HO IV NOT 



mit to depredations they could not prevent except 

 by using firearms or maintaining a corps of watch- 

 men. 



No place in America once raised such root crops 

 as Bolton, and no one was without employment who 

 was willing to engage in their cultivation. Their 

 potatoes and onions always found sale in the West 

 Indies, even if not in our own cities. But the in- 

 habitants, almost without exception, united in sup- 

 porting the policy of that political part}^ that has 

 so effectually destroyed American commci;ce and 

 given it to foreigners, until no vessels were fouijd to 

 transport their crops, and a once profitable industry 

 died. The noble harbor no long shelters the craft 

 that brought the people the riches of the tropics in 

 exchange for their productions. The ruined wharves 

 and decaying warehouses tell the story no less 

 plainly than the grass-grown gardens and pastured 

 fields, once models of cultivation and sources of 

 abundance. A few old cultivators still continue 

 their occupation, though it is unprofitable, but they 

 can do nothing else. The young and enterprising 

 have sought employment in other places, and the 

 descendants of some of those who once flourished 

 as the owners of the well tilled grounds, after vainly 

 trying to stem the tide of fate, have become opera- 

 tives in the factories that have been fostered to their 

 cost. If the manufacturers bought what these peo- 

 ple could produce, then they would have less cause 

 of complaint ; but the wealth and tastes of the upper 

 class induce them to get the best from foreign coun- 

 tries, while the poverty of the gardener, operative 

 and farmer compels them to purchase what they 

 can get near at hand. 



Their commerce and allied industries destroyed, 

 the inhabitants thought they would encourage man- 

 ufactures, and, having neither money nor knowledge 

 of such business themselves, they invited others who 

 were willing to invest their skill and capital to come 

 within their borders by allowing them special privi- 

 leges in the way of remission of taxes, etc., thus in- 

 creasing the burden of the resident population, who 

 soon found that in these rich corporations they had 

 masters to whose control they must submit, and 

 whose burdens they must bear. All sorts of ex- 

 penses that conduced to the comfort or profit of 

 these companies were imposed on the town, and 

 no returns were made for the outlay. The new- 

 comers had no use for the old inhabitants, except as 

 taxpayers or laborers. They preferred to introduce 

 a foreign population with all its attendant evils, for 

 they did not live there, and, caring only for what 

 brought profit to themselves, they were utterly re- 

 gardless of the morals, prosperity or appearance of 



TO DO IT. 323 



the town. True, a little more money was at times 

 put into circulation, but it did not get into the pockets 

 of the Americans, and it is doubtful if one family 

 originally in the place is worth a dollar more than it 

 would have been if no outside industries had been 

 attempted there. These are now in a failing condi- 

 tion, and the population is steadily decreasing. 

 Those of the original people who have not already 

 gone from the place look upon their mortgaged 

 grounds and can think of no way of lifting the load. 

 Land that paid a handsome profit in the days of 

 their great grandfathers does not now pay the ex- 

 penses of cultivation, with no market for the crops. 

 They think of Newport, which has flourished under 

 a narrow but discreet policy, and wish their imme- 

 diate predecessors had done more to attract desir- 

 able guests. Once the traveling foreigner visiting 

 America was attracted to this place by its elegant 

 society ; but he cares not to come now to encounter 

 vulgarity. The mild and healthful climate attracted 

 people from many other sections, but now they go 

 elsewhere, seeking places with a better reputation 

 where annoyances will be less, while those who are 

 not so welcome in the surrounding towns resort to 

 this place and become a reproach to it. 



I must maintain that had the original plans and 

 policy of the town been adhered to, it would have 

 retained its old standing and still be sought for its 

 beauty and climate, even more than formerly, in spite 

 of the drawbacks to which society is also subjected 

 in other places. To cite some instances of neglect 

 and maladministration : although the taxes are 

 many times higher than ever before, the roads were 

 never in a worse condition. Good road-building ma- 

 terial is abundant, but drainage is entirely neglected ; 

 gravel and crushed^ stone put on the roadway often 

 form only a dam to obstruct the natural drainage, 

 until the overflowing water, perversely obeying na- 

 ture's law in seeking its level, soon gullies out the 

 roads so as to render them unfit for travel. Per- 

 haps a few loads of gravel are put on to make the 

 places passable, but it is only a question of time 

 when that will again wash away. More money has 

 been spent on these wretched roads than would be 

 needed to macadamize every road in the township. 



The early inhabitants planted trees — elms that 

 now arch over and shade the noble streets, lindens, 

 ashes and other hard-wooded trees — but the few 

 trees planted by this generation are mostly soft- 

 wooded things that when loaded with leaves break 

 in the summer breeze, and cannot, like those planted 

 in earlier days, go on increasing in beauty. If little 

 that is commendable in the way of tree-planting, 

 now occupying so much attention in wide-awake 



