Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1865-12-22
SunpOrt Eour Mechanics.

We copy the following very sansible re-
marks, under the above head, from the Lou
isville (Ky.) journal, edited BY George 3.
Prentice They apply to the people Of eve
~ locality and there are many Of cur own
citizens who can, if they choose, profit by the
sound advice which they contain. The ad
vantages of supporting home industry, are
not restricted to any department Of labor or
skill, but are among the most important fea-
lures of all local enterprises;
There is no truth more undeniable than
that ii is the bounden duty of every commu-
nifty to support its mechanics They are
worthy and indispensable class Of men, and
we fud no town or village fourishing with
out their aid. Indeed, their absence is al
ways a true index Of the condition of the
place whether it is advancing in wealth and
Importance Or sinking into decay. When
ever we pass througha village, and hear the
frequent sound Of the carpenters hammer,
the clnk Of the blacksmith anvil-that vii
lage, we say to ourselves, is prosperous. 1t
cannot be otherwise, for the producers arc
actively employed, and outnumber the con-
sumers. Whenever this is the case, the peo-
pie are growing wealthy, and at the same
time training the rising generation to habits
of industry and morality. When, if a city
or village pursues the opposite Of this course
-neglects its mechanics, and supports those
Of some other place. and those who are left
are compelled by force of circumstances to
remain will become idle and proAigate-in a
few years they become beggars, and their
children becoming ignorant and vicious
they viii cease to produce and become con-
sumcrs.
If there is any truth in the assertion that
we ought, as nation, to give the preference
to domestic manufactures, the fact is equally
true with regard to the community; both
are sustained by the same argument. If a
merchant would have around him substantial
customers, let him by every means in his
power support the mechanics in his village,
and, as they become more wealthy, their Gus
toms will increase, especially III those articles
on which he makes the greatest profits for
it is undeniable, that men become more
wealthy they also become more luxurious,
and, no merchant will deny, articles of lux
ury always afford the greatest profits. The
hADiC VI Fo1 tlii XII 60 iuf'iItliCo Va tiSdp
foreign articles iii competition with our vii
lage mechanics, is short-sighted and wrong,
both as regards the mechanic and consumer
if the merchant will look further into the OPP
Grafton of things, he will find that he cross
ed the path Of his own interest by doing So
Let the merchant bring the case to his own
door, and he perhaps may better understand
it. Suppose that every individual who pos
seses the means, and who uses in his family
four or five hundred dollars worth Of goods
per annum, should, instead Of buying them
at retail, 60 to some city wholesale establish
mcnt, and purchase his years supply; would
he not in bitterness condemn such an illber-
al course? and would he not say to him
with truth that he was warning against his
own interest, by destroying the business Of
bis own town and giving it to another? ana
that his littleness would react upon him in
double by decrease Of his property and bust
ness? So in this case above instancel could
the mechanic say the same to the merchant
We say, then, let ali classes support each
other, and by mutual exchanges keep that
wealth at home, which, if unnecessarily ex-
pended abroad, tends to destroy the business
Of your neighbor, and which in turn destroys
your own.