The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1881-04-14
A Word in Season.

With the opening spring the promise of
brisk building becomes more and more appar-
emit each day. The prospects of prosperous
season, in a business point of view, have stlm-
ulated our citizens to new undertakings and
as result handsome residences and store
houses are being planned and the work of
erection will soon begin. We hail these signs
of brighter day with the liveliest pleasure.
1t is always gratifying to us to know that our
neighbors are succeeding, ard to see our citi-
zens manifesting their confidence in the future
of Staunton by the investment OF their means
in beautiful homes, and elegant business
houses. And whilst we are thoroughly alive
to all that pertains to their interests and COM
fort, and have that local pride which the av-
erage Stauntonian is credited with, there are
some things not altogether pleasant to contem-
plate, which we cannot overlook, and which
should not be disregarded 1t requires no
stretch of memory to reach back to the flush
times of ~ and '73, when the surplus capital
of our little city was put into large brick
buildings, some of which have never realized
an interest of 2 per cent on their cost. The
mania for building was then at its full tide, and
under its stimulus brick and morta4 were
piled high, and the general opinion seemed to
be that all that was necessary to insure the
growth and prosperity of the town was to pro-
vide places for people to live and keep store
in. When hard times came the mistake was
discovered. Instead of the surplus capital be-
ing in enterprises that would have created
values by producing; enterprises that would
have transformed the raw material, so abund-
ant about us, into money, it was locked up in
handsome buildings which, in many instances,
were really tax on their owners. No one
came to rent and occupy the buildings, for
with all its natural advantages, Staunton
could offer no inducements to strangers and
business men seeking favorable location.
We could give them share of the local trade,
but the local trade was so cut up that those
already established did not find it a banana.
We could barter about among ourselves,
but the wealth producing capacity was not
one of our possessions. When money was
comparatively flush, we did not seek to
lay the foundation for permanent and
progressive prosperity by investing in those
Industries which would have enabled us
to draw from, instead ofcontribute to- the out
side capital. To be sure we were no worse off
than hundreds of other places, but our com
mercial condition was so tar below what it
should have been, considering the opportuni-
ties presented, that the short sightedness be-
tn ba
monied men going to make the same mistake
again? Do they intend to place their surplus
funds in store houses and residences, and over
look the TACT that our prosperity can only be
assured by manufactures? What Staunton
and the Valley now need is the creative agen-
cy. They must send something to the outside
world besides agricultural products. To de-
vclop the wealth of this section will require
the building of factories to put into marketable
shape its natural resources. To erect and OPP
crate these industries demands money. That
money, in sufficient quantities, is here. Its
presence is manifest in the evidences we have
alluded to- The question to be decided is,
Shall il be put in manufactures, or shall the
old policy of building residences and store
houses continue to govern? Must we send it
abroad for the very articles it could produce at
home; or shall it exact tribute from the
sources to which it has been accustomed to
pay tribute? 1t is time our business men, who
have large interests at stake, were making an
effort to preserve those interests. Organized
action is what is demanded. Paper resolutions
and elaborate discussions will not place sim
gle wheel in motion But if dozen of our
citizens who have means would meet together
quietly and put their names down for SO much
stock, the movement would assume tangible
form. VIII they do it?