The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1880-01-23
FROM COUNTRY TO CITY.

Now iorh. III VIII perhaps answer tne ques
tions OF many others who are turning their
thoughts, II not their faces ctyward:
II is pres unable and probable that there ar
rives in New York city every day q consider
able number OF letters from the county, max
ing inquiry concerning what it is possible for q
country man to do here in the way OF business
and asking advice upon the question of his re-
moval to the city. Every citizen OF New York
with country associations, ID applied to for in
formation and counsel with regard to such 4
change Of base," and the matter seems worth
the few words careful and candid observer
may have to say about 1t.
1t Is WELL at the beginning, to look at the
reasons which move people to desire to make
the change. The first, perhaps, are pecuniary
reasons. A man living in country town looks
about HIM, and can discover no means for max
petty. The business OF the place is small, and
its possibilities OF development seem very linn
| tied. A few rich men hold everything in their
hands, and q young man, with nothing for cap
ability, feels cramped-feels, in fact, that he
has no chance. His savings must be small and
slow, and lifetime is necessary to lift him to
point where money will give him power. 1t
seems to him that il he could get into the
midst OF the great business Of the world he
could find his chance for quicker and broader
development OF wealth; and In this connection
or with this fancy, he writes letter to his city
acquaintance, asking for his advice upon the
matter.
Another Is smitten by sense OF the dryness
and pettiness Of the social lie he is surround
ed by in the country, and the small opportuni-
ties he has for personal satisfaction and devel
opment. To be able to live among picture
galleries and in the vicinity OF great, open Ii
braries; to have the finest theaters and the
most attractive concert halls at ones door; to
be where the best minds reveal themselves in
pulpit and on platform IN public speech whore
competent masters stand ready to teach every
science and every art; to live among those
whose knowledge OF the world is . source OF
| constant satisfaction and culture; to be at the
very fountain head OF the intellectual, social,
and potice economical influences that sweep
over the country; to feel the stimulus Of COM
petition and example, and to live in an stmos-
pbere charged with vital activity,-all this
thinness and insgpifcauce Of village life, that
the young man, realizing 1t, sits down and
writes to his city friend, inquiring what chance
there would be in the city for him. The coun-
try seems smallsto him; the CITY, large. lie
feels the gossip that futters about his ears to
be disgusting and degrading: and chafes under
the bondage imposed by his neghbors through
their surveillance OF, and criticism upon oil his
actions. He wants more liberty, and for some
reasons would really like to be where he is less
known aud less cared for.
There is still another class OF country people
who long for city life, and whose aspirations
and dispositions ara very much less definite
and reasonable than those to whom we have
alluded. They are not so particular about
business OF about wealth, nor do they care
definitely about superior social privileges, or
about the culture more readily secured in the
city than IN the country. They are simply gre
garious. They like crowd, even if they have
to live IN 8 mess They are 20 fond Of liv-
ingln q multitude that they are Wiling to
sacrifice many comforts to do 1t. Once in the
city, no poverty will induce them to leave 1t.
They have no interest in life outside of the
city. These usually get to the city in some
way without writing letters Of inquiry.
Now, 1t has probably surprised most inquir-
ers to receive uniformity Encouraging answers
to their questions For, indeed, no man knows
the trials OF city life but those who have left
quiet homes in the country and tried it. The
great trial that every man from the country
experiences on coming to the city, even sup
posing be has found employment, or gone into
business, relates to his home. His thousand
dollars year, which IN the country would give
him snug little house and comfortable pro-
visions, would get him in city only small
/ room III q DOAruluy uOuet. lu6 tWO tuOubhuu
dollars that would give him something more
than q comfortable home IN the country, would
give him in the city only better boarding
house. The three thousand that would give
him IN the country fair establishment, with
horses for his convenience and anus ussment,
would in the city only give him small fat !"
in a crowded apartment house, and the five
thousand in the country that would give him
the surroundings OF nabob, would only pay
the rent of house on Fifth Avenue. The
country rich man can live splendidly on from
five to ten thousand dollars year, while the
city rich man spends from twenty thousand to
fifty thousand dollars year. City incomes
look large, but relatively to city expenses they
are no larger than the country incomes. The
man who lives in the city has experienced the
remediless drain upon his purse Of the life
which he lives, and feels that the risk which .
business man runs OF coming into unknown
circumstances is very great. He feels that
unless his country friend knows just how he