Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-08-21
Irn,,e Eu,nr1,rlse vs.. ForeIlin.

In strolling along Union street we were
attracted by the new and elegant sign Of
the aNew York Mutual Life Insurance
Company" We began to congratulate our
city on having painters who have attained
such high skill in their art, but on a closer
examination we observed that the sign was
not painted in this city, but in Louisville,
Ky. Is il possible that we will never learn
the true economy Of patrOnizing home
industry? Suppose that sign had been
painted by Zone of our Nashville arti-
sans, and had cost ten or twenty dollars
over the price at Louisville, would not this
amount Of money expended in our own
city give that artisan money enough 10 in
sure his life, which might have been paid
10 this identical company in the way Of
premiums2 Did it never occur to this
agent, as well as to many other older resi-
dents whose signs are painted in the North,
that these signs are a standing Ofense to
every mechanic in the city? There is no
small amount Of this kind of foreign pa
tronage among our citizens. The whole
policy is wrong and unwise, and in almost
every instance il in fact a pecuniary dis
advantage. Let us take an example. Here
| is a lawyer Of talent and ambition, whose
success and promotion depend entirely on
his local acquaintance. He never expects
to get a client in Louisville or Cincinnati,
but because he can get his cards published
two dollars in the thousand cheaper in
Cincinnati than here, he has them printed
there.
This lawyer if be is so fortunate as to
get a case, appears before the bar almost a
stranger. The case is an important one,
involving many Of the most abstruse subtle
ties Of the law His effort is a splendid
success but only few persona are present,
and his glory and fame are not heard of
beyond the circle of his court acquaint-
ances One paragraph from an influential
city paper would place the corona immOr-
alisupon his brow, and bring numbers of
clients for his advice. The city paper does
not know him, never having heard Of him.
Il is too modest to speak of him or his bril-
liant forensic effort, as ii has never had any
authority to print his name.
Again, here is an academy or seminary
10 be inaUgurated, which is to be sustained
mainly by home patronage. The first
thing the proprietor does is to send to
Louisville, or even New York, to have his
circulars or catalogues printed. There
are plenty Of printing Offices in this
city, but they charge perhaps ten per cent,
mere for the same job, and hence the
cheaper markets Of the North get the job.
! One line Of recommendation ia a city pa
per which will go winging its way over
hill and valley, 10 the cottage Of the
humblest peasant, as well as the mansion Of
| the rich, would be worth more TO that
seminary than the entire price Of a dozen
such Jobs of printing.
These illustrations might be carried al
most indefinitely, and it would be seen
that large number of our people are doing
every thing in their power to break down
| home industry and home enterprise, and
( these same persons are often lamenting the
want of thrift and energy among our citi-
zens. We have the talent, the enterprise
and the inventive mechanical genius, to
become one Of the most wealthy and .inhn-
entail States in the Union, if the proper
encouragement was given to develop home
| interests.