Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1861-04-19
What Union County Needs.
THOUGHTS FOR TOWN AND COUNTRY,

Manufacturing, or Commerce, compose
more or less of their business, have
increased 100 and 200 per cent. in
the same period. These communities
have been happy, and have waxed rich
and strong in many respects, all this
time-but much of it has been with at
least comparative loss of patriotic,
physical, and moral elements of pow
er. Farms have been enlarged by the
absorption Of capitalists. The hardy
young and poor-in whose muscles
and brains are the elements of great
est progress, and dormant talents
are forced Westward and elsewhere.
Farming, the noblest and surcst of all
occupations, is measurably neglected,
and trading, mechanics Office hunting,
manufactures, the professions, specul.
ations, or schcmings Of roguery, usurp
its place. Inequality of wealth occa-
sions more social arrangements. To
such regions may the lines Of GOLD.
SMITH apply with point and power
Where weaIth nccumuIat-s, but MEN decay;
Princes and lords may flourish and msy fade
I breath eau break rhrm as breath hath made;
But bod y-omanry. their country pride,
VI hen ouee IT. io.t, eau never bc supplied"
To the citizens of Lewisburg, Chill.
lisquaque, East Buffaloe, Kelly, Buffa.
loe, and the other Townships and Bo.
roughs of Union county, We have to
say few words IN CONFERENCE.-THE
outsiders need not read it unless they
choose to.
By the Census returns, We estimate
that, in the last ten years, Lewisburg
INCREASED I64 in population-while
Chillisquaque DECREASED >, East Buf.
faloe decreased 80, Kelly decreased
80, Butfaloe increased ). and all the
remaining Districts Of Union county
increased 363 only. In other words,
this Borough has gained 100, and the
Boroughs and Townships allied to it
by near business and county relations
gained but Dos in the aggregate
the THIRTEEN Districts not half the
gain Of the ONE! In twenty years,
Lewisburg has more than doubled,
swelling from 1920 to 2116-say II!
per year, or 1900 in all. The other
thirteen Districts referred to-with
1928 population-have but little
more than held their own, (probably
all together have not gained 1900
( We make these comparisons in nc
boasting or censorious spirit, but for
the sake Of drawing the attention ol
all those bound together by neighbor
hood relations and business interests
and acquaintance, to few
Practical Reflections.
The interests Of Town and Coun
try are ONE. 1t is true that Com
merce, Manufactures, or Mining may
sustain a village or city in the mids,
of a sparse population or barren soil
but not so the vast majority Of the
towns in the interior Of our States
Notwithstanding occasional disputes
and msconceptions-in spite of jeal
ousies and rain-g -gloryings-the rela
tions Of Town and Country are as
intimate and indissoluble as those Of
Parent and Child, or Of Husband and
Wife.-lf a town enlarges, it con.
sumes more and more of the main pro.
ducts of the soil, thus making better
markets, and enhancing the value Of
real estate-its larger assortmcnts OF
merchandise and of domestic manu-.
tactures furnish a greater variety
from which to select, while the com.
petition brings prices to the lowest
living point, thus giving great advan.
tages in the purchase of all goods and
wares demanded by the country-and
the facilities Of scientific and reli-
gious education, and Of public enter
tainment in general, are increased in
proportion. In these respects, farm
ing communities are immensely bene-
fitted by the growth of towns in their
mldst.-But, on the other hand, the
town is vastly the gamer BY the pros
perity Of the Country. The great
majority Of town's-people depend up
on the agriculturists mainly for sup
port, and are therefore perhaps more
dependent. A city of twenty thous-
and inhabitants, with the cheapest
and best of goods, the most skillful
and experienced Of mechanics and
professional men, and every advan-
tage in the way of structures for ed.
ucation and worship,wou retrograde
and go down unless surrounded by a
rich and thriving farming community,
or some other peculiar support.
Their patronage of each other would
be insufficient-the disproportion Of
consumers to producers would be too
great-there must be outside patron.
age. (And yet, probably dozen far.
mer's sons seek some livelihood in
town, where one town's-boy makes his
home in the free air of the country.
This tendency is almost universal,
and in the long run is detrimental to
the general Prosperity
These main facts being admitted,
the thoughts naturally arise-as plain
and practical considerations-for ev.
cry one in our bounds: Has not the
advance of our County fallen behind
that <,E 1..- l..