was - seen to have a noble situation. All the opposite country for forty miles - from the river was afloat, and presented the appearance of a vast swamp, - not altogether unpleasing in its fresh dress of green. For forty miles, to - Madison, the road ran upon an embankment just above the flood; at - intervals were poor shanties and little cultivated patches, but shanties, - corn patches, and trees all stood in the water. The inhabitants, the - majority colored, seemed of the sort to be content with half-amphibious - lives. Before we reached Madison and crossed St. Francis River we ran - through a streak of gravel. Forest City, at the crossing of the Iron - Mountain Railway, turned out to be not exactly a city, in the Eastern - meaning of the word, but a considerable collection of houses, with a large - hotel. It seemed, so far in the wilderness, an irresponsible sort of - place, and the crowd at the station were in a festive, hilarious mood. - This was heightened by the playing of a travelling band which we carried - with us in the second-class car, and which good-naturedly unlimbered at - the stations. It consisted of a colored bass-viol, violin, and guitar, and - a white cornet. On the way the negro population were in the majority, all - the residences were shabby shanties, and the moving public on the trains - and about the stations had not profited by the example of the commercial - travellers, who are the only smartly dressed people one sees in these - regions. A young girl who got into the car here told me that she came from - Marianna, a town to the south, on the Languille River, and she seemed to - regard it as a central place. At Brinkley we crossed the St. Louis, - Arkansas, and Texas road, ran through more swamps to the Cache River, - after which there was prairie and bottom-land, and at De Valle’s Bluff we - came to the White River. There is no doubt that this country is well - watered. After White River fine reaches of prairie-land were encountered—in - fact, a good deal of prairie and oak timber. Much of this prairie had once - been cultivated to cotton, but was now turned to grazing, and dotted with - cattle. A place named Prairie Centre had been abandoned; indeed, we passed - a good many abandoned houses before we reached Carlisle and the Galloway. - Lonoke is one of the villages of rather mean appearance, but important - enough to be talked about and visited by the five aspirants for the - gubernatorial nomination, who were travelling about together, each one - trying to convince the people that the other four were unworthy the - office. This is lowland Arkansas, supporting a few rude villages, - inhabited by negroes and unambitious whites, and not a fairly - representative portion of a great State. - </p> - <p> - At Argenta, a sort of railway and factory suburb of the city, we crossed - the muddy, strong-flowing Arkansas River on a fine bridge, elevated so as - to strike high up on the bluff on which Little Rock is built. The rock of - the bluff, which the railway pierces, is a very shaly slate. The town - lying along the bluff has a very picturesque appearance, in spite of its - newness and the poor color of its brick. The situation is a noble one, - commanding a fine prospect of river and plain, and mountains to the west - rising from the bluff on a series of gentle hills, with conspicuous - heights farther out for public institutions and country houses. The eity, - which has nearly thirty thousand inhabitants, can boast a number of - handsome business streets with good shops and an air of prosperous trade, - with well-shaded residence streets of comfortable houses; but all the - thoroughfares are bad for want of paving, Little Rock being forbidden by - the organic law ( as Memphis is ) to run in debt for city improvements. A - city which has doubled its population within eight years, and been - restrained from using its credit, must expect to suffer from bad streets, - but its caution about debt is reassuring to intending settlers. The needed - street improvements, it is understood, however, will soon be under way, - and the citizens have the satisfaction of knowing that when they are made, - Little Rock will be a beautiful city. - </p> - <p> - Below the second of the iron bridges which span the river is a bowlder - which gave the name of Little Rock to the town. The general impression is - that it is the first rock on the river above its confluence with the - Mississippi; this is not literally true, but this rock is the first - conspicuous one, and has become historic. On the opposite side of the - river, a mile above, is a bluff several hundred feet high, called Big - Rock. On the summit is a beautiful park, a vineyard, a summer hotel, and - pleasure-grounds—a delightful resort in the hot weather. From the - top one gains a fair idea of Arkansas—the rich delta of the river, - the mighty stream itself, the fertile rolling land and forests, the - mountains on the border of the Indian Territory, the fair city, the - sightly prominences about it dotted with buildings—altogether a - magnificent and most charming view. - </p> - <p> - There is a United States arsenal at Little Rock; the Government - Post-office is a handsome building, and among the twenty-seven churches - there are some of pleasing architecture. The State-house, which stands - upon the bluff overlooking the river, is a relic of old times, suggesting - the easy-going plantation style. It is an indescribable building, or group - of buildings, with classic pillars of course, and rambling galleries that - lead to old-fashioned, domestic-looking State offices. It is shabby in - appearance, but has a certain interior air of comfort. The room of the - Assembly—plain, with windows on three sides, open to the sun and - air, and not so large that conversational speaking cannot be heard in it—is - not at all the modern notion of a legislative chamber, which ought to be - lofty, magnificently decorated, lighted from above, and shut in as much as - possible from the air and the outside world. Arkansas, which is rapidly - growing in population and wealth, will no doubt very soon want a new - State-house. Heaven send it an architect who will think first of the - comfortable, cheerful rooms, and second of imposing outside display! He - might spend a couple of millions on a building which would astonish the - natives, and not give them as agreeable a working room for the Legislature - as this old chamber. The fashion is to put up an edifice whose dimensions - shall somehow represent the dignity of the State, a vast structure of - hall-ways and staircases, with half-lighted and ill-ventilated rooms. It - seems to me that the American genius ought to be able to devise a capitol - of a different sort, certainly one better adapted to the Southern climate. - A group of connected buildings for the various departments might be better - than one solid parallelogram, and I have a fancy that legislators would be - clearer-headed, and would profit more by discussion, if they sat in a - cheerful chamber, not too large to be easily heard in, and open as much as - possible to the sun and air and the sight of tranquil nature. The present - Capitol has an air of lazy neglect, and the law library which is stored in - it could not well be in a worse condition; but there is something rather - pleasing about the old, easy-going establishment that one would pretty - certainly miss in a smart new building. Arkansas has an opportunity to - distinguish itself by a new departure in State-houses. - </p> - <p> - In the city are several of the State institutions, most of them occupying - ample grounds with fine sites in the suburbs. Conspicuous on high ground - in the city is the Blind Asylum, a very commodious, and well-conducted - institution, with about 80 inmates. The School for Deaf-mutes, with 125 - pupils, is under very able management. But I confess that the State - Lunatic Asylum gave me a genuine surprise, and if the civilization of - Arkansas were to be judged by it, it would take high rank among the - States. It is a very fine building, well constructed and admirably - planned, on a site commanding a noble view, with eighty acres of forest - and garden. More land is needed to carry out the superintendent’s idea of - labor, and to furnish supplies for the patients, of whom there are 450, - the men and women, colored and white, in separate wings. The builders seem - to have taken advantage of all the Eastern experience and shunned the - Eastern mistakes, and the result is an establishment with all the modern - improvements and conveniences, conducted in the most enlightened spirit. I - do not know a better large State asylum in the United States. Of the State - penitentiary nothing good can be said. Arkansas is still struggling with - the wretched lease system, the frightful abuses of which she is beginning - to appreciate. The penitentiary is a sort of depot for convicts, who are - distributed about the State by the contractors. At the time of my visit a - considerable number were there, more or less crippled and sick, who had - been rescued from barbarous treatment in one of the mines. A gang were - breaking stones in the yard, a few were making cigars, and the dozen women - in the women’s ward were doing laundry-work. But nothing appeared to be - done to improve the condition of the inmates. In Southern prisons I notice - comparatively few of the “professional” class which so largely make the - population of Northern penitentiaries, and I always fancy that in the - rather easy-going management, wanting the cast-iron discipline, the lot of - the prisoners is not so hard. Thus far among the colored people not much - odium attaches to one of their race who has been in prison. - </p> - <p> - The public-school system of the State is slowly improving, hampered by - want of Constitutional power to raise money for the schools. By the - Constitution, State taxes are limited to one per cent.; county taxes to - one-half of one per cent., with an addition of one-half of one per cent, - to pay debts existing when the Constitution was adopted in 1874; city - taxes the same as county; in addition, for the support of common schools, - the Assembly may lay a tax not to exceed two mills on the dollar on the - taxable property of the State, and an annual <i>per capita</i> tax of one - dollar on every male inhabitant over the age of twenty-one years; and it - may also authorize each school district to raise for itself, by vote of - its electors, a tax for school purposes not to exceed five mills on the - dollar. The towns generally vote this additional tax, but in most of the - country districts schools are not maintained for more than three months in - the year. The population of the State is about 1,000,000, in an area of - 53,045 square miles. The scholastic population enrolled has increased - steadily for several years, and in 1886 was 164,757, of which 122,296 were - white and 42,461 were colored. The total population of school age - (including the enrolled) was 358,006, of which 266,188 were white and - 91,818 colored. The school fund available for that year was $1,327,710. - The increased revenue and enrolment are encouraging, but it is admitted - that the schools of the State (sparsely settled as it is) cannot be what - they should be without more money to build decent school-houses, employ - competent teachers, and have longer sessions. - </p> - <p> - Little Rock has fourteen school-houses, only one or two of which are - commendable-The High-school, with 50 pupils and 2 teachers, is held in a - district building. The colored people have their fair proportion of - schools, with teachers of their own race. Little Rock is abundantly able - to tax itself for better schools, as it is for better pavements. In all - the schools most attention seems to be paid to mathematics, and it is - noticeable how proficient colored children under twelve are in figures. - </p> - <p> - The most important school in the State, which I did not see, is the - Industrial University at Fayetteville, which received the Congressional - land grant and is a State beneficiary; its property, including endowments - and the University farm, is reckoned at $300,000. The general intention is - to give a practical industrial education. The collegiate department, a - course of three years, has 77 pupils; in the preparatory department are - about 200; but the catalogue, including special students in art and music, - the medical department at Little Rock of 60, and the Normal School at Pine - Bluff of 215, foots up about 600 students. The University is situated in a - part of the State most attractive in its scenery and most healthful, and - offers a chance for every sort of mental and manual training. - </p> - <p> - The most widely famous place in the State is the Hot Springs. I should - like to have seen it when it was in a state of nature; I should like to - see it when it gets the civilization of a European bath-place. It has been - a popular and even crowded resort for several years, and the medical - treatment which can be given there in connection with the use of the - waters is so nearly a specific for certain serious diseases, and going - there is so much a necessity for many invalids, that access to it ought by - this time to be easy. But it is not. It is fifty-five miles south-west of - Little Rock, but to reach it the traveller must leave the Iron Mountain - road at Malvern for a ride over a branch line of some twenty miles. - Unfortunately this is a narrow-gauge road, and however ill a person may - be, a change of cars must be made at Malvern. This is a serious annoyance, - and it is a wonder that the main railways and the hotel and bath keepers - have not united to rid themselves of the monopoly of the narrow-gauge - road. - </p> - <p> - The valley of the Springs is over seven hundred feet above the sea; the - country is rough and broken; the hills, clad with small pines and - hard-wood, which rise on either side of the valley to the height’ of two - or three hundred feet, make an agreeable impression of greenness; and the - place is capable, by reason of its irregularity, of becoming beautiful as - well as picturesque. It is still in the cheap cottage and raw brick stage. - The situation suggests Carlsbad, which is also jammed into a narrow - valley. The Hot Springs Mountain—that is, the mountain from the side - of which all the hot springs (about seventy) flow—is a Government - reservation. Nothing is permitted to be built on it except the Government - hospital for soldiers and sailors, the public bath-houses along the foot, - and one hotel, which holds over on the reserved land. The Government has - enclosed and piped the springs, built a couple of cement reservoirs, and - lets the bath privileges to private parties at thirty dollars a tub, the - number of tubs being limited. The rent money the Government is supposed to - devote to the improvement of the mountain. This has now a private lookout - tower on the summit, from which a most extensive view is had over the - well-wooded State, and it can be made a lovely park. There is a good deal - of criticism about favoritism in letting the bath privileges, and the - words “ring” and “syndicate” are constantly heard. Before improvements - were made, the hot water discharged into a creek at the base of the hill. - This creek is now arched over and become a street, with the bath-houses on - one side and shops and shanties on the other. Difficulty about obtaining a - good title to land has until recently stood in the way of permanent - improvements. All claims have now been adjudicated upon, the Government is - prepared to give a perfect title to all its own land, except the mountain, - forever reserved, and purchasers can be sure of peaceful occupation. - </p> - <p> - Opposite the Hot Springs Mountain rises the long sharp ridge of West - Mountain, from which the Government does not permit the foliage to be - stripped. The city runs around and back of this mountain, follows the - winding valley to the north, climbs up all the irregular ridges in the - neighborhood, and spreads itself over the valley on the south, near the - Ouachita River. It is estimated that there are 10,000 residents in this - rapidly growing town. Houses stick on the sides of the hills, perch on - terraces, nestle in the ravines. Nothing is regular, nothing is as might - have been expected, but it is all interesting, and promising of something - pleasing and picturesque in the future. All the springs, except one, on - Hot Springs Mountain are hot, with a temperature ranging from 93° to 157° - Fahrenheit; there are plenty of springs in and among the other hills, but - they are all cold. It is estimated that the present quantity of hot water, - much of which runs to waste, would supply about 19,000 persons daily with - 25 gallons each. The water is perfectly clear, has no odor, and is very - agreeable for bathing. That remarkable cures are performed here the - evidence does not permit one to doubt, nor can one question the - wonderfully rejuvenating effect upon the system of a course of its waters. - </p> - <p> - It is necessary to suggest, however, that the value of the springs to - invalids and to all visitors would be greatly enhanced by such regulations - as those that govern Carlsbad and Marienbad in Bohemia. The success of - those great “cures” depends largely upon the regimen enforced there, the - impossibility of indulging in an improper diet, and the prevailing - regularity of habits as to diet, sleep, and exercise. There is need at Hot - Springs for more hotel accommodation of the sort that will make - comfortable invalids accustomed to luxury at home, and at least one new - and very large hotel is promised soon to supply this demand; but what Hot - Springs needs is the comforts of life, and not means of indulgence at - table or otherwise. Perhaps it is impossible for the American public, even - the sick part of it, to submit itself to discipline, but we never will - have the full benefit of our many curative springs until it consents to do - so. Patients, no doubt, try to follow the varying regimen imposed by - different doctors, but it is difficult to do so amid all the temptations - of a go-as-you-please bath-place. A general regimen of diet applicable to - all visitors is the only safe rule. Under such enlightened rules as - prevail at Marienbad, and with the opportunity for mild entertainment in - pretty shops, agreeable walks and drives, with music and the hundred - devices to make the time pass pleasantly, Hot Springs would become one of - the most important sanitary resorts in the world. It is now in a very - crude state; but it has the water, the climate, the hills and woods; good - saddle-horses are to be had, and it is an interesting country to ride - over; those who frequent the place are attached to it; and time and taste - and money will, no doubt, transform it into a place of beauty. - </p> - <p> - Arkansas surprised the world by the exhibition it made of itself at New - Orleans, not only for its natural resources, but for the range and variety - of its productions. That it is second to no other State in its - adaptability to cotton-raising was known; that it had magnificent forests - and large coal-fields and valuable minerals in its mountains was known; - but that it raised fruit superior to any other in the South-west, and - quite equal to any in the North, was a revelation. The mountainous part of - the State, where some of the hills rise to the altitude of 2500 feet, - gives as good apples, pears, and peaches as are raised in any portion of - the Union; indeed, this fruit has taken the first prize in exhibitions - from Massachusetts to Texas. It is as remarkable for flavor and firmness - as it is for size and beauty. This region is also a good vineyard country. - The State boasts more miles of navigable waters than any other, it has - variety of soil and of surface to fit it for every crop in the temperate - latitudes, and it has a very good climate. The range of northern mountains - protects it from “northers,” and its elevated portions have cold enough - for a tonie. Of course the low and swampy lands are subject to malaria. - The State has just begun to appreciate itself, and has organized efforts - to promote immigration. It has employed a competent State geologist, who - is doing excellent service. The United States has still a large quantity - of valuable land in the State open to settlement under the homestead and - preemption laws. The State itself has over 2,000,000 acres of land, - forfeited and granted to it in various ways; of this, the land forfeited - for taxes will be given to actual settlers in tracts of 160 acres to each - person, and the rest can be purchased at a low price. I cannot go into all - the details, but the reader may be assured that the immigration committee - make an exceedingly good showing for settlers who wish to engage in - farming, fruit-raising, mining, or lumbering. The Constitution of the - State is very democratic, the statute laws are stringent in morality, the - limitations upon town and city indebtedness are severe, the rate of - taxation is very low, and the State debt is small. The State, in short, is - in a good condition for a vigorous development of its resources. - </p> - <p> - There is a popular notion that Arkansas is a “bowie-knife” State, a - lawless and an ignorant State. I shared this before I went there. I cannot - disprove the ignorance of the country districts. As I said, more money is - needed to make the public-school system effective. But in its general - aspect the State is as orderly and moral as any. The laws against carrying - concealed weapons are strict, and are enforced.. It is a fairly temperate - State. Under the high license and local option laws, prohibition prevails - in two-thirds of the State, and the popular vote is strictly enforced. In - forty-eight of the seventy-five counties no license is granted, in other - counties only a single town votes license, and in many of the remaining - counties many towns refuse it. In five counties only is liquor perfectly - free. A special law prohibits liquor-selling within five miles of a - college; within three miles of a church or school, a majority of the adult - inhabitants can prohibit it. With regard to liquor-selling, woman suffrage - practically exists. The law says that on petition of a majority of the - adult population in any district the county judge must refuse license. The - women, therefore, without going into politics, sign the petitions and - create prohibition. - </p> - <p> - The street-cars and railways make no discrimination as to color of - passengers. Everywhere I went I noticed that the intercourse between the - two races was friendly. There is much good land on the railway between - Little Rock and Arkansas City, heavily timbered, especially with the - clean-boled, stately gum-trees. At Pine Bluff, which has a population of - 5000, there is a good colored Normal School, and the town has many - prosperous negroes, who support a racetrack of their own, and keep up a - county fair. I was told that the most enterprising man in the place, the - largest street-railway owner, is black as a coal. Farther down the road - the country is not so good, the houses are mostly poor shanties, and the - population, largely colored, appears to be of a shiftless character. - Arkansas City itself, low-lying on the Mississippi, has a bad reputation. - </p> - <p> - Little Rock, already a railway centre of importance, is prosperous and - rapidly improving. It has the settled, temperate, orderly society of an - Eastern town, but democratic in its habits, and with a cordial hospitality - which is more provincial than fashionable. I heard there a good chamber - concert of stringed instruments, one of a series which had been kept up by - subscription all winter, and would continue the coming winter. The - performers were young Bohemians. The gentleman at whose pleasant, - old-fashioned house I was entertained, a leading lawyer and jurist in the - South-west, was a good linguist, had travelled in most parts of the - civilized globe, had on his table the current literature of France, - England, Germany, and America, a daily Paris newspaper, one New York - journal (to give its name might impugn his good taste in the judgment of - every other New York journal), and a very large and well-selected library, - two-thirds of which was French, and nearly half of the remainder German. - This was one of the many things I found in Arkansas which I did not expect - to find. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XIV.—ST. LOUIS AND KANSAS CITY. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>t. Louis is eighty - years old. It was incorporated as a town in 1808, thirteen years before - the admission of Missouri into the Union as a State. In 1764 a company of - thirty Frenchmen made a settlement on its site and gave it its - distinguished name. For nearly half a century, under French and Spanish - jurisdiction alternately, it was little more than a trading post, and at - the beginning of this century it contained only about a thousand - inhabitants. This period, however, gave it a romantic historic background, - and as late as 1853, when its population was a hundred thousand, it - preserved French characteristics and a French appearance—small brick - houses and narrow streets crowded down by the river. To the stranger it - was the Planters’ Hotel and a shoal of big steamboats moored along an - extensive levee roaring with river traffic. Crowded, ill-paved, dirty - streets, a few country houses on elevated sites, a population forced into - a certain activity by trade, but hindered in municipal improvement by - French conservatism, and touched with the rust of slavery—that was - the St. Louis of thirty-five years ago. - </p> - <p> - Now everything is changed as by some magic touch. The growth of the city - has always been solid, unspeculative, conservative in its business - methods, with some persistence of the old French influence, only gradually - parting from its ancient traditions, preserving always something of the - aristocratic flavor of “old families,” accounted “slow” in the impatience - of youth. But it has burst its old bounds, and grown with a rapidity that - would be marvellous in any other country. The levee is comparatively - deserted, although the trade on the lower river is actually very large. - The traveller who enters the city from the east passes over the St. Louis - Bridge, a magnificent structure and one of the engineering wonders of the - modern world, plunges into a tunnel under the business portion of the old - city, and emerges into a valley covered with a net-work of railway-tracks, - and occupied by apparently interminable lines of passenger coaches and - freight cars, out of the confusion of which he makes his way with - difficulty to a carriage, impressed at once by the enormous railway - traffic of the city. This is the site of the proposed Union Depot, which - waits upon the halting action of the Missouri Pacific system. The eastern - outlet for all this growing traffic is over the two tracks of the bridge; - these are entirely inadequate, and during a portion of the year there is a - serious blockade of freight. A second bridge over the Mississippi is - already a necessity to the commerce of the city, and is certain to be - built within a few years. - </p> - <p> - St. Louis, since the war, has spread westward over the gentle ridges which - parallel the river, and become a city vast in territory and most - attractive in appearance. While the business portion has expanded into - noble avenues with stately business and public edifices, the residence - parts have a beauty, in handsome streets and varied architecture, that is - a continual surprise to one who has not seen the city for twenty years. I - had set down the length of the city along the river-front as thirteen - miles, with a depth of about six miles; but the official statistics are: - length of river-front, 19.15 miles; length of western limits, 21.27; - extent north and south in an air line, 17; and length east and west on an - air line, 6.62. This gives an area of 61.37 square miles, or 39,276 acres. - This includes the public parks (containing 2095 acres), and is sufficient - room for the population of 450,000, which the city doubtless has in 1888. - By the United States census of 1870 the population was reported much - larger than it was, the figures having no doubt been manipulated for - political purposes. Estimating the natural increase from this false - report, the city was led to claim a population far beyond the actual - number, and unjustly suffered a little ridicule for a mistake for which it - was not responsible. The United States census of 1880 gave it 350,522. - During the eight years from 1880 there were erected 18,574 new - dwelling-houses, at a cost of over fifty millions of dollars. - </p> - <p> - The great territorial extension of the city in 1876 was for a time a - disadvantage, for it threw upon the city the care of enormous street - extensions, made a sporadic movement of population beyond Grand avenue, - which left hiatuses in improvement, and created a sort of furor of fashion - for getting away from what to me is still the most attractive residence - portion of the town, namely, the elevated ridges west of Fourteenth - Street, crossed by Lucas Place and adjoining avenues. In this quarter, and - east of Grand avenue, are fine high streets, with detached houses and - grounds, many of them both elegant and comfortable, and this is the region - of the Washington University, some of the finest club-houses, and - handsomest churches. The movements of eity populations, however, are not - to be accounted for. One of the finest parts of the town, and one of the - oldest of the better residence parts, that south of the railways, - containing broad, well-planted avenues, and very stately old homes, and - the exquisite Lafayette Park, is almost wholly occupied now by Germans, - who make up so large a proportion of the population. - </p> - <p> - One would have predicted at an early day that the sightly bluffs below the - eity would be the resort of fashion, and be occupied with fine country - houses. But the movement has been almost altogether westward and away from - the river. And this rolling, wooded region is most inviting, elevated, - open, cheerful. No other eity in the West has fairer suburbs for expansion - and adornment, and its noble avenues, dotted with conspicuously fine - residences, give promise of great beauty and elegance. In its late - architectural development, St. Louis, like Chicago, is just in time to - escape a very mediocre and merely imitative period in American building. - Beyond Grand avenue the stranger will be shown Vandeventer Place, a - semiprivate oblong park, surrounded by many pretty and some notably fine - residences. Two of them are by Richardson, and the city has other - specimens of his work. I cannot refrain from again speaking of the effect - that this original genius has had upon American architecture, especially - in the West, when money and enterprise afforded him free scope. It is not - too much to say that he created a new era, and the influence of his ideas - is seen everywhere in the work of architects who have caught his spirit. - </p> - <p> - The city has addressed itself to the occupation and adornment of its great - territory and the improvement of its most travelled thoroughfares with - admirable public spirit. The rolling nature of the ground has been taken - advantage of to give it a nearly perfect system of drainage and sewerage. - The old pavements of soft limestone, which were dust in dry weather and - liquid mud in wet weather, are being replaced by granite in the business - parts and asphalt and wood blocks (laid on a concrete base) in the - residence portions. Up to the beginning of 1888 this new pavement had cost - nearly three and a half million dollars, and over thirty-three miles of it - were granite blocks. Street railways have also been pushed all over the - territory. The total of street lines is already over one hundred and - fifty-four miles, and over thirty miles of these give rapid transit by - cable. These facilities make the whole of the wide territory available for - business and residence, and give the poorest inhabitants the means of - reaching the parks. - </p> - <p> - The park system is on the most liberal scale, both public and private; the - parks are already famous for extent and beauty, but when the projected - connecting boulevards are made they will attain world-wide notoriety. The - most extensive of the private parks is that of the combined Agricultural - Fair Grounds and Zoological Gardens. Here is held annually the St. Louis - Fair, which is said to be the largest in the United States. The enclosure - is finely laid out and planted, and contains an extensive park, exhibition - buildings, cottages, a race-track, an amphitheatre, which suggests in size - and construction some of the largest Spanish bull-rings, and picturesque - houses for wild animals. The zoological exhibition is a very good one. - There are eighteen public parks. One of the smaller (thirty acres) of - these, and one of the oldest, is Lafayette Park, on the south side. Its - beauty surprised me more than almost anything I saw in the city. It is a - gem; just that artificial control of nature which most pleases—forest-trees, - a pretty lake, fountains, flowers, walks planned to give everywhere - exquisite vistas. It contains a statue of Thomas II. Benton, which may be - a likeness, but utterly fails to give the character of the man. The - largest is Forest Park, on the west side, a tract of 1372 acres, mostly - forest, improved by excellent drives, and left as much as possible in a - natural condition. It has ten miles of good driving-roads. This park cost - the city about $850,000, and nearly as much more has been expended on it - since its purchase. The surface has great variety of slopes, glens, - elevations, lakes, and meadows. During the summer music is furnished in a - handsome pagoda, and the place is much resorted to. Fronting the boulevard - are statues of Governor Edward Bates and Frank P. Blair, the latter very - characteristic. - </p> - <p> - Next in importance is Tower Grove Park, an oblong of 276 acres. This and - Shaw’s Garden, adjoining, have been given to the city by Mr. Henry Shaw, - an Englishman who made his fortune in the city, and they remain under his - control as to care and adornment during his life. Those who have never - seen foreign parks and pleasure-gardens can obtain a very good idea of - their formal elegance and impressiveness by visiting Tower Grove Park and - the Botanical Gardens. They will see the perfection of lawns, avenues - ornamented by statuary, flower-beds, and tasteful walks. The entrances, - with stone towers and lodges, suggest similar effects in France and in - England. About the music-stand are white marble busts of six chief musical - composers. The drives are adorned with three statues in bronze, thirty - feet high, designed and cast in Munich by Frederick Millier. They are - figures of Shakespeare, Humboldt, and Columbus, and so nobly conceived and - executed that the patriotic American must wish they had been done in this - country. Of Shaw’s Botanical Garden I need to say little, for its fame as - a comprehensive and classified collection of trees, plants, and flowers is - world-wide. It has no equal in this country. As a place for botanical - study no one appreciated it more highly than the late Professor Asa Gray. - Sometimes a peculiar classification is followed; one locality’ is devoted - to economic plants—camphor, quinine, cotton, tea, coffee, etc.; - another to “Plants of the Bible.” The space of fifty-four acres, enclosed - by high stone walls, contains, besides the open garden and <i>allées</i> - and glass houses, the summer residence and the tomb of Mr. Shaw. This old - gentleman, still vigorous in his eighty-eighth year, is planning new - adornments in the way of statuary and busts of statesmen, poets, and - scientists. His plans are all liberal and cosmopolitan. For over thirty - years his botanical knowledge, his taste, and abundant wealth and leisure - have been devoted to the creation of this wonderful garden and park, which - all bear the stamp of his strong individuality, and of a certain pleasing - foreign formality. What a source of unfailing delight it must have been to - him! As we sat talking with him I thought how other millionaires, if they - knew how, might envy a matured life, after the struggle for a competency - is over, devoted to this most rational enjoyment, in an occupation as - elevating to the taste as to the character, and having in mind always the - public good. Over the entrance gate is the inscription, “Missouri - Botanical Gardens.” When the city has full control of the garden the word - “Missouri” should be replaced by “Shaw.” - </p> - <p> - The money expended for public parks gives some idea of the liberal and - far-sighted provision for the health and pleasure of a great city. The - parks originally cost the city 81,309,944, and three millions more have - been spent upon their improvement and maintenance. This indicates an - enlightened spirit, which we shall see characterizes the city in other - things, and is evidence of a high degree of culture. - </p> - <p> - Of the commerce and manufactures of the town I can give no adequate - statement without going into details, which my space forbids. The - importance of the Mississippi River is much emphasized, not only as an - actual highway of traffic, but as a regulator of railway rates. The town - has by the official reports been discriminated against, and even the - Inter-State Act has not afforded all the relief expected. In 1887 the city - shipped to foreign markets by way of the Mississippi and the jetties - 3,973,000 bushels of wheat and 7,365,000 bushels of corn—a larger - exportation than ever before except in the years 1880 and 1881. An outlet - like this is of course a check on railway charges. The trade of the place - employs a banking capital of fifteen millions. The deposits in 1887 were - thirty-seven millions; the clearings over 8894,527,731—the largest - ever reached, and over ten per cent, in excess of the clearings of 1886. - To whatever departments I turn in the report of the Merchants’ Exchange - for 1887 I find a vigorous growth—as in building—and in most - articles of commerce a great increase. It appears by the tonnage - statements that, taking receipts and shipments together, 12,060,995 tons - of freight were handled in and out during 1886, against 14,359,059 tons in - 1887—a gain of nineteen and a half per cent. The buildings in 1886 - cost $7,030,819; in 1887, $8,162,914. There were $44,740 more stamps sold - at the post-office in 1887 than in 1886. The custom-house collections were - less than in 1886, but reached the figures of $1,414,747. The assessed - value of real and personal property in 1887 was $217,142,320, on which the - rate of taxation in the old city limits was $2.50. - </p> - <p> - It is never my intention in these papers to mention individual enterprises - for their own sake, but I do not hesitate to do so when it is necessary in - order to illustrate some peculiar development. It is a curious matter of - observation that so many Western cities have one or more specialties in - which they excel—houses of trade or manufacture larger and more - important than can be found elsewhere. St. Louis finds itself in this - category in regard to several establishments. One of these is a - wooden-ware company, the largest of the sort in the country, a house which - gathers its peculiar goods from all over the United States, and - distributes them almost as widely—a business of gigantic proportions - and bewildering detail. Its annual sales amount to as much as the sales of - all the houses in its line in New York, Chicago, and Cincinnati together. - Another is a hardware company, wholesale and retail, also the largest of - its kind in the country, with sales annually amounting to six millions of - dollars, a very large amount when we consider that it is made up of an - infinite number of small and cheap articles in iron, from a fish-hook up—indeed, - over fifty thousand separate articles. I spent half a day in this - establishment, walking through its departments, noting the unequalled - system of compact display, classification, and methods of sale and - shipment. Merely as a method of system in business I have never seen - anything more interesting. Another establishment, important on account of - its central position in the continent and its relation to the Louisiana - sugar-fields, is the St. Louis Sugar Refinery. - </p> - <p> - The refinery proper is the largest building in the Western country used - for manufacturing purposes, and, together with its adjuncts of - cooper-shops and warehouses, covers five entire blocks and employs 500 - men. It has a capacity of working up 400 tons of raw sugar a day, but runs - only to the extent of about 200 tons a day, making the value of its - present product $7,500,000 a year. - </p> - <p> - During the winter and spring it uses Louisiana sugars; the remainder of - the year, sugars of Cuba and the Sandwich Islands. Like all other - refineries of which I have inquired, this reckons the advent of the - Louisiana crop as an important regulator of prices. This establishment, in - common with other industries of the city, has had to complain of business - somewhat hampered by discrimination in railway rates. St. Louis also has - what I suppose, from the figures accessible, to be the largest lager-beer - brewing establishment in the world; its solid, gigantic, and - architecturally imposing buildings lift themselves up like a fortress over - the thirty acres of ground they cover. Its manufacture and sales in 1887 - were 456,511 barrels of beer—an increase of nearly 100,000 since - 1885-86. It exports largely to Mexico, South America, the West Indies, and - Australia. The establishment is a marvel of system and ingenious devices. - It employs 1200 laborers, to whom it pays $500,000 a year. Some of the - details are of interest. In the bottling department we saw workmen - filling, corking, labelling, and packing at the rate of 100,000 bottles a - day. In a year 25,000,000 bottles are used, packed in 400,000 barrels and - boxes. The consumption of barley is 1,100,000 bushels yearly, and of hops - over 700,000 pounds, and the amount of water used for all purposes is - 250,000,000 gallons—nearly enough to float our navy. The charges for - freight received and shipped by rail amount to nearly a million dollars a - year. There are several other large breweries in the city. The total - product manufactured in 1887 was 1,383,301 barrels, equal to 43,575,872 - gallons—more than three times the amount of 1877. The barley used in - the city and vicinity was 2,932,192 bushels, of which 340,335 bushels came - from Canada. The direct export of beer during 1887 to foreign countries - was equal to 1,924,108 quart bottles. The greater part of the barley used - comes from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. - </p> - <p> - It is useless to enumerate the many railways which touch and affect St. - Louis. The most considerable is the agglomeration known as the Missouri - Pacific, or South-western System, which operated 6994 miles of road on - January 1, 1888. This great aggregate is likely to be much diminished by - the surrender of lines, but the railway facilities of the city are - constantly extending. - </p> - <p> - There are figures enough to show that St. Louis is a prosperous city, - constantly developing new enterprises with fresh energy; to walk its - handsome streets and drive about its great avenues and parks is to obtain - an impression of a cheerful town on the way to be most attractive; but its - chief distinction lies in its social and intellectual life, and in the - spirit that has made it a pioneer in so many educational movements. It - seems to me a very good place to study the influence of speculative - thought in economic and practical affairs. The question I am oftenest - asked is, whether the little knot of speculative philosophers accidentally - gathered there a few years ago, and who gave a sort of fame to the city, - have had any permanent influence. For years they discussed abstractions; - they sustained for some time a very remarkable periodical of speculative - philosophy, and in a limited sphere they maintained an elevated tone of - thought and life quite in contrast with our general materialism. The - circle is broken, the members are scattered. Probably the town never - understood them, perhaps they did not altogether understand each other, - and maybe the tremendous conflict of Kant and Hegel settled nothing. But - if there is anything that can be demonstrated in this world it is the - influence of abstract thought upon practical affairs in the long-run. And - although one may not be able to point to any definite thing created or - established by this metaphysical movement, I think I can see that it was a - leaven that had a marked effect in the social, and especially in the - educational, life of the town, and liberalized minds, and opened the way - for the trial of theories in education. One of the disciples declares that - the State Constitution of Missouri and the charter of St. Louis are - distinctly Hegelian. However this may be, both these organic laws are - uncommonly wise in their provisions. A study of the evolution of the city - government is one of the most interesting that the student can make. Many - of the provisions of the charter are admirable, such as those securing - honest elections, furnishing financial checks, and guarding against public - debt. The mayor is elected for four years, and the important offices - filled by his appointment are not vacant until the beginning of the third - year of his appointment, so that hope of reward for political work is too - dim to affect the merits of an election. The composition and election of - the school board is also worthy of notice. Of the twenty-one members, - seven are elected on a general ticket, and the remaining fourteen by - districts, made by consolidating the twenty-eight city wards, members to - serve four years, divided into two classes. This arrangement secures - immunity from the ward politician. - </p> - <p> - St. Louis is famous for its public schools, and especially for the - enlightened methods, and the willingness to experiment in improving them. - The school expenditures for the year ending June 30, 1887, were - $1,095,773; the school property in lots, buildings, and furniture in 1885 - was estimated at $3,445,254. The total number of pupils enrolled was - 56,936. These required about 1200 teachers, of whom over a thousand were - women. The actual average of pupils to each teacher was about 42. There - were 106 school buildings, with a seating capacity for about 50,000 - scholars. Of the district schools 13 were colored, in which were employed - 78 colored teachers. The salaries of teachers are progressive, according - to length of service. As for instance, the principal of the High-school - has $2400 the first year, $2500 the second, $2600 the third, $2750 the - fourth; a head assistant in a district school, $650 the first year, $700 - the second, $750 the third, $800 the fourth, $850 the fifth. - </p> - <p> - The few schools that I saw fully sustained their public reputation as to - methods, discipline, and attainments. The Normal School, of something over - 100 pupils, nearly all the girls being graduates of the High-school, was - admirable in drill, in literary training, in calisthenic exercises. The - High-school is also admirable, a school with a thoroughly elevated tone - and an able principal. Of the 600 pupils at least two-thirds were girls. - From appearances I should judge that it is attended by children of the - most intelligent families, for certainly the girls of the junior and - senior classes, in manner, looks, dress, and attainments, compared - favorably with those of one of the best girls’ schools I have seen - anywhere, the Mary Institute, which is a department of the Washington - University. This fact is most important, for the excellence of our public - schools (for the product of good men and women) depends largely upon their - popularity with the well-to-do classes. One of the most interesting - schools I saw was the Jefferson, presided over by a woman, having fine - fire-proof buildings and 1100 pupils, nearly all whom are of foreign - parentage—German, Russian, and Italian, with many Hebrews also—a - finely ordered, wide-awake school of eight grades. The kindergarten here - was the best I saw; good teachers, bright and happy little children, with - natural manners, throwing themselves gracefully into their games with - enjoyment and without self-consciousness, and exhibiting exceedingly - pretty fancy and kindergarten work. In St. Louis the kindergarten is a - part of the public-school system, and the experiment is one of general - interest. The question cannot be called settled. In the first place the - experiment is hampered in St. Louis by a decision of the Supreme Court - that the public money cannot be used for children out of the school age, - that is, under six and over twenty. This prevents teaching English to - adult foreigners in the evening schools, and, rigidly applied, it shuts - out pupils from the kindergarten under six. One advantage from the - kindergarten was expected to be an extension of the school period; and - there is no doubt that the kindergarten instruction ought to begin before - the age of six, especially for the mass of children who miss home training - and home care. As a matter of fact, many of the children I saw in the - kindergartens were only constructively six years old. It cannot be said, - also, that the Froebel system is fully understood or accepted. In my - observation, the success of the kindergarten depends entirely upon the - teacher; where she is competent, fully believes in and understands the - Froebel system, and is enthusiastic, the pupils are interested and alert; - otherwise they are listless, and fail to get the benefit of it. The - Froebel system is the developing the concrete idea in education, and in - the opinion of his disciples this is as important for children of the - intelligent and well-to-do as for those of the poor and ignorant. They - resist, therefore, the attempt which is constantly made, to introduce the - primary work into the kindergarten. But for the six years’ limit the - kindergarten in St. Louis would have a better chance in its connection - with the public schools. As the majority of children leave school for work - at the age of twelve or fourteen, there is little time enough given for - book education; many educators think time is wasted in the kindergarten, - and they advocate the introduction of what they call kindergarten features - in the primary classes. This is called by the disciples of Froebel an - entire abandonment of his system. I should like to see the kindergarten in - connection with the public school tried long enough to demonstrate all - that is claimed for it in its influence on mental development, character, - and manners, but it seems unlikely to be done in St. Louis, unless the - public-school year begins at least as early as five, or, better still, is - specially unlimited for kindergarten pupils. - </p> - <p> - Except in the primary work in drawing and modelling, there is no manual - training feature in the St. Louis public schools. The teaching of German - is recently dropped from all the district schools (though retained in the - High), in accordance with the well-founded idea of Americanizing our - foreign population as rapidly as possible. - </p> - <p> - One of the most important institutions in the Mississippi Valley, and one - that exercises a decided influence upon the intellectual and social life - of St. Louis, and is a fair measure of its culture and the value of the - higher education, is the Washington University, which was incorporated in - 1853, and was presided over until his death, in 1887, by the late - Chancellor William Green-leaf Eliot, of revered memory. It covers the - whole range of university studies, except theology, and allows no - instruction either sectarian in religion or partisan in politics, nor the - application of any sectarian or party test in the election of professors, - teachers, or officers. Its real estate and buildings in use for - educational purposes cost $625,000; its libraries, scientific apparatus, - casts, and machinery cost over $100,000, and it has investments for - revenue amounting to over $650,000. The University comprehends an - undergraduate department, including the college (a thorough classical, - literary, and philosophical course, with about sixty students), open to - women, and the polytechnic, an admirably equipped school of science; the - St. Louis Law School, of excellent reputation; the Manual Training School, - the most celebrated school of this sort, and one that has furnished more - manual training teachers than any other; the Henry Shaw School of Botany; - the St. Louis School of Fine Arts; the Smith Academy, for boys; and the - Mary Institute, one of the roomiest and most cheerful school buildings I - know, where 400 girls, whose collective appearance need not fear - comparison with any in the country, enjoy the best educational advantages. - Mary Institute is justly the pride of the city. - </p> - <p> - The School of Botany, which is endowed and has its own laboratory, - workshop, and working library, was, of course, the outgrowth of the Shaw - Botanical Garden; it has usually from twenty to thirty special students. - </p> - <p> - The School of Fine Arts, which was reorganized under the University in - 1879, has enrolled over 200 students, and gives a wide and careful - training in all the departments of drawing, painting, and modelling, with - instructions in anatomy, perspective, and composition, and has life - classes for both sexes, in drawing from draped and nude figures. Its - lecture, working rooms, and galleries of paintings and casts are in its - Crow Art Museum—a beautiful building, well planned and justly - distinguished for architectural excellence. It ranks among the best Art - buildings in the country. - </p> - <p> - The Manual Training School has been in operation since 1880. It may be - called the most fully developed pioneer institution of the sort. I spent - some time in its workshops and schools, thinking of the very interesting - question at the bottom of the experiment, namely, the mental development - involved in the training of the hand and the eye, and the reflex help to - manual skill in the purely intellectual training of study. It is, it may - be said again, not the purpose of the modern manual training to teach a - trade, but to teach the use of tools as an aid in the symmetrical - development of the human being. The students here certainly do beautiful - work in wood-turning and simple carving, in ironwork and forging. They - enjoy the work; they are alert and interested in it. I am certain that - they are the more interested in it in seeing how they can work out and - apply what they have learned in books, and I doubt not they take hold of - literary study more freshly for this manual training in exactness. The - school exacts close and thoughtful study with tools as well as in books, - and I can believe that it gives dignity in the opinion of the working - student to hand labor. The school is large, its graduates have been - generally successful in practical pursuits and in teaching, and it lias - demonstrated in itself the correctness of the theory of its authors, that - intellectual drill and manual training are mutually advantageous together. - Whether manual training shall be a part of all district school education - is a question involving many considerations that do not enter into the - practicability of this school, but I have no doubt that manual training - schools of this sort would be immensely useful in every city. There are - many boys in every community who cannot in any other wayr be awakened to - any real study. This training school deserves a chapter by itself, and as - I have no space for details, I take the liberty of referring those - interested to a volume on its aims and methods by Dr. C. M. Woodward, its - director. - </p> - <p> - Notwithstanding the excellence of the public-school system of St. Louis, - there is no other city in the country, except New Orleans, where so large - a proportion of the youths are being educated outside the public schools. - A very considerable portion of the population is Catholic. There are - forty-four parochial schools, attended by nineteen thousand pupils, and - over a dozen different Sisterhoods are engaged in teaching in them. - Generally each parochial school has two departments—one for boys and - one for girls. They are sustained entirely by the parishes. In these - schools, as in the two Catholic universities, the prominence of ethical - and religious training is to be noted. Seven-eighths of the schools are in - charge of thoroughly trained religious teachers. Many of the boys’ schools - are taught by Christian Brothers. The girls are almost invariably taught - by members of religious Sisterhoods. In most of the German schools the - girls and smaller boys are taught by Sisters, the larger boys by lay - teachers. Some reports of school attendance are given in the Catholic - Directory: SS. Peter and Paul’s (German), 1300 pupils; St. Joseph’s - (German), 957; St. Bridget’s, 950; St. Malaehy’s, 756; St. John’s, 700; - St. Patrick’s, 700. There is a school for colored children of 150 pupils - taught by colored Sisters. - </p> - <p> - In addition to these parochial schools there are a dozen academies and - convents of higher education for young ladies, all under charge of - Catholic Sisterhoods, commonly with a mixed attendance of boarders and day - scholars, and some of them with a reputation for learning that attracts - pupils from other States, notably the Academy of the Sacred Heart, St. - Joseph’s Academy, and the Academy of the Visitation, in charge of - cloistered nuns of that order. Besides these, in connection with various - reformatory and charitable institutions, such as the House of the Good - Shepherd and St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum, there are industrial schools in - charge of the Sisterhoods, where girls receive, in addition to their - education, training in some industry to maintain themselves respectably - when they leave their temporary homes. Statistics are wanting, but it will - be readily inferred from these statements that there are in the city a - great number of single women devoted for life, and by special religious - and intellectual training, to the office of teaching. - </p> - <p> - For the higher education of Catholic young men the city is distinguished - by two remarkable institutions. The one is the old St. Louis University, - and the other is the Christian Brothers’ College. The latter, which a few - years ago outgrew its old buildings in the city, has a fine pile of - buildings at Côte Brillante, on a commanding site about five miles out, - with ample grounds, and in the neighborhood of the great parks and the - Botanical Garden. The character of the school is indicated by the motto on - the façade of the building—<i>Religio, Mores, Cultura</i>. The - institution is designed to accommodate a thousand boarding students. The - present attendance is 450, about half of whom are boarders, and represent - twenty States. There is a corps of thirty-five professors, and three - courses of study are maintained—the classical, the scientific, and - the commercial. As several of the best parochial schools are in charge of - Christian Brothers, these schools are feeders of the college, and the - pupils have the advantage of an unbroken system with a consistent purpose - from the day they enter into the primary department till they graduate at - the college. The order has, at Glencoe, a large Normal School for the - training of teachers. The fame and success of the Christian Brothers as - educators in elementary and the higher education, in Europe and the United - States, is largely due to the fact that they labor as a unit in a system - that never varies in its methods of imparting instruction, in which the - exponents of it have all undergone the same pedagogic training, in which - there is no room for the personal fancy of the teacher in correction, - discipline, or scholarship, for everything is judiciously governed by - prescribed modes of procedure, founded on long experience, and exemplified - in the co-operative plan of the Brothers. In vindication of the - exceptional skill acquired by its teachers in the thorough drill of the - order, the Brotherhood points to the success of its graduates in - competitive examinations for public employment in this country and in - Europe, and to the commendation its educational exhibits received at - London and New Orleans. - </p> - <p> - The St. Louis University, founded in 1829 by members of the Society of - Jesus, and chartered in 1834, is officered and controlled by the Jesuit - Fathers. It is an unendowed institution, depending upon fees paid for - tuition. Before the war its students were largely the children of Southern - planters, and its graduates are found all over the South and South-west; - and up to 1881 the pupils boarded and lodged within the precincts of the - old buildings on the corner of Ninth Street and Washington, where for over - half a century the school has vigorously flourished. The place, which is - now sold and about to be used for business purposes, has a certain flavor - of antique scholarship, and the quaint buildings keep in mind the plain - but rather pleasing architecture of the French period. The University is - in process of removal to the new buildings on Grand avenue, which are a - conspicuous ornament to one of the most attractive parts of the city. Soon - nothing will be left of the institution on Ninth Street except the old - college church, which is still a favorite place of worship for the - Catholics of the city. The new buildings, in the early decorated English - Gothic style, are ample and imposing; they have a front of 270 feet, and - the northern wing extends 325 feet westward from the avenue. The library, - probably the finest room of the kind in the West, is sixty-seven feet - high, amply lighted, and provided with three balconies. The library, which - was packed for removal, has over 25,000 volumes, is said to contain many - rare and interesting books, and to fairly represent science and - literature. Besides this, there are special libraries, open to students, - of over 0000 volumes. The museum of the new building is a noble ball, one - hundred feet by sixty feet, and fifty-two feet high, without columns, and - lighted from above and from the side. The University has a valuable - collection of ores and minerals, and other objects of nature and art that - will be deposited in this hall, which will also serve as a picture-gallery - for the many paintings of historical interest. Philosophical apparatus, a - chemical laboratory, and an astronomical observatory are the equipments on - the scientific side. - </p> - <p> - The University has now no dormitories and no boarders. There are - twenty-five professors and instructors. The entire course, including the - preparatory, is seven years. A glance at the catalogue shows that in the - curriculum the institution keeps pace with the demands of the age. Besides - the preparatory course (89 pupils), it has a classical course (143 - pupils), an English course (82 pupils), and 85 post-graduate students, - making a total of 399. Its students form societies for various purposes; - one, the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with distinct organizations - in the senior and junior classes, is for the promotion of piety and the - practice of devotion towards the Blessed Virgin; another is for training - in public speaking and philosophic and literary disputation; there is also - a scientific academy, to foster a taste for scientific culture; and there - is a student’s library of 4000 volumes, independent of the religious books - of the Sodality societies. - </p> - <p> - In a conversation with the president I learned that the prevailing idea in - the courses of study is the gradual and healthy development of the mind. - The classes are carefully graded. The classics are favorite branches, but - mental philosophy, chemistry, physics, astronomy, are taught with a view - to practical application. Much stress is laid upon mathematics. During the - whole course of seven years, one hour each day is devoted to this branch. - In short, I was impressed with the fact that this is an institution for - mental training. Still more was I struck with the prominence in the whole - course of ethical and religious culture. On assembling every morning, all - the Catholic students hear mass. In every class in every year Christian - doctrine has as prominent a place as any branch of study; beginning in the - elementary class with the small catechism and practical instructions in - the manner of reciting the ordinary prayers, it goes on through the whole - range of doctrine—creed, evidences, ritual, ceremonial, mysteries—in - the minutest details of theory and practice; ingraining, so far as - repeated instruction can, the Catholic faith and pure moral conduct in the - character, involving instructions as to what occasions and what amusements - are dangerous to a good life, on the reading of good books and the - avoiding bad books and bad company. - </p> - <p> - In the post-graduate course, lectures are given and examinations made in - ethics, psychology, anthropology, biology, and physics; and in the - published abstracts of lectures for the past two years I find that none of - the subjects of modern doubt and speculation are ignored—spiritism, - psychical research, the cell theory, the idea of God, socialism, - agnosticism, the Noachinn deluge, theories of government, fundamental - notions of physical science, unity of the human species, potency of - matter, and so on. During the past fifty years this faculty has contained - many men famous as pulpit orators and missionaries, and this course of - lectures on philosophic and scientific subjects has brought it prominently - before the cultivated inhabitants of the town. - </p> - <p> - Another educational institution of note in St. Louis is the Concordia - Seminar of the Old Lutheran, or the Evangelical Lutheran Church. This - denomination, which originated in Saxony, and has a large membership in - our Western States, adheres strictly to the Augsburg Confession, and is - distinguished from the general Lutheran Church by greater strictness of - doctrine and practice, or, as may be said, by a return to primitive - Lutheranism; that is to say, it grounds itself upon the literal - inspiration of the Scriptures, upon salvation by faith alone, and upon - individual liberty. This Seminar is one of several related institutions in - the Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States: there is a college at Fort - Wayne, Indiana, a Progymnasium at Milwaukee, a Seminar of practical - theology at Springfield, Illinois, and this Seminar at St. Louis, which is - wholly devoted to theoretical theology. This Church numbers, I believe, - about 200,000 members. - </p> - <p> - The Concordia Seminar is housed in a large, commodious building, - effectively set upon high ground in the southern part of the city. It was - erected and the institution is sustained by the contributions of the - congregations. The interior, roomy, light, and commodious, is plain to - barrenness, and has a certain monastic severity, which is matched by the - discipline and the fare. In visiting it one takes a step backward into the - atmosphere and theology of the sixteenth century. The ministers of the - denomination are distinguished for learning and earnest simplicity. The - president, a very able man, only thirty-five years of age, is at least two - centuries old in his opinions, and wholly undisturbed by any of the doubts - which have agitated the Christian world since the Reformation. He holds - the faith “once for all” delivered to the saints. The Seminar has a - hundred students. It is requisite to admission, said the president, that - they be perfect Latin, Greek, and Hebrew scholars. A large proportion of - the lectures are given in Latin, the remainder in German and English, and - Latin is current in the institution, although German is the familiar - speech. The course of study is exacting, the rules are rigid, and the - discipline severe. Social intercourse with the other sex is discouraged. - The pursuit of love and learning are considered incompatible at the same - time; and if a student were inconsiderate enough to become engaged, he - would be expelled. Each student from abroad may select or be selected by a - family in the communion, at whose house he may visit once a week, which - attends to his washing, and supplies to a certain extent the place of a - home. The young men are trained in the highest scholarship and the - strictest code of morals. I know of no other denomination which holds its - members to such primitive theology and such strictness of life. Individual - liberty and responsibility are stoutly asserted, without any latitude in - belief. It repudiates Prohibition as an infringement of personal liberty, - would make the use of wine or beer depend upon the individual conscience, - but no member of the communion would be permitted to sell intoxicating - liquors, or to go to a beer-garden or a theatre. In regard to the - sacrament of communion, there is no authority for altering the plain - directions in the Scripture, and communion without wine, or the - substitution of any concoction for wine, would be a sin. No member would - be permitted to join any labor union or secret society. The sacrament of - communion is a mystery. It is neither transubstantiation nor - consubstantiation. The president, whose use of English in subtle - distinctions is limited, resorted to Latin and German in explanation of - the mystery, but left the question of real and actual presence, of spirit - and substance, still a matter of terms; one can only say that neither the - ordinary Protestant nor the Catholic interpretation is accepted. - Conversion is not by any act or ability of man; salvation is by faith - alone. As the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures is insisted on in all - cases, the world was actually created in six days of twenty-four hours - each. When I asked the president what he did with geology, he smiled and - simply waved his hand. This communion has thirteen flourishing churches in - the city. In a town so largely German, and with so many freethinkers as - well as free-livers, I cannot but consider this strict sect, of a simple - unquestioning faith and high moral demands, of the highest importance in - the future of the city. But one encounters with surprise, in our modern - life, this revival of the sixteenth century, which plants itself so - squarely against so much that we call “progress.” - </p> - <p> - As to the institutions of charity, I must content myself with saying that - they are many, and worthy of a great and enlightened city. There are of - all denominations 211 churches; of these the Catholics lead with 47; the - Presbyterians come next with 24; and the Baptists have 22; the Methodists - North, 4; and the Methodists South, 8. The most interesting edifices, both - for associations and architecture, are the old Cathedral; the old Christ - Church (Episcopalian), excellent Gothic; and an exquisite edifice, the - Church of the Messiah (Unitarian), in Locust Street. - </p> - <p> - The city has two excellent libraries. The Public Library, an adjunct of - the public-school system, in the Polytechnic Building, has an annual - appropriation of about $14,000 from the School Board, and receives about - $5000 more from membership and other sources. It contains about 67,000 - volumes, and is admirably managed. The Mercantile Library is in process of - removal into a magnificent six-story building on Broadway and Locust - Street. It is a solid and imposing structure, the first story of red - granite, and the others of brick and terra-cotta. The library and - reading-rooms are on the fifth story, the rest of the building is rented. - This association, which is forty-two years old, has 3500 members, and had - an income in 1887 of $120,000, nearly all from membership. In January, - 1888, it had 68,732 volumes, and in a circulation of over 168,000 in the - year, it had the unparalleled distinction of reducing the fiction given - out to 41.95 per cent. Both these libraries have many treasures - interesting to a book-lover, and though neither is free, the liberal, - intelligent management of each has been such as to make it a most - beneficent institution for the city. - </p> - <p> - There are many handsome and stately buildings in the city, the recent - erections showing growth in wealth and taste. The Chamber of Commerce, - which is conspicuous for solid elegance, cost a million and a half - dollars. There are 3295 members of the Merchants’ Exchange. The - Court-house, with its noble dome, is as well proportioned a building as - can be found in the country. A good deal may be said for the size and - effect of the Exposition Building, which covers what was once a pretty - park at the foot of Lucas Place, and cost 6750,000. There are clubs many - and flourishing. The St. Louis Club (social) has the finest building, an - exceedingly tasteful piece of Romanesque architecture on Twenty-ninth - Street. The University Club, which is like its namesake in other cities, - has a charming old-fashioned house and grounds on Pine Street. The - Commercial Club, an organization limited in its membership to sixty, has - no club-house, but, like its namesake in Chicago, is a controlling - influence in the prosperity of the city. Representing all the leading - occupations, it is a body of men who, by character, intellect, and wealth, - can carry through any project for the public good, and which is animated - by the highest public spirit. - </p> - <p> - Of the social life of the town one is permitted to speak only in general - terms. It has many elements to make it delightful—long use in social - civilities, interest in letters and in education, the cultivation of - travel, traditions, and the refinement of intellectual pursuits. The town - has no academy of music, but there is a good deal of musical feeling and - cultivation; there is a very good orchestra, one of the very best choruses - in the country, and Verdi’s “Requiem” was recently given splendidly. I am - told by men and women of rare and special cultivation that the city is a - most satisfactory one to live in, and certainly to the stranger its - society is charming. The city has, however, the Mississippi Valley climate—extreme - heat in the summer, and trying winters. - </p> - <p> - There is no more interesting industrial establishment in the West than the - plate-glass works at Crystal City, thirty miles south on the river. It was - built up after repeated failures and reverses—for the business, like - any other, had to be learned. The plant is very extensive, the buildings - are of the best, the machinery is that most approved, and the whole - represents a cash investment of $1,500,000. The location of the works at - this point was determined by the existence of a mountain of sand which is - quarried out like rock, and is the finest and cleanest silica known in the - country. The production is confined entirety to plate-glass, which is cast - in great slabs, twelve feet by twelve and a half in size, each of which - weighs, before it is reduced half in thickness by grinding, smoothing, and - polishing, about 750 pounds. The product for 1887 was 1,200,000 feet. The - coal used in the furnaces is converted into gas, which is found to be the - most economical and most easily regulated fuel. This industry has drawn - together a population of about 1500. I was interested to learn that labor - in the production of this glass is paid twice as much as similar labor in - England, and from three to four times as much as similar labor in France - and Belgium. As the materials used in making plate-glass are inexpensive, - the main cost, after the plant, is in labor. Since plate-glass was first - made in this country, eighteen years ago, the price of it in the foreign - market has been continually forced down, until now it costs the American - consumer only half what it cost him before, and the jobber gets it at an - average cost of 75 cents a foot, as against the $1.50 a foot which we paid - the foreign manufacturer before the establishment of American factories. - And in these eighteen years the Government has had from this source a - revenue of over seventeen millions, at an average duty, on all sizes, of - less than 59 per cent. - </p> - <p> - Missouri is one of the greatest of our States in resources and in promise, - and it is conspicuous in the West for its variety and capacity of - interesting development. The northern portion rivals Iowa in beautiful - rolling prairie, with high divides and park-like forests; its water - communication is unsurpassed; its mineral resources are immense; it has - noble mountains as well as fine uplands and fertile valleys, and it never - impresses the traveller as monotonous. So attractive is it in both scenery - and resources that it seems unaccountable that so many settlers have - passed it by. But, first slavery, and then a rural population disinclined - to change, have stayed its development. This state of things, however, is - changing, has changed marvellously within a few years in the northern - portion, in the iron regions, and especially in larger cities of the west, - St. Joseph and Kansas City. The State deserves a study by itself, for it - is on the way to be a great empire of most varied interests. I can only - mention here one indication of its moral progress. It has adopted a high - license and local option law. Under this the saloons are closed in nearly - all the smaller villages and country towns. A shaded map shows more than - three-fourths of the area of the State, including three-fifths of the - population, free from liquor-selling. The county court may grant a license - to sell liquor to a person of good moral character on the signed petition - of a majority of the taxpaying citizens of a township or of a city block; - it must grant it on the petition of two-thirds of the citizens. Thus - positive action is required to establish a saloon. On the map there are 76 - white counties free of saloons, 14 counties In which there are from one to - three saloons only, and 24 shaded counties which have altogether 2263 - saloons, of which 1450 are in St. Louis and 520 in Kansas City. The - revenue from the saloons in St. Louis is about 8800,000, in Kansas City - about 8375,000, annually. The heavily shaded portions of the map are on - the great rivers. - </p> - <p> - Of all the wonderful towns in the West, none has attracted more attention - in the East than Kansas City. I think I am not wrong in saying that it is - largely the product of Eastern energy and capital, and that its closest - relations have been with Boston. I doubt if ever a new town was from the - start built up so solidly or has grown more substantially. The situation, - at the point where the Missouri River makes a sharp bend to the east, and - the Kansas River enters it, was long ago pointed out as the natural centre - of a great trade. Long before it started on its present career it was the - great receiving and distributing point of South-western commerce, which - left the Missouri River at this point for Santa Fé and other trading marts - in the South-west. Aside from this river advantage, if one studies the - course of streams and the incline of the land in a wide circle to the - westward, he is impressed with the fact that the natural business drainage - of a vast area is Kansas City. The city was therefore not fortuitously - located, and when the railways centred there, they obeyed an inevitable - law. Here nature intended, in the development of the country, a great - city. Where the next one will be in the South-west is not likely to be - determined until the Indian Territory is open to settlement. To the north, - Omaha, with reference to Nebraska and the West, possesses many similar - advantages, and is likewise growing with great vigor and solidity. Its - situation on a slope rising from the river is commanding and beautiful, - and its splendid business houses, handsome private residences, and fine - public schools give ample evidence of the intelligent enterprise that is - directing its rapid growth. - </p> - <p> - It is difficult to analyze the impression Kansas City first makes upon the - Eastern stranger. It is usually that of immense movement, much of it - crude, all of it full of purpose. At the Union Station, at the time of the - arrival and departure of trains, the whole world seems afloat; one is in - the midst of a continental movement of most varied populations. I remember - that the first time I saw it in passing, the detail that most impressed me - was the racks and rows of baggage checks; it did not seem to me that the - whole travelling world could need so many. At that time a drive through - the city revealed a chaos of enterprise—deep cuts for streets, cable - roads in process of construction over the sharp ridges, new buildings, - hills shaved down, houses perched high up on slashed knolls, streets - swarming with traffic and roaring with speculation. A little more than a - year later the change towards order was marvellous: the cable roads were - running in all directions; gigantic buildings rising upon enormous blocks - of stone gave distinction to the principal streets; the great residence - avenues have been beautified, and showed all over the hills stately and - picturesque houses. And it is worthy of remark that while the “boom” of - speculation in lots had subsided, there was no slacking in building, and - the reports showed a steady increase in legitimate business. I was - confirmed in my theory that a city is likely to be most attractive when it - has had to struggle heroically against natural obstacles in the building. - </p> - <p> - I am not going to describe the city. The reader knows that it lies south - of the river Missouri, at the bend, and that the notable portion of it is - built upon a series of sharp hills. The hill portion is already a - beautiful city; the flat part, which contains the railway depot and yards, - a considerable portion of the manufactories and wholesale houses, and much - refuse and squatting population (white and black), is unattractive in a - high degree. The Kaw, or Kansas, River would seem to be the natural - western boundary, but it is not the boundary; the city and State line runs - at some distance east of Kansas River, leaving a considerable portion of - low ground in Kansas City, Kansas, which contains the larger number of the - great packing-houses and the great stock-yards. This identity of names is - confusing. Kansas City (Kansas), Wyandotte, Armourdale, Armstrong, and - Riverview (all in the State of Kansas) have been recently consolidated - under the name of Kansas City, Kansas. It is to be regretted that this - thriving town of Kansas, which already claims a population of 40,000, did - not take the name of Wyandotte. In its boundaries are the second largest - stock-yards in the country, which received last year 670,000 cattle, - nearly 2,500,000 hogs, and 210,000 sheep, estimated worth 851,000,000. - There also are half a dozen large packing-houses, one of them ranking with - the biggest in the country, which last year slaughtered 195,933 cattle, - and 1,907,104 hogs. The great elevated railway, a wonderful structure, - which connects Kansas City, Missouri, with Wyandotte, is owned and managed - by men of Kansas City, Kansas. The city in Kansas has a great area of - level ground for the accommodation of manufacturing enterprises, and I - noticed a good deal of speculative feeling in regard to this territory. - The Kansas side has fine elevated situations for residences, but Wyandotte - itself does not compare in attractiveness with the Missouri city, and I - fancy that the controlling impetus and capital will long remain with the - city that has so much the start. - </p> - <p> - Looking about for the specialty which I have learned to expect in every - great Western city, I was struck by the number of warehouses for the sale - of agricultural implements on the flats, and I was told that Kansas City - excels all others in the amount of sales of farming implements. The sale - is put down at 815,000,000 for the year 1887—a fourth of the entire - reported product manufactured in the United States. Looking for the - explanation of this, one largely accounts for the growth of Kansas City, - namely, the vast rich agricultural regions to the west and southwest, the - development of Missouri itself, and the facilities of distribution. It is - a general belief that settlement is gradually pushing the rainy belt - farther and farther westward over the prairies and plains, that the - breaking up of the sod by the plough and the tilling have increased - evaporation and consequently rainfall. I find this questioned by competent - observers, who say that the observation of ten years is not enough to - settle the fact of a change of climate, and that, as not a tenth part of - the area under consideration has been broken by the plough, there is not - cause enough for the alleged effect, and that we do not yet know the cycle - of years of drought and years of rain. However this may be, there is no - doubt of the vast agricultural yield of these new States and Territories, - nor of the quantities of improved machinery they use. As to facility of - distribution, the railways are in evidence. I need not name them, but I - believe I counted fifteen lines and systems centring there. In 1887, 4565 - miles of railway were added to the facilities of Kansas City, stretching - out in every direction. The development of one is notable as peculiar and - far-sighted, the Fort Scott and Gulf, which is grasping the East as well - as the South-west; turning eastward from Fort Scott, it already reaches - the iron industries of Birmingham, pushes on to Atlanta, and seeks the - seaboard. I do not think I over-estimate the importance of this quite - direct connection of Kansas City with the Atlantic. - </p> - <p> - The population of Kansas City, according to the statistics of the Board of - Trade, increased from 41,786 in 1877 to 165,924 in 1887, the assessed - valuation from $9,370,287 in 1877 to $53,017,290 in 1887, and the rate of - taxation was reduced in the same period from about 22 mills to 14. I - notice also that the banking capital increased in a year—1886 to - 1887—from $3,873,000 to $6,950,000, and the Clearing-house - transactions in the same year from $251,963,441 to $353,895,458. This, - with other figures which might be given, sustains the assertion that while - real-estate speculation has decreased in the current year, there was a - substantial increase of business. During the year ending June 30, 1886, - there were built 4054 new houses, costing $10,393,207; during the year - ending June 30, 1887, 5889, costing $12,839,808. An important feature of - the business of Kansas City is in the investment and loan and trust - companies, which are many, and aggregate a capital of $7,773,000. Loans - are made on farms in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa, and also for - city improvements. - </p> - <p> - Details of business might be multiplied, but enough have been given to - illustrate the material prosperity of the city. I might add a note of the - enterprise which last year paved (mainly with cedar blocks on concrete) - thirteen miles of the city; the very handsome churches in process of - erection, and one or two (of the many) already built, admirable in plan - and appearance; the really magnificent building of the Board of Trade—a - palace, in fact; and other handsome, costly structures on every hand. - There are thirty-five miles of cable road. I am not sure but these cable - roads are the most interesting—certainly the most exciting—feature - of the city to a stranger. They climb such steeps, they plunge down such - grades, they penetrate and whiz through such crowded, lively - thoroughfares, their trains go so rapidly, that the rider is in a - perpetual exhilaration. I know no other locomotion more exciting and - agreeable. Life seems a sort of holiday when one whizzes through the - crowded city, up and down and around amid the tall buildings, and then - launches off in any direction into the suburbs, which are alive with new - buildings. Independence avenue is shown as one of the finest avenues, and - very handsome it and that part of the town are, but I fancied I could - detect a movement of fashion and preference to the hills southward. - </p> - <p> - In the midst of such a material expansion one has learned to expect fine - houses, but I was surprised to find three very good book-stores (as I - remember, St. Louis has not one so good), and a very good start for a - public library, consisting of about 16,000 well-arranged and classified - books. Members pay $2 a year, and the library receives only about $2500 a - year from the city. The citizens could make no better-paying investment - than to raise this library to the first rank. There is also the beginning - of an art school in some pretty rooms, furnished with casts and autotypes, - where pupils practise drawing under direction of local artiste. There are - two social clubs—the University, which occupies pleasant apartments, - and the Kansas City Club, which has just erected a handsome club-house. In - these respects, and in a hundred refinements of living, the town, which - has so largely drawn its young, enterprising population from the extreme - East, has little the appearance of a frontier place; it is the push, the - public spirit, the mixture of fashion and slouching negligence in street - attire, the mingling of Eastern smartness with border emancipation in - manner, and the general restlessness of movement, that proclaim the - newness. It seems to me that the incessant stir, and especially the - clatter, whir, and rapidity of the cable ears, must have a decided effect - on the nerves of the whole population. The appearance is certainly that of - an entire population incessantly in motion. - </p> - <p> - I have spoken of the public spirit. Besides the Board of Trade there is a - Merchants’ and Manufacturers’ Bureau, which works vigorously to bring to - the city and establish mercantile and manufacturing enterprises. The same - spirit is shown in the public schools. The expenditures in 1887 were, for - school purposes, $226,923; for interest on bonds, $18,408; for grounds and - buildings, $110,087; in all, $355,418. The total of children of school age - was, white, 31,667; colored, 4204. Of these in attendance at school were, - white, 12,933; colored, 1975. There were 25 school-houses and 212 - teachers. The schools which I saw—one large grammar-school, a - colored school, and the High-school of over 600 pupils—were good all - through, full of intelligent emulation, the teachers alert and well - equipped, and the attention to literature, to the science of government, - to what, in short, goes to make intelligent citizens, highly commendable. - I find the annual reports, under Prof. J. M. Greenwood, most interesting - reading. Topics are taken up and investigations made of great public - interest. These topics relate to the even physical and mental development - of the young in distinction from the effort merely to stuff them with - information. There is a most intelligent attempt to remedy defective - eyesight. Twenty per cent, of school children have some anomaly of - refraction or accommodation which should be recognized and corrected - early; girls have a larger per cent, of anomalies than boys. Irish, - Swedish, and German children have the highest percentage of affections of - the eyes; English, French, Scotch, and Americans the lowest. Scientific - observations of the eyes are made in the Kansas City schools, with a view - to remedy defects. Another curious topic is the investigation of the - Contents of Children’s Minds—that is, what very small children know - about common things. Prof. Stanley Hall published recently the result of - examinations made of very little folks in Boston schools. Professor - Greenwood made similar investigations among the lowest grade of pupils in - the Kansas City schools, and a table of comparisons is printed. The per - cent, of children ignorant of common things is astonishingly less in - Kansas City schools than in the Boston; even the colored children of the - Western city made a much better showing. Another subject of investigation - is the alleged physical deterioration in this country. Examinations were - made of hundreds of school children from the age of ten to fifteen, and - comparisons taken with the tables in Mulhal’s “Dictionary of Statistics,” - London, 1884. It turns out that the Kansas City children are taller, - taking sex into account, than the average English child at the age of - either ten or fifteen, weigh a fraction less at ten, but upwards of four - pounds more at fifteen, while the average Belgian boy and girl compare - favorably with American children two years younger. The tabulated - statistics show two facts, that the average Kansas child stands fully as - tall as the tallest, and that in weight he tips the beam against an older - child on the other side of the Atlantic. With this showing, we trust that - our American experiment will be permitted to go on. - </p> - <p> - In reaching the necessary limit of a paper too short for its subject, I - can only express my admiration of the indomitable energy and spirit of - that portion of the West which Kansas City represents, and congratulate it - upon so many indications of attention to the higher civilization, without - which its material prosperity will be wonderful but not attractive. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XV.—KENTUCKY. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">A</span>ll Kentucky, like - Gaul, is divided into three parts. This division, which may not be - sustained by the geologists or the geographers, perhaps not even by the - ethnologists, is, in my mind, one of character: the east and south-east - mountainous part, the central blue-grass region, and the great western - portion, thrifty in both agriculture and manufactures. It is a great - self-sustaining empire, lying midway in the Union, and between the North - and the South (never having yet exactly made up its mind whether it is - North or South), extending over more than seven degrees of longitude. Its - greatest length east and west is 410 miles; its greatest breadth, 178 - miles. Its area by latest surveys, and larger than formerly estimated, is - 42,283 square miles. Within this area prodigal nature has brought together - nearly everything that a highly civilized society needs: the most fertile - soil, capable of producing almost every variety of product for food or for - textile fabrics; mountains of coals and iron ores and limestone; streams - and springs everywhere; almost all sorts of hard-wood timber in abundance. - Nearly half the State is still virgin forest of the noblest trees, oaks, - sugar-maple, ash, poplar, black-walnut, linn, elm, hickory, beech, - chestnut, red cedar. The climate may honestly be called temperate: its - inhabitants do not need to live in cellars in the summer, nor burn up - their fences and furniture in the winter. - </p> - <p> - Kentucky is loved of its rivers. It can be seen by their excessively - zigzag courses how reluctant they are to leave the State, and if they do - leave it they are certain to return. The Kentucky and the Green wander - about in the most uncertain way before they go to the Ohio, and the - Licking and Big Sandy exhibit only a little less reluctance. The - Cumberland, after a wide detour in Tennessee, returns; and Powell’s River, - joining the Clinch and entering the Tennessee, finally persuades that - river, after it has looked about the State of Tennessee and gladdened - northern Alabama, to return to Kentucky. - </p> - <p> - Kentucky is an old State, with an old civilization. It was the pioneer in - the great western movement of population after the Revolution. Although it - was first explored in 1770, and the Boone trail through the wilderness of - Cumberland Gap was not marked till 1775, a settlement had been made in - Frankfort in 1774, and in 1790 the Territory had a population of 79,077. - This was a marvellous growth, considering the isolation by hundreds of - miles of wilderness from Eastern communities, and the savage opposition of - the Indians, who selw fifteen hundred whilc settlers from 1783 to 1790. - Kentucky was the home of no Indian tribe, but it was the favorite hunting - and fighting ground of those north of the Ohio and south of the - Cumberland, and they united to resent white interference. When the State - came into the Union in 1792—the second admitted—it was the - equal in population and agricultural wealth of some of the original States - that had been settled a hundred and fifty years, and in 1800 could boast - 220,750 inhabitants, and in 1810, 400,511. - </p> - <p> - At the time of the settlement, New York west of the Hudson, western - Pennsylvania, and western Virginia were almost unoccupied except by - hostile Indians; there was only chance and dangerous navigation down the - Ohio from Pittsburg, and it was nearly eight hundred miles of a wilderness - road, which was nothing but a bridle-path, from Philadelphia by way of the - Cumberland Gap to central Kentucky. The majority of emigrants came this - toilsome way, which was, after all, preferable to the river route, and all - passengers and produce went that way eastward, for the steamboat bad not - yet made the ascent of the Ohio feasible. In 1779 Virginia resolved to - construct a wagon-road through the wilderness, but no road was made for - many years afterwards, and indeed no vehicle of any sort passed over it - till a road was built by action of the Kentucky Legislature in 1700. I - hope it was better then than the portion of it I travelled from Pineville - to the Gap in 1888. - </p> - <p> - Civilization made a great leap over nearly a thousand miles into the open - garden-spot of central Kentucky, and the exploit is a unique chapter in - our frontier development. Either no other land ever lent itself so easily - to civilization as the blue-grass region, or it was exceptionally - fortunate in its occupants. They formed almost immediately a society - distinguished for its amenities, for its political influence, prosperous - beyond precedent in farming, venturesome and active in trade, developing - large manufactures, especially from hemp, of such articles as could be - transported by river, and sending annually through the wilderness road to - the East and South immense droves of cattle, horses, and swine. In the - first necessity, and the best indication of superior civilization, good - roads for transportation, Kentucky was conspicuous in comparison with the - rest of the country. As early as 1825 macadam roads were projected, the - turnpike from. Lexington to Maysville on the Ohio was built in 1829, and - the work went on by State and county co-operation until the central region - had a system of splendid roads, unexcelled in any part of the Union. In - 1830 one of the earliest railways in the United States, that from - Lexington to Frankfort, was begun; two years later seven miles were - constructed, and in 1835 the first locomotive and train of cars ran on it - to Frankfort, twenty-seven miles, in two hours and twenty-nine minutes. - The structure was composed of stone sills, in which grooves were cut to - receive the iron bars. These stone blocks can still be seen along the line - of the road, now a part of the Louisville and Nashville system. In all - internal improvements the State was very energetic. The canal around the - Falls of the Ohio at Louisville was opened in 1831, with some aid from the - General Government. The State expended a great deal in improving the - navigation of the Kentucky, the Green, and other rivers in its borders by - an expensive system of locks and dams; in 1837 it paid $19,500 to - engineers engaged in turnpike and river improvement, and in 1839 $31,075 - for the same purpose. - </p> - <p> - The story of early Kentucky reads like a romance. By 1820 it counted a - population of over 510,000, and still it had scarcely wagon-road - communication with the East. Here was a singular phenomenon, a prosperous - community, as one might say a garden in the wilderness, separated by - natural barriers from the great life of the East, which pushed out north - of it a connected, continuous development; a community almost - self-sustaining, having for his centre the loveliest agricultural region - in the Union, and evolving a unique social state so gracious and - attractive that it was thought necessary to call in the effect of the - blue-grass to explain it, unaided human nature being inadequate, it was - thought, to such a result. Almost from the beginning fine houses attested - the taste and prosperity of the settlers; by 1792 the blue-grass region - was dotted with neat and commodious dwellings, fruit orchards and gardens, - sugar groves, and clusters of villages; while, a little later, rose, in - the midst of broad plantations and park-like forests, lands luxuriant with - wheat and clover and corn and hemp and tobacco, the manorial dwellings of - the colonial period, like the stately homes planted by the Holland Land - Company along the Hudson and the Mohawk and in the fair Genesee, like the - pillared structures on the James and the Staunton, and like the solid - square mansions of old New England. A type of some of them stands in - Frankfort now, a house which was planned by Thomas Jefferson and built in - 1796, spacious, permanent, elegant in the low relief of its chaste - ornamentation. For comfort, for the purposes of hospitality, for the quiet - and rest of the mind, there is still nothing so good as the colonial - house, with the slight modifications required by our changed conditions. - </p> - <p> - From 1820 onward the State grew by a natural increment of population, but - without much aid from native or foreign emigration. In 1860 its population - was only about 919,000 whites, with some 225,000 slaves and over 10,000 - free colored persons. It had no city of the first class, nor any villages - specially thriving. Louisville numbered only about 68,000, Lexington less - than 15,000, and Frankfort, the capital, a little over 5000. It retained - the lead in hemp and a leading position in tobacco; but it had fallen away - behind its much younger rivals in manufactures and the building of - railways, and only feeble efforts had been made in the development of its - extraordinary mineral resources. - </p> - <p> - How is this arrest of development accounted for? I know that a short way - of accounting for it has been the presence of slavery. I would not - underestimate this. Free labor would not go where it had to compete with - slave labor; white labor now does not like to come into relations with - black labor; and capital also was shy of investment in a State where both - political economy and social life were disturbed by a color line. But this - does not wholly account for the position of Kentucky as to development at - the close of the war. So attractive is the State in most respects, in - climate, soil, and the possibilities of great wealth by manufactures, that - I doubt not the State would have been forced into the line of Western - progress and slavery become an unimportant factor long ago, but for - certain natural obstacles and artificial influences. - </p> - <p> - Let the reader look on the map, at the ranges of mountains running from - the north-east to the southwest—the Blue Ridge, the Alleghanies, the - Cumberland, and Pine mountains, continuous rocky ridges, with scarcely a - water gap, and only at long intervals a passable mountain gap—and - notice how these would both hinder and deflect the tide of emigration. - With such barriers the early development of Kentucky becomes ten times a - wonder. But about 1825 an event occurred that placed her at a greater - disadvantage in the competition. The Erie Canal was opened. This made New - York, and not Virginia, the great commercial highway. The railway - development followed. It was easy to build roads north of Kentucky, and - the tide of settlement followed the roads, which were mostly aided by land - grants; and in order to utilize the land grants the railways stimulated - emigration by extensive advertising. Capital and population passed - Kentucky by on the north. To the south somewhat similar conditions - prevailed. Comparatively cheap roads could be built along the eastern - slope of the Alleghanies, following the great valley from Pennsylvania to - Alabama; and these south-westwardly roads were also aided by the General - Government. The North and South Railway of Alabama, and the Alabama and - Great Southern, which cross at Birmingham, were land-grant roads. The - roads which left the Atlantic seaboard passed naturally northward and - southward of Kentucky, and left an immense area in the centre of the Union—all - of western and southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky—without - transportation facilities. Until 1880 here was the largest area east of - the Mississippi impenetrated by railways. - </p> - <p> - The war removed one obstacle to the free movement of men desiring work and - seeking agreeable homes, a movement marked in the great increase of the - industrial population of Louisville and the awakening to varied industries - and trade in western Kentucky. The offer of cheap land, which would reward - skilful farming In agreeable climatic conditions, has attracted foreign - settlers to the plateau south of the blue-grass region; and scientific - investigation has made the mountain district in the south-east the object - of the eager competition of both domestic and foreign capital. Kentucky, - therefore, is entering upon a new era of development. Two phases of it, - the Swiss colonies, and the opening of the coal, iron, and timber - resources, present special points of interest. - </p> - <p> - This Incoming of the commercial spirit will change Kentucky for the better - and for the worse, will change even the tone of the blue-grass country, - and perhaps take away something of that charm about which so much has been - written. So thoroughly has this region been set forth by the pen and the - pencil and the lens that I am relieved of the necessity of describing it. - But I must confess that all I had read of it, all the pictures I had seen, - gave me an inadequate idea of its beauty and richness. So far as I know, - there is nothing like it in the world. Comparison of it with England is - often made in the use of the words “garden” and “park.” The landscape is - as unlike the finer parts of Old England as it is unlike the most - carefully tended parts of New England. It has neither the intense green, - the subdivisions in hedges, the bosky lanes, the picturesque cottages, the - niceness of minute garden-culture, of England, nor the broken, mixed lawn - gardening and neglected pastures and highways, with the sweet wild hills, - of the Berkshire region. It is an open, elevated, rolling land, giving the - traveller often the most extended views over wheat and clover, hemp and - tobacco fields, forests and blue-grass pastures. One may drive for a - hundred miles north and south over the splendid macadam turnpikes, behind - blooded roadsters, at an easy ten-mile gait, and see always the same sight—a - smiling agricultural paradise, with scarcely a foot, in fence corners, by - the road-side, or in low grounds, of uncultivated, uncared-for land. The - open country is more pleasing than the small villages, which have not the - tidiness of the New England small villages; the houses are for the most - part plain; here and there is a negro cabin, or a cluster of them, apt to - be unsightly, but always in view somewhere is a plantation-house, more or - less pretentious, generally old-fashioned and with the colonial charm. - These are frequently off the main thoroughfare, approached by a private - road winding through oaks and ash-trees, seated on some gentle knoll or - slope, maybe with a small flower-garden, but probably with the old - sentimental blooms that smell good and have reminiscences, in the midst of - waving fields of grain, blue-grass pastures, and open forest glades - watered by a dear stream. There seems to be infinite peace in a house so - surrounded. The house may have pillars, probably a colonial porch and - door-way with earving in bass-relief, a wide hall, large square rooms, low - studded, and a general air of comfort. What is new in it in the way of - art, furniture, or bric-à-brac may not be in the best taste, and may - “swear” at the old furniture and the delightful old portraits. For almost - always will be found some portraits of the post-Revolutionary period, - having a traditional and family interest, by Copley or Jouett, perhaps a - Stuart, maybe by some artist who evidently did not paint for fame, which - carry the observer back to the colonial society in Virginia, Philadelphia, - and New York. In a country house and in Lexington I saw portraits, - life-size and miniature, of Rebecca Gratz, whose loveliness of person and - character is still a tender recollection of persons living. She was a - great beauty and toast in her day. It was at her house in Philadelphia, a - centre of wit and gayety, that Washington Irving and Henry Brevoort and - Gulian C. Verplanck often visited. She shone not less in New York society, - and was the most intimate friend of Matilda Hoffman, who was betrothed to - Irving; indeed, it was in her arms that Matilda died, fadeless always to - us as she was to Irving, in the loveliness of her eighteenth year. The - well-founded tradition is that Irving, on his first visit to Abbotsford, - told Scott of his own loss, and made him acquainted with the beauty and - grace of Rebecca Gratz, and that Scott, wanting at the moment to vindicate - a race that was aspersed, used her as a model for Rebecca in “Ivanhoe.” - </p> - <p> - One distinction of the blue-grass region is the forests, largely of - gigantic oaks, free of all undergrowth, carpeted with the close-set, - luscious, nutritive blue-grass, which remains green all the season when it - is cropped by feeding. The blue-grass thrives elsewhere, notably in the - upper Shenandoah Valley, where somewhat similar limestone conditions - prevail; but this is its natural habitat. On all this elevated rolling - plateau the limestone is near the surface. This grass blooms towards the - middle of June in a bluish, almost a peacock blue, blossom, which gives to - the fields an exquisite hue. By the end of the month the seed ripens into - a yellowish color, and while the grass is still green and lush underneath, - the surface presents much the appearance of a high New England pasture in - August. When it is ripe, the top is cut for the seed. The limestone and - the blue-grass together determine the agricultural pre-eminence of the - region, and account for the fine breeding of the horses, the excellence of - the cattle, the stature of the men, and the beauty of the women; but they - have social and moral influence also. It could not well be otherwise, - considering the relation of the physical condition to disposition and - character. We should be surprised if a rich agricultural region, healthful - at the same time, where there is abundance of food, and wholesome cooking - is the rule, did not affect the tone of social life. And I am almost - prepared to go further, and think that blue-grass is a specific for - physical beauty and a certain graciousness of life. I have been told that - there is a natural relation between Presbyterianism and blue-grass, and am - pointed to the Shenandoah and to Kentucky as evidence of it. Perhaps - Presbyterians naturally seek a limestone country. But the relation, if it - exists, is too subtle and the facts are too few to build a theory on. - Still, I have no doubt there is a distinct variety of woman known as the - blue-grass girl. A geologist told me that once when he was footing it over - the State with a geologist from another State, as they approached the - blue-grass region from the southward they were carefully examining the - rock formation and studying the surface indications, which are usually - marked on the border line, to determine exactly where the peculiar - limestone formation began. Indications, however, were wanting. Suddenly my - geologist looked up the road and exclaimed: - </p> - <p> - “We are in the blue-grass region now.” - </p> - <p> - “How do you know?” asked the other. - </p> - <p> - “Why, there is a blue-grass girl.” - </p> - <p> - There was no mistaking the neat dress, the style, the rounded contours, - the gracious personage. A few steps farther on the geologists found the - outcropping of the blue limestone. - </p> - <p> - Perhaps the people of this region are trying to live up to the - thorough-bred. A pedigree is a necessity. The horse is of the first - consideration, and either has or gives a sort of social distinction; - first, the running horse, the thorough-bred, and now the trotting horse, - which is beginning to have a recognizable descent, and is on the way to be - a thorough-bred. Many of the finest plantations are horse farms; one might - call them the feature of the country. Horse-raising is here a science, and - as we drive from one estate to another, and note the careful tillage, the - trim fences, the neat stables, the pretty paddocks, and the houses of the - favorites, we see how everything is intended to contribute to the - perfection in refinement of fibre, speed, and endurance of the noble - animal. Even persons who are usually indifferent to horses cannot but - admire these beautiful high-bred creatures, either the famous ones - displayed at the stables, or the colts and fillies, which have yet their - reputations to make, at play in the blue-grass pastures; and the pleasure - one experiences is a refined one in harmony with the landscape. Usually - horse-dealing carries with it a lowering of the moral tone, which we quite - understand when we say of a man that he is “horsy.” I suppose the truth is - that man has degraded the idea of the horse by his own evil passions, - using him to gamble and cheat with. Now, the visitor will find little of - these degrading associations in the blue-grass region. It is an orthodox - and a moral region. The best and most successful horse-breeders have - nothing to do with racing or betting. The yearly product of their farms is - sold at auction, without reserve or favor. The sole business is the - production of the best animals that science and care can breed. Undeniably - where the horse is of such importance he is much in the thought, and the - use of “horsy” phrases in ordinary conversation shows his effect upon the - vocabulary. The recital of pedigree at the stables, as horse after horse - is led out, sounds a little like a chapter from the Book of Genesis, and - naturally this Biblical formula gets into a conversation about people. - </p> - <p> - And after the horses there is whiskey. There are many distilleries in this - part of the country, and a great deal of whiskey is made. I am not - defending whiskey, at least any that is less than thirty years old and has - attained a medicinal quality. But I want to express my opinion that this - is as temperate as any region in the United States. There is a wide-spread - strict temperance sentiment, and even prohibition prevails to a - considerable degree. Whiskey is made and stored, and mostly shipped away; - rightly or wrongly, it is regarded as a legitimate business, like - wheatraising, and is conducted by honorable men. I believe this to be the - truth, and that drunkenness does not prevail in the neighborhood of the - distilleries, nor did I see anywhere in the country evidence of a habit of - dram drinking, of the traditional matter-of-course offering of whiskey as - a hospitality. It is true that mint grows in Kentucky, and that there are - persons who would win the respect of a tide-water Virginian in the - concoction of a julep. And no doubt in the mind of the born Kentuckian - there is a rooted belief that if a person needed a stimulant, the best he - can take is old hand-made whiskey. Where the manufacture of whiskey is the - source of so much revenue, and is carried on with decorum, of course the - public sentiment about it differs from that of a community that makes its - money in raising potatoes for starch. Where the horse is so beautiful, - fleet, and profitable, of course there is intense interest in him, and the - general public take a lively pleasure in the races; but if the reader has - been accustomed to associate this part of Kentucky with horse-racing and - drinking as prominent characteristics, he must revise his opinion. - </p> - <p> - Perhaps certain colonial habits lingered longer in Kentucky than - elsewhere. Travellers have spoken about the habit of profanity and - gambling, especially the game of poker. In the West generally profane - swearing is not as bad form as it is in the East. But whatever distinction - central Kentucky had in profanity or poker, it has evidently lost it. The - duel lingered long, and prompt revenge for insults, especially to women. - The blue-grass region has “histories”—beauty has been fought about; - women have had careers; families have run out through dissipation. One may - hear stories of this sort even in the Berkshire Hills, in any place where - there have been long settlement, wealth, and time for the development of - family and personal eccentricities. And there is still a flavor left in - Kentucky; there is still a subtle difference in its social tone; the - intelligent women are attractive in another way from the intelligent New - England women—they have a charm of their own. May Heaven long - postpone the day when, by the commercial spirit and trade and education, - we shall all be alike in all parts of the Union! Yet it would be no - disadvantage to anybody if the graciousness, the simplicity of manner, the - refined hospitality, of the blue-grass region should spread beyond the - blue limestone of the Lower Silurian. - </p> - <p> - In the excellent State Museum at Frankfort, under the charge of Prof. John - R. Procter, * who is State Geologist and also Director of the Bureau of - Immigration, in addition to the admirable exhibit of the natural resources - of Kentucky, are photographs, statistics, and products showing the - condition of the Swiss and other foreign farming colonics recently - established in the State, which were so interesting and offered so many - instructive points that I determined to see some of the colonies. - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - * Whatever value this paper has is so largely due to - Professor Procter that I desire to make to him the most - explicit acknowledgments. One of the very best results of - the war was keeping him in the Union. -</pre> - <p> - This museum and the geological department, the intelligent management of - which has been of immense service to the commonwealth, is in one of the - detached buildings which make up the present Capitol. The Capitol is - altogether antiquated, and not a credit to the State. The room in which - the Lower House meets is shabby and mean, yet I noticed that it is fairly - well lighted by side windows, and debate can be heard in it conducted in - an ordinary tone of voice. Kentucky will before many years be accommodated - with new State buildings more suited to her wealth and dignity. But I - should like to repeat what was said in relation to the Capitol of - Arkansas. Why cannot our architects devise a capitol suited to the wants - of those who occupy it? Why must we go on making these huge inconvenient - structures, mainly for external display, in which the legislative Chambers - are vast air-tight and water-tight compartments, commonly completely - surrounded by other rooms and lobbies, and lighted only from the roof, or - at best by high windows in one or two sides that permit no outlook—rooms - difficult to speak or hear in, impossible to ventilate, needing always - artificial light? Why should the Senators of the United States be - compelled to occupy a gilded dungeon, unlighted ever by the sun, unvisited - ever by the free wind of heaven, in which the air is so foul that the - Senators sicken? What sort of legislation ought we to expect from such - Chambers? It is perfectly feasible to build a legislative room cheerful - and light, open freely to sun and air on three sides. In order to do this - it may be necessary to build a group of connected buildings, instead of - the parallelogram or square, which is mostly domed, with gigantic halls - and stair-ways, and, considering the purpose for which it is intended, is - a libel on our ingenuity and a burlesque on our civilization. - </p> - <p> - Kentucky has gone to work in a very sensible way to induce immigration and - to attract settlers of the right sort. The Bureau of Immigration was - established in 1880. It began to publish facts about the State, in regard - to the geologic formation, the soils, the price of lands, both the - uncleared and the lands injured by slovenly culture, the kind and amount - of products that might be expected by thrifty farming, and the climate; - not exaggerated general proclamations promising sudden wealth with little - labor, but facts such as would attract the attention of men willing to - work in order to obtain for themselves and their children comfortable - homes and modest independence. Invitations were made for a thorough - examination of lands—of the different sorts of soils in different - counties—before purchase and settlement. The leading idea was to - induce industrious farmers who were poor, or had not money enough to - purchase high-priced improved lands, to settle upon lands that the - majority of Kentuckians considered scarcely worth cultivating, and the - belief was that good farming would show that these neglected lands were - capable of becoming very productive. Eight years’ experience has fully - justified all these expectations. Colonies of Swiss, Germans, Austrians, - have come, and Swedes also, and these have attracted many from the North - and North-west. In this period I suppose as many as ten thousand - immigrants of this class, thrifty cultivators of the soil, have come into - the State, many of whom are scattered about the State, unconnected with - the so-called colonies. These colonies are not organized communities in - any way separated from the general inhabitants of the State. They have - merely settled together for companionship and social reasons, where a - sufficiently large tract of cheap land was found to accommodate them. Each - family owns its own farm, and is perfectly independent. An indiscriminate - immigration has not been desired or encouraged, but the better class of - laboring agriculturists, grape-growers, and stock-raisers. There are - several settlements of these, chiefly Swiss, dairy-farmers, cheese-makers, - and vine-growers, in Laurel County; others in Lincoln County, composed of - Swiss, Germans, and Austrians; a mixed colony in Rock Castle County; a - thriving settlement of Austrians in Boyle County; a temperance colony of - Scandinavians in Edmonson County; another Scandinavian colony in Grayson - County; and scattered settlements of Germans and Scandinavians in - Christian County. These settlements have from one hundred to over a - thousand inhabitants each. The lands in Laurel and Lincoln counties, which - I travelled through, are on a high plateau, with good air and temperate - climate, but with a somewhat thin, loamy, and sandy soil, needing manure, - and called generally in the State poor land—poor certainly compared - with the blue-grass region and other extraordinarily fertile sections. - These farms, which had been more or less run over by Kentucky farming, - were sold at from one to five dollars an acre. They are farms that a man - cannot live on in idleness. But they respond well to thrifty tillage, and - it is a sight worth a long journey to see the beautiful farms these Swiss - have made out of land that the average Kentuckian thought not worth - cultivating. It has not been done without hard work, and as most of the - immigrants were poor, many of them have had a hard struggle in building - comfortable houses, reducing the neglected land to order, and obtaining - stock. A great attraction to the Swiss was that this land is adapted to - vine culture, and a reasonable profit was expected from selling grapes and - making wine. The vineyards are still young; experiment has not yet settled - what kind of grapes flourish best, but many vine-growers have realized - handsome profits in the sale of fruit, and the trial is sufficient to show - that good wine can be produced. The only interference thus far with the - grapes has been the unprecedented late freeze last spring. - </p> - <p> - At the recent exposition in Louisville the exhibit of these Swiss colonies—the - photographs showing the appearance of the unkempt land when they bought - it, and the fertile fields of grain and meadow and vineyards afterwards, - and the neat, plain farm cottages, the pretty Swiss chalet with its - attendants of intelligent comely girls in native costumes offering - articles illustrating the taste and the thrift of the colonies, - wood-carving, the products of the dairy, and the fruit of the vine—attracted - great attention. - </p> - <p> - I cannot better convey to the reader the impression I wish to in regard to - this colonization and its lesson for the country at large than by speaking - more in detail of one of the Swiss settlements in Laurel County. This is - Bernstadt, about six miles from Pittsburg, on the Louisville and Nashville - road, a coal-mining region, and offering a good market for the produce of - the Swiss farmers. We did not need to be told when we entered the colony - lands; neater houses, thrifty farming, and better roads proclaimed it. It - is not a garden-spot; in some respects it is a poor-looking country; but - it has abundant timber, good water, good air, a soil of light sandy loam, - which is productive under good tillage. There are here, I suppose, some - two hundred and fifty families, scattered about over a large area, each on - its farm. There is no collection of houses; the church (Lutheran), the - school-house, the store, the post-office, the hotel, are widely separated; - for the hotel-keeper, the store-keeper, the postmaster, and, I believe, - the school-master and the parson, are all farmers to a greater or less - extent. It must be understood that it is a primitive settlement, having as - yet very little that is picturesque, a community of simple working-people. - Only one or two of the houses have any pretension to taste in - architecture, but this will come in time—the vine-clad porches, the - quaint gables, the home-likeness. The Kentuckian, however, will notice the - barns for the stock, and a general thriftiness about the places. And the - appearance of the farms is an object-lesson of the highest value. - </p> - <p> - The chief interest to me, however, was the character of the settlers. Most - of them were poor, used to hard work and scant returns for it in - Switzerland. What they have accomplished, therefore, is the result of - industry, and not of capital. There are among the colonists skilled - laborers in other things than vine-growing and cheese-making—watch-makers - and wood-carvers and adepts in various trades. The thrifty young farmer at - whose pretty house we spent the night, and who has saw-mills at Pittsburg, - is of one of the best Swiss families; his father was for many years - President of the republic, and he was a graduate of the university at - Lucerne. There were others of the best blood and breeding and schooling, - and men of scientific attainments. But they are all at work close to the - soil. As a rule, however, the colonists were men and women of small means - at home. The notable thing is that they bring with them a certain old - civilization, a unity of simplicity of life with real refinement, - courtesy, politeness, good-humor. The girls would not be above going out - to service, and they would not lose their self-respect in it. Many of them - would be described as “peasants,” but I saw some, not above the labors of - the house and farm, with real grace and dignity of manner and charm of - conversation. Few of them as yet speak any English, but in most houses are - evidences of some German culture. Uniformly there was courtesy and frank - hospitality. The community amuses itself rationally. It has a very good - brass band, a singing club, and in the evenings and holidays it is apt to - assemble at the hotel and take a little wine and sing the songs of - father-land. The hotel is indeed at present without accommodations for - lodgers—nothing but a Wirthshaus with a German garden where dancing - may take place now and then. With all the hard labor, they have an idea of - the simple comforts and enjoyments of life. And they live very well, - though plainly. At a house where we dined, in the colony Strasburg, near - Bernstadt, we had an excellent dinner, well served, and including - delicious soup. If the colony never did anything else than teach that part - of the State how to make soup, its existence would be justified. Here, in - short, is an element of homely thrift, civilization on a rational basis, - good-citizenship, very desirable in any State. May their vineyards - flourish! When we departed early in the morning—it was not yet seven—a - dozen Switzers, fresh from the dewy fields, in their working dresses, had - assembled at the hotel, where the young landlady also smiled a welcome, to - send us off with a song, which ended, as we drove away, in a good-bye <i>yodel</i>. - </p> - <p> - A line drawn from the junction of the Scioto River with the Ohio - south-west to a point in the southern boundary about thirty miles east of - where the Cumberland leaves the State defines the eastern coal-measures of - Kentucky. In area it is about a quarter of the State—a region of - plateaus, mountains, narrow valleys, cut in all directions by clear, rapid - streams, stuffed, one may say, with coals, streaked with iron, abounding - in limestone, and covered with superb forests. Independent of other States - a most remarkable region, but considered in its relation to the coals and - iron ores of West Virginia, western Virginia, and eastern Tennessee, it - becomes one of the most important and interesting regions in the Union. - Looking to the south-eastern border, I hazard nothing in saying that the - country from the Breaks of Sandy down to Big Creek Gap (in the Cumberland - Mountain), in Tennessee, is on the eve of an astonishing development—one - that will revolutionize eastern Kentucky, and powerfully affect the iron - and coal markets of the country. It is a region that appeals as well to - the imagination of the traveller as to the capitalist. My personal - observation of it extends only to the portion from Cumberland Gap to Big - Stone Gap, and the head-waters of the Cumberland between Cumberland - Mountain and Pine Mountain, but I saw enough to comprehend why eager - purchasers are buying the forests and the mining rights, why great - companies, American and English, are planting themselves there and laying - the foundations of cities, and why the gigantic railway corporations are - straining every nerve to penetrate the mineral and forest heart of the - region. A dozen roads, projected and in progress, are pointed towards this - centre. It is a race for the prize. The Louisville and Nashville, running - through soft-coal fields to Jellico and on to Knoxville, branches from - Corbin to Barboursville (an old and thriving town) and to Pineville. From - Pineville it is under contract, thirteen miles, to Cumberland Gap. This - gap is being tunnelled (work going on at both ends) by an independent - company, the tunnel to be open to all roads. The Louisville and Nashville - may run up the south side of the Cumberland range to Big Stone Gap, or it - may ascend the Cumberland River and its Clover Fork, and pass over to Big - Stone Gap that way, or it may do both. A road is building from Knoxville - to Cumberland Gap, and from Johnson City to Big Stone Gap. A road is - running from Bristol to within twenty miles of Big Stone Gap; another road - nears the same place—the extension of the Norfolk and Western—from - Pocahontas down the Clinch River. From the north-west many roads are - projected to pierce the great deposits of coking and cannel coals, and - find or bore a way through the mountain ridges into south-western - Virginia. One of these, the Kentucky Union, starting from Lexington (which - is becoming a great railroad centre), has reached Clay City, and will soon - be open to the Three Forks of the Kentucky River, and on to Jackson, in - Breathitt County. These valley and transridge roads will bring within - short hauling distance of each other as great a variety of iron ores of - high and low grade, and of coals, coking and other, as can be found - anywhere—according to the official reports, greater than anywhere - else within the same radius. As an item it may be mentioned that the rich, - pure, magnetic iron ore used in the manufacture of Bessemer steel, found - in East Tennessee and North Carolina, and developed in greatest abundance - at Cranberry Forge, is within one hundred miles of the superior Kentucky - coking coal. This contiguity (a contiguity of coke, ore, and limestone) in - this region points to the manufacture of Bessemer steel here at less cost - than it is now elsewhere made. - </p> - <p> - It is unnecessary that I should go into details as to the ore and coal - deposits of this region: the official reports are accessible. It may be - said, however, that the reports of the Geological Survey as to both coal - and iron have been recently perfectly confirmed by the digging of experts. - Aside from the coal-measures below the sandstone, there have been found - above the sandstone, north of Pine Mountain, 1650 feet of coal-measures, - containing nine beds of coal of workable thickness, and between Pine and - Cumberland mountains there is a greater thickness of coal-measures, - containing twelve or more workable beds. Some of these are coking coals of - great excellence. Cannel-coals are found in sixteen of the counties in the - eastern coal-fields. Two of them at least are of unexampled richness and - purity. The value of a cannel-coal is determined by its volatile - combustible matter. By this test some of the Kentucky cannel-coal excels - the most celebrated coals of Great Britain. An analysis of a cannel-coal - in Breathitt County gives 66.28 of volatile combustible matter; the - highest in Great Britain is the Boghead, Scotland, 51.60 per cent. This - beautiful cannel-coal has been brought out in small quantities <i>via</i> - the Kentucky River; it will have a market all over the country when the - railways reach it. The first coal identified as coking was named the - Elkhorn, from the stream where it was found in Pike County. A thick bed of - it has been traced over an area of 1600 square miles, covering several - counties, but attaining its greatest thickness in Letcher, Pike, and - Harlan. This discovery of coking coal adds greatly to the value of the - iron ores in north-eastern Kentucky, and in the Red and Kentucky valleys, - and also of the great deposits of ore on the south-east boundary, along - the western base of the Cumberland, along the slope of Powell’s Mountain, - and also along Wallin’s Ridge, three parallel lines, convenient to the - coking coal in Kentucky. This is the Clinton or red fossil ore, - stratified, having from 45 to 54 per cent, of metallic iron. Recently has - been found on the north side of Pine Mountain in Kentucky, a third deposit - of rich “brown” ore, averaging 52 per cent, of metallic iron. This is the - same as the celebrated brown ore used in the furnaces at Clifton Forge; it - makes a very tough iron. I saw a vein of it on Straight Creek, three miles - north of Pineville, just opened, at least eight feet thick. - </p> - <p> - The railway to Pineville follows the old Wilderness road, the trail of - Boone and the stage-road, along which are seen the ancient tavern stands - where the jolly story-telling travellers of fifty years ago were - entertained and the droves of horses and cattle were fed. The railway has - been stopped a mile west of Pineville by a belligerent property owner, who - sits there with his Winchester rifle, and will not let the work go on - until the courts compel him. The railway will not cross the Cumberland at - Pineville, but higher up, near the great elbow. There was no bridge over - the stream, and we crossed at a very rough and rocky wagon-ford. - Pineville, where there has loner been a backwoods settlement on the south - bend of the river just after it breaks through Pine Mountain, is now the - centre of a good deal of mining excitement and real-estate speculation. It - has about five hundred inhabitants, and a temporary addition of land - buyers, mineral experts, engineers, furnace projectors, and railway - contractors. There is not level ground for a large city, but what there is - is plotted out for sale. The abundant iron ore, coal, and timber here - predict for it a future of some importance. It has already a smart new - hotel, and business buildings, and churches are in process of erection. - The society of the town had gathered for the evening at the hotel. A - wandering one-eyed fiddler was providentially present who could sing and - play “The Arkansas Traveller” and other tunes that lift the heels of the - young, and also accompany the scream of the violin with the droning - bagpipe notes of the mouth-harmonica. The star of the gay company was a - graduate of Annapolis, in full evening dress uniform, a native boy of the - valley, and his vis-à-vis was a heavy man in a long linen duster and - carpet slippers, with a palm-leaf fan, who crashed through the cotillon - with good effect. It was a pleasant party, and long after it had - dispersed, the troubadour, sitting on the piazza, wiled away sleep by the - break-downs, jigs, and songs of the frontier. - </p> - <p> - Pineville and its vicinity have many attractions; the streams are clear, - rapid, rocky, the foliage abundant, the hills picturesque. Straight Creek, - which comes in along the north base of Pine Mountain, is an exceedingly - picturesque stream, having along its banks fertile little stretches of - level ground, while the gentle bordering hills are excellent for grass, - fruit orchards, and vineyards. The walnut-trees have been culled out, but - there is abundance of oat, beech, poplar, encumber, and small pines. And - there is no doubt about the mineral wealth. - </p> - <p> - We drove from Pineville to Cumberland Gap, thirteen miles, over the now - neglected Wilderness road, the two mules of the wagon unable to pull us - faster than two miles an hour. The road had every variety of badness - conceivable—loose stones, ledges of rock, bowlders, sloughs, holes, - mud, sand, deep fords. We crossed and followed up Clear Creek (a muddy - stream) over Log Mountain (full of coal) to Canon Creek. Settlements were - few—only occasional poor shanties. Climbing over another ridge, we - reached the Yellow Creek Valley, through which the Yellow Creek meanders - in sand. This whole valley, lying very prettily among the mountains, has a - bad name for “difficulties.” The hills about, on the sides and tops of - which are ragged little farms, and the valley itself, still contain some - lawless people. We looked with some interest at the Turner house, where a - sheriff was killed a year ago, at a place where a “severe” man fired into - a wagon-load of people and shot a woman, and at other places where in - recent times differences of opinion had been settled by the revolver. This - sort of thing is, however, practically over. This valley, close to - Cumberland Gap, is the site of the great city, already plotted, which the - English company are to build as soon as the tunnel is completed. It is - called Middleborough, and the streets are being graded and preparations - made for building furnaces. The north side of Cumberland Mountain, like - the south side of Pine, is a conglomerate, covered with superb oak and - chestnut trees. We climbed up to the mountain over a winding road of - ledges, bowlders, and deep gullies, rising to an extended pleasing - prospect of mountains and valleys. The pass has a historic interest, not - only as the ancient highway, but as the path of armies in the Civil War. - It is narrow, a deep road between overhanging rocks. It is easily - defended. A light bridge thrown over the road, leading to rifle-pits and - breastworks on the north side, remains to attest the warlike occupation. - Above, on the bald highest rocky head on the north, guns were planted to - command the pass. Two or three houses, a blacksmith’s shop, a drinking - tavern, behind which on the rocks four men were playing old sledge, made - up the sum of its human attractions as we saw it. Just here in the pass - Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia touch each other. Virginia inserts a - narrow wedge between the other two. On our way down the wild and - picturesque road we crossed the State of Virginia and went to the new - English hotel in Tennessee. We passed a magnificent spring, which sends a - torrent of water into the valley, and turns a great millwheel—a - picture in its green setting—saw the opening of the tunnel with its - shops and machinery, noted the few houses and company stores of the new - settlement, climbed the hill to the pretty hotel, and sat down on the - piazza to look at the scene. The view is a striking one. The valley - through which the Powell River runs is pleasant, and the bold, bare - mountain of rock at the right of the pass is a noble feature in the - landscape. With what joy must the early wilderness pilgrims have hailed - this landmark, this gate-way to the Paradise beyond the mountains! Some - miles north in the range are the White Rocks, gleaming in the sun and - conspicuous from afar, the first signal to the weary travellers from the - east of the region they sought. Cumberland Gap is full of expectation, and - only awaits the completion of the tunnel to enter upon its development. - Here railways from the north, south, and west are expected to meet, and in - the Yellow Creek Valley beyond, the English are to build a great - manufacturing city. The valleys and sides of these mountain ranges (which - have a uniform elevation of not much more than 2000 to 2500 feet) enjoy a - delightful climate, moderate in the winter and temperate in the summer. - This whole region, when it is accessible by rail, will be attractive to - tourists. - </p> - <p> - We pursued our journey up the Powell River Valley, along the base of the - Cumberland, on horseback—one day in a wagon in this country ought to - satisfy anybody. The roads, however, are better on this side of the - mountain; all through Lee County, In Virginia, in spots very good. This is - a very fine valley, with good water, cold and clear, growing in abundance - oats and corn, a constant succession of pretty views. We dined excellently - at a neat farm-house on the river, and slept at the house of a very - prosperous farmer near Boon’s Path post-office. Here we are abreast the - White Rocks, the highest point of the Cumberland (3451 feet), that used to - be the beacon of immigration. - </p> - <p> - The valley grows more and more beautiful as we go up, full fields of - wheat, corn, oats, friendly to fruit of all sorts, with abundance of - walnut, oak, and chestnut timber—a fertile, agreeable valley, - settled with well-to-do farmers. The next morning, beautifully clear and - sparkling, we were off at seven o’clock through a lovely broken country, - following the line of Cumberland (here called Stone) Mountain, alternately - little hills and meadows, cultivated hill-sides, stretches of rich valley, - exquisite views—a land picturesque and thriving. Continuing for nine - miles up Powell Valley, we turned to the left through a break in the hills - into Poor Valley, a narrow, wild, sweet ravine among the hills, with a - swift crystal stream overhung by masses of rhododendrons in bloom, and - shaded by magnificent forest-trees. We dined at a farm-house by - Pennington’s Gap, and had a swim in the north fork of Powell River, which - here, with many a leap, breaks through the bold scenery in the gap. - Farther on, the valley was broader and more fertile, and along the wide - reaches of the river grew enormous beech-trees, the russet foliage of - which took on an exquisite color towards evening. Indeed, the ride all day - was excitingly interesting, with the great trees, the narrow rich valleys, - the frequent sparkling streams, and lovely mountain views. At sunset we - came to the house of an important farmer who has wide possessions, about - thirteen miles from Big Stone Gap. We have nothing whatever against him - except that he routed us out at five o’clock of a foggy Sunday morning, - which promised to be warm—July 1st—to send us on our way to - “the city.” All along we had heard of “the city.” In a radius of a hundred - miles Big Stone Gap is called nothing but “the city,” and our - anticipations were raised. - </p> - <p> - That morning’s ride I shall not forget. We crossed and followed Powell - River. All along the banks are set the most remarkable beech-trees I have - ever seen—great, wide-spreading, clean-boled trees, overbading the - stream, and giving under their boughs, nearly all the way, ravishingly - lovely views. This was the paradisiacal way to Big Stone Gap, which we - found to be a round broken valley, shut in by wooded mountains, covered - more or less with fine trees, the meeting-place of the Powell River, which - comes through the gap, and its south fork. In the round elevation between - them is the inviting place of the future city. There are two Big Stone - Gaps—the one open fields and forests, a settlement of some thirty to - forty houses, most of them new and many in process of building, a hotel, - and some tents; the other, the city on the map. The latter is selling in - small lots, has wide avenues, parks, one of the finest hotels in the - South, banks, warehouses, and all that can attract the business man or the - summer lounger. - </p> - <p> - The heavy investments in Big Stone Gap and the region I should say were - fully justified by the natural advantages. It is a country of great - beauty, noble mountain ranges, with the valleys diversified by small - hills, fertile intervales, fine streams, and a splendid forest growth. If - the anticipations of an important city at the gap are half realized, the - slopes of the hills and natural terraces will be dotted with beautiful - residences, agreeable in both summer and winter. It was the warmest time - of the year when we were there, but the air was fresh and full of - vitality. The Big Stone Gap Improvement Company has the city and its site - in charge; it is a consolidation of the various interests of railway - companies and heavy capitalists, who have purchased the land. The money - and the character of the men behind the enterprise insure a vigorous - prosecution of it. On the west side of the river are the depot and - switching-grounds which the several railways have reserved for their use, - and here also are to be the furnaces and shops. When the city outgrows its - present site it can extend up valleys in several directions. We rode - through line forests up the lovely Powell Valley to Powell Mountain, where - a broad and beautiful meadow offers a site for a suburban village. The - city is already planning for suburbs. A few miles south of the city a - powerful stream of clear water falls over precipices and rocks seven - hundred feet in continuous rapids. This is not only a charming addition to - the scenic attractions of the region, but the stream will supply the town - with excellent water and unlimited “power.” Beyond, ten miles to the - north-east, rises High Knob, a very sightly point, where one gets the sort - of view of four States that he sees on an atlas. It is indeed a delightful - region; but however one may be charmed by its natural beauty, he cannot - spend a day at Big Stone Gap without being infected with the great - enterprises brooding there. - </p> - <p> - We forded Powell River and ascended through the gap on its right bank. - Before entering the gorge we galloped over a beautiful level plateau, the - counterpart of that where the city is laid out, reserved for railways and - furnaces. From this point the valley is seen to be wider than we - suspected, and to have ample room for the manufacturing and traffic - expected. As we turned to see what we shall never see again—the - virgin beauty of nature in this site—the whole attractiveness of - this marvellously picturesque region burst upon us—the great - forests, the clear swift streams, the fertile meadows, the wooded - mountains that have so long secluded this beauty and guarded the treasures - of the hills. - </p> - <p> - The pass itself, which shows from a distance only a dent in the green - foliage, surprised us by its wild beauty. The stony road, rising little by - little above the river, runs through a magnificent forest, gigantic trees - growing in the midst of enormous bowlders, and towering among rocks that - take the form of walls and buttresses, square structures like the Titanic - ruins of castles; below, the river, full and strong, rages over rocks and - dashes down, filling the forest with its roar, which is echoed by the - towering cliffs on either side. The woods were fresh and glistening from - recent rains, but what made the final charm of the way was the bloom of - the rhododendron, which blazed along the road and illuminated the cool - recesses of the forest. The time for the blooming of the azalea and the - kalmia (mountain-laurel) was past, but the pink and white rhododendron was - in full glory, masses of bloom, not small stalks lurking like underbrush, - but on bushes attaining the dignity of trees, and at least twenty-five - feet high. The splendor of the forest did not lessen as we turned to the - left and followed up Pigeon Creek to a high farming region, rough but - fertile, at the base of Black Mountain. Such a wealth of oak, beech, - poplar, chestnut, and ash, and, sprinkled in, the pretty cucumber-magnolia - in bloom! By sunset we found our way, off the main road, to a lonely - farm-house hidden away at the foot of Morris Pass, secluded behind an - orchard of apple and peach trees. A stream of spring-water from the rocks - above ran to the house, and to the eastward the ravine broadened into - pastures. It seemed impossible to get farther from the world and its - active currents. We were still in Virginia. - </p> - <p> - Our host, an old man over six feet in height, with spare, straight, - athletic form, a fine head, and large clear gray eyes, lived here alone - with his aged spouse. He had done his duty by his country in raising - twelve children (that is the common and orthodox number in this region), - who had all left him except one son, who lived in a shanty up the ravine. - It was this son’s wife who helped about the house and did the milking, - taking care also of a growing family of her own, and doing her share of - field-work. I had heard that the women in this country were more - industrious than the men. I asked this woman, as she was milking that - evening, if the women did all the work. No, she said; only their share. - Her husband was all the time in the field, and even her boys, one only - eight, had to work with him; there was no time to go to school, and indeed - the school didn’t amount to much anyway—only a little while in the - fall. She had all the care of the cows. “Men,” she added, “never notice - milking;” and the worst of it was that she had to go miles around in the - bush night and morning to find them. After supper we had a call from a - bachelor who occupied a cabin over the pass, on the Kentucky side, a - loquacious philosopher, who squatted on his heels in the door-yard where - we were sitting, and interrogated each of us in turn as to our names, - occupations, residence, ages, and politics, and then gave us as freely his - own history and views of life. His eccentricity in this mountain region - was that he had voted for Cleveland and should do it again. Mr. Morris - couldn’t go with him in this; and when pressed for his reasons he said - that Cleveland had had the salary long enough, and got rich enough out of - it. The philosopher brought the news, had heard it talked about on Sunday, - that a man over Clover Fork way had killed his wife and brother. It was - claimed to be an accident; they were having a game of cards and some - whiskey, and he was trying to kill his son-in-law. Was there much killing - round here? Well, not much lately. Last year John Cone, over on Clover - Fork, shot Mat Harner in a dispute over cards. Well, what became of John - Cone? Oh, he was killed by Jim Blood, a friend of Harner. And what became - of Blood? Well, he got shot by Elias Travers. And Travers? Oh, he was - killed by a man by the name of Jacobs. That ended it. None of ‘em was of - much account. There was a pleasing naivete in this narrative. And then the - philosopher, whom the milkmaid described to me next morning as “a simlar - sort of man,” went on to give his idea about this killing business. “All - this killing in the mountains is foolish. If you kill a man, that don’t - aggravate him; he’s dead and don’t care, and it all comes on you.” - </p> - <p> - In the early morning we crossed a narrow pass in the Black Mountain into - “Canetucky,” and followed down the Clover Fork of the Cumberland. All - these mountains are perfectly tree-clad, but they have not the sombreness - of the high regions of the Great Smoky and the Black Mountains of North - Carolina. There are few black balsams, or any sort of evergreens, and the - great variety of deciduous trees, from the shining green of the oak to the - bronze hue of the beech, makes everywhere soft gradations of color most - pleasing to the eye. In the autumn, they say, the brilliant maples in - combination with the soberer bronzes and yellows of the other forest-trees - give an ineffable beauty to these ridges and graceful slopes. The ride - down Clover Fork, all day long, was for the most part through a virgin - world. The winding valley is at all times narrow, with here and there a - tiny meadow, and at long intervals a lateral opening down which another - sparkling brook comes from the recesses of this wilderness of mountains. - Houses are miles apart, and usually nothing but cabins half concealed in - some sheltered nook. There is, however, hidden on the small streams, on - mountain terraces, and high up on the slopes, a considerable population, - cabin dwellers, cultivators of corn, on the almost perpendicular hills. - Many of these cornfields are so steep that it is impossible to plough - them, and all the cultivation is done with the hoe. I heard that a man was - recently killed in this neighborhood by falling out of his cornfield. The - story has as much foundation as the current belief that the only way to - keep a mule in the field where you wish him to stay is to put him into the - adjoining lot. But it is true that no one would believe that crops could - be raised on such nearly perpendicular slopes as these unless he had seen - the planted fields. - </p> - <p> - In my limited experience I can recall no day’s ride equal in simple - natural beauty—not magnificence—and splendor of color to that - down Clover Fork. There was scarcely a moment of the day when the scene - did not call forth from us exclamations of surprise and delight. The road - follows and often crosses the swift, clear, rocky stream. The variegated - forest rises on either hand, but all along the banks vast trees without - underbrush dot the little intervales. Now and then, in a level reach, - where the road wound through these monarch stems, and the water spread in - silver pools, the perspective was entrancing. But the color! For always - there were the rhododendrons, either gleaming in masses of white and pink - in the recesses of the forest, or forming for us an <i>allée</i>, close - set, and uninterrupted for miles and miles; shrubs like trees, from twenty - to thirty feet high, solid bouquets of blossoms, more abundant than any - cultivated parterre, more brilliant than the finest display in a - horticultural exhibition. There is an avenue of rhododendrons half a mile - long at Hampton Court, which is world-wide famous. It needs a day to ride - through the rhododendron avenue on Clover Fork, and the wild and free - beauty of it transcends all creations of the gardener. - </p> - <p> - The inhabitants of the region are primitive and to a considerable extent - illiterate. But still many strong and distinguished men have come from - these mountain towns. Many families send their children away to school, - and there are fair schools at Barbersville, Harlan Court-house, and in - other places. Long isolated from the moving world, they have retained the - habits of the early settlers, and to some extent the vernacular speech, - though the dialect is not specially marked. They have been until recently - a self-sustaining people, raising and manufacturing nearly everything - required by their limited knowledge and wants. Not long ago the women spun - and wove from cotton and hemp and wool the household linen, the bed-wear, - and the clothes of the family. In many houses the loom is still at work. - The colors used for dyeing were formerly all of home make except, perhaps, - the indigo; now they use what they call the “brought in” dyes, bought at - the stores; and prints and other fabrics are largely taking the places of - the home-made. During the morning we stopped at one of the best houses on - the fork, a house with a small apple-orchard in front, having a veranda, - two large rooms, and a porch and kitchen at the back. In the back porch - stood the loom with its web of half-finished cloth. The farmer was of the - age when men sun themselves on the gallery and talk. His wife, an - intelligent, barefooted old woman, was still engaged in household duties, - but her weaving days were over. Her daughters did the weaving, and in one - of the rooms were the linsey-woolsey dresses hung up, and piles of - gorgeous bed coverlets, enough to set up half a dozen families. These are - the treasures and heirlooms handed down from mother to daughter, for these - handmade fabrics never wear out. Only eight of the twelve children were at - home. The youngest, the baby, a sickly boy of twelve, was lounging about - the house. He could read a little, for he had been to school a few weeks. - Reading and writing were not accomplishments in the family generally. The - other girls and boys were in the cornfield, and going to the back door, I - saw a line of them hoeing at the top of the field. The field was literally - so steep that they might have rolled from the top to the bottom. The - mother called them in, and they lounged leisurely down, the girls swinging - themselves over the garden fence with athletic ease. The four eldest were - girls: one, a woman of thirty-five, had lost her beauty, if she ever had - any, with her teeth; one, of thirty, recently married, had a stately - dignity and a certain nobility of figure; one, of sixteen, was undeniably - pretty—almost the only woman entitled to this epithet that we saw in - the whole journey. This household must have been an exception, for the - girls usually marry very young. They were all, of course, barefooted. They - were all laborers, and evidently took life seriously, and however much - their knowledge of the world was limited, the household evidently - respected itself. The elder girls were the weavers, and they showed a - taste and skill in their fabrics that would be praised in the Orient or in - Mexico. The designs and colors of the coverlets were ingenious and - striking. There was a very handsome one in crimson, done in wavy lines and - bizarre figures, that was called the Kentucky Beauty, or the Ocean Wave, - that had a most brilliant effect. A simple, hospitable family this. The - traveller may go all through this region with the certainty of kindly - treatment, and in perfect security—if, I suppose, he is not a - revenue officer, or sent in to survey land on which the inhabitants have - squatted. - </p> - <p> - We came at night to Harlan Court-house, an old shabby hamlet, but growing - and improving, having a new court-house and other signs of the awakening - of the people to the wealth here in timber and mines. Here in a beautiful - valley three streams—Poor, Martin, and Clover forks—unite to - form the Cumberland. The place has fourteen “stores” and three taverns, - the latter a trial to the traveller. Harlan has been one of the counties - most conspicuous for lawlessness. The trouble is not simply individual - wickedness, but the want of courage of public opinion, coupled with a - general disrespect for authority. Plenty of people lament the state of - things, but want the courage to take a public stand. The day before we - reached the Court-house the man who killed his wife and his brother had - his examination. His friends were able to take the case before a friendly - justice instead of the judge. The facts sworn to were that in a drunken - dispute over cards he tried to kill his son-in-law, who escaped out of the - window, and that his wife and brother opposed him, and he killed them with - his pistol. Therefore their deaths were accidental, and he was discharged. - Many people said privately that he ought to be hanged, but there was - entire public apathy over the affair. If Harlan had three or four resolute - men who would take a public stand that this lawlessness must cease, they - could carry the community with them. But the difficulty of enforcing law - and order in some of these mountain counties is to find proper judges, - prosecuting officers, and sheriffs. The officers are as likely as not to - be the worst men in the community, and if they are not, they are likely to - use their authority for satisfying their private grudges and revenges. - Consequently men take the “law” into their own hands. The most personally - courageous become bullies and the terror of the community. The worst - citizens are not those who have killed most men, in the opinion of the - public. It ought to be said that in some of the mountain counties there - has been very little lawlessness, and in some it has been repressed by the - local authorities, and there is great improvement on the whole. I was - sorry not to meet a well-known character in the mountains, who has killed - twenty-one men. He is a very agreeable “square” man, and I believe - “high-toned,” and it is the universal testimony that he never killed a man - who did not deserve killing, and whose death was a benefit to the - community. He is called, in the language of the country, a “severe” man. - In a little company that assembled at the Harlan tavern were two elderly - men, who appeared to be on friendly terms enough. Their sons had had a - difficulty, and two boys out of each family had been killed not very long - ago. The fathers were not involved in the vendetta. About the old Harlan - court-house a great many men have been killed during court week in the - past few years. The habit of carrying pistols and knives, and whiskey, are - the immediate causes of these deaths, but back of these is the want of - respect for law. At the ford of the Cumberland at Pineville was anchored a - little house-boat, which was nothing but a whiskey-shop. During our - absence a tragedy occurred there. The sheriff with a posse went out to - arrest some criminals in the mountain near. He secured his men, and was - bringing them into Pineville, when it occurred to him that it would be a - good plan to take a drink at the houseboat. The whole party got into a - quarrel over their liquor, and in it the sheriff was killed and a couple - of men seriously wounded. A resolute surveyor, formerly a general in our - army, surveying land in the neighborhood of Pineville, under a decree of - the United States Court, has for years carried on his work at the personal - peril of himself and his party. The squatters not only pull up his stakes - and destroy his work day after day, but it was reported that they had shot - at his corps from the bushes. He can only go on with his work by employing - a large guard of armed men. - </p> - <p> - This state of things in eastern Kentucky will not be radically changed - until the railways enter it, and business and enterprise bring in law and - order. The State Government cannot find native material for enforcing law, - though there has been improvement within the past two years. I think no - permanent gain can be expected till a new civilization comes in, though I - heard of a bad community in one of the counties that had been quite - subdued and changed by the labors of a devout and plain-spoken evangelist. - So far as our party was concerned, we received nothing but kind treatment, - and saw little evidences of demoralization, except that the young men - usually were growing up to be “roughs,” and liked to lounge about with - shot-guns rather than work. But the report of men who have known the - country for years was very unfavorable as to the general character of the - people who live on the mountains and in the little valleys—that they - were all ignorant; that the men generally were idle, vicious, and - cowardly, and threw most of the hard labor in the field and house upon the - women; that the killings are mostly done from ambush, and with no show for - a fair fight. This is a tremendous indictment, and it is too sweeping to - be sustained. The testimony of the gentlemen of our party, who thoroughly - know this part of the State, contradicted it. The fact is there are two - sorts of people in the mountains, as elsewhere. - </p> - <p> - The race of American mountaineers occupying the country from western North - Carolina to eastern Kentucky is a curious study Their origin is in doubt. - They have developed their peculiarities in isolation. In this freedom - stalwart and able men have been from time to time developed, but ignorance - and freedom from the restraints of law have had their logical result as to - the mass. I am told that this lawlessness has only existed since the war; - that before, the people, though ignorant of letters, were peaceful. They - had the good points of a simple people, and if they were not literate, - they had abundant knowledge of their own region. During the war the - mountaineers were carrying on a civil war at home. The opposing parties - were not soldiers, but bushwhackers. Some of the best citizens were run - out of the country, and never returned. The majority were Unionists, and - in all the mountain region of eastern Kentucky I passed through there are - few to-day who are politically Democrats. In the war, home-guards were - organized, and these were little better than vigilance committees for - private revenge. Disorder began with this private and partly patriotic - warfare. After the war, when the bushwhackers got back to their cabins, - the animosities were kept up, though I fancy that politics has little or - nothing to do with them now. The habit of reckless shooting, of taking - justice into private hands, is no doubt a relic of the disorganization - during the war. - </p> - <p> - Worthless, good-for-nothing, irreclaimable, were words I often heard - applied to people of this and that region. I am not so despondent of their - future. Railways, trade, the sight of enterprise and industry, will do - much with this material. Schools will do more, though it seems impossible - to have efficient schools there at present. The people in their ignorance - and their undeveloped country have a hard struggle for life. This region - is, according to the census, the most prolific in the United States. The - girls marry young, bear many children, work like galley-slaves, and at the - time when women should be at their best they fade, lose their teeth, - become ugly, and look old. One great cause of this is their lack of proper - nourishment. There is nothing unhealthy in out-door work in moderation if - the body is properly sustained by good food. But healthy, handsome women - are not possible without good fare. In a considerable part of eastern - Kentucky (not I hear in all) good wholesome cooking is unknown, and - civilization is not possible without that. We passed a cabin where a man - was very ill with dysentery. No doctor could be obtained, and perhaps - that, considering what the doctor might have been, was not a misfortune. - But he had no food fit for a sick man, and the women of the house were - utterly ignorant of the diet suitable to a man in his state. I have no - doubt that the abominable cookery of the region has much to do with the - lawlessness, as it visibly has to do with the poor physical condition. - </p> - <p> - The road down the Cumberland, in a valley at times spreading out into - fertile meadows, is nearly all the way through magnificent forests, along - hill-sides fit for the vine, for fruit, and for pasture, while frequent - outcroppings of coal testify to the abundance of the fuel that has been so - long stored for the new civilization. These mountains would be profitable - as sheep pastures did not the inhabitants here, as elsewhere in the United - States, prefer to keep dogs rather than sheep. - </p> - <p> - I have thus sketched hastily some of the capacities of the Cumberland - region. It is my belief that this central and hitherto neglected portion - of the United States will soon become the theatre of vast and controlling - industries. - </p> - <p> - I want space for more than a concluding word about western Kentucky, which - deserves, both for its capacity and its recent improvements, a chapter to - itself. There is a limestone area of some 10,000 square miles, with a soil - hardly less fertile than that of the blue-grass region, a high - agricultural development, and a population equal in all respects to that - of the famous and historic grass country. Seven of the ten principal - tobacco-producing counties in Kentucky and the largest Indian corn and - wheat raising counties are in this part of the State. The western - coal-field has both river and rail transportation, thick deposits of iron - ore, and more level and richer farming lands than the eastern coal-field. - Indeed, the agricultural development in this western coal region has - attracted great attention. - </p> - <p> - Much also might be written of the remarkable progress of the towns of - western Kentucky within the past few years. The increase in population is - not more astonishing than the development of various industries. They show - a vigorous, modern activity for which this part of the State has not, so - far as I know, been generally credited. The traveller will find abundant - evidence of it in Owensborough, Henderson, Hopkinsville, Bowling Green, - and other places. As an illustration: Paducah, while doubling its - population since 1880, has increased its manufacturing 150 per cent. The - town had in 1880 twenty-six factories, with a capital of $600,000, - employing 950 men; now it has fifty factories, with a cash capital of - $2,000,000, employing 3250 men, engaged in a variety of industries—to - which a large iron furnace is now being added. Taking it all together—variety - of resources, excellence of climate, vigor of its people—one cannot - escape the impression that Kentucky has a great future. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - COMMENTS ON CANADA. - </h2> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - I. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>he area of the - Dominion of Canada is larger than that of the United States, excluding - Alaska. It is fair, however, in the comparison, to add Alaska, for Canada - has in its domain enough arctic and practically uninhabitable land to - offset Alaska. Excluding the boundary great lakes and rivers, Canada has - 3,470,257 square miles of territory, or more than one-third of the entire - British Empire; the United States has 3,026,494 square miles, or, adding - Alaska (577,390), 3,603,884 square miles. From the eastern limit of the - maritime provinces to Vancouver Island the distance is over three thousand - five hundred miles. This whole distance is settled, but a considerable - portion of it only by a thin skirmish line. I have seen a map, colored - according to the maker’s idea of fertility, on which Canada appears little - more than a green flush along the northern boundary of the United States. - With a territory equal to our own, Canada has the population of the single - State of New York—about five millions. - </p> - <p> - Most of Canada lies north of the limit of what was reckoned agreeably - habitable before it was discovered that climate depends largely on - altitude, and that the isothermal lines and the lines of latitude do not - coincide. The division between the two countries is, however, mainly a - natural one, on a divide sloping one way to the arctic regions, the other - way to the tropics. It would seem better map-making to us if our line - followed the northern mountains of Maine and included New Brunswick and - the other maritime provinces. But it would seem a better rectification to - Canadians if their line included Maine with the harbor of Portland, and - dipped down in the North-west so as to take in the Red River of the North, - and all the waters discharging into Hudson’s Bay. - </p> - <p> - The great bulk of Canada is on the arctic slope. When we pass the - highlands of New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York we fall away into a wide - champaign country. The only break in this is the Lauren-tian granite - mountains, north of the St. Lawrence, the oldest land above water, now - degraded into hills of from 1500 to 2000 feet in height. The central mass - of Canada consists of three great basins: that portion of the St. Lawrence - in the Dominion, 400,000 square miles; the Hudson’s Bay, 2,000,000 square - miles; the Mackenzie, 550,000 square miles. That is to say, of the - 3,470,257 square miles of the area of Canada, 3,010,000 have a northern - slope. - </p> - <p> - This decrease in altitude from our northern boundary makes Canada a - possible nation. The Rocky Mountains fall away north into the Mackenzie - plain. The highest altitude attained by the Union Pacific Railroad is 8240 - feet; the highest of the Canadian Pacific is 5296; and a line of railway - still farther north, from the North Saskatchewan region, can, and - doubtless some time will, reach the Pacific without any obstruction by the - Rockies and the Selkirks. In estimating, therefore, the capacity of Canada - for sustaining a large population we have to remember that the greater - portion of it is but little above the sea-level; that the climate of the - interior is modified by vast bodies of water; that the maximum summer heat - of Montreal and Quebec exceeds that of New York; and that there is a vast - region east of the Rockies and north of the Canadian Pacific Railway, not - only the plains drained by the two branches of the Saskatchewan, but those - drained by the Peace River still farther north, which have a fair share of - summer weather, and winters much milder than are enjoyed in our - Territories farther south but higher in altitude. The summers of this vast - region are by all reports most agreeable, warm days and refreshing nights, - with a stimulating atmosphere; winters with little snow, and usually - bright and pleasant, occasional falls of the thermometer for two or three - days to arctic temperature, but as certain a recovery to mildness by the - “Chinook” or Pacific winds. It is estimated that the plains of the - Saskatchewan—500,000 square miles—are capable of sustaining a - population of thirty millions. But nature there must call forth a good - deal of human energy and endurance. There is no doubt that frosts are - liable to come very late in the spring and very early in the autumn; that - persistent winds are hostile to the growth of trees; and that varieties of - hardy cereals and fruits must be selected for success in agriculture and - horticulture. The winters are exceedingly severe on all the prairies east - of Winnipeg, and westward on the Canadian Pacific as far as Medicine Hat, - the crossing of the South Saskatchewan. Heavy items in the cost of living - there must always be fuel, warm clothing, and solid houses. Fortunately - the region has an abundance of lignite and extensive fields of easily - workable coal. - </p> - <p> - Canada is really two countries, separated from each other by the vast - rocky wilderness between the lakes and James Bay. For a thousand miles - west of Ottawa, till the Manitoba prairie is reached, the traveller on the - line of the railway sees little but granite rock and stunted balsams, - larches, and poplars—a dreary region, impossible to attract - settlers. Copper and other minerals there are; and in the region north of - Lake Superior there is no doubt timber, and arable land is spoken of; but - the country is really unknown. Portions of this land, like that about Lake - Nipigon, offer attractions to sportsmen. Lake navigation is impracticable - about four months in the year, so that Canada seems to depend for - political and commercial unity upon a telegraph wire and two steel rails - running a thousand miles through a region where local traffic is at - present insignificant. - </p> - <p> - The present government of Canada is an evolution on British lines, - modified by the example of the republic of the United States. In form the - resemblances are striking to the United States, but underneath, the - differences are radical. There is a supreme federal government, - comprehending a union of provinces, each having its local government. But - the union in the two countries was brought about in a different way, and - the restrictive powers have a different origin. In the one, power descends - from the Crown; in the other, it originates with the people. In the - Dominion Government all the powers not delegated to the provinces are held - by the Federal Government. In the United States, all the powers not - delegated to the Federal Government by the States are held by the States. - In the United States, delegates from the colonies, specially elected for - the purpose, met to put in shape a union already a necessity of the - internal and external situation. And the union expressed in the - Constitution was accepted by the popular vote in each State. In the - provinces of Canada there was a long and successful struggle for - responsible government. The first union was of the two Canadas, in 1840; - that is, of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada—Ontario and - Quebec—with Parliaments sitting sometimes in Quebec and sometimes in - Toronto, and at last in Ottawa, a site selected by the Queen. This - Government was carried on with increasing friction. There is not space - here to sketch the politics of this epoch. Many causes contributed to this - friction, but the leading ones were the antagonism of French and English - ideas, the superior advance in wealth and population of Ontario over - Quebec, and the resistance of what was called French domination. At - length, in 1863-64, the two parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals - (or, in the political nomenclature of the day, the “Tories” and the - “Grits”—i. e., those of “clear grit”), were so evenly divided that a - dead-lock occurred, neither was able to carry on the government, and a - coalition ministry was formed. Then the subject of colonial confederation - was actively agitated. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick contemplated a - legislative union of the maritime provinces, and a conference was called - at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in the summer of 1864. Having in - view a more comprehensive union, the Canadian Government sought and - obtained admission to this conference, which was soon swallowed up in a - larger scheme, and a conference of all the colonies was appointed to be - held at Quebec in October. Delegates, thirty-three in number, were present - from all the provinces, probably sent by the respective legislatures or - governments, for I find no note of a popular election. The result of this - conference was the adoption of resolutions as a basis of an act of - confederation. The Canadian Parliament adopted this scheme after a - protracted debate. But the maritime provinces stood out. Meantime the - Civil War in the United States, the Fenian invasion, and the abrogation of - the reciprocity treaty fostered a spirit of Canadian nationality, and - discouraged whatever feeling existed for annexation to the United States. - The colonies, therefore, with more or less willingness, came into the - plan, and in 1867 the English Parliament passed the British North American - Act, which is the charter of the Dominion. It established the union of the - provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and provided for the - admission to the union of the other parts of British North America; that - is, Prince Edward Island, the Hudson Bay Territory, British Columbia, and - Newfoundland, with its dependency Labrador. Nova Scotia was, however, - still dissatisfied with the terms of the union, and was only reconciled on - the granting of additional annual subsidies. - </p> - <p> - In 1868, by Act of the British Parliament, the Hudson’s Bay Company - surrendered to the Crown its territorial rights over the vast region it - controlled, in consideration of £300,000 sterling, grants of land around - its trading posts to the extent of fifty thousand acres in all, and - one-twentieth of all the fertile land south of the north branch of the - Saskatchewan, retaining its privileges of trade, without its exclusive - monopoly. The attempt of the Dominion Government to take possession of - this north-west territory (Manitoba was created a province July 15, 1870) - was met by the rising of the squatters and half-breeds under Louis Riel in - 1869-70. Riel formed a provisional government, and proceeded with a high - hand to banish persons and confiscate property, and on a drumhead - court-martial put to death Thomas Scott, a Canadian militia officer. The - murder of Scott provoked intense excitement throughout Canada, especially - in Ontario. Colonel Garnet Wolseley’s expedition to Fort Garry (now - Winnipeg) followed, and the Government authority was restored. Riel and - his squatter confederates fled, and he was subsequently pardoned. - </p> - <p> - In 1871 British Columbia was admitted into the Dominion. In 1873 Prince - Edward Island came in. The original Act for establishing the province of - Manitoba provided for a Lieutenant-governor, a Legislative Council, and an - elected Legislative Assembly. In 1876 Manitoba abolished the Council, and - the government took its present form of a Lieutenant-governor and one - Assembly. By subsequent legislation of the Dominion the district of - Keewatin was created out of the eastern portion of the north-west - territory, under the jurisdiction of the Lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, - <i>ex officio</i>. The Territories of Assiniboin, Alberta, and - Saskatchewan have been organized into a Territory called the North-west - Territory, with a Lieutenant-governor and Council, and a representative in - Parliament, the capital being Regina. Outside of this Territory, to the - northward, lies Athabasca, of which the Lieutenant-governor at Regina is - <i>ex officio</i> ruler. Newfoundland still remains independent, although - negotiations for union were revived in 1888. Some years ago overtures were - made for taking in Jamaica to the union, and a delegation from that island - visited Ottawa; but nothing came of the proposal. It was said that the - Jamaica delegates thought the Dominion debt too large. - </p> - <p> - The Dominion of Canada, therefore, has a central government at Ottawa, and - is composed of the provinces of Nova Scotia (including Cape Breton), New - Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, British - Columbia, and the North-west Territory. - </p> - <p> - It has been necessary to speak in this brief detail of the manner of the - formation of the union in order to understand the politics of Canada. For - there are radicals in the Liberal party who still regard the union as - forced and artificial, and say that the provinces outside of Ontario and - Quebec were brought in only by the promise of local railways and the - payment of large subsidies. And this idea more or less influences the - opposition to the “strong government” at Ottawa. I do not say that the - Liberals oppose the formation of a “nation”; but they are critics of its - methods, and array themselves for provincial rights as against federal - consolidation. - </p> - <p> - The Federal Government consists of the Queen, the Senate, and the House of - Commons. The Queen is represented by the Governor-general, who is paid by - Canada a salary of fifty thousand dollars a year. He has his personal - staff, and is aided and advised by a council, called the Queen’s Privy - Council of Canada, thirteen members, constituting the ministry, who must - be sustained by a Parliamentary majority. The English model is exactly - followed. The Governor has nominally the power of veto, but his use of it - is as much in abeyance as is the Queen’s prerogative in regard to Acts of - Parliament. The premier is in fact the ruler, but his power depends upon - possessing a majority in the House of Commons. This responsible - government, therefore, more quickly responds to popular action than ours. - The Senators are chosen for life, and are in fact appointed by the premier - in power. The House of Commons is elected for five years, unless - Parliament is sooner dissolved, and according to a ratio of population to - correspond with the province of Quebec, which has always the fixed number - of sixty-five members. The voter for members of Parliament must have - certain property qualifications, as owner or tenant, or, if in a city or - town, as earning three hundred dollars a year—qualifications so low - as practically to exclude no one who is not an idler and a waif; the - Indian may vote (though not in the Territories), but the Mongolian or - Chinese is excluded. Members of the House may be returned by any - constituency in the Dominion without reference to residence. All bills - affecting taxation or revenue must originate in the House, and be - recommended by a message from the Governor-general. The Government - introduces bills, and takes the responsibility of them. The premier is - leader of the House; there is also a recognized leader of the Opposition. - In case the Government cannot command a majority it resigns, and the - Governor-general forms a new cabinet. In theory, also, if the Crown - (represented by the Governor-general) should resort to the extreme - exercise of its prerogative in refusing the advice of its ministers, the - ministers must submit, or resign and give place to others. - </p> - <p> - The Federal Government has all powers not granted expressly to the - provinces. In practice its jurisdiction extends over the public debt, - expenditure, and public loans; treaties; customs and excise duties; trade - and commerce; navigation, shipping, and fisheries; light-houses and - harbors; the postal, naval, and military services; public statistics; - monetary institutions, banks, banking, currency, coining (but all coining - is done in England); insolvency; criminal law; marriage and divorce; - public works, railways, and canals. - </p> - <p> - The provinces have no militia; that all belongs to the Dominion. Marriage - is solemnized according to provincial regulations, but the power of - divorce exists in Canada in the Federal Parliament only, except in the - province of New Brunswick. This province has a court of divorce and - matrimonial causes, with a single judge, a survival of pre-confederation - times, which grants divorces <i>a vinculo</i> for scriptural causes, and - <i>a mensa et thoro</i> for desertion or cruelty, with right of appeal to - the Supreme Court of the province and to the Privy Council of the - Dominion. Criminal law is one all over the Dominion, but there is no law - against adultery or incest. The British Act contains no provision - analogous to that in the Constitution of the United States which forbids - any State to pass a law impairing the obligation of contracts—a - serious defect. - </p> - <p> - The Federal Government has a Supreme Court, consisting of a chief-justice - and five puisne judges, which has original jurisdiction in civil suits - involving the validity of Dominion and provincial acts, and appellate in - appeals from the provincial courts. The Federal Government appoints and - pays the judges of the Superior, District, and County courts of the - provinces; but the provinces may constitute, maintain, and organize - provincial courts, civil and criminal, including procedure in civil - matters in those courts. But as the provinces cannot appoint any judicial - officer above the rank of magistrate, it may happen that a constituted - court may be inoperative for want of a judge. This is one of the points of - friction between the federal and provincial authorities, and in the fall - of 1888 it led to the trouble in Quebec, when the Ottawa cabinet - disallowed the appointment of two provincial judges made by the Quebec - premier. - </p> - <p> - The Dominion has another power unknown to our Constitution; that is, - disallowance or veto of provincial acts. This power is regarded with great - jealousy by the provinces. It is claimed by one party that it should only - be exercised on the ground of unconstitutionality; by the other, that it - may be exercised in the interest of the Dominion generally. As a matter of - fact it has been sometimes exercised in cases that the special province - felt to be an interference with its rights. - </p> - <p> - Another cause of friction, aggravated by the power of disallowance, has - arisen from conflict in jurisdiction as to railways. Both the Dominion and - the provinces may charter and build railways. But the British Act forbids - the province to legislate as to lines of steam or other ships, railways, - canals, and telegraphs connecting the province with any other province, or - extending beyond its limits, or any such work actually within the limits - which the Canadian Parliament may declare for the general advantage of - Canada; that is, declare it to be a Dominion work. A promoter, therefore, - cannot tell with any certainty what a charter is worth, or who will have - jurisdiction over it. The trouble in Manitoba in the fall of 1888 between - the province and the Canadian Pacific road (which is a Dominion road in - the meaning of the Act) could scarcely have arisen if the definition of - Dominion and provincial rights had been clearer. - </p> - <p> - But a more serious cause of weakness to the provinces and embarrassment to - the Dominion is in the provincial subsidies. When the present - confederation was formed the Dominion took on the provincial debts up to a - certain amount. It also agreed to pay annually to each province, in - half-yearly payments, a subsidy. By the British Act this annual payment - was $80,000 to Ontario, $70,000 to Quebec, $60,000 to Nova Scotia, $50,000 - to New Brunswick, with something additional to the last two. In 1886-87 - the subsidies paid to all the provinces amounted to $4,169,341. This is as - if the United States should undertake to raise a fixed revenue to - distribute among the States—a proceeding alien to our ideas of the - true function of the General Government, and certain to lead to State - demoralization, and tending directly to undermine its self-support and - dignity. It is an idea quite foreign to the conception of political - economy that it is best for people to earn what they spend, and only spend - what they earn. This subsidy under the Act was a grant equal to eighty - cents a head of the population. Besides this there is given to each - province an annual allowance for government; also an annual allowance of - interest on the amount of debt allowed where the province has not reached - the limit of the authorized debt. It is the theory of the Federal - Government that in taking on these pecuniary burdens of the provinces they - will individually feel them less, and that if money is to be raised the - Dominion can procure it on more favorable terms than the provinces. The - system, nevertheless, seems vicious to our apprehension, for nothing is - clearer to us than that neither the State nor the general welfare would be - promoted if the States were pensioners of the General Government. - </p> - <p> - The provinces are miniature copies of the Dominion Government. Each has a - Lieutenant-governor, who is appointed by the Ottawa Governor-general and - ministry (that is, in fact, by the premier), whose salary is paid by the - Dominion Parliament. In theory he represents the Crown, and is above - parties. He forms his cabinet out of the party in majority in the elective - Assembly. Each province has an elective Assembly, and most of them have - two Houses, one of which is a Senate appointed for life. The provincial - cabinet has a premier, who is the leader of the House, and the Opposition - is represented by a recognized leader. The Government is as responsible as - the Federal Government. This organization of recognized and responsible - leaders greatly facilitates the despatch of public business. Affairs are - brought to a direct issue; and if the Government cannot carry its - measures, or a dead-lock occurs, the ministry is changed, or an appeal is - had to the people. Canadian statesmen point to the want of responsibility - in the conduct of public business in our House, and the dead-lock between - the Senate and the House, as a state of things that needs a remedy. - </p> - <p> - The provinces retain possession of the public lands belonging to them at - the time of confederation; Manitoba, which had none when it was created a - province out of north-west territory, has since had a gift of swamp lands - from the Dominion. Emigration and immigration are subjects of both federal - and provincial legislation, but provincial laws must not conflict with - federal laws. - </p> - <p> - The provinces appoint all officers for the administration of justice - except judges, and are charged with the general administration of justice - and the maintenance of civil and criminal courts; they control jails, - prisons, and reformatories, but not the penitentiaries, to which convicts - sentenced for over two years must be committed. They control also asylums - and charitable institutions, all strictly municipal institutions, local - works, the solemnization of marriage, property and civil rights, and shop, - tavern, and other licenses. In regard to the latter, a conflict of - jurisdiction arose on the passage in 1878 by the Canadian Parliament of a - temperance Act. The result of judicial and Privy Council decisions on this - was to sustain the right of the Dominion to legislate on temperance, but - to give to the provincial legislatures the right to deal with the subject - of licenses for the sale of liquors. In the Territories prohibition - prevails under the federal statutes, modified by the right of the - Lieutenant-governor to grant special permits. The effect of the general - law has been most salutary in excluding liquor from the Indians. - </p> - <p> - But the most important subject left to the provinces is education, over - which they have exclusive control. What this means we shall see when we - come to consider the provinces of Quebec and Ontario as illustrations. - </p> - <p> - Broadly stated, Canada has representative government by ministers - responsible to the people, a federal government charged with the general - good of the whole, and provincial governments attending to local - interests. It differs widely from the English Government in subjects - remitted to the provincial legislatures and in the freedom of the - municipalities, so that Canada has self-government comparable to that in - the United States. Two striking limitations are that the provinces cannot - keep a militia force, and that the provinces have no power of final - legislation, every Act being subject to Dominion revision and veto. - </p> - <p> - The two parties are arranged on general lines that we might expect from - the organization of the central and the local governments. The - Conservative, which calls itself Liberal-Conservative, inclines to the - consolidation and increase of federal power; the Liberal (styled the - “Grits”) is what we would call a State-rights party. Curiously enough, - while the Ottawa Government is Conservative, and the ministry of Sir John - A. Macdonald is sustained by a handsome majority, all the provincial - governments are at present Liberal. The Conservatives say that this is - because the opinion of the country sustains the general Conservative - policy for the development of the Dominion, so that the same constituency - will elect a Conservative member to the Dominion House and a Liberal - member to the provincial House. The Liberals say that this result in some - cases is brought about by the manner in which the central Government has - arranged the voting districts for the central Parliament, which do not - coincide with the provincial districts. There is no doubt some truth in - this, but I believe that at present the sentiment of nationality is what - sustains the Conservative majority in the Ottawa Government. - </p> - <p> - The general policy of the Conservative Government may fairly be described - as one for the rapid development of the country. This leads it to desire - more federal power, and there are some leading spirits who, although - content with the present Constitution, would not oppose a legislative - union of all the provinces. The policy of “development” led the party to - adopt the present moderate protective tariff. It led it to the building of - railways, to the granting of subsidies, in money and in land, to railways, - to the subsidizing of steamship lines, to the active stimulation of - immigration by offering extraordinary inducements to settlers. Having a - vast domain, sparsely settled, but capable of sustaining a population not - less dense than that in the northern parts of Europe, the ambition of the - Conservative statesmen has been to open up the resources of the country - and to plant a powerful nation. The Liberal criticism of this programme I - shall speak of later. At present it is sufficient to say that the tariff - did stimulate and build up manufactories in cotton, leather, iron, - including implements of agriculture, to the extent that they were more - than able to supply the Canadian market. As an item, after the abrogation - of the reciprocity treaty, the factories of Ontario were able successfully - to compete with the United States in the supply of agricultural implements - to the great North-west, and in fact to take the market. I think it cannot - be denied that the protective tariff did not only build up home - industries, but did give an extraordinary stimulus to the general business - of the Dominion. - </p> - <p> - Under this policy of development and subsidies the Dominion has been - accumulating a debt, which now reaches something over $200,000,000. Before - estimating the comparative size of this debt, the statistician wants to - see whether this debt and the provincial debts together equal, per capita, - the federal and State debts together of the United States. It is estimated - by one authority that the public lands of the Dominion could pay the debt, - and it is noted that it has mainly been made for railways, canals, and - other permanent improvements, and not in offensive or defensive wars. The - statistical record of 1887 estimates that the provincial debts added to - the public debt give a per capita of $48.88. The same year the united - debts of States and general government in the United States gave a per - capita of $32, but, the municipal and county debts added, the per capita - would be $55. If the unreported municipal debts in Canada were added, I - suppose the per capita would somewhat exceed that in the United States. - </p> - <p> - Before glancing at the development and condition of Canada in - confederation we will complete the official outline by a reference to the - civil service and to the militia. The British Government has withdrawn all - the imperial troops from Canada except a small garrison at Halifax, and a - naval establishment there and at Victoria. The Queen is commander-in-chief - of all the military and naval forces in Canada, but the control of the - same is in the Dominion Parliament. The general of the military force is a - British officer. There are permanent corps and schools of instruction in - various places, amounting in all to about 950 men, exclusive of officers, - and the number is limited to 1000. There is a royal military school at - Kingston, with about 80 cadets. The active militia, December 31, 1887, in - all the provinces, the whole being under Dominion control, amounted to - 38,152. The military expenditure that year was $1,281,255. The diminishing - military pensions of that year amounted to $35,100. The reserve militia - includes all the male inhabitants of the age of eighteen and under sixty. - In 1887 the total active cavalry was under 2000. - </p> - <p> - The members of the civil service are nearly all Canadians. In the Federal - Government and in the provinces there is an organized system; the federal - system has been constantly amended, and is not yet free of recognized - defects. The main points of excellence, more or less perfectly attained, - may be stated to be a decent entrance examination for all, a special, - strict, and particular examination for some who are to undertake technical - duties, and a secure tenure of office. The federal Act of 1886, which has - since been amended in details, was not arrived at without many experiments - and the accumulation of testimonies and diverse reports; and it did not - follow exactly the majority report of 1881, but leaned too much, in the - judgment of many, to the English system, the working of which has not been - satisfactory. The main features of the Act, omitting details, are these: - The service has two divisions—first, deputy heads of departments and - employés in the Ottawa departments; second, others than those employed in - Ottawa departments, including customs officials, inland revenue officials, - post-office inspectors, railway mail clerks, city postmasters, their - assistants, clerks, and carriers, and inspector of penitentiaries. A board - of three examiners is appointed by the Governor in council. All - appointments shall be “during pleasure,” and no persons shall be appointed - or promoted to any place below that of deputy head unless he has passed - the requisite examination and served the probationary term of six months; - he must not be over thirty-five years old for appointment in Ottawa - departments (this limit is not fixed for the “outside” appointments), nor - under fifteen in a lower grade than third-class clerk, nor under eighteen - in other cases. Appointees must be sound in health and of good character. - Women are not appointed. A deputy head may be removed “on pleasure,” but - the reasons for the removal must be laid before both Houses of Parliament. - Appointments may be made without reference to age on the report of the - deputy head, on account of technical or professional qualifications or the - public interest. City postmasters, and such officers as inspectors and - collectors, may be appointed without examination or reference to the rules - for promotion. Examinations are dispensed with in other special cases. - Removals may be made by the Governor in council. Reports of all - examinations and of the entire civil service list must be laid before - Parliament each session. Amendments have been made to the law in the - direction of relieving from examination on their promotion men who have - been long in the service, and an amendment of last session omitted some - examinations altogether. - </p> - <p> - It must be stated also that the service is not free from favoritism, and - that influence is used, if not always necessary, to get in and to get on - in it. The law has been gone around by means of the plea of “special - qualifications,” and this evasion has sometimes been considered a - political necessity on account of service to a minister or to the party - generally. I suppose that the party in power favors its own adherents. The - competitive system of England has a mischievous effect in the - encouragement of the examinations to direct studies towards a service - which nine in ten of the applicants will never reach. This evil, of - numbers qualified but not appointed, has grown so great in Canada that it - has lately been ordered that there shall be only one examination in each - year. - </p> - <p> - The federal pension system cannot be considered settled. A man may be - superannuated at any time, but by custom, not law, he retires at the full - age of sixty. While in service he pays a superannuation allowance of two - and a half per cent, on his salary for thirty-five years; after that, no - more. If he is superannuated after ten years’ service, say, he gets - one-fiftieth of his salary for each year. If he is not in fault in any - way, Government may add ten years more to his service, so as to give him a - larger allowance. If a man serves the full term of thirty-five years he - gets thirty-five fiftieths of his salary in pension. This pension system, - recognized as essential to a good civil service, has this weakness: A man - pays two and a half per cent, of his salary for twenty years. If the - salary is $3000, his payments would have amounted to $1200, with interest, - in that time. If he then dies, his widow gets only two months’ salary as a - solatium; all the rest is lost to her, and goes to the superannuation fund - of the treasury. Or, a man is superannuated after thirty-five years; he - has paid perhaps $2100, with interest; he draws, say, one year’s - superannuative allowance, and then dies. His family get nothing at all, - not even the two months’ salary they would have had if he had died in - service. This is illogical and unjust. If the two and a half per cent, had - been put into a life policy, the insurance being undertaken by the - Government, a decent sum would have been realized at death. - </p> - <p> - A civil service is also established in the provinces. That in Quebec is - better organized than the federal; the Government adds to the pension fund - one-fourth of that retained from the salaries, and half pensions are - extended to widows and children. - </p> - <p> - It will be seen that this pension is an essential part of the civil - service system, and the method of it is at once a sort of insurance and a - stimulation to faithful service. Good service is a constant inducement to - retention, to promotion, and to increase of pension. The Canadians say - that the systems work well both in the federal and provincial services, - and in this respect, as well as in the matter of responsible government, - they think their government superior to ours. - </p> - <p> - The policy of the Dominion Government, when confederation had given it the - form and territory of a great nation, was to develop this into reality and - solidity by creating industries, building railways, and filling up the - country with settlers. As to the means of carrying out this the two - parties differed somewhat. The Conservatives favored active stimulation to - the extent of drawing on the future; the Liberals favored what they call a - more natural if a slower growth. To illustrate: the Conservatives enacted - a tariff, which was protective, to build up industries, and it is now - continued, as in their view a necessity for raising the revenue needed for - government expenses and for the development of the country. The Liberals - favored a low tariff, and in the main the principles of free-trade. It - might be impertinence to attempt to say now whether the Canadian - affiliations are with the Democratic or the Republican party in the United - States, but it is historical to say that for the most part the Unionists - had not the sympathy of the Conservatives during our Civil War, and that - they had the sympathy of the Liberals generally, and that the sympathy of - the Liberals continued with the Republican party down to the Presidential - campaign of 1884. It seemed to the Conservatives a necessity for the unity - and growth of the Dominion to push railway construction. The Liberals, if - I understand their policy, opposed mortgaging the future, and would rather - let railways spring from local action and local necessity throughout the - Dominion. But whatever the policies of parties may be, the Conservative - Government has promoted by subsidies of money and grants of land all the - great so-called Dominion railways. The chief of these in national - importance, because it crosses the continent, is the Canadian Pacific. In - order that I might understand its relation to the development of the - country, and have some comprehension of the extent of Canadian territory, - I made the journey on this line—3000 miles—from Montreal to - Vancouver. - </p> - <p> - The Canadians have contributed liberally to the promotion of railways. The - Hand-book of 1886 says that $187,000,000 have been given by the - governments (federal and provincial) and by the municipalities towards the - construction of the 13,000 miles of railways within the Dominion. The same - authority says that from 1881 to July, 1885, the Federal Government gave - $74,500,000 to the Canadian Pacific. The Conservatives like to note that - the railway development corresponds with the political life of Sir John A. - Macdonald, for upon his entrance upon political life in 1844 there were - only fourteen miles of railway in operation. - </p> - <p> - The Federal Government began surveys for the Canadian Pacific road in - 1871, a company was chartered the same year to build it, but no results - followed. The Government then began the construction itself, and built - several disconnected sections. The present company was chartered in 1880. - The Dominion Government granted it a subsidy of $25,000,000 and 25,000,000 - acres of land, and transferred to it, free of cost, 713 miles of railway - which had been built by the Government, at a cost of about $35,000,000. In - November, 1885, considerably inside the time of contract, the road was - finished to the Pacific, and in 1886 cars were running regularly its - entire length. In point of time, and considering the substantial character - of the road, it is a marvellous achievement. Subsequently, in order to - obtain a line from Montreal to the maritime ports, a subsidy of $186,000 - per annum for a term of twenty years was granted to the Atlantic and - North-west Railway Company, which undertook to build or acquire a line - from Montreal <i>via</i> Sherbrooke, and across the State of Maine to St. - John, St. Andrews, and Halifax. This is one of the leased lines of the - Canadian Pacific, which finished it last December. - </p> - <p> - The main line, from Quebec to Montreal and Vancouver, is 3065 miles. The - leased lines measure 2412 miles, one under construction 112, making a - total mileage of 5589. Adding to this the lines in which the company’s - influence amounts to a control (including those on American soil to St. - Paul and Chicago), the total mileage of the company is over 6500. The - branch lines, built or acquired in Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba, are all - necessary feeders to the main line. The cost of the Canadian Pacific, - including the line built by the Government and acquired (not leased) - lines, is: Cost of road, $170,689,629.51; equipment, $10,570,933.22; - amount of deposit with Government to guarantee three per cent, on capital - stock until August 17, 1893, $10,310,954.75. Total, $191,571,517.48. - </p> - <p> - Without going into the financial statement, nor appending the leases and - guarantees, any further than to note that the capital stock is $65,000,000 - and the first mortgage bonds (five per cent.) are $34,999,633, it is only - necessary to say that in the report the capital foots up $112,908,019. The - total earnings for 1885 were $8,308,493; for 1886, $10,081,803; for 1887, - $11,600,412, while the working expenses for 1887 were $8,102,294. The - gross earnings for 1888 are about $14,000,000, and the net earnings about - $4,000,000. These figures show the steady growth of business. - </p> - <p> - Being a Dominion road, and favored, the company had a monopoly in Manitoba - for building roads south of its line and roads connecting with foreign - lines. This monopoly was surrendered in 1887 upon agreement of the - Dominion Government to guarantee 3 1/2 per cent, interest on $15,000,000 - of the company’s land grant bonds for fifty years. The company has paid - its debt to the Government, partly by surrender of a portion of its lands, - and now absolutely owns its entire line free of Government obligations. It - has, however, a claim upon the Government of something like six million - dollars, now in litigation, on portions of the mountain sections of the - road built by the Government, which are not up to the standard guaranteed - in the contract with the company. - </p> - <p> - The road was extended to the Pacific as a necessity of the national - development, and the present Government is convinced that it is worth to - the country all it has cost. The Liberals’ criticism is that the - Government has spent a vast sum for what it can show no assets, and that - it has enriched a private company instead of owning the road itself. The - property is no doubt a good one, for the road is well built as to grades - and road-bed, excellently equipped, and notwithstanding the heavy Lake - Superior and mountain work, at a less cost than some roads that preceded - it. - </p> - <p> - The full significance of this transcontinental line to Canada, Great - Britain, and the United States will appear upon emphasizing the value of - the line across the State of Maine to connect with St. John and Halifax; - upon the fact that its western terminus is in regular steamer - communication with Hong-Kong via Yokohama; that the company is building - new and swift steamers for this line, to which the British Government has - granted an annual subsidy of £60,000, and the Dominion one of $15,000; - that a line will run from Vancouver to Australia; and that a part of this - round-the-world route is to be a line of fast steamers between Halifax and - England. The Canadian Pacific is England’s shortest route to her Pacific - colonies, and to Japan and China; and in case of a blockade in the Suez - Canal it would become of the first importance for Australia and India. It - is noted as significant by an enthusiast of the line that the first loaded - train that passed over its entire length carried British naval stores - transferred from Quebec to Vancouver, and that the first car of - merchandise was a cargo of Jamaica sugar refined at Halifax and sent to - British Columbia. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - II. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>e left Montreal, - attached to the regular train, on the evening of September 22d. The - company runs six through trains a week, omitting the despatch of a train - on Sunday from each terminus. The time is six days and rive nights. We - travelled in the private ear of Mr. T. G. Shaughnessy, the manager, who - was on a tour of inspection, and took it leisurely, stopping at points of - interest on the way. The weather was bad, rainy and cold, in eastern - Canada, as it was all over New England, and as it continued to be through - September and October. During our absence there was snow both in Montreal - and Quebec. We passed out of the rain into lovely weather north of Lake - Superior; encountered rain again at Winnipeg; but a hundred miles west of - there, on the prairie, we were blessed with as delightful weather as the - globe can furnish, which continued all through the remainder of the trip - until our return to Montreal, October 12th. The climate just east of the - Rocky Mountains was a little warmer than was needed for comfort (at the - time Ontario and Quebec had snow), but the air was always pure and - exhilarating; and all through the mountains we had the perfection of - lovely days. On the Pacific it was still the dry season, though the autumn - rains, which continue all winter, with scarcely any snow, were not far - off. For mere physical pleasure of living and breathing, I know no - atmosphere superior to that we encountered on the rolling lands east of - the Rockies. - </p> - <p> - Between Ottawa and Winnipeg (from midnight of the 22d till the morning of - the 25th) there is not much to interest the tourist, unless he is engaged - in lumbering or mining. What we saw was mainly a monotonous wilderness of - rocks and small poplars, though the country has agricultural capacities - after leaving Rat Portage (north of Lake of the Woods), just before coming - upon the Manitoba prairies. There were more new villages and greater - crowds of people at the stations than I expected. From Sudbury the company - runs a line to the Sault Sainte Marie to connect with lines it controls to - Duluth and St. Paul. At Port Arthur and Fort William is evidence of great - transportation activity, and all along the Lake Superior Division there - are signs that the expectations of profitable business in lumber and - minerals will be realized. At Port Arthur we strike the Western Division. - On the Western, Mountain, and Pacific divisions the company has adopted - the 24-hour system, by which a.m. and P.M. are abolished, and the hours - from noon till midnight are counted as from 12 to 24 o’clock. For - instance, the train reaches Eagle River at 24.55, Winnipeg at 9.30, and - Brandon at 16.10. - </p> - <p> - At Winnipeg we come into the real North-west, and a condition of soil, - climate, and political development as different from eastern Canada as - Montana is from New England. This town, at the junction of the Red and - Assiniboin rivers, in a valley which is one of the finest wheat-producing - sections of the world, is a very important place. Railways, built and - projected, radiate from it like spokes from a wheel hub. Its growth has - been marvellous. Formerly known as Fort Garry, the chief post of the - Hudson’s Bay Company, it had in 1871 a population of only one hundred. It - is now the capital of the province of Manitoba, contains the chief - workshops of the Canadian Pacific between Montreal and Vancouver, and has - a population of 25,000. It is laid out on a grand scale, with very broad - streets—Main Street is 200 feet wide—has many substantial - public and business buildings, streetcars, and electric-lights, and - abundant facilities for trade. At present it is in a condition of subsided - “boom;” the whole province has not more than 120,000 people, and the city - for that number is out of proportion. Winnipeg must wait a little for the - development of the country. It seems to the people that the town would - start up again if it had more railroads. Among the projects much discussed - is a road northward between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba, turning - eastward to York Factory on Hudson’s Bay. The idea is to reach a short - water route to Europe. From all the testimony I have read as to ice in - Hudson’s Bay harbors and in the straits, the short period the straits are - open, and the uncertainty from year to year as to the months they will be - open, this route seems chimerical. But it does not seem so to its - advocates, and there is no doubt that a portion of the line between the - lakes first named would develop a good country and pay. A more important - line—indeed, of the first importance—is built for 200 miles - north-west from Portage la Prairie, destined to go to Prince Albert, on - the North Saskatchewan. This is the Manitoba and North-west, and it makes - its connection from Portage la Prairie with Winnipeg over the Canadian - Pacific. An antagonism has grown up ill Manitoba towards the Canadian - Pacific. This arose from the monopoly privileges enjoyed by it as a - Dominion road. The province could build no road with extra-territorial - connections. This monopoly was surrendered in consideration of the - guarantee spoken of from the Government. The people of Winnipeg also say - that the company discriminated against them in the matter of rates, and - that the province must have a competing outlet. The company says that it - did not discriminate, but treated Winnipeg like other towns on the line, - having an eye to the development of the whole prairie region, and that the - trouble was that it refused to discriminate in favor of Winnipeg, so that - it might become the distributing-point of the whole North-west. Whatever - the truth may be, the province grew increasingly restless, and determined - to build another road. The Canadian Pacific has two lines on either side - of the Red River, connecting at Emerson and Gretna with the Red River - branches of the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba. It has also two - branches running westward south of its main line, penetrating the fertile - wheat-fields of Manitoba. The province graded a third road, paralleling - the two to the border, and the river, southward from Winnipeg to the - border connecting there with a branch of the Northern Pacific, which was - eager to reach the rich wheat,-fields of the North-west. The provincial - Red River Railway also proposed to cross the branches of the Canadian - Pacific, and connect at Portage la Prairie with the Manitoba and - North-west. The Canadian Pacific, which had offered to sell to the - province its Emerson branch, saying that there was not business enough for - three parallel routes, insisted upon its legal rights and resisted this - crossing. Hence the provincial and railroad conflict of the fall of 1888. - The province built the new road, but it was alleged that the Northern - Pacific was the real party, and that Manitoba has so far put itself into - the hands of that corporation. There can be no doubt that Manitoba will - have its road and connect the Northern Pacific with the Saskatchewan - country, and very likely will parallel the main line of the Canadian - Pacific. But whether it will get from the Northern Pacific the relief it - thought itself refused by the Canadian, many people in Winnipeg begin to - doubt; for however eager rival railways may be for new territory, they are - apt to come to an understanding in order to keep up profitable rates. They - must live. - </p> - <p> - I went down on the southern branch of the Canadian Pacific, which runs - west, not far from our border, as far as Boissevain. It is a magnificent - wheat country, and already very well settled and sprinkled with villages. - The whole prairie was covered with yellow wheat-stacks, and teams loaded - with wheat were wending their way from all directions to the elevators on - the line. There has been quite an emigration of Russian Mennonites to this - region, said to be 9000 of them. We passed near two of their villages—a - couple of rows of square unbeautiful houses facing each other, with a - street of mud between, as we see them in pictures of Russian communes. - These people are a peculiar and somewhat mystical sect, separate and - unassimilated in habits, customs, and faith from their neighbors, but - peaceful, industrious, and thrifty. I shall have occasion to speak of - other peculiar immigration, encouraged by the governments and by private - companies. - </p> - <p> - There can be no doubt of the fertility of all the prairie region of - Manitoba and Assiniboin. Great heat is developed in the summers, but - cereals are liable, as in Dakota, to be touched, as in 1888, by early - frost. The great drawback from Winnipeg on westward is the intense cold of - winter, regarded not as either agreeable or disagreeable, but as a matter - of economy. The region, by reason of extra expense for fuel, clothing, and - housing, must always be more expensive to live in than, say, Ontario. - </p> - <p> - The province of Manitoba is an interesting political and social study. It - is very unlike Ontario or British Columbia. Its development has been, in - freedom and self-help, very like one of our Western Territories, and it is - like them in its free, independent spirit. It has a spirit to resist any - imposed authority. We read of the conflicts between the Hudson’s Bay and - the Northwestern Fur companies and the Selkirk settlers, who began to come - in in 1812. Gradually the vast territory of the North-west had a large - number of “freemen,” independent of any company, and of half-breed - Frenchmen. Other free settlers sifted in. The territory was remote from - the Government, and had no facilities of communication with the East, even - after the union. The rebellion of 1870-71 was repeated in 1885, when Riel - was called back from Montana to head the discontented. The settlers could - not get patents for their lands, and they had many grievances, which they - demanded should be redressed in a “bill of rights.” There were aspects of - the insurrection, not connected with the race question, with which many - well-disposed persons sympathized. But the discontent became a violent - rebellion, and had to be suppressed. The execution of Riel, which some of - the Conservatives thought ill-advised, raised a race storm throughout - Canada; the French element was in a tumult, and some of the Liberals made - opposition capital out of the event. In the province of Quebec it is still - a deep grievance, for party purposes partly, as was shown in the recent - election of a federal member of Parliament in Montreal. - </p> - <p> - Manitoba is Western in its spirit and its sympathies. Before the building - of the Canadian Pacific its communication was with Minnesota. Its - interests now largely lie with its southern neighbors. It has a feeling of - irritation with too much federal dictation, and frets under the still - somewhat undefined relations of power between the federal and the - provincial governments, as was seen in the railway conflict. Besides, the - natural exchange of products between south and north—between the - lower Mississippi and the Red River of the North and the north-west - prairies—is going to increase; the north and south railway lines - will have, with the development of industries and exchange of various - sorts, a growing importance compared with the great east and west lines. - Nothing can stop this exchange and the need of it along our whole border - west of Lake Superior. It is already active and growing, even on the - Pacific, between Washington Territory and British Columbia. - </p> - <p> - For these geographical reasons, and especially on account of similarity of - social and political development, I was strongly impressed with the notion - that if the Canadian Pacific Railway had not been built when it was, - Manitoba would by this time have gravitated to the United States, and it - would only have been a question of time when the remaining Northwest - should have fallen in. The line of the road is very well settled, and - yellow with wheat westward to Regina, but the farms are often off from the - line, as the railway sections are for the most part still unoccupied; and - there are many thriving villages: Portage la Prairie, from which the - Manitoba and North-western Railway starts north-west, with a population of - 3000; Brandon, a busy grain mart, standing on a rise of ground 1150 feet - above the sea, with a population of 4000 and over; Qu’.ppelle, in the rich - valley of the river of that name, with 700; Regina, the capital of the - North-west Territory, on a vast plain, with 800; Moosejay, a market-town - towards the western limit of the settled country, with 600. This is all - good land, but the winters are severe. - </p> - <p> - Naturally, on the rail we saw little game, except ducks and geese on the - frequent fresh-water ponds, and occasionally coyotes and prairie-dogs. But - plenty of large game still can be found farther north. At Stony Mountain, - fifteen miles north of Winnipeg, the site of the Manitoba penitentiary, we - saw a team of moose, which Colonel Bedson, the superintendent, drives—fleet - animals, going easily fifteen miles an hour. They were captured only - thirty-five miles north of the prison, where moose are abundant. Colonel - Bedson has the only large herd of the practically extinct buffalo. There - are about a hundred of these uncouth and picturesque animals, which have a - range of twenty or thirty miles over the plains, and are watched by - mounted keepers. They were driven in, bulls, cows, and calves, the day - before our arrival—it seemed odd that we could order up a herd of - buffaloes by telephone, but we did—and we saw the whole troop - lumbering over the prairie, exactly as we were familiar with them in - pictures. The colonel is trying the experiment of crossing them with - common cattle. The result is a half-breed of large size, with heavier - hind-quarters and less hump than the buffalo, and said to be good beef. - The penitentiary has taken in all the convicts of the North-west - Territory, and there were only sixty-five of them. The institution is a - model one in its management. We were shown two separate chapels—one - for Catholics and another for Protestants. - </p> - <p> - All along the line settlers are sifting in, and there are everywhere signs - of promoted immigration. Not only is Canada making every effort to fill up - its lands, but England is interested in relieving itself of troublesome - people. The experiment has been tried of bringing out East-Londoners. - These barbarians of civilization are about as unfitted for colonists as - can be. Small bodies of them have been aided to make settlements, but the - trial is not very encouraging; very few of them take to the new life. The - Scotch crofters do better. They are accustomed to labor and thrift, and - are not a bad addition to the population. A company under the management - of Sir John Lister Kaye is making a larger experiment. It has received - sections from the Government and bought contiguous sections from the - railway, so as to have large blocks of land on the road. A dozen - settlements are projected. The company brings over laborers and farmers, - paying their expenses and wages for a year. A large central house is built - on each block, tools and cattle are supplied, and the men are to begin the - cultivation of the soil. At the end of a year they may, if they choose, - take up adjacent free Government land and begin to make homes for - themselves working meantime on the company land, if they will. By this - plan they are guaranteed support for a year at least, and a chance to set - up for themselves. The company secures the breaking up of its land and a - crop, and the nucleus of a town. The further plan is to encourage farmers, - with a capital of a thousand dollars, to follow and settle in the - neighborhood. There will then be three ranks—the large company - proprietors, the farmers with some capital, and the laborers who are - earning their capital. We saw some of these settlements on the line that - looked promising. About 150 settlers, mostly men, arrived last fall, and - with them were sent out English tools and English cattle. The plan looks - to making model communities, on something of the old-world plan of - proprietor, farmer, and laborer. It would not work in the United States. - </p> - <p> - Another important colonization is that of Icelanders. These are settled to - the north-east of Winnipeg and in southern Manitoba. About 10,000 have - already come over, and the movement has assumed such large proportions - that it threatens to depopulate Iceland. This is good and intelligent - material. Climate and soil are so superior to that of Iceland that the - emigrants are well content. They make good farmers, but they are not so - clannish as the Mennonites; many of them scatter about in the towns as - laborers. - </p> - <p> - Before we reached Medicine Hat, and beyond that place, we passed through - considerable alkaline country—little dried-up lakes looking like - patches of snow. There was an idea that this land was not fertile. The - Canadian Pacific Company have been making several experiments on the line - of model farms, which prove the contrary. As soon as the land is broken up - and the crust turned under, the soil becomes very fertile, and produces - excellent crops of wheat and vegetables. - </p> - <p> - Medicine Hat, on a branch of the South Saskatchewan, is a thriving town. - Here are a station and barracks of the Mounted Police, a picturesque body - of civil cavalry in blue pantaloons and red jackets. This body of picked - men, numbering about a thousand, and similar in functions to the <i>Guarda - Civil</i> of Spain, are scattered through the North-west Territory, and - are the Dominion police for keeping in order the Indians, and settling - disputes between the Indians and whites. The sergeants have powers of - police-justices, and the organization is altogether an admirable one for - the purpose, and has a fine <i>esprit de corps</i>. - </p> - <p> - Here we saw many Cree Indians, physically a creditable-looking race of men - and women, and picturesque in their gay blankets and red and yellow paint - daubed on the skin without the least attempt at shading or artistic - effect. A fair was going on, an exhibition of horses, cattle, and - vegetable and cereal products of the region. The vegetables were large and - of good quality. Delicate flowers were still blooming (September 28th) - untouched by frost in the gardens. These Crees are not on a reservation. - They cultivate the soil a little, but mainly support themselves by - gathering and selling buffalo bones, and well set-up and polished horns of - cattle, which they swear are buffalo. The women are far from a degraded - race in appearance, have good heads, high foreheads, and are well-favored. - As to morals, they are reputed not to equal the Blackfeet. - </p> - <p> - The same day we reached Gleichen, about 2500 feet above the sea. The land - is rolling, and all good for grazing and the plough. This region gets the - “Chinook” wind. Ploughing is begun in April, sometimes in March; in 1888 - they ploughed in January. Flurries of snow may be expected any time after - October 1st, but frost is not so early as in eastern Canada. A fine autumn - is common, and fine, mild weather may continue up to December. At - Dun-more, the station before Medicine Hat, we passed a branch railway - running west to the great Lethbridge coal-mines, and Dunmore Station is a - large coal depot. - </p> - <p> - The morning at Gleichen was splendid; cool at sunrise, but no frost. Here - we had our first view of the Rockies, a long range of snow-peaks on the - horizon, 120 miles distant. There is an immense fascination in this - rolling country, the exhilarating air, and the magnificent mountains in - the distance. Here is the beginning of a reservation of the Blackfeet, - near 3000. They live here on the Bow River, and cultivate the soil to a - considerable extent, and have the benefit of a mission and two schools. - They are the best-looking race of Indians we have seen, and have most - self-respect. - </p> - <p> - We went over a rolling country to Calgary, at an altitude of 3388 feet, a - place of some 3000 inhabitants, and of the most distinction of all between - Brandon and Vancouver. On the way we passed two stations where natural gas - was used, the boring for which was only about 600 feet. The country is - underlaid with coal. Calgary is delightfully situated at the junction of - the Bow and Elbow rivers, rapid streams as clear as crystal, with a - greenish hue, on a small plateau, surrounded by low hills and overlooked - by the still distant snow-peaks. The town has many good shops, several - churches, two newspapers, and many fanciful cottages. We drove several - miles out on the McCloud trail, up a lovely valley, with good farms, - growing wheat and oats, and the splendid mountains in the distance. The - day was superb, the thermometer marking 70°. This is, however, a ranch - country, wheat being an uncertain crop, owing to summer frosts. But some - years, like 1888, are good for all grains and vegetables. A few Saree - Indians were loafing about here, inferior savages. Much better are the - Stony Indians, who are settled and work the soil beyond Calgary, and are - very well cared for by a Protestant mission. - </p> - <p> - Some of the Indian tribes of Canada are self-supporting. This is true of - many of the Siwash and other west coast tribes, who live by fishing. At - Lytton, on the upper Fraser, I saw a village of the Siwash civilized - enough to live in houses, wear our dress, and earn their living by working - on the railway, fishing, etc. The Indians have done a good deal of work on - the railway, and many of them are still employed on it. The coast Indians - are a different race from the plains Indians, and have a marked - resemblance to the Chinese and Japanese. The polished carvings in black - slate of the Haida Indians bear a striking resemblance to archaic Mexican - work, and strengthen the theory that the coast Indians crossed the straits - from Asia, are related to the early occupiers of Arizona and Mexico, and - ought not to be classed with the North American Indian. The Dominion has - done very well by its Indians, of whom it has probably a hundred thousand. - It has tried to civilize them by means of schools, missions, and farm - instructors, and it has been pretty successful in keeping ardent spirits - away from them. A large proportion of them are still fed and clothed by - the Government. It is doubtful if the plains Indians will ever be - industrious. The Indian fund from the sale of their lands has accumulated - to $3,000,000. There are 140 teachers and 4000 pupils in school. In 1885 - the total expenditure on the Indian population, beyond that provided by - the Indian fund, was $1,109,604, of which $478,038 was expended for - provisions for destitute Indians. - </p> - <p> - At Cochrane’s we were getting well into the hills. Here is a large horse - and sheep ranch and a very extensive range. North and south along the - foot-hills is fine grazing and ranging country. We enter the mountains by - the Bow River Valley, and plunge at once into splendid scenery, bare - mountains rising on both sides in sharp, varied, and fantastic peaks, - snow-dusted, and in lateral openings assemblages of giant summits of rock - and ice. The change from the rolling prairie was magical. At Mountain - House the Three Sisters were very impressive. Late in the afternoon we - came to Banff. - </p> - <p> - Banff will have a unique reputation among the resorts of the world. If a - judicious plan is formed and adhered to for the development of its - extraordinary beauties and grandeur, it will be second to few in - attractions. A considerable tract of wilderness about it is reserved as a - National Park, and the whole ought to be developed by some master - landscape expert. It is in the power of the Government and of the Canadian - Pacific Company to so manage its already famous curative hot sulphur - springs as to make Banff the resort of invalids as well as - pleasure-seekers the year round. This is to be done not simply by - established good bathing-places, but by regulations and restrictions such - as give to the German baths their virtue. - </p> - <p> - The Banff Hotel, unsurpassed in situation, amid magnificent mountains, is - large, picturesque, many gabled and windowed, and thoroughly comfortable. - It looks down upon the meeting of the Bow and the Spray, which spread in a - pretty valley closed by a range of snow-peaks. To right and left rise - mountains of savage rock ten thousand feet high. The whole scene has all - the elements of beauty and grandeur. The place is attractive for its - climate, its baths, and excellent hunting and fishing. - </p> - <p> - For two days, travelling only by day, passing the Rockies, the Selkirks, - and the Gold range, we were kept in a state of intense excitement, in a - constant exclamation of wonder and delight. I would advise no one to - attempt to take it in the time we did. Nobody could sit through - Beethoven’s nine symphonies played continuously. I have no doubt that when - carriage-roads and foot-paths are made into the mountain recesses, as they - will be, and little hotels are established in the valleys and in the - passes and advantageous sites, as in Switzerland, this region will rival - the Alpine resorts. I can speak of two or three things only. - </p> - <p> - The highest point on the line is the station at Mount Stephen, 5296 feet - above the sea. The mountain, a bald mass of rock in a rounded cone, rises - about 8000 feet above this. As we moved away from it the mountain was - hidden by a huge wooded intervening mountain. The train was speeding - rapidly on the down grade, carrying us away from the base, and we stood - upon the rear platform watching the apparent recession of the great mass, - when suddenly, and yet deliberately, the vast white bulk of Mount Stephen - began to rise over the intervening summit in the blue sky, lifting itself - up by a steady motion while one could count twenty, until its magnificence - stood revealed. It was like a transformation in a theatre, only the - curtain here was lowered instead of raised. The surprise was almost too - much for the nerves; the whole company was awe-stricken. It is too much to - say that the mountain “shot up;” it rose with conscious grandeur and - power. The effect, of course, depends much upon the speed of the train. I - have never seen anything to compare with it for awakening the emotion of - surprise and wonder. - </p> - <p> - The station of Field, just beyond Mount Stephen, where there is a charming - hotel, is in the midst of wonderful mountain and glacier scenery, and - would be a delightful place for rest. From there the descent down the - canon of Kickinghorse River, along the edge of precipices, among the - snow-monarchs, is very exciting. At Golden we come to the valley of the - Columbia River and in view of the Selkirks. The river is navigable about a - hundred miles above Golden, and this is the way to the mining district of - the Kootenay Valley. The region abounds in gold and silver. The broad - Columbia runs north here until it breaks through the Selkirks, and then - turns southward on the west side of that range. - </p> - <p> - The railway follows down the river, between the splendid ranges of the - Selkirks and the Rockies, to the mouth of the Beaver, and then ascends its - narrow gorge. I am not sure but that the scenery of the Selkirks is finer - than that of the Rockies. One is bewildered by the illimitable noble - snow-peaks and great glaciers. At Glacier House is another excellent - hotel. In savage grandeur, nobility of mountain-peaks, snow-ranges, and - extent of glacier it rivals anything in Switzerland. The glacier, only one - arm of which is seen from the road, is, I believe, larger than any in - Switzerland. There are some thirteen miles of flowing ice; but the monster - lies up in the mountains, like a great octopus, with many giant arms. The - branch which we saw, overlooked by the striking snow-cone of Sir Donald, - some two and a half miles from the hotel, is immense in thickness and - breadth, and seems to pour out of the sky. Recent measurements show that - it is moving at the rate of twenty inches in twenty-four hours—about - the rate of progress of the Mer de Glace. In the midst of the main body, - higher up, is an isolated mountain of pure ice three hundred feet high and - nearly a quarter of a mile in length. These mountains are the home of the - mountain sheep. - </p> - <p> - From this amphitheatre of giant peaks, snow, and glaciers we drop by - marvellous loops—wonderful engineering, four apparently different - tracks in sight at one time—down to the valley of the Illicilliweat, - the lower part of which is fertile, and blooming with irrigated farms. We - pass a cluster of four lovely-lakes, and coast around the great Shuswap - Lake, which is fifty miles long. But the traveller is not out of - excitement. The ride down the Thompson and Fraser canons is as amazing - almost as anything on the line. At Spence’s Bridge we come to the old - Government road to the Cariboo gold-mines, three hundred miles above. This - region has been for a long time a scene of activity in mining and - salmon-fishing. It may be said generally of the Coast or Gold range that - its riches have yet to be developed. The villages all along these mountain - slopes and valleys are waiting for this development. - </p> - <p> - The city of Vancouver, only two years old since the beginnings of a town - were devoured by fire, is already an interesting place of seven to eight - thousand inhabitants, fast building up, and with many substantial granite - and brick buildings, and spreading over a large area. It lies upon a high - point of land between Burrard Inlet on the north and the north arm of the - Fraser River. The inner harbor is deep and spacious. Burrard Inlet - entrance is narrow but deep, and opens into English Bay, which opens into - Georgia Sound, that separates the island of Vancouver, three hundred miles - long, from the main-land. The round headland south of the entrance is set - apart for a public park, called now Stanley Park, and is being improved - with excellent driving-roads, which give charming views. It is a tangled - wilderness of nearly one thousand acres. So dense is the undergrowth, in - this moist air, of vines, ferns, and small shrubs, that it looks like a - tropical thicket. But in the midst of it are gigantic Douglas firs and a - few noble cedars. One veteran cedar, partly decayed at the top, measured - fifty-six feet in circumference, and another, in full vigor and of - gigantic height, over thirty-nine feet. The hotel of the Canadian Pacific - Company, a beautiful building in modern style, is, in point of comfort, - elegance of appointment, abundant table, and service, not excelled by any - in Canada, equalled by few anywhere. - </p> - <p> - Vancouver would be a very busy and promising city merely as the railway - terminus and the shipping-point for Japan and China and the east - generally. But it has other resources of growth. There is a very good - country back of it, and south of it all the way into Washington Territory. - New Westminster, twelve miles south, is a place of importance for fish and - lumber. The immensely fertile alluvial bottoms of the Fraser, which now - overflows its banks, will some day be diked, and become exceedingly - valuable. Its relations to Washington Territory are already close. The - very thriving city of Seattle, having a disagreement with the North - Pacific and its rival, Tacoma, sends and receives most of its freight and - passengers via Vancouver, and is already pushing forward a railway to that - point. It is also building to Spokane Falls, expecting some time to be met - by an extension of the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba from the Great - Falls of the Missouri. I found that many of the emigrants in the loaded - trains that we travelled with or that passed us were bound to Washington - Territory. It is an acknowledged fact that there is a constant “leakage” - of emigrants, who had apparently promised to tarry in Canada, into United - States territories. Some of them, disappointed of the easy wealth - expected, no doubt return; but the name of “republic” seems to have an - attraction for Old World people when they are once set adrift. - </p> - <p> - We took steamer one afternoon for a five hours sail to Victoria. A part of - the way is among beautiful wooded islands. Once out in the open, we had a - view of our “native land,” and prominent in it the dim, cloud-like, - gigantic peak of Mount Baker. Before we passed the islands we were - entertained by a rare show of right-whales. A school of them a couple of - weeks before had come down through Behring Strait, and pursued a shoal of - fish into this landlocked bay. There must have been as many as fifty of - the monsters in sight, spouting up slender fountains, lifting their huge - bulk out of water, and diving, with their bifurcated tails waving in the - air. They played about like porpoises, apparently only for our - entertainment. - </p> - <p> - Victoria, so long isolated, is the most English part of Canada. The town - itself does not want solidity and wealth, but it is stationary, and, the - Canadians elsewhere think, slow. It was the dry and dusty time of the - year. The environs are broken with inlets, hilly and picturesque; there - are many pretty cottages and country places in the suburbs; and one visits - with interest the Eskimalt naval station, and the elevated Park, which has - a coble coast view. The very mild climate is favorable for grapes and - apples. The summer is delightful; the winter damp, and constantly rainy. - And this may be said of all this coast. Of the thirteen thousand - population six thousand are Chinese, and they form in the city a dense, - insoluble, unassimilating mass. Victoria has one railway, that to the - prosperous Nanaimo coal-mines. The island has abundance of coal, some - copper, and timber. But Vancouver has taken away from Victoria all its - importance as a port. The Government and Parliament buildings are - detached, but pleasant and commodious edifices. There is a decorous - British air about everything. Throughout British Columbia the judges and - the lawyers wear the gown and band and the horse-hair wig. In an evening - trial for murder which I attended in a dingy upper chamber of the Kamloops - court-house, lighted only by kerosene lamps, the wigs and gowns of judge - and attorneys lent, I confess, a dignity to the administration of justice - which the kerosene lamps could not have given. In one of the Government - buildings is a capital museum of natural history and geology. The - educational department is vigorous and effective, and I find in the bulky - report evidence of most intelligent management of the schools. - </p> - <p> - It is only by traversing the long distance to this coast, and seeing the - activity here, that one can appreciate the importance to Canada and to the - British Empire of the Canadian Pacific Railway as a bond of unity, a - developer of resources, and a world’s highway. The out-going steamers were - crowded with passengers and laden with freight. We met on the way two - solid trains, of twenty cars each, full of tea. When the new swift - steamers are put on, which are already heavily subsidized by both the - English and the Canadian governments, the traffic in passengers and goods - must increase. What effect the possession of such a certain line of - communication with her Oriental domains will have upon the English - willingness to surrender Canada either to complete independence or to a - union with the United States, any political prophet can estimate. - </p> - <p> - It must be added that the Canadian Pacific Company are doing everything to - make this highway popular as well as profitable. Construction and - management show English regard for comfort and safety and order. It is one - of the most agreeable lines to travel over I am acquainted with. Most of - it is well built, and defects are being energetically removed. The - “Colonist” cars are clean and convenient. The first class carriages are - luxurious. The dining-room cars are uniformly well kept, the company - hotels are exceptionally excellent; and from the railway servants one - meets with civility and attention. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - III. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span> had been told - that the Canadians are second-hand Englishmen. No estimate could convey a - more erroneous impression. A portion of the people have strong English - traditions and loyalties to institutions, but in manner and in - expectations the Canadians are scarcely more English than the people of - the United States; they have their own colonial development, and one can - mark already with tolerable distinctness a Canadian type which is neither - English nor American. This is noticeable especially in the women. The - Canadian girl resembles the American in escape from a purely conventional - restraint and in self-reliance, and she has, like the English, a - well-modulated voice and distinct articulation. In the cities, also, she - has taste in dress and a certain style which we think belongs to the New - World. In features and action a certain modification has gone on, due - partly to climate and partly to greater social independence. It is - unnecessary to make comparisons, and I only note that there is a Canadian - type of woman. - </p> - <p> - But there is great variety in Canada, and in fact a remarkable racial - diversity. The man of Nova Scotia is not at all the man of British - Columbia or Manitoba. The Scotch in old Canada have made a distinct - impression in features and speech. And it may be said generally in eastern - Canada that the Scotch element is a leading and conspicuous one in the - vigor and push of enterprise and the accumulation of fortune. The Canadian - men, as one sees them in official life, at the clubs, in business, are - markedly a vigorous, stalwart race, well made, of good stature, and not - seldom handsome. This physical prosperity needs to be remembered when we - consider the rigorous climate and the long winters; these seem to have at - least one advantage—that of breeding virile men. The Canadians - generally are fond of out-door sports and athletic games, of fishing and - hunting, and they give more time to such recreations than we do. They are - a little less driven by the business goad. Abundant animal spirits tend to - make men good-natured and little quarrelsome. The Canadians would make - good soldiers. There was a time when the drinking habit pervaded very much - in Canada, and there are still places where they do not put water enough - in their grog, but temperance reform has taken as strong a hold there as - it has in the United States. - </p> - <p> - The feeling about the English is illustrated by the statement that there - is not more aping of English ways in Montreal and Toronto clubs and social - life than in New York, and that the English superciliousness, or - condescension as to colonists, the ultra-English manner, is ridiculed in - Canada, and resented with even more warmth than in the United States. The - amusing stories of English presumption upon hospitality are current in - Canada as well as on this side. All this is not inconsistent with pride in - the empire, loyalty to its traditions and institutions, and even a - considerable willingness (for human nature is pretty much alike - everywhere) to accept decorative titles. But the underlying fact is that - there is a distinct feeling of nationality, and it is increasing. - </p> - <p> - There is not anywhere so great a contrast between neighboring cities as - between Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto. Quebec is mediæval, Toronto is - modern, Montreal is in a conflict between the two conditions. As the - travelling world knows, they are all interesting cities, and have peculiar - attractions. Quebec is French, more decidedly so than Toronto is English, - and in Montreal the French have a large numerical majority and complete - political control. In the Canadian cities generally municipal affairs are - pretty much divorced from general party politics, greatly to the advantage - of good city government. - </p> - <p> - Montreal has most wealth, and from its splendid geographical position it - is the railway centre, and has the business and commercial primacy. It has - grown rapidly from a population of 140,000 in 1881 to a population of over - 200,000—estimated, with its suburbs, at 250,000. Were it part of my - plan to describe these cities, I should need much space to devote to the - finest public buildings and public institutions of Montreal, the handsome - streets in the Protestant quarter, with their solid, tasteful, and often - elegant residences, the many churches, and the almost unequalled - possession of the Mountain as a park and resort, where one has the most - striking and varied prospects in the world. Montreal, being a part of the - province of Quebec, is not only under provincial control of the government - at Quebec, but it is ruled by the same French party in the city, and there - is the complaint always found where the poorer majority taxes the richer - and more enterprising minority out of proportion to the benefits the - latter receives. Various occasions have produced something like race - conflicts in the city, and there are prophesies of more serious ones in - the strife for ascendency. The seriousness of this to the minority lies in - the fact that the French race is more prolific than any other in the - province. - </p> - <p> - Perhaps nothing will surprise the visitor more than the persistence of the - French type in Canada, and naturally its aggressiveness. Guaranteed their - religion, laws, and language, the French have not only failed to - assimilate, but have had hopes—maybe still have—of making - Canada French. The French “national” party means simply a French - consolidation, and has no relation to the “nationalism” of Sir John - Macdonald. So far as the Church and the French politicians are concerned, - the effort is to keep the French solid as a political force, and whether - the French are Liberal or Conservative, this is the underlying thought. - The province of Quebec is Liberal, but the liberalism is of a different - hue from that of Ontario. The French recognize the truth that language is - so integral a part of a people’s growth that the individuality of a people - depends upon maintaining it. The French have escaped absorption in Canada - mainly by loyalty to their native tongue, aided by the concession to them - of their civil laws and their religious privileges. They owe this to - William Pitt. I quote from a contributed essay in the Toronto <i>Week</i> - about three years ago: “Up to 1791 the small French population of Canada - was in a position to be converted into an English colony with traces of - French sentiment and language, which would have slowly disappeared. But at - that date William Pitt the younger brought into the House of Commons two - Quebec Acts, which constituted two provinces—Lower Canada, with a - full provision of French laws, language, and institutions; Upper Canada, - with a reproduction of English laws and social system. During the debate - Pitt declared on the floor of the House that his purpose was to create two - colonies distinct from and jealous of each other, so as to guard against a - repetition of the late unhappy rebellion which had separated the thirteen - colonies from the empire.” - </p> - <p> - The French have always been loyal to the English connection under all - temptations, for these guarantees have been continued, which could - scarcely be expected from any other power, and certainly not in a - legislative union of the Canadian provinces. In literature and sentiment - the connection is with France; in religion, with Rome; in politics England - has been the guarantee of both. There will be no prevailing sentiment in - favor of annexation to the United States so long as the Church retains its - authority, nor would it be favored by the accomplished politicians so long - as they can use the solid French mass as a political force. - </p> - <p> - The relegation of the subject of education entirely to the provinces is an - element in the persistence of the French type in the province of Quebec, - in the same way that it strengthens the Protestant cause in Ontario. In - the province of Quebec all the public schools are Roman Catholic, and the - separate schools are of other sects. In the council of public instruction - the Catholics, of course, have a large majority, but the public schools - are managed by a Catholic committee and the others by a Protestant - committee. In the academies, model and high schools, subsidized by the - Government, those having Protestant teachers are insignificant in number, - and there are very few Protestants in Catholic schools, and very few - Catholics in Protestant schools; the same is true of the schools of this - class not subsidized. The bulky report of the superintendent of public - instruction of the province of Quebec (which is translated into English) - shows a vigorous and intelligent attention to education. The general - statistics give the number of pupils in the province as 219,403 Roman - Catholics (the term always used in the report) and 37,484 Protestants. In - the elementary schools there are 143,848 Roman Catholics and 30,401 - Protestants. Of the ecclesiastical teachers, 808 are Roman Catholics and 8 - Protestants; of the certificated lay teachers, 250 are Roman Catholic and - 105 Protestant; the proportion of schools is four to one. It must be kept - in mind that in the French schools it is French literature that is - cultivated. In the Laval University, at Quebec, English literature is as - purely an ornamental study as French literature would be in Yale. The - Laval University, which has a branch in Montreal, is a strong institution, - with departments of divinity, law, medicine, and the arts, 80 professors, - and 575 students. The institution has a vast pile of buildings, one of the - most conspicuous objects in a view of the city. Besides spacious lecture, - assembly rooms, and laboratories, it has extensive collections in geology, - mineralogy, botany, ethnology, zoology, coins, a library of 100,000 - volumes, in which theology is well represented, but which contains a large - collection of works on Canada, including valuable manuscripts, the - original MS. of the <i>Journal des Jésuites</i>, and the most complete set - of the <i>Relation des Jésuites</i> existing in America. It has also a - gallery of paintings, chiefly valuable for its portraits. - </p> - <p> - Of the 62,000 population of Quebec City, by the census of 1881, not over - 6000 were Protestants. By the same census Montreal had 140,747, of whom - 78,684 were French, and 28,995 of Irish origin. The Roman Catholics - numbered 103,579. I believe the proportion has not much changed with the - considerable growth in seven years. - </p> - <p> - One is struck, in looking at the religious statistics of Canada, by the - fact that the Church of England has not the primacy, and that the - so-called independent sects have a position they have not in England. In - the total population of 4,324,810, given by the census of 1881, the - Protestants were put down at 2,436,554 and the Roman Catholics at - 1,791,982. The larger of the Protestant denominations were, Methodists, - 742,981; Presbyterians, 676,165; Church of England, 574,818; Baptists, - 296,525. Taking as a specimen of the north-west the province of Manitoba, - census of 1886, we get these statistics of the larger sects: - Presbyterians, 28,406; Church of England, 23,206; Methodists, 18,648; - Roman Catholics, 14,651; Mennonites, 9112; Baptists, 3296; Lutherans, - 3131. - </p> - <p> - Some statistics of general education in the Dominion show the popular - interest in the matter. In 1885 the total number of pupils in the - Dominion, in public and private schools, was 908,193, and the average - attendance was 555,404. The total expenditure of the year, not including - school buildings, was $9,310,745, and the value of school lands, - buildings, and furniture was $25,000,000. Yet in the province of Quebec, - out of the total expenditure of $3,102,410, only $353,077 was granted by - the provincial Legislature. And in Ontario, of the total of $3,904,797, - only $267,084 was granted by the Legislature. - </p> - <p> - The McGill University at Montreal, Sir William Dawson principal, is a - corporation organized under royal charter, which owes its original - endowment of land and money (valued at $120,000) to James McGill. It - receives small grants from the provincial and Dominion governments, but - mainly depends upon its own funds, which in 1885 stood at $791,000. It has - numerous endowed professorships and endowments for scholarships and - prizes; among them is the Donalda Endowment for the Higher Education of - Women (from Sir Donald A. Smith), by which a special course in separate - classes, by University professors, is maintained in the University - buildings for women. It has faculties of arts, applied sciences, law, and - medicine—the latter with one of the most complete anatomical museums - and one of the best selected libraries on the continent. It has several - colleges affiliated with it for the purpose of conferring University - degrees, a model school, and four theological colleges, a Congregational, - a Presbyterian, an Episcopalian, and a Wesleyan, the students in which may - supplement their own courses in the University. The professors and - students wear the University cap and gown, and morning prayers are read to - a voluntary attendance. The Redpath Museum, of geology, mineralogy, - zoology, and ethnology, has a distinction among museums not only for the - size of the collection, but for splendid arrangement and classification. - The well-selected library numbers about 30,000 volumes. The whole - University is a vigorous educational centre, and its well-planted grounds - and fine buildings are an ornament to the city. - </p> - <p> - Returning to the French element, its influence is not only felt in the - province of Quebec, but in the Dominion. The laws of the Dominion and the - proceedings are published in French and English; the debates in the - Dominion Parliament are conducted indifferently in both languages, - although it is observed that as the five years of any Parliament go on - English is more and more used by the members, for the French are more - likely to learn English than the English are to learn French. Of course - the Quebec Parliament is even more distinctly French. And the power of the - Roman Catholic Church is pretty much co-extensive with the language. The - system of tithes is legal in provincial law, and tithes can be collected - of all Roman Catholics by law. The Church has also what is called the - fabrique system; that is, a method of raising contributions from any - district for churches, priests’ houses, and conventual buildings and - schools. The tithes and the fabrique assessments make a heavy burden on - the peasants. The traveller down the St. Lawrence sees how the interests - of religion are emphasized in the large churches raised in the midst of - humble villages, and in the great Church establishments of charity and - instruction. It is said that the farmers attempted to escape the tithe on - cereals by changing to the cultivation of pease, but the Church then - decided that pease were cereals. There is no doubt that the French - population are devout, and that they support the Church in proportion to - their devotion, and that much which seems to the Protestants extortion on - the part of the Church is a voluntary contribution. Still the fact remains - that the burden is heavy on land that is too cold for the highest - productiveness. The desire to better themselves in wages, and perhaps to - escape burdens, sends a great many French to New England. Some of them - earn money, and return to settle in the land that is dear by tradition and - a thousand associations. Many do not return, and I suppose there are over - three-quarters of a million of French Canadians now in New England. They - go to better themselves, exactly as New Englanders leave their homes for - more productive farms in the West. The Church, of course, does not - encourage this emigration, but does encourage the acquisition of lands in - Ontario or elsewhere in Canada. And there has been recently a marked - increase of French in Ontario—so marked that the French - representation in the Ontario Parliament will be increased probably by - three members in the next election. There are many people in Canada who - are seriously alarmed at this increase of the French and of the Roman - Catholic power. Others look upon this fear as idle, and say that - immigration is sure to make the Protestant element overwhelming. It is to - be noted also that Ontario furnishes Protestant emigrants to the United - States in large numbers. It may be that the interchange of ideas caused by - the French emigration to New England will be an important make-weight in - favor of annexation. Individuals, and even French newspapers, are found to - advocate it. But these are at present only surface indications. The - political leaders, the Church, and the mass of the people are fairly - content with things as they are, and with the provincial autonomy, - although they resent federal vetoes, and still make a “cry” of the Riel - execution. - </p> - <p> - The French element in Canada may be considered from other points of view. - The contribution of romance and tradition is not an unimportant one in any - nation. The French in Canada have never broken with their past, as the - French in France have. There is a great charm about Quebec—its - language, its social life, the military remains of the last century. It is - a Protestant writer who speaks of the volume and wealth of the French - Canadian literature as too little known to English-speaking Canada. And it - is true that literary men have not realized the richness of the French - material, nor the work accomplished by French writers in history, poetry, - essays, and romances. Quebec itself is at a commercial stand-still, but - its uniquely beautiful situation, its history, and the projection of - mediævalism into existing institutions make it one of the most interesting - places to the tourist on the continent. The conspicuous, noble, and - commodious Parliament building is almost the only one of consequence that - speaks of the modern spirit. It was the remark of a high Church dignitary - that the object of the French in Canada was the promotion of religion, and - the object of the English, commerce. We cannot overlook this attitude - against materialism. In the French schools and universities religion is - not divorced from education. And even in the highest education, where - modern science has a large place, what we may call the literary side is - very much emphasized. Indeed, the French students are rather inclined to - rhetoric, and in public life the French are distinguished for the graces - and charm of oratory. It may be true, as charged, that the public schools - of Quebec province, especially in the country, giving special attention to - the interest the Church regards as the highest, do little to remove the - ignorance of the French peasant. It is our belief that the best - Christianity is the most intelligent. Yet there is matter for - consideration with all thoughtful men what sort of society we shall - ultimately have in States where the common schools have neither religious - nor ethical teaching. - </p> - <p> - Ottawa is a creation of the Federal Government as distinctly as - ‘Washington is. The lumber-mills on the Chaudière Falls necessitate a - considerable town here, for this industry assumes gigantic proportions, - but the beauty and attraction of the city are due to the concentration - here of political interest. The situation on the bluffs of the Ottawa - River is commanding, and gives fine opportunity for architectural display. - The group of Government buildings is surpassingly fine. The Parliament - House and the department buildings on three sides of a square are - exceedingly effective in color and in the perfection of Gothic details, - especially in the noble towers. There are few groups of buildings anywhere - so pleasing to the eye, or that appeal more strongly to one’s sense of - dignity and beauty. The library attached to the Parliament House in the - rear, a rotunda in form, has a picturesque exterior, and the interior is - exceedingly beautiful and effective. The library, though mainly for - Parliamentary uses, is rich in Canadian history, and well up in polite - literature. It contains about 90,000 volumes. In the Parliament building, - which contains the two fine legislative Chambers, there are residence - apartments for the Speakers of the Senate and of the House of Commons and - their families, where entertainments are given during the session. The - opening of Parliament is an imposing and brilliant occasion, graced by the - presence of the Governor-general, who is supposed to visit the Chambers at - no other time in the session. Ottawa is very gay during the session, - society and politics mingling as in London, and the English habit of night - sessions adds a good deal to the excitement and brilliancy of the - Parliamentary proceedings. - </p> - <p> - The growth of the Government business and of official life has made - necessary the addition of a third department building, and the new one, - departing from the Gothic style, is very solid and tasteful. There are - thirteen members of the Privy Council with portfolios, and the volume of - public business is attested by the increase of department officials. - </p> - <p> - I believe there are about 1500 men attached to the civil service in - Ottawa. It will be seen at once that the Federal Government, which seemed - in a manner superimposed upon the provincial governments, has taken on - large proportions, and that there is in Ottawa and throughout the Dominion - in federal officials and offices a strengthening vested interest in the - continuance of the present form of government. The capital itself, with - its investment in buildings, is a conservator of the state of things as - they are. The Cabinet has many able men, men who would take a leading rank - as parliamentarians in the English Commons, and the Opposition benches in - the House furnish a good quota of the same material. The power of the - premier is a fact as recognizable as in England. For many years Sir John - A. Macdonald has been virtually the ruler of Canada. He has had the - ability and skill to keep his party in power, while all the provinces have - remained or become Liberal. I believe his continuance is due to his - devotion to the national idea, to the development of the country, to bold - measures—like the urgency of the Canadian Pacific Railway - construction—for binding the provinces together and promoting - commercial activity. Canada is proud of this, even while it counts its - debt. Sir John is worshipped by his party, especially by the younger men, - to whom he furnishes an ideal, as a statesman of bold conceptions and - courage. He is disliked as a politician as cordially by the Opposition, - who attribute to him the same policy of adventure that was attributed to - Beaconsfield. Personally he resembles that remarkable man. Undoubtedly Sir - John adds prudence to his knowledge of men, and his habit of never - crossing a stream till he gets to it has gained him the sobriquet of “Old - To-morrow.” He is a man of the world as well as a man of affairs, with a - wide and liberal literary taste. - </p> - <p> - The members of Government are well informed about the United States, and - attentive students of its politics. I am sure that, while they prefer - their system of responsible government, they have no sentiment but - friendliness to American institutions and people, nor any expectation that - any differences will not be adjusted in a manner satisfactory and - honorable to both. I happened to be in Canada during the fishery and - “retaliation” talk. There was no belief that the “retaliation” threatened - was anything more than a campaign measure; it may have chilled the <i>rapport</i> - for the moment, but there was literally no excitement over it, and the - opinion was general that retaliation as to transportation would benefit - the Canadian railways. The effect of the moment was that importers made - large foreign orders for goods to be sent by Halifax that would otherwise - have gone to United States ports. The fishery question is not one that can - be treated in the space at our command. Naturally Canada sees it from its - point of view. To a considerable portion of the maritime provinces fishing - means livelihood, and the view is that if the United States shares in it - we ought to open our markets to the Canadian fishermen. Some, indeed, and - these are generally advocates of freer trade, think that our fishermen - ought to have the right of entering the Canadian harbors for bait and - shipment of their catch, and think also that Canada would derive an equal - benefit from this; but probably the general feeling is that these - privileges should be compensated by a United States market. The defence of - the treaty in the United States Senate debate was not the defence of the - Canadian Government in many particulars. For instance, it was said that - the “outrages” had been <i>disowned</i> as the acts of irresponsible men. - The Canadian defence was that the “outrages”—that is, the most - conspicuous of them which appeared in the debate—had been <i>disproved</i> - in the investigation. Several of them, which excited indignation in the - United States, were declared by a Cabinet minister to have no foundation - in fact, and after proof of the falsity of the allegations the - complainants were not again heard of. Of course it is known that no - arrangement made by England can hold that is not materially beneficial to - Canada and the United States; and I believe I state the best judgment of - both sides that the whole fishery question, in the hands of sensible - representatives of both countries, upon ascertained facts, could be - settled between Canada and the United States. Is it not natural that, with - England conducting the negotiation, Canada should appear as a somewhat - irresponsible litigating party bent on securing all that she can get? But - whatever the legal rights are, under treaties or the law of nations, I am - sure that the absurdity of making a <i>casus belli</i> of them is as much - felt in Canada as in the United States. And I believe the Canadians - understand that this attitude is consistent with a firm maintenance of - treaty or other rights by the United States as it is by Canada. - </p> - <p> - The province of Ontario is an empire in itself. It is nearly as large as - France; it is larger by twenty-live thousand square miles than the - combined six New England States, with New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, - and Maryland. In its varied capacities it is the richest province in - Canada, and leaving out the forests and minerals and stony wilderness - between the Canadian Pacific and James Bay, it has an area large enough - for an empire, which compares favorably in climate and fertility with the - most prosperous States of our Union. The climate of the lake region is - milder than that of southern New York, and a considerable part of it is - easily productive of superior grapes, apples, and other sorts of fruit. - The average yield of wheat, per acre, both fall and spring, for five years - ending with 1886, was considerably above that of our best grain-producing - States, from Pennsylvania to those farthest West. The same is true of - oats. The comparison of barley is still more favorable for Ontario, and - the barley is of a superior quality. On a carefully cultivated farm in - York county, for this period, the average was higher than the general in - the province, being, of wheat, 25 bushels to the acre; barley, 47 bushels; - oats, 66 bushels; pease, 32 bushels. It has no superior as a - wool-producing and cattle-raising country. Its waterpower is unexcelled; - in minerals it is as rich as it is in timber; every part of it has been - made accessible to market by railways and good highways, which have had - liberal Government aid; and its manufactures have been stimulated by a - protective tariff. Better than all this, it is the home of a very superior - people. There are no better anywhere. The original stock was good, the - climate has been favorable, the athletic habits have given them vigor and - tone and courage, and there prevails a robust, healthful moral condition. - In any company, in the clubs, in business houses, in professional circles, - the traveller is impressed with the physical development of the men, and - even on the streets of the chief towns with the uncommon number of women - who have beauty and that attractiveness which generally goes with good - taste in dress. - </p> - <p> - The original settlers of Ontario were 10,000 loyalists, who left New - England during and after our Revolutionary War. They went to Canada - impoverished, but they carried there moral and intellectual qualities of a - high order, the product of the best civilization of their day, the best - materials for making a State. I confess that I never could rid myself of - the school-boy idea that the terms “British redcoat” and “enemy” were - synonymous, and that a “Tory” was the worst character Providence had ever - permitted to live. But these people, who were deported, or went - voluntarily away for an idea, were among the best material we had in - stanch moral traits, intellectual leadership, social position, and wealth; - their crime was superior attachment to England, and utter want of sympathy - with the colonial cause, the cause of “liberty” of the hour. It is to - them, at any rate, that Ontario owes its solid basis of character, vigor, - and prosperity. I do not quarrel with the pride of their descendants in - the fact that their ancestors were U. E. (United Empire) loyalists—a - designation that still has a vital meaning to them. No doubt they inherit - the idea that the revolt was a mistake, that the English connection is - better as a form of government than the republic, and some of them may - still regard the “Yankees” as their Tory ancestors did. It does not - matter. In the development of a century in a new world they are more like - us than they are like the English, except in a certain sentiment and in - traditions, and in adherence to English governmental ideas. I think I am - not wrong in saying that this conservative element in Ontario, or this - aristocratical element which believes that it can rule a people better - than they can rule themselves, was for a long time an anti-progressive and - anti-popular force. They did not give up their power readily—power, - however, which they were never accused of using for personal profit in the - way of money. But I suppose that the “rule of the best” is only held today - as a theory under popular suffrage in a responsible government. - </p> - <p> - The population of Ontario in 1886 was estimated at 1,819,026. For the - seven years from 1872—79 the gain was 250,782. For the seven years - from 1879-86 the gain was only 145,459. These figures, which I take from - the statistics of Mr. Archibald Blue, secretary of the Ontario Bureau of - Industries, become still more significant when we consider that in the - second period of seven years the Government had spent more money in - developing the railways, in promoting immigration, and raised more money - by the protective tariff for the establishing of industries, than in the - first. The increase of population in the first period was 174 per cent.; - in the second, only 8 2/3 per cent. Mr. Blue also says that but for the - accession by immigration in the seven years 1879-86 the population of the - province in 1886 would have been 62,640 less than in 1879. The natural - increase, added to the immigration reported (208,000), should have given - an increase of 442,000. There was an increase of only 145,000. What became - of the 297,000? They did not go to Manitoba—the census shows that. - “The lamentable truth is that we are growing men for the United States.” - That is, the province is at the cost of raising thousands of citizens up - to a productive age only to lose them by emigration to the United States. - Comparisons are also made with Ohio and Michigan, showing in them a - proportionally greater increase in population, in acres of land under - production, in manufactured products, and in development of mineral - wealth. And yet Ontario has as great natural advantages as these - neighboring States. The observation is also made that in the six years - 1873-79, a period of intense business stringency, the country made - decidedly greater progress than in the six years 1879-85, “a period of - revival and boom, and vast expenditure of public money.” The reader will - bear in mind that the repeal (caused mainly by the increase of Canadian - duties on American products) of the reciprocity treaty in 1866 (under - which an international trade had grown to $70,000,000 annually) - discouraged any annexation sentiment that may have existed, aided the - scheme of confederation, and seemed greatly to stimulate Canadian - manufactures, and the growth of interior and exterior commerce. - </p> - <p> - We touch here not only political questions active in Canada, but economic - problems affecting both Canada and the United States. It is the criticism - of the Liberals upon the “development” policy, the protective tariff, the - subsidy policy of the Liberal-Conservative party now in power, that a - great show of activity is made without any real progress either in wealth - or population. To put it in a word, the Liberals want unrestricted trade - with the United States, with England, or with the world—preferably - with the United States. If this caused separation from England they would - accept the consequences with composure, but they vehemently deny that they - in any way favor annexation because they desire free-trade. Pointing to - the more rapid growth of the States of the Union their advantage is said - to consist in having free exchange of commodities with sixty millions of - people, spread over a continent. - </p> - <p> - As a matter of fact it seems plain that Ontario would benefit and have a - better development by sharing in this large circulation and exchange. - Would the State of New York be injured by the prosperity of Ontario? - </p> - <p> - Is it not benefited by the prosperity of its other neighbor, Pennsylvania? - </p> - <p> - Toronto represents Ontario. It is its monetary, intellectual, educational - centre, and I may add that here, more than anywhere else in Canada, the - visitor is conscious of the complicated energy of a very vigorous - civilization. The city itself has grown rapidly—an increase from - 86,415 in 1881 to probably 170,000 in 1888—and it is growing as - rapidly as any city on the continent, according to the indications of - building, manufacturing, railway building, and the visible stir of - enterprise. It is a very handsome and agreeable city, pleasant for one - reason, because it covers a large area, and gives space for the display of - its fine buildings. I noticed especially the effect of noble churches, - occupying a square—ample grounds that give dignity to the house of - God. It extends along the lake about six miles, and runs back about as - far, laid out with regularity, and with the general effect of being level, - but the outskirts have a good deal of irregularity and picturesqueness. It - has many broad, handsome streets and several fine parks; High Park on the - west is extensive, the University grounds (or Queen’s Park) are beautiful—the - new and imposing Parliament Buildings are being erected in a part of its - domain ceded for the purpose; and the Island Park, the irregular strip of - an island lying in front of the city, suggests the Lido of Venice. I - cannot pause upon details, but the town has an air of elegance, of - solidity, of prosperity. The well-filled streets present an aspect of - great business animation, which is seen also in the shops, the newspapers, - the clubs. It is a place of social activity as well, of animation, of - hospitality. - </p> - <p> - There are a few delightful old houses, which date back to the New England - loyalists, and give a certain flavor to the town. - </p> - <p> - If I were to make an accurate picture of Toronto it would appear as one of - the most orderly, well-governed, moral, highly civilized towns on the - continent—in fact, almost unique in the active elements of a high - Christian civilization. The notable fact is that the concentration here of - business enterprise is equalled by the concentration of religious and - educational activity. - </p> - <p> - The Christian religion is fundamental in the educational system. In this - province the public schools are Protestant, the separate schools Roman - Catholic, and the Bible has never been driven from the schools. The result - as to positive and not passive religious instruction has not been arrived - at without agitation. The mandatory regulations of the provincial Assembly - are these: Every public and high school shall be opened daily with the - Lord’s Prayer, and closed with the reading of the Scriptures and the - Lord’s Prayer, or the prayer authorized by the Department of Education. - The Scriptures shall be read daily and systematically, without comment or - explanation. No pupil shall be required to take part in any religious - exercise objected to by parent or guardian, and an interval is given for - children of Roman Catholics to withdraw. A volume of Scripture selections - made up by clergymen of the various denominations or the Bible may be - used, in the discretion of the trustees, who may also order the repeating - of the ten commandments in the school at least once a week. Clergymen of - any denomination, or their authorized representatives, shall have the - right to give religions instruction to pupils of their denomination in the - school-house at least once a week. The historical portions of the Bible - are given with more fulness than the others. Each lesson contains a - continuous selection. The denominational rights of the pupils are - respected, because the Scripture must be read without comment or - explanation. The State thus discharges its duty without prejudice to any - sect, but recognizes the truth that ethical and religious instruction is - as necessary in life as any other. - </p> - <p> - I am not able to collate the statistics to show the effect of this upon - public morals. I can only testify to the general healthful tone. The - schools of Toronto are excellent and comprehensive; the kindergarten is a - part of the system, and the law avoids the difficulty experienced in St. - Louis about spending money on children under the school age of six by - making the kindergarten age three. There is also a school for strays and - truants, under private auspices as yet, which reinforces the public - schools in an important manner, and an industrial school of promise, on - the cottage system, for neglected boys. The heads of educational - departments whom I met were Christian men. - </p> - <p> - I sat one day with the police-magistrate, and saw something of the - workings of the Police Department. The chief of police is a gentleman. So - far as I could see there was a distinct moral intention in the - administration. There are special policemen of high character, with - discretionary powers, who seek to prevent crime, to reconcile differences, - to suppress vice, to do justice on the side of the erring as well as on - the side of the law. The central prison (all offenders sentenced for more - than two years go to a Dominion penitentiary) is a well-ordered jail, - without any special reformatory features. I cannot even mention the - courts, the institutions of charity and reform, except to say that they - all show vigorous moral action and sentiment in the community. - </p> - <p> - The city, though spread over such a large area, permits no horse-cars to - run on Sunday. There are no saloons open on Sunday; there are no - beer-gardens or places of entertainment in the suburbs, and no Sunday - newspapers. It is believed that the effect of not running the cars on - Sunday has been to scatter excellent churches all over the city, so that - every small section has good churches. Certainly they are well - distributed. They are large and fine architecturally; they are well filled - on Sunday; the clergymen are able, and the salaries are considered - liberal. If I may believe the reports and my limited observation, the city - is as active religiously as it is in matters of education. And I do not - see that this interferes with an agreeable social life, with a marked - tendency of the women to beauty and to taste in dress. The tone of public - and private life impresses a stranger as exceptionally good. The police is - free from political influence, being under a commission of three, two of - whom are life magistrates, and the mayor. - </p> - <p> - The free-library system of the whole province is good. Toronto has an - excellent and most intelligently arranged free public library of about - 50,000 volumes. The library trustees make an estimate yearly of the money - necessary, and this, under the law, must be voted by the city council. The - Dominion Government still imposes a duty on books purchased for the - library outside of Canada. - </p> - <p> - The educational work of Ontario is nobly crowned by the University of - Toronto, though it is in no sense a State institution. It is well endowed, - and has a fine estate. The central building is dignified and an altogether - noble piece of architecture, worthy to stand in its beautiful park. It has - a university organization, with a college inside of it, a school of - practical science, and affiliated divinity schools of several - denominations, including the Roman Catholic. There are fine museums and - libraries, and it is altogether well equipped and endowed, and under the - presidency of Dr. Daniel Wilson, the venerable ethnologist, it is a great - force in Canada. The students and officers wear the cap and gown, and the - establishment has altogether a scholastic air. Indeed, this tradition and - equipment—which in a sense pervades all life and politics in Canada—has - much to do with keeping up the British connection. The conservation of the - past is stronger than with us. - </p> - <p> - A hundred matters touching our relations with Canada press for mention. I - must not omit the labor organizations. These are in affiliation with those - in the United States, and most of them are international. The plumbers, - the bricklayers, the stone-masons and stone-cutters, the Typographical - Union, the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, the wood-carvers, the - Knights of Labor, are affiliated; there is a branch of the Brotherhood of - Locomotive Engineers in Canada; the railway conductors, with delegates - from all our States, held their conference in Toronto last summer. The - Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners is a British association, - with headquarters in Manchester, but it has an executive committee in New - York, with which all the Canadian and American societies communicate, and - it sustains a periodical in New York. The Society of Amalgamated Engine - Builders has its office in London, but there is an American branch, with - which all the Canadian societies work in harmony. The Cigar-makers’ Union - is American, but a strike of cigar-makers in Toronto was supported by the - American; so with the plumbers. It may be said generally that the - societies each side the line will sustain each other. The trade - organizations are also taken up by women, and these all affiliate with the - United States. When a “National” union affiliates with one on the other - side, the name is changed to “International.” This union and interchange - draws the laborers of both nations closer together. From my best - information, and notwithstanding the denial of some politicians, the - Canadian unions have love and sympathy for and with America. And this - feeling must be reckoned with in speaking of the tendency to annexation. - The present much-respected mayor of Toronto is a trade-unionist, and has a - seat in the local parliament as a Conservative; he was once arrested for - picketing, or some such trade-union performance. I should not say that the - trades-unions are in favor of annexation, but they are not afraid to - discuss it. There is in Toronto a society of a hundred young men, the - greater part of whom are of the artisan class, who meet to discuss - questions of economy and politics. One of their subjects was Canadian - independence. I am told that there is among young men a considerable - desire for independence, accompanied with a determination to be on the - best terms with the United States, and that as between a connection with - Great Britain and the United States, they would prefer the latter. In my - own observation the determination to be on good terms with the United - States is general in Canada; the desire for independence is not. - </p> - <p> - The frequency of the question, “What do you think of the future of - Canada?” shows that it is an open question. Undeniably the confederation, - which seems to me rather a creation than a growth, works very well, and - under it Canada has steadily risen in the consideration of the world and - in the development of the sentiment of nationality. But there are many - points unadjusted in the federal and provincial relations; more power is - desired on one side, more local autonomy on the other. The federal right - of disallowance of local legislation is resisted. The stated distribution - of federal money to the provinces is an anomaly which we could not - reconcile with the public spirit and dignity of the States, nor recognize - as a proper function of the Government. The habit of the provinces of - asking aid from the central government in emergencies, and getting it, - does not cultivate self-reliance, and the grant of aid by the Federal - Government, in order to allay dissatisfaction, must be a growing - embarrassment. The French privileges in regard to laws, language, and - religion make an insoluble core in the heart of the confederacy, and form - a compact mass which can be wielded for political purposes. This element, - dominant in the province of Quebec, is aggressive. I have read many - alarmist articles, both in Canadian and English periodicals, as to the - danger of this to the rights of Protestant communities. I lay no present - stress upon the expression of the belief by intelligent men that - Protestant communities might some time be driven to the shelter of the - wider toleration of the United States. No doubt much feeling is involved. - I am only reporting a state of mind which is of public notoriety; and I - will add that men equally intelligent say that all this fear is idle; - that, for instance, the French increase in Ontario means nothing, only - that the <i>habitant</i> can live on the semisterile Laurentian lands that - others cannot profitably cultivate. - </p> - <p> - In estimating the idea the Canadians have of their future it will not do - to take surface indications. One can go to Canada and get almost any - opinion and tendency he is in search of. Party spirit—though the - newspapers are in every way, as a rule, less sensational than ours—runs - as high and is as deeply bitter as it is with us. Motives are - unwarrantably attributed. It is always to be remembered that the - Opposition criticises the party in power for a policy it might not - essentially change if it came in, and the party in power attributes - designs to the Opposition which it does not entertain: as, for instance, - the Opposition party is not hostile to confederation because it objects to - the “development” policy or to the increase of the federal debt, nor is it - for annexation because it may favor unrestricted trade or even commercial - union. As a general statement it may be said that the Liberal-Conservative - party is a protection party, a “development” party, and leans to a - stronger federal government; that the Liberal party favors freer trade, - would cry halt to debt for the forcing of development, and is jealous of - provincial rights. Even the two parties are not exactly homogeneous. There - are Conservatives who would like legislative union; the Liberals of the - province of Quebec are of one sort, the Liberals of the province of - Ontario are of another, and there are Conservative-Liberals as well as - Radicals. - </p> - <p> - The interests of the maritime provinces are closely associated with those - of New England; popular votes there have often pointed to political as - well as commercial union, but the controlling forces are loyal to the - confederation and to British connection. Manitoba is different in origin, - as I pointed out, and in temper. It considers sharply the benefit to - itself of the federal domination. My own impression is that it would vote - pretty solidly against any present proposition of annexation, but under - the spur of local grievances and the impatience of a growth slower than - expected there is more or less annexation talk, and one newspaper of a - town of six thousand people has advocated it. Whether that is any more - significant than the same course taken by a Quebec newspaper recently - under local irritation about disallowance I do not know. As to - unrestricted trade, Sir John Thompson, the very able Minister of Justice - in Ottawa, said in a recent speech that Canada could not permit her - financial centre to be shifted to Washington and her tariff to be made - there; and in this he not only touched the heart of the difficulty of an - arrangement, but spoke, I believe, the prevailing sentiment of Canada. - </p> - <p> - As to the future, I believe the choice of a strict conservatism would be, - first, the government as it is; second, independence; third, imperial - federation: annexation never. But imperial federation is generally - regarded as a wholly impracticable scheme. The Liberal would choose, - first, the framework as it is, with modifications; second, independence, - with freer trade; third, trust in Providence, without fear. It will be - noted in all these varieties of predilection that separation from England - is calmly contemplated as a definite possibility, and I have no doubt that - it would be preferred rather than submission to the least loss of the - present autonomy. And I must express the belief that, underlying all other - thought, unexpressed, or, if expressed, vehemently repudiated, is the - idea, widely prevalent, that some time, not now, in the dim future, the - destiny of Canada and the United States will be one. And if one will let - his imagination run a little, he cannot but feel an exultation in the - contemplation of the majestic power and consequence in the world such a - nation would be, bounded by three oceans and the Gulf, united under a - restricted federal head, with free play for the individuality of every - State. If this ever comes to pass, the tendency to it will not be advanced - by threats, by unfriendly legislation, by attempts at conquest. The - Canadians are as high-spirited as we are. Any sort of union that is of the - least value could only come by free action of the Canadian people, in a - growth of business interests undisturbed by hostile sentiment. And there - could be no greater calamity to Canada, to the United States, to the - English-speaking interest in the world, than a collision. Nothing is to be - more dreaded for its effect upon the morals of the people of the United - States than any war with any taint of conquest in it. - </p> - <p> - There is, no doubt, with many, an honest preference for the colonial - condition. I have heard this said: - </p> - <p> - “We have the best government in the world, a responsible government, with - entire local freedom. England exercises no sort of control; we are as free - as a nation can he. We have in the representative of the Crown a certain - conservative tradition, and it only costs us ten thousand pounds a year. - We are free, we have little expense, and if we get into any difficulty - there is the mighty power of Great Britain behind us!” It is as if one - should say in life, I have no responsibilities; I have a protector. - Perhaps as a “rebel,” I am unable to enter into the colonial state of - mind. But the boy is never a man so long as he is dependent. There was - never a nation great until it came to the knowledge that it had nowhere in - the world to go for help. - </p> - <p> - In Canada to-dav there is a growing feeling for independence; very little, - taking the whole mass, for annexation. Put squarely to a popular vote, it - would make little show in the returns. Among the minor causes of - reluctance to a union are distrust of the Government of the United States, - coupled with the undoubted belief that Canada has the better government; - dislike of our quadrennial elections; the want of a system of civil - service, with all the turmoil of our constant official overturning; - dislike of our sensational and irresponsible journalism, tending so often - to recklessness; and dislike also, very likely, of the very assertive - spirit which has made us so rapidly subdue our continental possessions. - </p> - <p> - But if one would forecast the future of Canada, he needs to take a wider - view than personal preferences or the agitations of local parties. The - railway development, the Canadian Pacific alone, has changed within five - years the prospects of the political situation. It has brought together - the widely separated provinces, and has given a new impulse to the - sentiment of nationality. It has produced a sort of unity which no Act of - Parliament could ever create. But it has done more than this: it has - changed the relation of England to Canada. The Dominion is felt to be a - much more important part of the British Empire than it was ten years ago, - and in England within less than ten years there has been a revolution in - colonial policy. With a line of fast steamers from the British Islands to - Halifax, with lines of fast steamers from Vancouver to Yokohama, - Hong-Kong, and Australia, with an all rail transit, within British limits, - through an empire of magnificent capacities, offering homes for any - possible British overflow, will England regard Canada as a weakness? It is - true that on this continent the day of dynasties is over, and that the - people will determine their own place. But there are great commercial - forces at work that cannot be ignored, which seem strong enough to keep - Canada for a long time on her present line of development in a British - connection. - </p> - <h3> - THE END. - </h3> - <div style="height: 6em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Studies in The South and West, With -Comments on Canada, by Charles Dudley Warner - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN THE SOUTH *** - -***** This file should be named 52290-h.htm or 52290-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/2/9/52290/ - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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