14 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



but also of the fact that the settlement reached away back to 

 the beginnings of the Puritan Commonwealth, two hundred 

 and seventy-three years, and had been a typical settlement 

 of many in Massachusetts from that day to this. And I 

 found that, although at the present day most of the territory 

 is occupied by those who have come there attracted by the 

 charms which nature has bestowed upon the town , and those 

 who have come there that they may have a beautiful place 

 where they may spend their summers, nevertheless, the 

 residents are more proud of the fact that Swampscott owed 

 its fame to its early history as a fishing settlement. The 

 fishing industries of Massachusetts were perhaps her first 

 great industries. But we owe the fishing industries of 

 Massachusetts largfelv to the fact that Massachusetts was 

 composed of rock and sand. There were no mines, no 

 precious metals. There was not an opportunity for bounti- 

 ful crops, and the people, in order to obtain a living, were 

 driven into the sea. As a result of their struggles with the 

 great deep, they developed the character which made the 

 foundation of the enterprising, industrious and courageous 

 people of ]Massachusetts to-day. They dragged out their 

 livelihood from the sea. They did more, — they brought 

 wealth out of the sea, with all the comforts which wealth 

 can bring. 



I recently had my attention called to a bulletin issued by 

 the United States government, — a census bulletin of the 

 manufactures of Massachusetts. Any one who had stood on 

 these shores two hundred 3^ears ago would never have thought 

 that this small territory could become prominent in the 

 world as a manufacturing^ centre. There were no raw 

 materials here. There were no gold mines in which they 

 could invest or from which raw materials could be developed. 

 There were the rocks and sands. But in order to develop 

 the State in respect to its natural resources, it was rendered 

 necessary for the people to become industrious, enterprising, 

 courageous ; and, because of that necessity, in the course of 

 generations they have developed in such a way, as we have 

 seen, that the resources of the State have brought them 

 wealth and prosperity. 



