, 1877-08-25
The RusI, TO Cities.

the most active minds Of the coast The
interior business man complains that as
soon as man gets money enough ne
rushes to san Francisco to live, and aoes
the same himself While OF course there
can be no restraint placed upon person
following his own inclination IN choosing
a place Of residence, 1t Is within the
province Of the press 70 point out some o.
The advantages Of country hte- 1t VIII
be admitted that the really nch-those
whose annual incomes range from zen
thousand dollars upwards-nay command
more Of what a majority consider the
pleasures Of life III a city than III the
country. Such an income warrants resi-
dence in a city and Z sOjourn IN the coun-
Try at such seasons as the country Is most
pleasant. But this ten thousand dollar
and inward class Is comparatively small.
The two thousand class IS much larger,
and the oue thousand dollar class much
I Iarger stil. The mass of the people who
live in cities and elsewhere depend upon
their earnings for the means 70 live In
selecting a place Of residence they have
two things to considerable opportunities
TO earn money ard the comforts or lu1U-
ries which a gwen sum viii purchase. A
thousand dollars is q fixed sum in relation
I to debt, but not when regarded as an
! income. In some places a thousand dol
/ lars VIII 90 much farther than IN others
/ In this respect residence IN The countryhas
! the advantages over residence IN the city.
Real estate being cheaper N the country,
rents are cheaper The principal articles
/ Of food being raised in the country, should
/ be cheaper than after being transported
/ to the city. Dry goods is almost the only
I item which can be placed N favor OF the
CITY resident, and this IL a measure offset
by the more exacting requirements of city
customs. In town, except among the re-
/ ally poor, a certain elegance of costume
/ Is exacted which would be kind OF afiec-
tation in the country. Ii follows, there
| fore, that a family with an income OF one
thousand dollars a year is better off IN
the country than IN the city. More OF
the luzlITies Of life can be secured with
that sum and fewer Of the yexations aris-
iEg from a limited income. There IS less
- society" in the country than IN the city;
but there Is more of this clement of hap
piness Iii either pace than residents can
participate in. Society in city, in It's
general sense. is a sealed book to nine
| tenths Of the residents. Every respect
able family has its circle, and this is socie-
ty in its proper sense. But very few resi-
dents Of the country are without this kind
Of society. Every village with twenty
families has all the material for society.
Social gatherings in these villages are moi
| exsensive, and there is no reason why
they should not be quite as enjoyable as
! similar gatherings IN town Public schools,
public libraries and public journals have
! bridged over the chasm that once existed
! between the town and the country IN q
social point of view There is no reason
why residents Of the country should not
be as intelligent and as accomplished as
their cousins in the city. If they are moi
the fault is their own Incidence The
means are at their own disposal. There
/ is doubtless something in the Frightening
influence of mind acting upon mind, but
/ this influence may be excited among one
: thousand people as well rs among one
million Men and women are influenced
| by contact more than by observation. 1t
is the people who meet each other who
brighten each other up, not the people
living in the same city who never meet.
The most melancholy results of this
disposition to flock to the city are found
in young people of either sex. \ boy
gets tired Of working ON his fathers farm
and at eighteen or twenty-one he comes
| to town. Probably he does not know
how to do anything which men are paid
for doing in the city. He tries for clerk
ship, but only one applicant in a hundred
Is successful. lie then tries some kind
of manufacturing business which is easily
learned and consequently poorly paid At
best the average young man only manages
to live. He has sacrificed his freedom,
his independence, his individuality, simp-
| ly to reside in a city. Every thing that
makes city life more pleasant than coun-
try life IS closed against him. He cannot
afford society, public amusements, drives,
or other forms of diversion. He is as
completely shut cut Of our world as if at
home on his fathers farm, and has shut
himself out of the world that was open
To him there. Employment is precarious
and poorly paid, hard to obtain and hard
/ to retain He soon discovers that he has
/ joined The force that Is too large already.
He has given up independence, a certain
" Of his comforts of life to take his
chance with those who never had an OPP
portunity to do better. The young girl
who leaves her secure country home to
! JOIN the crowded ranks of sewing girls,
shop girls, or factory operatives has even
/ less chance of lettering her condition
than her brother If unusually attractive
she may find more social enjoyment, but
the temptations which beset her are in
proportion Lacking the security which
is afforded by the family and male pro-
teetors Of recognized position, her pros
poets Of forming brilliant matrimonial
alliance are not bright, while the influences
thar urn her steps into the downward
path are often irresiStable-Cd