Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1874-04-02
DIR WANTS.

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tion that is by no means enviable. So much
has been said respecting the governments of
the different States of the South, and so little
has been done to improve them by any party,
that reliefin that direction is nearly hopeless.
In political point of view there seems to be
no man that is capable of leading the people.
There are multitudes who are willing and
anxious to assume the responsible task, but
the people of the South are not prepared to
repose confidence in any single individual.
Usually, men spring up who are able to meet
the exgencies of the times; but the present
seems to be an exception to all the established
precedents.
A largenumber of our people seem to think
that the prosperity of the country depends
absolutely upon the character of the govern
ment. This, however plausible, is not the case.
The governments of the several States, as we'll
as the government of the United States, are the
creation of the people, 1t is admitted that a
government may be oppressive and impede
progress but still it is only the creature of
the people. We want good government ;
but we can get good government by but
one process. That process is thorough refor-
nation of the masses of our people. There is
no sort of doubt but that something of this
sort is demanded in all the Southern States.
The majority of our citizens are notoriously
ignorant. This, of ITSELF makes them an easy
prey to designing men. We want, as citizens,
confidence in each other. There is really no
ground for political parties in the South. In
dividuals are divided on questions which have
no existence in their midst. The reason of
this division is a mutual want of confidence in
each other. This may seem to be very silly
thing, and such it surely is; but it is more
than that-it is an extremely dangerous thing.
If the ignorant will not con6de in the wise,
and the wise will not honestly guide the igno-
rant, no one can tell what may be the ulti-
mate consequences. If the citizens of the
South had confidence in each other, the for
mality of adopting and carrying out good
government would be comparatively easy.
Confidence being restored, many of our real, ,
and all of our imaginary evils would vanish
as the mist before the rising sun.
Another, among our many wants, is econo-
my. Some Englishman said that profanity
was the characteristic sin of the American
people, Whether this is true or not, we are
not prepared to say but we will undertake to
say that prodigality is the characteristic vice
of the Southern people. Waste and extrava-
gance seem to be instilled into the masses.
We have very foolish and very ruinous no.
tions about saving. We confound things that
are totally different. To be saving, we say,
is to be niggardly mean. The truth would
be approximated by saying that everything
is wasted and destroyed. Laborer and prop
erty holder seem to vie with each other in
this work of destruction. No relics of the
past are in existence in the South, and moth
ing of the present is preserved for the future.
Our extravaganza is equal to our waste. In
the matter of clothing alone, our extravaganza
is fearful. 1t is no uncommon thing to see
an individual whose principal investment con-
sists in holiday apparel. An individual with
not foot of land that he can call his Own,
and no capital except his labor, will 60 clad
like an English lord This waste and ex-
travagance argues an amount of ignorance
which is inconsistent with the prosperity of a
civilized government. Savages invest their
all in trinkets, while hunger pinches them,
the cold freezes them and the heat scorches
them; but civilized nations provide for the
necessaries of life first, and then the trinkets
and trumperies.
Last, but not least among our wants, is
more workers and fewer idlers. We are per-
fectly safe in saying that one half of our citi-
zens have no visible means of procuring an
honest livelihood. They live but no one ex.
cept themselves know how! Ofthe remaining
half, very large per cent. are only partial
producers. If every individual in the South,
who is capable, would make an honest living,
times would beeasy. Money would be plenty
and corn and bacon cheap. 1t seems as if
one part of our people are struggling to make
an honest living, and the other part struggling
to cheat them out of it.
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