LAND UTILIZATION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE 51 



Many towns have attempted to breach the gap between year-round 

 and summer residents by the promotion of public affairs in which the two 

 groups would be brought into social contact. Cultivation of common in- 

 terest and pride in running town affairs and improving the political and 

 aesthetic values of the local community are matters of mutual concern. 

 The wide geographical distribution of summer and year-round residents 

 in most rural towns in New Hampshire has created considerable identity 

 of civic interests. Representation of summer residents on local planning 

 boards, special community improvement committees, and in the regular 

 democratic deliberations of the citizenry, where undertaken without 

 suspicion on any side, has worked to the advantage of all groups in the 

 community. 



Sharing of common experiences brings opportunities for both mater- 

 ial and nonmaterial benefits. Rural residents could benefit from an ex- 

 posure to elements of urban culture, and at the same time they could 

 contribute an appreciation of rural culture to their summer neighbors 

 from the city. Local residents might expand markets for labor and prod- 

 ucts and achieve greater customer satisfaction by learning to understand 

 the motives and desires of summer residents. 



Local Labor Employment 



Out of a total of 4S4 adult resident males in the three towns, only 

 one-fourth were fully employed (300 days or more) during the year 

 preceding the survey. Nearly the same proportion, although only par- 

 tiallv employed, either were satisfied with present situations or were un- 

 able to do more because of age or physical disability. The remaining half 

 of the adult males were physically able and wanted further work; one- 

 third of this group had been employed less than 6 months, and two-thirds 

 less than 9 months during the previous year. 18 An excess labor supply 

 existed throughout the year in each town, but peak periods of unemploy- 

 ment occurred during the winter. 



The trend in rural areas has been toward greater dependence upon 

 multiple sources of employment, with off-the-farm work assuming an in- 

 creasingly important position compared with farming. As sporadic and 

 temporary labor opportunities have developed, sporadic and unpredict- 

 able periods of unemployment have followed. Problems of adjustment 

 between short-period supplies of and demand for labor have been multi- 

 plied in areas of summer home development. During the summer of 1940, 

 many summer residents emphasized the difficulty of finding laborers for 

 temporary jobs, while year-round residents in the same locality were un- 

 employed and looking for work. 



Some new form of labor clearing-house which will be more sensi- 

 tive to daily or weekly changes in the temporary labor market is needed. 

 Difficulties of communication and transportation and lack of information 

 would hinder the effectiveness of such an agency beyond a town or simi- 

 lar limited functioning area. Persons will not travel far for only a day 



18 On the basis of 25 working days per month. 



