Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1882-09-11
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MONDAY EVENING. SEPT. II. issk.
Yeung Hen In City and Country.
The season is at hand when the annual
hegira of young men from the country
takes place. During the present month
Thousands of youth, all over the coun-
try, will leave their rural homes and
take up their abode, for better or worse,
in the great cities. In the majority of
cases, according to social statistics, the
change will be for the worse :; in very
many it will be the entrance upon a life
leading to quick and certain ruin, while
some, of course, will be taking the first
step in future career of brilliant sue
cess. Let any one who is skeptical upon
this point solve the matter for himself
by watching closely for few years the
young men of his immediate vicinity
who take this new departure in life at
this time.
Some of these candidates for success or
failure in the always over crowded marts
of trade leave homes scarcely worthy OF
the name. Perhaps from early childhood
they have been compelled to endure pri-
vations and hardships, the direct and
indirect result Of self wrought ills on the
part of parents. Others have been life
long victims Of honest poverty and toll.
They have been taught in a school of ex-
perience that will serve them well in
their future struggle with the world.
But many more will leave homes of COM
fort in greater or less degree, and a fire.
side arena of affectionate indulgence
which they will sadly miss when beyond
its kindly influence. To nine-tenths of
these young men the future will bring
very strange and arduous duties. They
will be suddenly thrown into new
world where self.interest will seem to he
the cardinal and cr-mastering impulse
and principle. Instead of finding warm
hearted, sincere and encouraging
friends at every step to help them on,
they will soon discover that every friend
ship worth having must be fought for,
and that it will then almost surely bring
enmity also. This is because the new
conner must of necessity displace or
crowd aside some other aspirant for the
confidence. esteem and assistance so
much desired and which is absolutely
essential to his success.
And this brings usto the vital point
upon this somewhat trite, but always
supremely important subject, viz: The
crowded condition of all avenues of
labor, mental or physical, in all great
cities. Such 4 thing as a" vacancy"
never occurs i'm these teeming centres of
human life and activity. Countless
changes are constantly taking place in
every department of business, but it is
like the shifting of the sands upon the
seaslOre. The tides of trade come and
60 aud there are always more helpers
and would Ike helpers than are needed.
Especially and empllatically is this true
of the class which these young men from
the country must join. An ADVERTISE
mcnt in a single daily newspaper for a
clerk, salesman, ,bOokkeeper, LAW student,
etc., etc., will always bring scores and
often hundreds Of responses, all more or
less urgent of acceptance, many with
experience and valuable letters to rec
ommend them, while MANY will gladly
offer to work hard for wages upon which
the self supporting young man from the
country would find utterly inadequate to
meet his plaincst and most self-sacrliic-
ing requirements. And when the rural
aspirant for city riches has obtained
landing place he will be jostled on every
side and at every stage of his progress.
If he has the grit, the brains, the apLi
tude for the work he has chosen and
persevering habits of industry, he may
in time succeed, but he will find it con-
tinual struggle and his spirit will often
have to he driven to its task like an over
loaded and jaded animal. And should
he happen to stumble and fall, he will
have one chance i'm Il hundred of get
ting fresh start.
This in brief is the history of tie
young man from the country in Ameri-
can cities from purely business or pro-
fessiOnal stand point. Anfthen the moral
battle he must fight and the tempta-
tiOns he must resist to escape ruin are
absolutely appalling to contemplate. His
every step is beset by the enemies of
virtue, sobriety and honor, and he must
be continually and valiantly on his
guard, or he will be taken captive una
wares. 1t is, indeed, a bold and venture
some step when the young man from the
country enters alone The great city. Heis
taking his chances in a great lottery. lie
is preparing to play against experienced
players and loaded dice. lie may sue.
ceed, but the majority before him have
lamentably failed to meet their expecta-
tions. He would do better to stay right
where he is, especially if on a farm.
There he may become one of the
country's real freemen. His life will Ike
one of toll, but so it must he elsewhere
to succeed, and his chances are rs ten to
one increased by his remaining ut home.
He is not needed in the city. lie is not
wanted there. If he goes he will soon
long to be home again. He is infinitely
better off where he is than he will be in