The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-10-02
GANGRENE.

different stages Of individual human life
There is the period of youth when th'
community Is growing, and the lite
giving currents OF industry and enter
prise Aow heslthily through every artery
of trade, and the public imagination i:
stimulated by the sccretions of the pres
ent to great expectations beyond, and
faith in the future makes all things pos
sible. Then there is the period OF man
hood or maturity, when the community
strength-its relative Importance; it ceases
to grow more than to repair its waste
the various branches of business take on
q staid, uniform and substantial air, new
enterprises are looked upon with suspi-
cion, all things assume fixed and im-
mutable appearance, as though every
body were satisfied.
Close upon this latter period follows
that of old age, gouty, limp. and lame,
loving its ease, inelastic, moving always
| in the old time ruts, averse to Innovations,
bilious and blue, looking on the dark
side of things, defining enterprises by
the terms, "iool-hardiness, "wild-cat-
schemes" .jobs" We do not know any
better term by which to define this
epoch of communitys life than that
| given to the disease which takes hold OF
the inactive, lndolent over fed loafer-
"gangrene."
There are many commu mites in our
State of West Virginia sadly afflicted
with this disease. The young lie has
run out OF them, and their manhood has
faded. Their children, too, have lett
them. AS the ripping streams all tend
to the sea, leaving only the stagnant
pools behind, so the active, enterprislng
elements of these communities are tend
ing to the cities, leaving only the gan
grenous and sluggish parts OF the popu'
lation in possession of the territory. 1t is
q pregnant fsct-true not only as to our
State. but others-that towns and vii
lages are beng absorbed by the active
cities. In proportion as these little commu-
mites grow old they grow stagnanl-the
gangrenous element gets possession, and
the fresh, young life born to them, nstu-
rally seeks healthier business atmos-
phere.
Unfortunately for many West Virginia
towns, they reach the aged epoch before
they have, had their natural growth.
There are undeveloped resources all
around them-inducements to enterprise,
and unequsled opportunities for growth
in population and wealth, but the ele'
ment in possession is so covered all over
with gangrene rs to stihe and stultity
all ambition TO change. The public
sense of these communities has dritted
into solemn acceptance of the position
that "there is nothing new under the
sun"-thst nothing new can be under
taken in government, in law, in politics,
in church, IN letters, in trade, IN farm
ing, or in social manners and customs
it is their confirmed belief that the world
is used up.
There is too much of this spirit preva-
lent, even in this city-the met ropolls OF
the State. Wheeling has reached that
age when she is peculiarly susceptible to
An attack of gsngrene, and the premon-
itory symptoms are already manifest.
There are too many hosry fossils OBJ
structing her progress-fossils OF ideas,
fossils of prejudice, fossils of caste, fossils
of social custom, fossils OF super
animated officials and pub
lie men, and especially fossils OF
public policy. No city, or town, or vii
lage can ever grow and flourish in the
absence of what is termed "public
spirit" Every individual atom of the
population should appreciate the fact
that his prosperity is inseparably allied
with the integral msss-thst he is II
| branch of vine, dependent for his
nourishment upon the vitality of the
whole. If the contrary spirit prevails,
and each is seeking to draw everything
to himself, while contributing nothing to
the general veal, all must go down to-
gether.
There are investments which some
times pay city handsomely although
they may never directly return
either profits or principal. Every in-
ternsl improvement which tends to mske
the CITY more attractive to strangers, and
opens up to 1t new avenues OF trade, or
enlarges those already existing, pays Its
business men and capitalists indirectly
more SON etimes than direct investment
in their business. Public buildings, street
railways, places of amusement good
hotels, good church buildings, and new
public enterprises of every character, are
all mile stones marking a certain pro
gress and consequent certain profit to
every individual citizen. But 1t Is
astonishing how few men in commu
nifty ever appreciate these things. We
have in mind several towns in this State
where to announce a proposition for a
public improvement, would be like
sounding fire bell, and they would an
swer each in much the same way-with
oil tho wet blankets snd water they could