The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-01-06
diversified Eumploymrmts.

from HtC hIHlHIOH't wing.
Time after time we have written upon
the Importance Of developing and utili-
ling the manu- featuring resources of the
South, and until that is done, wo must
inevitably fall far short of our appoint
ed destiny, however successful and
prosperous we may be in other fields of
industry. Man cannot live by bread
alone. and no community can attain the
fun measure of prosperity and eXpan-
sion that relies solely upon agricultural
production. That was the error of the
South in the old era that terminated
with the war. All that the bulk of our
population Chat residinG, i'll the country
and pretty much the whole South was
cOuntry)-made from their crops wns
invested in land and negroes. Our
farmers rmrcly ever thought OF extend
ing pecuniary aid TO any other form OF
industry than that of cultivating the
soil. Suppose any considerable portion
of their gains to have been invested in
other enterprises, in the encouragement
of the mechanic arts, of man nfacturin3
in its diversified forms, and of the mer-
camille pursuits! What different
condition of affairs would now ex
ist. We wonld, had that poll
cy been pursued, now have n
diversified population, educated and
trained to all those manifold avo-
cations pursued in almost every coun-
liEhtened. As it is, with the exception
OF II very small proportion of our pop
ulAtiOn, we have great mass of human
beings. made up OF whites and blacks,
profoundly Ignorant of those ordinary
pursuits by which millions of persons
in other countries earn livelihood.
All that we know anything about is
agriculture. The white land. owners
know how to farm, while the black Ia
bOrCrs know only, and that imperfect
ly, how TO perform tho manual labor
necessary on farms. Then, there is IL
large class OF our white population
who, neEleCting everything else, have
turned their attention exclusively to
the professions. In consequence OF all
this. we have to begin the new era upon
which we are entering under AN accu-
mutation of difficulties and drawbacks.
That era imposes upon us the absolute
necessity OF diYersifyinG our employ
ments. and there Is no department OF
business that promises more profit than
that OF manufactures in its various
forms.
There are millions of people who are
engaged i'll prOdu ton, and scarcely IL
handful engaged in fabricatink those
products into the almost innnmerabie
forms into which they are developed by
sk;iGul manipulation, and from which
more profit Is derived than from the
mere production of the raw material.
Here is vast field for enterprise. All
that is required are courage, confidence,
labor, and some capital TO begin with.
Shall We always leave this work and its
vast profits 10 others, or shall we at the
beginning of II New Year resolve TO
give our thoughts TO it, and set about
making arrangements for engaging in
it ourselves. Shall we forever buy our
cloths, shoes, hats, our leather, our cot.
ton goods, our harness, our clocks and
watch es, our household and kitchen
furniture and utensils, our farming
implements, our nails, axes, hatchets,
our cutlery, earthenware, aud all the
other thousands OF articles of daily
consumption from the North; when
we have the raw material in
abundance, an unlimited supply OF
water power, and every advantage