The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-03-30
steadfastness of Purpose

We print the following excellent article,
under the above heading, from the Peters
burg hder. 1t deserves to be printed in
letters of gold. We hope that every paper
in the South will copy, aud disseminate
widely its healthful sentiments;
sTEADFAsTNEss OF PURPOSE.
The country was never so much as now in
need of young men of steady, industrious
habits, to relieve it from the depression under
which its leading interests are suffering men
who can meet the exigencies of the times with
flrmness and intelligence. Particularly is this
the case in respect to our agricultural indus
tries. With rural population equal to any
in the world under the conditions that have
passed away, and under which they were born
and bred, II has been matter of life and death
to sustain themselves since the overthrow of
our labor system. In nine cases out of ten,
the farmers who had passed the meridian of
life when the change took place, have been un-
able, from the force Of habit, to adapt them
selves to it, and have therefore not prospered
since. We sympathize with them, but in all
respect be il spoken, ii is time they were laid
on the shelf, and their place given to their
successors. Until they are thus disposed of,
the old system of farming will not die out
Such men will continue to cultivate impover-
neration, and never improve under their man
agement. In fact, they never learned the art
of improvement, and they are too old to learn
1t now.
The hope of the country then is in the young
men. Seeing the want of success in their
fathers, it may be difficult matter to impress
them with full sense of their duty butyouth
is expectant-is sanguine-and confident of
succeeding where others have failed. The
young enter on their labors with more deter.
mined will and this, aided by intelligence, is
all that young man needs to make his mark.
We do honestly and earnestly contend that a
more comfortable independence is to be made
out Of the land by the man of average capa-
bilities-and this embraces nineteen-twentieths
of the human race-than in any other calling.
City life and city pursuits have great attrac-
tons, and we are not astonished that the towns
are thronged by persons seeking what appears
to be easy employments. But they are so
in appearance more than in reality. No
success In life can be achieved in the city
any more than in the country without contin
uous and well-directed exsrtion. The great
majority of those who enter as clerks and sales
men never rise above their condition. Only
o small number save enough to enable them to
marry and rear family in comfortable man
ner. A few 60 into business as merchants and
having the command of sufficient capital me
chance to succeed. But of all the avocatons
of life, that of the merchant is most exacting.
1t requires the cearest head and the most con-
summate judgment. Without these requisites
the snxieties and perplexities he is sometimes
subjected to are intense. In easy and prosper
Gus times be may get along very well, but
when crisis comes, and even when the money
market is more thar usually stringent, his in
geuuity is severely taxed to meet his financial
obligations. If he fails in a single one, and
goes to protest, he is ruined man. Failure
then is the rule, and success the exception.
Seeing and knowing these things it has been
a matter of profound wcnder to us that so
many young men abandon tie country and fee
to the towns. 1t must arise from an unhealthy
condition of the intellect i the want of excite
ment We admit that the profits of agricul-
ture are seldom large; but with habits of in
dustry and economy they suffice to supply
every reasonable want, and still leave some
thing as future resource. There is an indie
scribable satisfaction in raising every thing
needful for the support of family, and having
ones table replenished day by day with the
products of the field, the dairy and the gar
den, without having every thing to pay for
even the water to drink--as in the case Of the
citizen.
We beseecn our young friends in the coun-
try, therefore, to go to work and cultivate and
improve their lands; to try to make twice as
much on the same surface as it ever yielded
before; to make themselves acquainted, by
observation and study, with the best modes
of culture; to surround themselves, as they
acquire the meaas, with the comforts and re-
fnements of rural life. In this way every
acre Of land may be doubled in value every
ten years, and rich Inheritance transmitted
to the children. We do not hold this up as a
Ut0pian picture. To realize it will require
unceasing labor and perseverance, but nothing
great in any department in life can be accom-
plished without il,