Pioche daily record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1872-1876, 1875-07-27
!. GREAT MISTAKE.

A. r people arc having u ofaih-"a'o VI
temporary insanity at present. The
press is rampant and individual judg-
ment inconsistent. The latest. bit Of
condensed wisdom, comes from the great
English essayist and ethical philoso-
pher Thomas Carlyle. Carlyle's fame
viii live while time endures, but though
The GREAT man is confessedly at home on
social ethics and humanitarian subjects,
10 are compelled to take issue with him
in relation to q few recent assertions as
soribed to him by correspondent of the
San Francisco Chronicle. Speaking OF
the mining industries Of the Pacific
Coast, he says: "You are doing no good
over there; you are harming the world.
Cover over your mines, leave your gold
and silver In the earth, and 60 to plant
ing potatoes. Every man who gives q
potato to the world is the benefactor Of
his race; but you, with your gold. are
overturning society, making the ignoble
prominent, increasing everywhere the
expenses Of living. and confusing oil
things" 1t is to be regretted that some
one hadn't seen Carlyle and got his valu-
able opinion on this matter some years
ago. We're all here now, and il We on.
tsrtain Mr.. Carlyle's suggestion it
will cause deal OF trouble and worry to
cover over the mines and embark in the
production OF the mealy tuber. II We
had only known this thing little sooner
we might have avaled ourselves of the
hint, but az II Is We shall have to keep
on piling up the solid wealth of the
world in our blind ignorance. The
sublime aphorism, every man who
gives potato to the world is the bene-
factor OF his race" will no doubt go
down in laundering reverberations
through the echoing caverns OF time.
but the effect on his present readers is
somewhat modified by the reflection that
the iIustrious potato producers don't
give the normal result Of their labor to
the world, usually disposing OF it for
filthy iucre. The premises Of Carlyle's
logic is incorrect, consequently the
deductions are at fault. The man
that makes two blades Of grass grow,
where only one grew before" Is, in lin
tied sense, benefactor to his race, 81 is
any producer, whether Of the starchy pc.
tato or the farinaceous wheat, but it is
but for consumption. Ii adds nothing to
the material wealth OF the world, Will,
the mining industry OF this coast, il
every ounce of the precious metal ex
tracted, contributes just that much to tn
Zeal treasure in existence, and makes tn
world just that much richer. Some on
has made great mistake, either Carlyl
IN his positive assertion, or the pioneer
In their mineral developments. and wit
all due Difference to his abilities az an g
sayist. and his well.earned reputation
close observer Of human nature, we a
inclined to think the error lies in the di
tinguished Englishman's misconcsptit
Of facts. He says; "You with your go
arc overturning society and making Il
ignobie prominent. The perseverin
faculty of discovery and pioneer develop
ment ID not usually coupled with Ii
courtly grace Of the drawing-room or th
polished manners OF society man, an
II Is to be confessed that the successf,
miner 10 not usually an fait in the mino
ussges Of civilization; yet we think tina
all the more noble attributes of man ar
fully represented in the perseverance
daring genius and manual dexterity @
the worker. while the more humane an
sympathetic influences are seldom wan
ing. Man-viewed in the abstract
like sn onion. There is little core
savagery like genital bulb, and the COZ
centric layers Of superficial training an
social education are wrapped around b
natural feeling, as the layers of tn
laohrymal esculent are wrapped aroun
Its core. Occasionally the savage With
gives whoop, but the outside rings I
superHcialty smothers the cry. and Il
longer one is in the training school
society the thicker the layers becom
The longer the human onion is left
the hot-bed Of humanizing (and enc
vating) social life, the thicker those co
volutions of the outward and seemil
refinement grow, and often stand in &c
and easy contrast to the thinner-skinnt
savagery of nature that has been ear
transplAnted to the rougher and stern
soil OF pioneeristc exertion. Yet Il
savage element exists in precisely 4
same degree in the carpet knight lispil
soft nothings to romantic damsels
moon-lit balconies. and in the beard
denizen Of Shirt-tail Canyon or Pok
Flat, as with an oath he shows
straight, beating his opponents pair al
oomplaoently rakes in the pot. This
view of matters that perhaps Carly
never took, but the only way to arrive
truth is to look at matters from differe
atandpoints aud compare. Probat
when Carlyle gets his usual REcoRD a
digests this, he will give us some me
views slightly modified to suit the spec
requirements of the case. The idea
put forward opens the way to an int
esting metaphysical discussion, and as
is evident some one has made gre
mistake and Carlyle has been good G
ough to put the burden on the tressul
seekers OF this Coast. It's the least
might do now to back his theory; 9th,
wise will come the ever recurring refe
ton, what dreadful mistake the n
vada miner has made. To Carlyle \
make the gratuitous suggestion that
head the article "A Plea for Agricr
ture."
Human nature Ia illustrated by q