The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1868-04-30
THE CITY AND THE COUNTRY.
A Talk With Young Men.
By Horace Greeley.
BY Horace Greeley.

| presume it is already widely known
that | habitually and systematically dis
courage the migration of young men to
our great cities; Let me say why [ dc
so.
Strictly, however, what [ do is to de-
cline promoting Or encouraging the mi
grafton OF young men to our city. |
would leave 1t as free and open to them
as 1t ever was to me. | came hithcr, not
quite; OF age, with a tolerable knowledge
OF my trade (printing) resolved to make
my way here, if | co'.ld-if not, to make
my way from here, directly. [ knew no
one living within two hundred miles: [
wrote to ask help or favor of no one; [
came in quest of work-found it pretty
soon-took the worst that was going, be-
cause those who were here before me had
secured the best-and gradually fought
my way to better position.
I think it was the 18th of August, 1881
when | landed in this city; and it was
Just about ten years thence that | first
felt assured that [ could stay in New York
till | chose to leave, unless | should,
meantime, be carried out by the under
taker.
There is a class of country-bred persons
who can, sometimes, do well in great
city, almost from the day they enter it.
This is the class of thoroughly capable,
energetic, temperate, thrifty mechanics.
who have not yet married. Any one of
these may drop into a city, IN March or
April, OF any prosperous year, when work
abounds and everything is thriving, and
find employment at good wages, of which
he may save half if he viii. True. his
expenses viii overtake his income if he
stays here until he is surrounded by
swan of children; but why should he
stay here so long? If he develops quail
ties which insure him a leading position
and liberal income, he can well afford
to stay; if not, let him be off in season
to have his children country-born. To
rear sons and daughters in narrow crowd
ed city quarters, on the stinted allowance
of a mere journeyman or laborer. Is not
to treat them iairly. Give them air to
breathe, hills to roam over, and foods to
frequent, so that they shall grow up in
health and yigor. The city is hard
enough on the poor man; it is entirely
too hard on the poor mans children But
for our common schools. | would advise
them to get away, even though they had
to run away.
But there is an innumerable multitude
of boys, Of young lawyers, clerks, Journal
lists, ETC.. who look wishfully to this city,
or to some other great city, seeking there
IN employment, as stepplng-stone to
consideration, position, aifiuence. These
| habitually discourage, to their sore dis
COMFORT and even at the cost of invoking
l. Because the cities are largely over
lnH 'hp--p Y Il i,
here, willing to do anythiag," they say;
which too often implies that they know
how to do nothing we'll Every new COM
er, of course, lessons, the chance-small
enough at best-that these shall gain
here subsistence. Now, if these could
be driven out to some purpose-if they
were not too old to leara a trade-or if
they had one already-if / knew what
they could do to their own and others
advantage, or where to put them, | would
not so strenuously object to the coming in
of others to crowd them out of their last
hope of earning decent livelihood. As
it is, / must.
II. Because this is no place in which
to learn. Living is very dear on this Is
land. 1t costs more to lodge a person
decently here, than to board as well as
lodge him. In a rural township. \ great,
world-known lawyer might come hIther
and thrive from the outset, young nm
distinguished lawyer must expect TO be
many years working his way up to bust
ness by which lie may live in comfort A
skillful, driving mechanic, who is still
single, may generally get on here, but
this is no place for a boy 30 learn trade
In, unless he has parents here who can
support him at least for his first year
He who can do three avera ge mems work
will probably go ahead here if he is only
a fair journeyman, he pretty surely will
not So a clerk or salesman. Of estab-
Ished and eminent ability, may probably
find welcome here; but woe to the
youth who comes hither, hoping to learn
to be clerk or salesman He has scarcely
chance.
Ill. In the world, as God made it,
there is room and work for all If one
hundred thousand new clearings should
this year be opened in a wilderness, which
still covers SO large share of our country
If so many more dwellings, should be
planted on the hitherto virgin prairie,
and the pillow and cultivator set in motion
around each of them, there would be no
glut in our food markets, no surplus of
corn or cattle to go to waste. Wheat and
beef have rarely been dearer lin coin
than they ..-e to day, but goods are SUI
perabumdant almost everywhere Manu-
features are depressed anu Sta gnating for
want of markets; cities arI fuil of stuff
ering because trade is dull and because
there is very little to do. There shclld,
there must be heavy migration from
the cities and villages to the broad free
country-to the West, she South. the
Rocky Mountains, the great Pains, Oh
wherever else fields want tillage, and
mines are still unvorkeC. or the .wilder-
ness is yet to be suhdueG to the uses OF
powers harnesSed to do the bidding o.
civilized man. 81
". Our ewn country, to- V nothing
of others, lies, for the most part untitled
and unfraitful. There are woue.s TO be
cleared away, prairies to be fenced aad
broken, dwellings to be built, swamps and
marshes to be drained, soils to be deep
ened, orchards and vineyards to be plant
ed, dams aud mills to be constructed, and
all manner of abidingly useful work to be
done. Little or none of this is wanted
IN cities; IN fact, the cities langush and
suffer because 1t is not yet done. There
is scope enough for all energies. work for
: all hands, and employment for all capaci-
ties In the vast. unpeopled, or far toe
thinly peopled districts of this capacious
republic.
The cities are plethoric with popula
ton in excess of all demand for their ser
vices and efforts The problem thai
pres es Fer solution is how to restore tn,
ecuilibriaiI to move hundreds of thou
sands from spots where they are in excess