The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-05-31
AN HOUR WITH CORRESPONDENTS.

AN hUUH WITH DUhhhofUNDhNI
Correspondents hour again, and, as
usual, we begin with that which comes
first to hand A "pome," reallyl Our
spirits sink after reading the first
stanza; we read with waning patience
through the tenth, reach the twelfth
with temper slightly ruffied, and, to
soothe our feelings and crafty the de-
sire OF the ambitious author to appear
in print, We transcribe the twentieth for
our readers:
" Your good sense alone is above all price,
BY which you have gained my admiration,
And hope you will accept OF some advice
From a good friend in an humble station"
We should have explained before quot
ing this touching verse that it-and its
kindred score-wss inspired in the breast
Of young man vsho was delighted be-
cause a young lady consented to dance
with him, as, on account Of his occupa-
tion Of street-cleaner, several others had
refused him the honor. OF course such
consent was proof positive of her "goOd
sense" and gave him the undoubted
privilege to effervesee in doggerel which
warned her TO trust no man but his own
immaculate self i'm the future. The
modest rhymster requests us to "enrich
our columns" with the production, as
'guide to the thoughtless." One verse
more will give a sufficient taste of his
quality, and with that our readers must
be content:
" Remember then the great creator TO revier
Most surely becomes "A little creature
But not with sectarian cant austeer
Nor with a single rigged feature.r
The next is a pleasant record. A
protector" promptly and cheerfully
pays his wife's subscription without a
hint that she is a mendicant-he a gen.
erous giver. Such men abound in the
land, we are told, and on our own au-
thority We will add that occasionally
one reports as above to the NEW
NORTHWEST Office.
A philanthropic friend has been over
taken by the ''doldrums," aud while in
the ghoulish grasp writes: "Society is
becoming corrupt beyond Limitation.
Can it be that so many people are born
prostitutes, or is it customs and evil in
fluenees that cause them to deviate so
fearfully from the straight aud narrow
way? If the former, is it any wonder,
when enforced maternity is the rule {?
II the latter, should not philanthropy
devise some means, and that right
speedily, TO check flagrant and growing
social evils?" These are pertinent
questions, certainly, and deserve to be
carefully considered before answering.
Notwithstanding their vast Importance,
il is impossible to answer them in the
plain and unmistakable terms that their
bearing on human veal demands, with
out giving mortal Oflense 20 many who
themselves were begotten in such re-
pugnance that the very mention Of the
primal laws of life causes them spasms
ofdisgust which they mistake for purity.
Forty dollars per month, and my
family expenses amount to every cent
Of it," writes a worker in a Port Madi-
son mill. Happy indeed should he be if
at the end of each month he is able to
square accounts with the world, and
with willing hands and cheerful heart
begin the next month, humming with
the 'Miller of the Dee" 81 owe no one
cannot pay" No laborer can afford
to waste strength and vitality in worry,
and indeed there is small cause for
worry when debts do not cucumber aud
health remains. Were we 10 attempt a
sermon on this subject, the object of
which would be to insure contentment,
we would say TO despondent toilers who
are able by hard labor to live in COM
fort, in the language Of Pollock,
"Turn now thine eyes and look on poverty;
Look on the lowest Of her ragged sons.-
And the survey might perhaps aid in
banishing discomfort.
But our space is exhausted, and the
sermon must, in company with several
correspondents, bide its time.