that our enterprise has not proved a profitable one in a pecuniary sense thus far, and while we never expect to "get rich" from its results, we have strong gound for hope that the intelligent people of New Hampshire will yet accord us the encouragement, which, with our own continued efforts, shall make it a substantial success.
In the recent sad and startling death of John E. Lyon, President of the Boston, Concord & Montreal and White Mts. Railroad, the people of New Hampshire have sustained a great and irreparable loss. Certainly no other man, in the past quarter of a century, did so much as the deceased railroad manager to develop the resources and advance the material interests of the State; and, though laboring primarily for the benefit of the corporation of which he was the official head, he is justly entitled to be regarded as a public benefactor.
If the State Agricultural College must be given up as a practical failure (which some are not yet ready to admit), it is certainly to be hoped that the State Normal School will not be allowed to follow in its wake. But the latter can only be maintained by a liberal policy as well as by a careful and judicious guardianship on the part of the State. The policy of "doing things by halves" is a mistaken one in public as well as private affairs, and certainly an institution of this kind should not be left to take care of itself. It should have a generous support and careful supervision at the hands of the State so long as it remains a public institution.
So far as heard from the census taken by the selectmen and assessors of the various towns and cities of the State, in accordance with the suggestion of Governor Prescott, indicates a large increase over the population shown by the census of 1870, in many places, and there can be no question but that a considerable increase for the entire State will appear. The town of Littleton shows an increase of about three hundred, Claremont five hundred, Newport about the same in proportion, and many others a similar increase. Of course in some of the "back towns" and rural districts, remote from the business and manufacturing centres and railroad facilities, there has been a decrease, but it is not at all likely that it will equal the increase shown in the larger towns and villages. We may add in this connection that the prospect is that the next ten years will show an increase rather than decrease of population in the country towns. The tide is turning, and the surplus population of the overcrowded manufacturing towns has already begun to find the way back to the deserted farms where there is ample opportunity for healthy and fairly remunerative labor.
