Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1872-11-02

lo!. 'ohh W. TOfney writes as ipl-
lows in the Washington ,S,pd,,y ChroH-
icle:
Now that the Territories have assumed
II significance, not to say grandeur, un-
known in the days of jackson and Polk
we may better appreciate Thomas H..
Bcntons stcrcotypcd advice whenever
q young man called on him in Wishing
ton to ask his influence for II clerkship
in one Of the departments 500 to the
Territories, sir, or to one Of the new
States. Go TO Iowa or Missouri; 80 to
Wisconsin or Illinois. you are law
yer, hang out your shingle and show
that you are deserving; ii a farmer, buy
a quarter section Of land and cultivate
it; if a mechanic, open your shop and
work but don't stay here to burn your
self out with rum, or to rust out with
idleness. DO anything but serve as a
slave in one of these wretched bureaus"
Good advice thirty, forty, even fifty
years ago, and better to day. The men
who went forth into the Territories in
Benton's time, when he left Tennessee
for Miss 1uIi, or when Sam Houston left
Tennessee for Texas, Or when John G.
Breckenridge tried his young fortunes
by removing from Kentucky to Iowa,
after the Mexican war; like the early
pioneers to other regions, when the
West was boundcd by the Missouri ri,.
81, these men had q hard time of it.
They had to meet not only primitive
people, but to traverse primitive coun.
try, with few or no conVenlences, either
of food or shelter, and to give weeks
and months of valuable time before
they reached their destination. How
different to-day We 20 West il palace
cars, swift "as the sightless couriers of
the air." to find even in the heart of
the Rocky Mountains and in the defilcs
of the Sierras the best luxurics of life,
and the choicest temptations to bust
ness enterprise or professional ambition.
These modern inducements take OH
much of the superior material Of ,t1le
older States, and we need not beSsur-
prised if the West and the Pacifcslope
furnish, hereafter, the strongest minds
in public affairs. Perhaps the manifest
depreciation of the lawyers of the old
States is to be attributed to the exodus
to the more attractive fields of our
young men. Brains have not long to
wait for employment i'll the Territories;
they are in constant demand, and al.
ways at premium. Money goes great
way, but it cannot forever buy medioc-
rity into Office. There are too many
competitors for the prizes, and in fact
too much capital in the hands OF able
men to give inferior men Il superior
chance. No doubt money decides many
Il contest, but the winner is nearly al
ways tit TO fill tie place he secures.
And as the opportunities for wealth in
crease with the chances for preterment,
you may prepare for u new rush to the
Territories without parallel. We are,
in fact, in the mere infancy of develop.
ment. Marvellous as the contrast is be
tween the present and the past, it is as
nothing to the contrast between the
present and the near future. Our prog
rcss has many opulent worlds 10 redeem
and some to conquer from our neigh
bors. Men like Senators Nyo and Stew
art, of Nevada : GOV. Evans, Of Colorado;
Gov. Mccormick, of Arizona; Ben lio!-
l0ay, OF Oregon, and w. c. Rallston. OF |
California, fortunate and honored as
they are, will be succeeded by intellect
as marked and by success as brilliant;
and most of us will live to see it for
and to realize that, however
heavy the reinforcements, there is room
enough and reward enough for all.