The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1873-02-20
Honest Industry at q Discount

The commercial stagnation of the times,
the "deadness" Of business, so to speak,
was forcibly explained to Il friend who
visited the other day Il country town in
which he had been brought up, and which
he had not visited since the days of his
youth. when he left it u thriving, pros
porous village. He found it. in the most
woc-begone condition of decay and de-
cline. The houses were ancient and di-
lapiLatcd; the sidewalks gone into ire
triryablc bankruptcy; the s%ignboards
creaking OH one hinge the manrnill MS
,rerc of "dcad-brOke." and country way
ons literally miring in the unmacadamized
streets. He was in the only carriagc-shop
left in the place. talking to some old
friends, who are mechanics, and asked
why this tlIusncss!" He was told there
wa. but one lad in the town learning a
trade. All the rest were learning law or
medicine orsome other ofthe ovcrcrowdcd
professions. No busy hum of machinery
no rattle # liammcrs; no anvil chorus.
And this but too generally illustrates the
situation elsewhere. The are M tcorkers.
The tendency is to find soft places-to
gravitatc to the big c%itics-to a.pire to be
yard-measnrers or to hold office. or some
thing as tar removed from good old-fash-
toned manual labor as possible. Now, it
is useless to appeal to the newspapcreditor
that it is lis duty to rebuke this slOthful-
moss, tor, in his audience are not e nerilly
embraced those readers, who require to
he drummtd and dinncd into energetic eff
fort. The droncs and idlers do not read
the newspapers, and the business stagna-
ton consequent upon such general avoid
ance OF work. produces that degree of gem
cral poverty that there is not money
enough maze to justify indulgence in the
luxury ola newspaper. We do not well
know how to treat the case. Every busi-
ness suffers by reason Of the facts above
given, but we confess we cannot suggest
any remedy better than writing at it, and
We have but little hopes In the efficiency
of that remedy, under the circumstances
We suppose we shall just have to practice
the philosophy of Mr. Micawbcr, and see II
the country will not some of these days
wake up to the realization of the situation,
which is daily growing worse. instead o
better. Iii this should fall under the ey,
of some conscientious parent, however
who has sons to bring up, and should in
duce him to put them to good trades, on
efforts will not have been in vain. Gu
;. cOuntrym had as well begin to thin
about it. The professions are all over
crowded. Unless labor Is populsrized an
made respectable, and otice-sceking an
the morbid appetite tor spec ulatiOn ar
jobbery discontinued. we shall sOoner o
! later be eaten up with taxation and tn
exactions of moneycd %monopolies, an
come to the inevitable realization of tn
maxim:
Ill fares the land, to fastening ills a prey
Where wealth accumulates and men decay
The above we copy from the Nashyill,
Banner. The town alluded to may b
Winchester; the friend, Geo. E. Purvis
one OF the proprielors Of the Banner; ant
the only carriage shop, Burrough & 10
gan's. This is our surmise, and surmisin2
thus. we must deny that our place pre-
sents such q woe-begone appearance
True. we lack enterprise here. and, worst
OF all, we lack capital. Besides, much al
lowance must be made in view Of the fact
that 1t requires q long time to recover
from the effectf Of 4 disastrous f~our-years'
war. But as to all this, n'fnporse. the
article contains sound advice 70 parents
and young men, and deserves to be reao
carefully and often. We have often writ
tan in 4 similar strain. We want more
vorkers-more men who are not ashamed