USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume II > Part 14
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permanently established in 1885, it endorsed the college at Storrs. The Masters of the state Grange objected to the fact that entrance require- ments at Yale were such as to bar Connecticut farm boys from entrance and led the fight against classical education in general. The opposition to Yale was brought to a head in 1887 by the passage of the Hatch Act by the national government. This increased the annual grant of the Federal government to $15,000. Yale was foiled in its attempt to secure the whole of the amount for the experiment station when it was agreed to grant half of the amount to the station and half to Storrs. The grant awakened interest in the possibility of establishing a land grant college in which case the grant could increase to $25,000 a year. This prompted the Assembly to vote to transfer the whole of the government funds to Storrs. Yale was unwilling to forego this largess and secured a restrain- ing order denying Storrs the use of the money. Under a final settlement, reached in 1893, Yale was granted damages of $154,604, but the last ties of Yale to the state were servered as Yale ceased to accept state nomi- nated students.72 The basis was finally being laid for an agricultural college.
The farmer, however, continued to be beset by a decline in his relative economic position. The farm cooperatives, which had early been envisaged as a possible partial answer to the farmer's problems failed. On occasion, the farm clubs had purchased articles, such as seed and fruit trees, cooperatively, and, in 1879, the Secretary of the state Board of Agriculture pointed to the purchase of farm implements and machinery as legitimate fields of cooperation.73 These efforts had re- sulted in scant success. When the first state Grange was organized in Danbury in 1875, its members resolved not to carry on a war with pri- vate or public corporations, but they invited wholesale dealers in articles of general use and consumption to correspond with their chapters in regard to the supply of needed supplies.74 Although potentially the Grange, as was recognized by individuals, could have controlled the crop and the prices of agricultural products if every farmer were a member, if the Masters of every state Grange met monthly and achieved as complete an organization as that of the manufacturers,75 the Grange actually was torn by divisive forces before the end of the century. The Grange never proved very successful in securing cooperation.76
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(Courtesy Conn. State Lib.)
MIDDLEFIELD-JOHN LYMAN ORCHARDS
In contrast to other sections of the country, the Connecticut Grange never assumed the status of a distinct political party. A factor in the explanation of this difference may have been the conservatism of Connecticut's rural population. Also, the dichotomy between the in- terests of the farmer and the industrialist was less great in Connecticut than elsewhere. Freight rates, for example, were not so high in the state.77 Then, too, some of the farmers of Connecticut had invested in industrial stocks. Agricultural leaders, during the Populist uprisings of
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the 1890's denounced politicians who referred to the farmers as a class and warned inevitably, if such a class were to develop, it would con- stitute a peasantry, at least in the minds of the urban populace.78
It is not apparent that the Connecticut farmer actively assumed personal or collective responsibility for the maintenance of the agrarian sphere of interest within the new society dominated by finance and oriented to industry. In the absence of concrete proposals pushed to fruition, it is difficult to distinguish the immediate practical benefits derived from farmers' organizations. There is little question that the fraternal and social gatherings, the intellectual discussions, and the for- mal education made an ultimate contribution. In the nineteenth cen- tury, the course of the adaptation of Connecticut agriculture to the needs of the time seems to have been determined more by force of cir- cumstance than by force of intellect, the will to cooperate, or the im- pulse to political action.
Modification was forced, nonetheless, upon the agricultural pro- duction of the state. The character of the Connecticut dairy industry, for example, changed. The cheese and butter industry had moved west as western lands were opened. The production of cheese had decreased from almost 4,000,000 pounds in 1850 to slightly over 100,000 pounds in 1890, and butter production had been cut in half.79 Yet, as the popu- lation of the cities continued to increase, the Connecticut farmer found an ever increasing market for fresh milk. Whereas in 1860, practically no fresh milk was sold, by 1890 almost 60 million gallons were sold.80 To meet this demand, dairy herds, which had consisted largely of the Ayrshire, Guernseys, and Jerseys, were supplemented by the more pro- ductive Holstein.81 There were four inventions which contributed sig- nificantly to making the expansion of milk production possible. These were the silo, which gave a supply of green feed throughout the winter; the milking machine and the corn harvester, which reduced the labor requirement; and the Babcock test, which enabled a determination of the amount of butter fat in milk.82 The pattern of the Connecticut dairy industry had been fashioned. After 1900, about three-fourths of all the milk produced in the state was sold fresh, and it became the only profitable branch of the industry. The shipping stations for fresh milk replaced the creamery, and the Connecticut Dairymen's Associa-
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(Courtesy Conn. State Lib.)
ROXBURY-VILLAGE SCENE
tion, organized in 1889, replaced the cooperative creameries, which had been an early phase of the agricultural cooperatives organized 20 years previously.83
Further evidence of Connecticut's adjustment to the demands of the cities and western competition is found in the expansion of truck farming, fruit growing, and egg production. The perishable products of the farm and garden offered lucrative profits.84 Until 1885, New Eng- land supplied the New York market, practically without competition
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from the Southern states.85 The value of vegetables and small fruits, such as strawberries, sold in the state increased from $385,000 in 1879 to approximately $1,250,000 in 1899.86 During the same period, orchard products increased from a total dollar volume of $456,246 in 1879 to over a million dollars in 1899.87 Reports on egg production were not recorded until 1880, but during the last twenty years of the century, the sales increased from 5,209,061 to almost 8,000,000 dozen in 1899.88
In tobacco cultivation, there was a transition from outdoor to shadegrown which established a cash crop during the decades to come and which ultimately illustrated an application of industrial techniques to an agricultural process. The "shoestring tobacco," grown since colo- nial times in limited quantities, had been replaced in the third decade of the nineteenth century by the broadleaf strain which was better suited to cigar making. Production of this tobacco reached a peak in 1880 when over 14,000,000 pounds were produced. This excessive pro- duction and the importation of the finer, lighter Sumatra strain severely imperiled the Connecticut industry.89 A tariff of 75 cents a pound was levied in 1885 and raised to two dollars a pound in 1890. Even so, the United States was sending from five to six million dollars yearly to Sumatra for cigar leaf tobacco.30 The Connecticut Agricultural Experi- ment Station apparently experimented with the growing of shade to- bacco as early as 1890, but the results were not wholly satisfactory.91 When the United States Department of Agriculture developed a strain comparable to the Sumatra, soil tests were made in the Connecticut Valley in 1899. In cooperation with the Connecticut Agricultural Ex- periment Station, one-third of an acre of the new strain was grown under a shed. The next year, 13 farmers in the Valley planted a total of 41 acres.92 The experiment proved a success, although the market seemed uncertain in the beginning. Production increased gradually after 1902, and shade grown tobacco was to become a major item in the gross agricultural product of the state.93
In consequence of the new relationship of agriculture to the rest of the state's economy and of the new specialization of agricultural pro- duction there was a reduction in both the total number of acres under cultivation and the average size of the small farm. The abandoned farm was a most obvious adjustment to the new industrialization. As the term
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was used at the time and as accepted by Professor Shannon, it referred to land formerly maintained and cultivated, but no longer occupied and falling into decay.94 In the years from 1860 to 1900, farm acreage was reduced only slightly from 2,504,204 to 2,312,088 acres. However, in 1860, only 26.9 percent of the land was identified as unimproved, while in 1900, 54 percent fell into this classification. While farm acreage declined and improved farm land was reduced even more, the number of farms increased from 25,180 to 26,948. Also, this increase in the number of farms came even though the number of farms of over 1,000 acres increased from 39 to 187. Thus, not only was the average size of the farm decreased, but, with the farms of over 1,000 acres eliminated from each calculation, the size of the small farm fell even more sharply. It may be in part that the nature of the new specialization operated to cause more intensive farming of smaller areas. The extent to which the small farms were cultivated only to the extent necessary for the family's subsistence rather than in an attempt to produce surpluses is not evi- dent. That some of the land was being held for speculative purposes is suggested by the increase in the number of large tracts. Although in fact many acres of New England farm land had been made unproduc- tive through mismanagement, others should have been abandoned. It was reported, for example, that one farm was so full of rocks and boul- ders that it was doubtful if a continuous furrow of five feet in length could be turned. While theoreticians lamented the baneful effects of the abandoned farm, others viewed it as a blessing that state citizens were "not compelled to wrestle with her rocky hillside and worn out fields."96 Too, the active farmer understood the advantage of having farm land sold to those who would not till it rather than to be con- tinued or reclaimed for competitive production.97 In addition to specu- lators, a number of professional and business people purchased farms for dwellings to escape the noise and bustle of the city and let the land lie fallow. The turnover of this land was relatively high as successive generations of urban dwellers were lured by the picturesqueness of Connecticut hillsides, then tired of coping with the distances from schools or lack of cultural opportunities, and retreated to the conveni- ences of the city.98
An additional factor in the adjustment of all facets of economic
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT
activity to the growing power of wealth and industry was the number of immigrants who settled within Connecticut borders. These immi- grants brought skills and manpower for the rapidly expanding indus- tries, settled abandoned farm lands, and supplemented the population of the state at a time when the native stock was being attracted to the greater opportunities believed to exist in Western America. The immi- grants became pawns in the contests for political control and dupes of unprincipled employers. As they filled the cities and took up their homesteads, the cultural homogeneity of the Yankee community was altered significantly and its racial homogeneity destroyed.
The population of the state almost doubled in the years after the American Civil War, and its composition changed drastically.99 In 1860 the state's residents numbered 460,147; in 1870, 537,454; and in 1900, over 900,000.100 As late as 1850, 87 percent of the population was native born. This percentage was reduced by 1879 to approximately 79 per- cent and by the end of the century to 74 percent. The foreign born totaled 238,210 and included more than 30 nationalities.101 The native born included, of course, a number born of foreign parents. A more accurate index to the diversification of the Connecticut population is suggested in the more than 500,000, or 45 percent, of the residents of the state, who had at least one parent of foreign birth.102 The influx of these aliens has been explained in part by the practice of American in- dustries of contracting for laborers from foreign countries and of im- porting them to this country to provide the needed labor supply and to keep down labor costs.103
The agency which, presumably, was to perform this service, the American Emigrant Company, emerged from two separate organiza- tions with identifiable Connecticut representation. A group of Hart- ford business men had organized, in 1863, a company to encourage im- migration, primarily with a view of disposing of the company's Iowa lands. By their business, social, and political connections, however, they were closely connected to the iron and hardware manufacturers. such as Russell and Erwin of New Britain, who were then seeking to raise funds for the stimulation of immigration. The two groups combined their efforts under the name of the American Emigrant Company and se- cured the signatures of 185 manufacturers, including 72 from Hartford,
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(Courtesy Conn. State Lib.)
MANCHESTER-SHOWING WIDE MAIN STREET
urging the government to appropriate funds for the encouragement of immigration.104
The law passed by Congress in 1864 fell far short of the hopes of its proponents. The manufacturers, who had scaled their original re- quest to the government from three millions to one million secured only $25,000 for the administrative expenses for an Office of a Com- missioner of Immigration and for an United States Immigration Officer in the Port of New York. Congress rejected all proposals to assist in pay-
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ing for passages by government funds. The bill did, however, validate such labor contracts in the courts and provided that unfilled contracts could serve as a lien upon future land acquired by the immigrant.105
This was not sufficient support to assure the success of the Ameri- can Emigrant Company. It was quickly learned that the new immigrant was much more likely to leave his employment for a more favorable job than he was to take up western lands. The lien upon the land, therefore, was held to be insufficient security against violation of a contract by an immigrant.106 Although the Connecticut Assembly extended to em- ployers the power to enforce their contracts through Connecticut courts, the United States Congress rejected repeated efforts for legis- lation which would authorize the impounding of wages to enforce the contract.107 The Company was rebuffed for one reason or another in Europe, but was apparently successful "in bringing out a large number of Scandinavians under its care." As stories drifted back to Sweden of the disappointments of those who failed to find jobs in America, would-be immigrants were warned that they could not depend upon the Company. When business slackened in the post-war period, the need for immigrant workers lessened and the Act to Encourage Immigration was repealed.108 Charlotte Erickson, in a careful analysis of American industry and the immigrant, concludes that "contract labor was rare in America during the years after the Civil War, and never reached the proportion claimed by the advocates of a law against its importation."109 There were others, however, such as the steamship companies, the rail- roads, the commission men, and, on occasion, the consular representa- tives in the several countries, who advertised the opportunities in America. Sometimes, too, business relationships, such as those between the cutlery interests in Connecticut and in Sheffield or those between the textile mills of New England and of Lancashire, operated to en- courage immigration to America. These contributed to the continuous flow of immigrants who swelled the numbers of those of foreign birth who had come to reside in Connecticut before the Civil War.
The Irish, who were already numerous before the Civil War, re- mained the largest alien element in Connecticut's population during the remainder of the century. During the last three decades of the cen- tury, approximately 70,000 foreign born Irish in the state. They
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flocked to the burgeoning urban centers to fill the industrial jobs avail- able there.110 Not only were they the largest element among the foreign born, but also they constituted a substantial proportion of the total population in the five largest cities. At the end of the century, they rep- resented 13 percent of the total population in Waterbury, 10 percent in Hartford, 10 percent in New Haven, eight percent in Bridgeport, and seven percent in New Britain.111 This numerical strength did not op- erate to accelerate their acceptance of the Connecticut Yankee or his acceptance of them.
The Irish were long the most disliked of the immigrant groups. Their adjustment was made more complex by the demands of industry and by the need they felt to preserve Catholicism against the onslaughts of Protestantism.112 Their schools, churches, and convents aroused much suspicion and accusations that they contributed more than their share of criminals were frequent.113 Subsequently in their relations with other aliens, they occupied a paradoxical position. On the one hand they assisted the new immigrants in adjustment to America, impressing upon the new immigrant the Irish conception of American life. The Irish foreman, the Irish schoolteacher, the Irish politician, and the Irish priest had great influence on first and second generations of Southern Europeans, and the assumption by the Irish of leadership in the Roman Catholic Church cannot be overemphasized. On the other hand, on oc- casions the Irish were the oppressors of the newcomers, as in their at- tack on the Jews of Stamford.114
By the end of the century, the process of the assimilation of the Irish had begun. There were only 4,919 persons in Connecticut in 1880 with Irish fathers and native mothers while there were 82,952 whose parents were both Irish.115 The number of persons in the state with native mothers and Irish fathers had increased to 14,483 by 1900 and those with both parents of Irish descent had decreased to 72,774.116 Despite this, the Irish exercised pressure on Connecticut culture only in the field of politics where their numbers enabled them to exercise some influence. As they sought to make the adjustments to the demands of industry and as members of the laboring class, they usually became identified with the Democratic Party. Often they were the victims of unfulfilled pledges,117 but ultimately it was through their exercise of
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the franchise that they and other immigrants influenced Connecticut life.
Other English speaking peoples came in large numbers in the years immediately following the war. The foreign born English in the state increased to approximately 13,000 by 1870 and by 1900 reached about 22,000, a level which was maintained throughout the first decade of the twentieth century. Over 3,000 Scotsmen lived in Connecticut in 1870, and by 1900 their numbers increased to over 6,000. These peoples were fairly evenly divided between the cities and the small towns and the urban dwellers were evenly distributed among the large cities. English and Scottish immigrants fitted more easily into the Yankee culture: they faced no language barrier and their religion did not arouse suspicion.118
Concurrently with the English immigrants, the French Canadians began entering the state in large numbers in the years immediately after the Civil War. The volume of the migration varied with economic conditions, dropping off during the six years of stagnation following 1873.119 The flow was again resumed with the improvement of economic conditions in 1879 and reached a high point in 1890-91.120 By 1900 there were 37,000 persons of French Canadian parentage. They shunned the larger cities and flocked to the textile mills of Eastern Connecticut, drawn by the need of the mills and by the persuasiveness of recruiting agents. The French Canadian gradually replaced the English and the Irish, who a few years before had supplanted the native workmen, in the more skilled activities of the textile industry.121 By the end of the century, more than 7,500 foreign born French Canadians, or 40 percent of the total in the state, were concentrated in Windham County.122 At first this group had come as migratory workers, appearing when there were job opportunities and returning home when there were not. The textile mills employed women and children as well as men and en- couraged the migration of family units. The migrant workers were transformed into permanent residents of Connecticut.123
In the midst of a Yankee dominated culture, the French Canadians maintained century-old folkways. They brought to Connecticut the same sense of nationalism which had enabled them to forestall the Anglo-Canadians. The French Canadian established Catholic churches, imported priests trained in Canada, organized French clubs, and at-
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tempted to preserve the French language. The last was perhaps the greatest deterrent to Americanization and apparently became both rea- son and excuse for ignoring such laws as those requiring school attend-
(Courtesy Mills Coll., Conn. State Lib.)
UNIONVILLE-RICHARDS' BRIDGE OVER FARMINGTON RIVER. BUILT IN 1895, IT WAS WASHED OUT IN FLOOD OF AUGUST 19, 1955
ance. Since there was much employment of French Canadian children in the mills, school laws were printed in French and widely circu- lated and posted in factories.124 In Putnam a French speaking teacher was employed for the benefit of this immigrant group.125 Gradually the French Canadians developed a new kind of nationalism, which, Profes- sor Hansen suggests, was tinged with Americanism. It seemed motivated by the desire of this minority to gain recognition.126
The only other group which came to Connecticut in significant
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numbers before 1880 was the German. Compulsory military duty, rising taxes, and crop failures were among the conditions at home which mo- tivated the Germans to leave. By 1870 more than 12,000 foreign born Germans resided in Connecticut.127 There was a noticeable slackening of this immigration following the Panic of 1873, and the fact that many returned to Germany at this time evoked some caustic criticism.128 After the depression, the influx again increased until by 1900 there were almost 32,000 foreign born Germans in the state. Approximately one- third of these were located in the five largest cities of the state. The re- mainder was rather evenly distributed throughout the rest of the state.129
Except for the problem of language, the Germans easily became a part of the Connecticut scene. They were generally well off when they came, and included, perhaps, a larger proportion of skilled and profes- sional men than did other immigrant groups. The German immigrant was described as reliable, philosophical, patient, and desiring "to possess a home and a family, to master some minute mechanical or technical detail, and to take his leisure and his amusements in his own customary way."130 Efforts to alleviate the language difficulty were made by estab- lishing language classes in the schools of the larger cities.131 The Ger- mans, perhaps, to a greater extent than any of the old immigrant groups, with the possible exception of the English, fitted into the needs of the rapidly developing industrial society of Connecticut.132
After 1880 the nationality distribution of immigrants changed. From before the Civil War until 1880, the German, Irish, French Ca- nadian, and English comprised the most numerous of the immigrant groups coming to Connecticut. This earlier pattern of immigration was altered after 1880 first by an influx of Scandinavian, and particularly Swedish, immigrants. The Danes and Norwegians began coming into the state in considerable numbers in the latter part of the seventies. However, by the end of the century, the foreign born of this extraction in the state numbered only 2,000.133 The Swedish immigrants were significantly more numerous. The period of greatest influx occurred be- tween 1880 and 1890. By the latter date, there were approximately 10,000 in the state. Ten years later the number had increased to 16,000. In 1900, approximately half of the Swedish immigrants were located in the five larger cities where they were concentrated in factory work and
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