New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-11-06
About the Great West.
JErfERsoNyILLE, Iud Tuesday, Oct !, 1851

About the Great West.
JErFERsONyILLE, Iud Tuesday, Oct ], 1850
To The Editors Of The Tribune:
Western people are, according to the papers,
the greatest folks alive. We are very much in.
terested in the widely different accounts given of
us by Eastern journalists. To-day we read that
the Great West is the noblest part Of creation,
that cities, towns and villages are springing up
rapidly. and without etlort-that wealth flows
northumberland, in short that this is real fairy
land.
Now, we, who have had knocks to bear, trees to
fell logs to roll, and stumps to dig up, know that
in these golden dreams, there is more poetry
than truth. True, wide spread prairies are most
beautiful-their flowers of ten thousand hues
very well to look at and perhaps very far surpass
the famed flower gardens of Oriental princes
but then three yoke Of oxen are needed to "break
up the miserable sod And | assure you this is
q very considerable drawback IRON the romance
Of the matter Our towns and villages do spring
un as BY magic, to those who have not had to
build the houses, grade the streets and "tace the
music in the way OF paying the taxes. In
short. it is great country II man has dimes, or
the energy to go at hard work, and the Sumptlon
to plan successfully.
But. if we are disposed to be fattered by the
descriptions given by some, we have abundant
coolers in the opinions of others. We often lind
the West described by Eastern tourists as the
very land of barbarism. Once in while there
come to this land sundry beings, genus h0ne0, spe-
cies Yankee, who affect most cordial contempt
for every hing Western-they always are ready
TO exclaim, " oh, DEAR this is not the way we did
things in the East These specimens soon be-
come universally despsed and everybody votes
them most decided bores.
By the way, we have no Yankee mills for tue
manufacture of wooden hams and bone ivory
but, nevertheless, we do succeed in doing Yankee.
doodledom most significantly. We send on an
agent-he is the representative OF some portion
OF our Great West-wealthy enough to give
homes TO all the starving milllners IN New-York
and Boston. He is to build these Western men
College, or may be Church. They are album
dainty able to do the work themselves, and so
they would, only they know they can bleed the
Yankees. They send on their agent. He makes
his selection from the thousand and one stories
afoat of Western ignorance, Western destitu
ton and Western poverty bah with long face
doles out these mOpmg facts and appalling truths,
sets all in buzz pockets his thousands, and comes
home Now, if you only knew it, your smooth
tongued agent might say Of or to you as Dick
Dawson said to o Grady's eectioneering agent
" Sir, I've humbugged you-humbugged you, Sir
Sir, you are sod-sold Sir, soLD!" Aye in
deed when you Eastern men are thus induced to
give. you are sold at decided discount
bUC as l KNOW you nave no special lODuneSS IOl
long articles, will close my random 2crlte by
some advice-it comes cheap-tI intend to pay
my postage,) and it may be accepted or not
pcaseth the reader.
We can accommodate few more inhabitants
of the right stamp III this country. Let the young
mechanic toilmg and sweating at killing wages
leave and come here. Let him not stop in our
large cities but go into the country and smaller
towns and throw himself upon the confidence of
the people Let him assume no airs because he
was born in more easterly longitude than We.
This will not be endured. Ii he thinks us fools he
should not tell it. Let him, with modest and in
dependent industry mind his own business, and
will underwrite for his success. Let the thrifty
farmer, who by the Ubiquitous land monopoly has
been all his life a renter, save his earnings two or
three years, and come Westward. There he NAV
secure in fee simple a HOME. This skilltul man.
agement can be most admirably grated upon our
Western protusion. He will be welcome
But we protest-no that is taking it entirely too
serous-more simply then, | advise that man
come w est whose talents cannot support him in
the East, and expect to be great man HI will
be miserably mistaken. We have in every vii
lage some two or three men competent to go to
the Legislature-each county has several aspi-
rants for eight dollars day and constructive mile
age. The day has gone by when we were OBJ
iged to send on East fer college professors, doc
tors, preachers and such like commodities. We
now have lots at home, and whoever sees the
troops OF boys, bnghteyed and merry hearted,
will be convinced that we have lots more naQting.
No. no. Ii YOU are too inferior to succeed ever
there, don come here. II you DO we will put non
clear HroHsh We could tell some amusing sto-
ries Of some OF these as Mr.. W eller would saw.
VERY distinguished individuals, bEt space for
blds-or more properly it is the want Of space that
folbids.
There is one more class that NAV as well stav
where they are and in telling their name I viii
say. shat after al am not sure but the Yankees
pay rs up !or the draws we make upon their ex.
chequer to aid Us IN building colleges. They con
Guide that as there is so much destitutiou wemust
be tad 81 for teachers. Thus concluding they
have boxed and labelled vast number Of ugly.
nervous old maids and sent them out to enlighten
our young ones. Now we have no objection to
good teachers, but such hdeous, old, withered.
vlnegary specimens OF female single. bessedness
we 40 not desire. W c are not so bad oil for old
maids as to be compelled to import. We raise an
abundant supply and then the ugly Permit the
relation OF an lncldent-mRny years ago during
the session OF the Circuit Court in Lexington X
most eariully ugly man was seen daily. He
was always on hand-he was III fact perfectly
hldeous. One Of the lawyers could bear Il M
longer, and SAID TO him w ell you ere the urlissr
WHITE man ever saw The poor bnmDl,fr
burst INTO hearty laugh and said well 49,
help 1t can r. No, answered the soF, ~
Blackstone, No Eou cast help II, bat coaF5ra4
ven you-taQ8 STAT ~ HOME II s5s the ami.
oatjol, eh H01sIER.