The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1873-05-07
83E@rm, + SarOsn ) AonssBoIa.
From the YorkriIie Enquirer.
TIE DIGNITY OF FARM IA
SOE.

the war, see that a great many
young men have been thronging
to towns and cities in search
Of congenial employrnent-some-
thing easier and more rc$pecta 'e,
as they imagine, than working on
the farm. The towns and cities
have long been crowded.; but still
the migration from the farms con-
tinues, and it is feared that unless
it is checked 10 some way the men
Of the South will become traders
instead ofproducers.
| would advise young men to
remain at their homes and learn
to produce the wealth that the
South needs, instead Of drifting to
towns and cities where they can
barely exc out a living, while the
agricultural interests Of the State
60 TO ruin for want of proper per-
sons to direct them.
What the South needs at the
present time, and will continue to
need for some years to come, is la
Dor. There is no lack of lawyers,
doctors and editors, in any Of the
Southern States. There is hardly
aspare seat in any of the learned
professions. The various depart
ments of trade are more than oc.
cupied. Men versed IN politics
are quite numerous ouch to
look after the public interests.
There is no place untitled except
in the field Of manual labor, and
that place, which is certainly the
most honorable, is the one which
the young men appear to be un-
willing to fill.
II is not to be denied that in the
early days of the republic, farm
labor was not regarded in as favor
able q light as it is now. The
farmer in those days was drudge.
He knew little, and cared little
what was going on in the world
outside of his two hundred acres.
But it is not so now. The farm
CT has become a powe" in the coun-
try. 1t is not necessary to trace
the cause Of MS elevation. 1t is
sufficient to know that the labor
ing classes stand as high in practi-
cal culture as any other portion Of
the community. They possess as
clear intellect, as sound a judg-
ment, and are capable of as apt an
appreciation Of public questions
and interests, as men brought up
in the active centres of business
and politics. No farmer now con-
siders himself beneath the mer-
chant OF professional man in the
qualities which constitute manly
dignity. In brief, all intelligent
men have learned to regard labor
in it's true light-as one of the
most honorable and dignified call
ings in which man can be engaged.
With the spread Of intelligence,
the social prejudice against manu-,
al labor has died out, and at the
present time there is no class
more respected, Or more worthy
ofrespect, than that which devci-
opes and utilizes the wealth Of the
soil.
The prcsentgeneration of South
crn planters and farmers must dis
appear before many years. When
the men who have directed the
labor Of tho South for the past
twenty years shall have passed
away, others ought to be at hand
70 take their places. The South
will need q great deal more labor
in the future than she needed in
the past and unless she can COM
mand capable hands and brains to
do it, she must go to the wall. But
if all young men Of the present
generation abandon their country
homes and crowd into the towns
and cities, seeking employment as
clerks or in the professions, there
will be none TO attend to the
farms and plantations when the
men who direct the agricultural
interests shall have ended their
days. 1t is q popular error that
life in towns and cities is much
easier and more pleasant than life
in the country. The truth is
that where one young man who
abandons the farm for the store or
the office succeeds, two are almost
sure to fail and their failure very
offers ends in dissipation and ruin.
If the young men will be advised,
they will stick to their country
homes and let the towns and
cities alone. Their talents will
command moro influence, and
have a wider field for profitable
development on the farm than be-
hind any desk or counter. They
are sadly needed in the country,
and l trust that they will apply
their labor and energies where
they are most needed.
Mr.. Editor: throw out these
suggestions fot what they are
worth, and should any young man
be influenced by them, my end
will have been accomplished.
PLUs.