Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-01-21
YORKVllLE, S. c.
THURSDAY MORNING, JANUARY 81, 1858.


character CT our merchants and business men,
We revert to this subject for the purpose of furth
er comments The great clements of success in
building up a town, and securing for it n per-
manent trade, is 4 spirit Of enterprise and gene
rous rivalry Where merchants are content to
sell few goods at high per cent, to do what
they call satr busincsS-in short to risk nothing
upon future contingency, they may gradually
grow rich, not from what they make but from
what they save, but 50 far as their neighbors and
the public generally are concerned, they posi-
tive hinlrances They act as refrigerators on the
community and give to all around them the same
plodding and phlegmatic unrrogressiveness. The
oil man in the Arabian tale who was so dextrouS
in adjusting his legs to the necks of all who
rlaccd themselves under his guidance, and who
never removed them until his victim was hunted
down. not inaptly typifes the grinding influence
which q community Of conservative and over-prn'
dent business men have on any enterprise which
REQUIRES activity, boduess and energy for It's sue
cessful accomplishment. So long as his victim
lived and could bear him daily in search of the
luscious fruit, his happiness was complete but he
never estimated the short sghedness Of the policy
which choked to death the too credulous, and LETT
him on his legs again to shift for himself.
From their daily habitulcs of thought, and the
accustomed routine Of life business men (by which
we mean men engaged in some commercial en-
ploymentj seldom originate any enterprise, looE
ing to the benefit Of the community. In their
immediate avocaton their calculations are correct
but in the estimate which they make of collateral
Nissues. Of the effect which q certain innovation
will have upon an old system; Of the influence
which a new discovery in science, or the preva
lence of different grades Of education will exert
over their affars they seldom or never form
correct opinion. To illustrate this, let us sup
nose proposition he submitted to the citizens OF
Yorkrille, for the promotion Of some SPECIFIC en-
terprsc-say. for instance, the endowment OF our
! Female COLLEGE. The first thought that will enter
the head Of every man Of means and ability to
aid in such an undertaking, would be selfish and
in all probability, an incorrect enc. The first
idea would be that everything done would be
git-a gratuitous Offering: and the second, that
some one else should bear the onus; ard the advan-
tages-if any-would be equally reaped by ALL
| those who contributed and those who did not
| These two erroneous and ndinconsderate impressions
like the sword of BREXNrs-would determine
| him TO keep his treasures locked up.
Now if he would venture on more minute and
| comprehensive calculation, he would fall hnaly
into the following legitimate train of rcasonlng.-
The value Of property in and near lorkTiiIe n
mounts. we will say, to 100000. Hourish'ng
institution grounded ona permanent money basis
will enhance the value of this property at least
ten per cent. Suppose that per cent. was given
Immediately to the school. it would place it on
more certain footing, and lay the foundation Of
competent endowment. Supposing the District
bv some strange and wondrous chance, to be
struck with equal generosity and to complete the
endowment. 1t would require forty or fifty thous-
and dollars to make the College independept.-
! This amount, together with the direct profits of
the school would make it a permanent institution
a par,-and an important part-of the town.
| ard consequently of the district. \ school OF one
! hundred students, in the way Of board, tuition,
clothing and voluntary expenses would annually
| disburse in our midst about two hundred dollars
each making in the aggregate S2oVVo. 10
feed this number of ladicsan outlay of five or SIX
thousand dollars in provisions would be necessary.
! This, of course, comes from the country See
the advantage to the farmer.
The presence of so much beauty will give
stimulus to the rotares Of fashion, and incidentally
| cause an expenditure Of some few thousand dol
lars over and above the usual economical outlay.
! The citizens Of the town and district are, Of
course, deeply interested in the prosperity Of the
Railroad. We have no ready method of calcu-
lating the advantages resulting to it directly and
| indirectly, from the increased amount Of travel
! hut, it is considerable. The owners Of Hotels are
likewise benefited r proportion to the increase
! of travel
! Now these are calculations which any one cal
| make for himself, md we venture the assertion
; that they will he found generally correct and if
erroneous, 50 from the fact that We have been too
moderate. But these are not the only, nor the
! greatest advantages which would occur to our
| town and district These bcnefts-considered
onlv in a recuniary point Of view-more than
counter balance the Inconvenience of raising the
proposed fund. But We repeat. they are not the
| greatest. This leads us to consider the general
advantages Of education, and Of the presence of
an educated and literary class, upon any CONF
munity. And il is here that the man of business
calculates most enormously, or rather does not
calculate at all. Madame De SrAELin her admira-
BILE essay on the " Influence of Literature upon
Society" pavs Il beautiful tribute to Letters ms
soIace for the unfortunate, as the friend Of hber
! tv and The elevator Of the social and moral man,
! A work equally as interesting and as profoundly
philoSophic might be written on the economy OF
Letters. Although one effect of the cultivation Of
mind, and the appreciation of the true, the noble
and beautiful sentiments, which commend pure
literature to us is to plant in the soul more gene
rous aspirations, and hreak down the contracted
wall, which ignorance has built around the good
natural impulses Of the heart: yet in proportion
rs the range Of mental vision is enlarged, is the
: mind fitted for those comprehensive schemes,
whether Of business or philanthropy, which dis.
,inruish the - snapper upof unconsidered trihes'
/ tile penny wise-from the bold and successful