The hydraulic press. (North San Juan, Nev. Co., Cal.) 1858-18??, 1858-12-04
tCommunicated.]
OUR PROCLIVITIES

OUR PROCLIV1TIES.
The lessons of economy and retrench-
ment SO severely taught our extrava-
CANT brethren of the Atlantic States du-
ring the great financial revulsion, may be
studied and practiced advantageously
by thousands of our own mountain prod
igals. Our recklessness has gained us
a very unenviable notoriety; our disso-
lutte habits, intemperance, and gaming
proclivities have become proverbially
characteristic. Nor, at the present time
can We perceive any material diminution
in the prevalent evils which SO grievous-
ly aff1ict and curse us, Notwithstanding
the numberless essays and sermons, sa-
tires and editorials that have flowed
from brains of nearly every calibre till
the subject has become hackney1d and
"familiar in our-ears-as" bar-room
words. Strange it is, but none the less
true, that our deplorable follics and ex-
cesses are in a great measure attribute
BILE to an extreme phase of the Ameri-
canism "Go-ahead-ativeness"- which
slow-plodding industry and economy are
invariable antagonisms. 1t is really
curious and lamentable that a national
trait, the very soul Of our unparalleled
progression, the grand basis Of our pres
ent eminence and prosperity, should be-
come prolific of SO much evil and ruin
when perverted or mis-directed.
But the consequences are palpable
and inevitable. Instead of striving per-
severingly for the rewards of laudable
ambition, we indulge in cratic flights
beyond the pale of legitimate enterprise,
and pursue glittering bubbles and
Will-'o-the-wisps in the realm Of reck-
less hazard and rash speculation. Our
restless and impatient desire for sudden
afluence has become a chronic passion,
amounting in many instances to abso-
lutte infatuation, whereby we are rem
dered deaf to the dictates of common
prudence, deaf to the bitter lessons of
past experiences and the admonishing
tongues Of everyday occurrences. We
must invest and venture it is the ruling
appetite for mental stimulant and ex-
element, and to whose memorable era
wing we are almost as subservient as the
passive victims of opium or alcohol.
We can scarcely hope for much eff
cient government of these wild proclivi-
ties till society becomes consolidated,
till a healthier tone of public sentiment
prevails, till the restraining influence Of
the family circle and of refined female
companionship is more generally felt.
For it is well known that eight-tenths,
at least, of our mountain population are
young unmarried men-sanguine and
adventurous, wanderers from home and
kindred -" waits on the worlds wide
common" Surrounded here with ex-
elements and temptations innumerable
perhaps novel beyond the reach of
parental counsel and influence, and the
condemning voice Of public opinions
it matter Of wonder if they ultimately
yield to the manifold seductions of at
tractive vice, where so few incentives to
live life Of virtue and propriety exist ?
No one can dispute the salutary power
of maternal and sisterly affection and
solicitude. So that to encourage and In
duce family-and especially female
emigration will be far mightier in effect
ing moral change than 9 deluge Of
sermons and prohibitory lsxh Let us
do this; let us earnestly advocate large
increase Of the proper female element,
for thus we shall establish enduring
homes, and secure our transitory, fftful
population, stability, permanence, moral
and material prosperity.
SANS SON.
Tun HVAYvrv N ND 90 AZ