The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1878-05-15
THE SILVER LINING.

Even the darkest clouds have bright
side: the sun is still shining behind
them. And hard times always have q
soft side to them. Just now the country
has some things to grosn over; traffic Is
thoroughly st loss in its calculations;
manufacturers are bankrupt; and yet we
never had more bountiful harvest than
in 1877, and the promise for the present
season Is eth brighter. The land teens
with every variety Of product. There is
enough and TO spare for every citizen OF
the Union. The difficulty evidently has
risen from the fact that too small Pre-
portion of our population has been in
the direct line of production. The plen-
tiful or superintendent provision Of ma
ture fell lAyishly into the hands OF 3
smaller number than it was intended
for. That we have land enough to pro-
vide comfort and competence for every
one who will work Is selfevident. The
law will be badly of under oil circum-
stances, and neither nature nor neighOor
can make them permanently contentod
or happy.
This the pressure of the times is at last
driving the people to recognize, Men
can live, and live well, on the land, II
they are willing to work and use economy
The demand for farms, either to buy or
90 rent, Is vastly on the increase. While
rents drop continually in the cities, and
town lots are unstable at any price, farms
do not anywhere beg for occupants and
workers. This is notably true in
the East, where the tendency has
been for years to press toward the cities
Young men are less ambitious Of rapid
wealth, simply because they have become
satisfied that the avenues are closed,
They must learn to be patient, laboFloua
and saving. 1t costs less not only cash
wise, but demands less exhaustion Of vitsl
force TO live in the country. This ebbing
of the human tide carries back to farm
life intelligence and knowledge of the
world accumulated in the centers of trade
and thought.
The solution of our hard times comes
to us then not from the shrewdness OF
statesmen, but the absolute exhaustion Of
speculation. Men have tried every
method for speedily acquiring the means
for fast or easy living. Stimulus has no!
been wanting to drive them in the
wrong direction: the war; the oil and
gold discoveries; the enormous expansion
Of the system Of railroads. The reaction
has come in WEAKNESS and helpless
ness. Our cities are too largei our farms
cannot be too numerous. Over pro
duc.ion Of lifs-sustsinlrg products is an
impossN5ility, The intelligent farmer
can secure from 8 few acres nearly every
item OF household necessity. Improved
implements and cooperative methods OF
working up the raw material not only
reduce agriculture to 3 science, but rob ii
Of old tine Grudgery.
In this we see the chief consolation Of
our times. We can afford to undergo
severe pressure to secure the permanent
benefit of q fixed tendency toward agri-
culture on the part of the whole people.
What is prosperity 70 the individual Is
prosperity 10 the mass of individuals,
What is comfort sud security and conf
deuce and health to the unit is such &c
the multiplied units. We cannot trust &c
currency or legislation to raise rents OF
restore solvency to ruined manufacturers
Our smelling furnaces and rolling mills
will doubtless remain closed for long
while. But the multiplication of poverty
and tramps, the petty scramble for de-
tes.sble life off the crumbs Of DIVES, will
decrease just IN proportion as the present
healthy movement reaches the masses o.
The people.