The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-08-30
NUMBER 40.


1t il suggested, both ct home and abroad.
that our people ars becoming physically
degenerate; that their business and other
habits are making them 70. This In one OF
the ideas that has been crystaIized into .
plausible assumption without reasonable
investigation. II has been established up
on the appearance Of certain classes in
cities, and does not take into account the
people Of the interior. The writer of this
article has recently visited the head waters
Of the Monongahela and observed the peo-
pie there and in the adjacent regions Of
West Virginia. Impressions formed by
personal intercourse with the inhabitants
Of far Western and Southern interior sec
tions were confirmed Outside Of the cit
les, the Americans have . toughness, q ro-
business, a courage and an of-hAnd frank
ness that are incompatible with the idea or
any physical or moral degeneracy Take
these PennsylvaniAns up the MonOngAhela
See the spirit with which they ford rapid
and dangerous rivers, ride or drive
over precipitous mountain roads, rough it
with joyous abandon in all kinds of wealth
or, content themselves with the coarsest
food, and do all with q reckless and sincere
gaiety that Ii far more significant than the
puerile humor Of fashionable fops, and you
cannot resist the conviction that these peo-
pie are ft for good soldiers and good citi-
zens
There is q certain want of culture, a dis
dain of comfort and q profAne jocularity
that revolts the sensibilities of one faInil-
lar with the rehnements of civilized socie-
ty, but no Observant person can fail TO no
tice and admire the absolute frankness,
kindliness and grit OF these people. They
call q spade a spade; they too frequently
do it with rough expletives, but they hide
beneath the most demonstrAtivs freedom
Of language really brave, manly and warm
hearts.
Call these people degenerate! They arc
foremost in vigorous enterprises They are
the men who develop coal, iron, oil, stone,
timber, and agricultural products. The
storm has no terrors for them. Swift cur
rents do not dAunt them. Torrent washed
roads do not detain them. This In indeed
no kid gloved gentry These stalwart men
who get papers days after their publication
and rarely read books, are the men who
build this country, and upon whom its
preservation depends. We trust we may
not for q moment be supposed to under
value the infinite glories, and triumphs and
delights Of that civilization, which Ia best
expressed in the large cities Of the world.
To do so, would be to do dishOnor to our
deepest convictions But when the opin-
ion is so generally and 30 currently bruited
and believed that this race is degenerating
physically, we must recall the men Of the
interior counties of every State-the men
who are literally without fear and capable
Of the most prodigious physical exertion,
and so recalling them. we deny that Amer
leans are becoming effete and feeble.
1t is not true. 1t ia the literary imAgin-
alton. 1t is the delusion Of men who do
not quit the perfumed haunts of the eX-
guisites. Quit the railroads anywhere for
forty miles, and you will soon discover the
monstrous absurdity Of the idea that our
people are getting physically or mentally
weak. These rougn folks you meet will
astonish you no less by their splendid au-
dacity than by their native wit. The man
ners may not please you, but the matter
will cause you to wonder and admire. The
salons Of Paris were never specially pleased
with Bismarck's manners; they have real
lied his capacity. The polite magAzinists
do not relish rural usages, but they feel in
every throb and motion Of the growth and
progress D; this great nation the sinew and
force of these masses who are not degen-
crate. Pittsbsrqh Chronicle