The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1867-01-22


been admitted by the Supreme Court of North
Caroilna to the practice of the honorable pro-
fesslon of the Law. Personally, We wish each
OF them success and distinction in the vocation
which they have adopted; but we mast be al
lowed to question the policy which induces so
large proportion of our educated and inteill-
gent young men, under our present circumstan-
ces as people, to seek .he necessarily contract
ed avenues of the learned professions for at least
precarious livelihood, while so many broader
aud more extensive. fields are spread before
them We must have lawyers, of course No
class of society is more necessary or more use
fui. 1t is from their ranks, mairly, owing to
the peculiar nature of their habits and pur-
suits, tha. our leading public characters are
drawn. And it is owing, principally, to this
fact,-to the circumstance that the legal pro-
fession in this country in the past, has been the
chief avenue to political preferment.--that Its
ranks have been so ovcr-crowded. But the re-
suit has been that, where one has succeeded and
attained respectable position at the bar, tWen-
ty have fallen by the way side or loitered along
in dull obscurity.
The day of politics in the South,-by which
We mean that seIvilty to party organizations,
that devotion to party names, and that avidity
for office, which formerly existed amongst U.S.
has passed away; We hope, forever but certainly
Tor long time to come. The struggle, now, is
for the means of subsistence and support, and
not for the empty baubles of place and prefer
ment. The duty OF the hour is the recuperation
of our material fortunes and paralyzed indus
trial energies, and not the advance ent of party
chiefs or the promotion of party dogmas Ana
while, as we have already observed, the profess
sions entitled to their fair quota of the energy
and intellect Of the land, it is great error that
prompts our uprising youth to rush into them
as of yore, under the delusve idea that they Of
fer the best chances of eminence or the fairest
opportunities for livelihood.
There are openings On all sides. The field of
enterprise is limitless, and every young man can
consult his peculiar ap,itudes Health, sobriety,
energy and industry, are capital enough to be-
gin the new race with, and if to these are added
intelligence and education, SO much the better
in any department of labor. And there is not
a State on earth ia which well-directed labor
can accomplish greater results than in North
Carolina. We have the diversity of soil, the
water power aud the manufacturing capabilities,
and the mineral wealth, to employ the best en-
ergies Of millions and to build up thriving and
powerful commonwealth powerful in all the
elements Of genuine greatness.
We cannot look to professional men to make
these resources available. Their development
must depend on educated labor and muscle; and
We hope soon to see the efete ideas of the past
entirely obliterated. Let our young men be
impressed with the truth that learning and
knowledge can be as we'll applied to the cult
walton of the earth as to the abstrusities Of the
closet the triumphs Of the forum; that the
most finished education, far from being pros
tituted, is rendered double blessing by being
devoted to pursuits that are calculated to ad-
vance the industrial, moral and social interests
of the country.
The time has been when common toll was
snecred at by the purse proud and the pamper
ed. This was mean and contemplate enough
in them, them but it would be doubly despica-
BILE if such feeling existed now, when We are
all ruined utterly without speedy aud earnest
resort to it. It is a sufficient answer to these
who would decry the Dignity of Labor, Gas has
been we'll and eloquently remark ed by distin-
euished son of North Caroliua,} that the great
Apostle of the Gentiles tent maker, and
the Saviour of the World the son of carpen-
ter.-Raleigh Sentinel.
DRYING UP OF THE M1ssIssIpp1.-Old
steamboat men declare that the signs of the
past four or Eve seasons point to the permanent
drying up of the Mississippi river, reducing it
from stream Davigabie for the largest boats
the whole season, to one of uncertain navigation,
like the Missouri, passable at certain seasons,
and the rest of the year shrunk to mere creek,
winding along among sand bars and shoals
There is certainly some change taking place in
our climate that is affecting our lakes and rivers
They are greatly different in their habits to
what they were eight years ago. The average
of water is gradually decreasing Our "Juue
RISE" once as certain as the coming of the
month, has totally ceased The heaviest rains,
which once would have sweled the river several
feet. now do not seem to affect it 10 the least
There are many theories advanced to explain
this One is, that the climate is undergoing
some change, which seems plausible, as those
| who have studied the meteorology OF our State
are convinced that this change is taking place.
Another theory is that the cultivation of the
country, destruction Of the forests, and other
| physical causes have tended to decrease the
rainfall, and retard the flowing of the, extra
moisture into the streams. r. p r..-
| Whatever may be the cause, the effect GER
taiDly exists, and the same thing has been on
all the Western rivers, which gradually
| shrinking up. La our case, however, the evil is
less to be feared, because railroad system is
SO nearly developed, that our river navigation is
| not now the necessity it once was, to our CON-
nercial public The river can never again,
whether it continues navigable or not, assume
the important part it has hitherto played 10 the
DEVELOPMENT of our State.--St. Paul Pioneer.
| WASHINGTON, Jau l8-The conservatory
of the Presidents mansion was burned. By
the timely arrival of engines, the buildings were
saved. The plants destroyed cannot be valued
at less than half million. The furniture of the