The Portland daily press., 1878-03-26
Our New York Letter.
Dali Times and Little News-Ra atio onaI
Discouragement Wsnted-Wsrkers and
Drones-The New Order of Nobility.
New YORK. March o5 1873


as every other Kind, and there has come lull
which for while threatens to deprive Mrs.
Grundy Of her accustomed stimulation. The
old lady has had an extended reign, and no.
body who has proper sense of the demoral-
izing effects of tttle-tattle will regret that her
empire appears to be on the wane.
1t certainly is not for want of leisure that
people give less ear than formerly to the stories
of the social babbler. 1t is rare that there
are so many inhabitants Of a great city who
have scarcely anything to do. Everybody,
pretty much, seems to be waiting, Micawbsr-
like, for something to turn up. Hopeful
ness is an excellent thing in Its way, but, like
any other stimulant 1t may be INDUCED in to
excess. There is no doubt but that ii has been
during the epoch of commercial depression.
1t has kept great many concerns in a state Of
suspended animation long after they had ceased
to possess any real vitality. A considerable
number of them did finally drop, and the re-
mainder are showing signs of utter exhaustion.
But when they do go, the wreck is total; the
| fragments gathered from it are of no account.
| What we want now is the advent of feel
| ing of rational Encouragement, that will put
a suitable check on the propensity Of men en-
gagged in business to see nothing bat brightness
and prosperity in the future. 1t is a great deal
better to see things as they actually are, even If
| the prospect is not at all rosy, than to be de-
luded by false expectations, the future Of which
| will entail loss and suffering. There are some
indications that realizing sense OF the critical
condition of affairs is beginning to pervade the
/ community; that it has dawned on the popular
mind that there are some risks inseparabe
| from the prosecutions of trade; and that it
would. on the whole, be safer policy to cur
tail than to expand, aud even to withdraw
| altogether from any occupation that does not
| yield remuneration rather than to continue to
prosecute it on the theory that it will soon
change for the better. Whenever that idea
acquires the ascendency it is entitled to, we
shall undoubtedly witness some good effects
from it. The trouble in New York has been
that since the hard times set in, there have
been too many tradesmen who entertained con-
fdence that they could outlive them; oonse-
1 quently there have been numerous expensive
| establishments maintained, and the losses have
| so largely exceeded the profits that the city
| has been growing poorer all the while. This
state of things explains why there are in our
midst so many empty stores and untenantd
houses and such a mass of unemployed pop
/ ulstion. The panic struck hard upon the cities
| and hardest of all upon New York. The quiet
| dwellers in rural homes who understand the
! art of living comfortably on small incomes,
can form no conception of the miseries that
| befsll those who are under the disabilities of
| straitened circumstances in place where econ
omy is so difficult thing to practice, that it is
L <ha oE
| fort. What would support family in New
England village delectably, would not suffice to
i pay the item of house rent here.
| There is another tSing that works to the dis
| advantage of the urban resident, though it is
| his own fault, and therefore not to be set down
| to the account of the inevitable drawbacks Of
| his position. Still it stands in his way and has
| the sanction of long precedent and extensive
practice. L refer to the proneuess to live be-
| yond their means when the means run short,
| which is the besetting sin Of the metropolitan
| multitude. They are fond of keeping up ap-
pearances and living as we'll as their neighbors.
Rather than betray any symptoms of poverty
| they will use their credit to make specious
show, as long as it will serve the purpose.
When the end comes the unpleasant discovery
| is made that the butcher and baker, the grocer
and tailor, the mantua-maker and milner
have been involuntarily contributing to the
support of family from which they thought
all the while they were receiving valuable pat
| ronage. The false pride which underlies this
| inclination to turn to temporary account the
| credulity of oonfiding creditors exhibits human
nature in pitiable light. And yet it Is SO
| hard to bend down to the stern tenets Of neces
| sty and so natural to hope even against hope
| that succor may come at last from some unex-
pected quarter that there are great many
who yield to the temptation of taking what
they can get trusted for as long as that source
| of supply is open to them.
In former days the drift of migration was
| from the country to the city. 1t was the am
| bition of the farmers son to make his way to
| some mart of commerce in which he could
| have chance of realizing his aspirations for
| fortune. The time has come when it is essen
| tal that the current should be reversed. The
large towns are fearing more young men than
there is employment for. But unfortunately
the youth of the period have been growing
effeminate quite as rapidly as they have been
| increasing in numbers. The idea of work is
exceedingly distasteful to them; manual labor
| they regard not merely as a hardship but
humiliation; they must be clerks or nothing;
to learn trade they would consider quite
| sbasing; indeed they require situations which
| will not demand of them much exertion or
| protracted hours of service; they are high
| spirited with no end OF self-conceit and per-
sonal vanity. As sinecure places of the kind
| they are after are not obtsinable on any terms
| nowadays these high-toned worthless content
| themselves with leading inane and proftless
| lives, depending for their support on the toll
| of their parents until they attain their ma
| jofity and as much longer as parental weak
mindedness and long suffering will permit.
When that prop sinks from under them they
have nothing whatever to fall back upon and
are SO absolutely incapable of supporting them
selves that they must fain be dependant on
| charity'or starve outright.
1t may bs deemed incredible by people in
habiting section of country where industry Is
universal and idleness practically unknown,
| that we should have among us a suff ciently
| large number of such adolsscent drones. to
| render their existence topic of deprecatory
remark. But they do abound to an extent that
| painfully denotes the degensracy of the present
| generation. In the qualities of true manlness
the race is palpaby retrogradiug alarmingly.
| Some examples have fallen under my observa-
ton that are so grotesque that they would pro-
woke smile, if tbs consequences involved were
| less serious. Not many years ago young girl,
| an only daughter, dearly beloved by her par
ents voluntarily sought and obtained the posi-
ton of teacher in one of the public schools in
| New York. She acquitted herself creditably
| in the vocation of her choice and followed it
with alacrity until she was called to enter into
a higher aud more permanent relation in life
But there were certain juvenile relatives of hers
that felt themselves deeply compromised by
this unbscoming conduct on the part of their
kinswomau aud reproach her to this day for her
want Of spirit in engaging in an occupation
whereby she earned money, aud Indignantly
| censure her father for consenting that she
should so damean herself. This is story that
| should find it harG to believe myself If L did
not know it to be literal fact. The case, no
i doubt is an extreme one should be sorry to