West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1882-02-24
4 u-ndwooh ENnmnIn.

1-aa ood L~AAhnnits
a short telegram from Deadwood, in
our dispatches of yesterday, saws the
Wheeling Register, reported a meeting
OF the citizens Of the Black Hills for the
purpose OF petitioning Congress for the
privilege Of assessing all their property
10 the oxtent OF ten per cent of its valu-
alton as a subscription toward building
a railroad.
There is a real inspiration ia this little
dispatch. There is "a revelation i'm it Of
Western character hat tells the whole
secret of Western growth and progress.
This little population up there in tho
Black Hills are of The kind that are will
ling to sacrifice all the comforts and con.
v%eniences of civilization for the mighty
dollar, but they know what TO do with it
when they get it. They know how to
put it where it will do tho most good,
They don't want any Government bonds
at 3 and per cent. They don't tie up
their money in old stockings.
They are nen who calculate tho cost
ola railsoad enterprise as carfully as any
other people in any other locality. They
Ion build railroads i'm the Black Hills
for n triie. Ia while they know the
cost, they also are far-se cling enough TO
estimate the eturns. They arc ready 10
risk their last dollar in any reasonable
pr oject which gives them odds IL favor
of an increased return. Isolation means
to them, as it does to any other people in
this age, years of toll always at a disad>
Yua-age tor very meagor profits. A
railroad brings with it more people, more
money, more Of the appliances of ciyili-
%zation, and an infinite opportunity TO
every individual %inhabitant OF battering
his condition Just in proportion to his &C.
pacity TO use these opportunities.
Deadwood is willing to take the risk.
And herein is the whole secret of fortune
and growth in any community or pri-
vate enterprise. "Nothiug venture
nothing have" is the law OF business
and money making in all its ramifca>
tons. Risk goes hand i'm hand with
gain. Risk is tho prime condition of
any measuore of profit. The man Of
nerve in business is the successful man.
The community that will pool their
'''N' "ANh eAdNb AAAtiI IlOutf dlu pull
together III a common cause is the grow
ing community. The individual moss
backs who will conduct a business only
on a margin OF safety broader thar their
business, and the kickers i'm "A commu
nifty Whe always erect the danger signal
over every public project that involves
expense, are the dead weights is the
worlds progress and their oM n prospor.
ity,
1t is true that all public enterprises
involving large OUTLAWS of money. de-
mand and should receive careful con-
sideration an due caution, but when a
community or an individual is blinded
by a dime Of axpense TO a dollar of gain,
he has reached the condition where onlv
retrogressIon is the rule and progress
impossible.
II stllkes us that there is a lesson in
this Deadwood example that many To-
calities in West Virginia NAV ponder
with profit. The isolation of which so
many localities of our State complain is
not so much che result of necessity as of
ilck of nerve. They are unwilling to
take the risS-to pay the price of relief.
Lack of money aud Lack OF population
ire very formidable obstacles to building
railroads, hut lack of courage aud liber>
atty IN "A people are greater ones. We
have in mind several localities in this
state that have all the means within
their reach necessary to secure ample
railroad facilities. but they won't risk it.
Ihey Won't pay the price. They won't
spend a dim till they have 4 dollar for
security. We ought to have a railroad
stretching through the interior counties
Of the State and carrying our natural re-
sources 20 connection with the great
Pennsylvania system ofroads, and thus
distributing them ali over the
ana those counties arc amply able to Sc
cure HE road, but they won't. Their
population is diminishing instead of in
creasing, and their natural wealth il
languishing without any return or profit
to anybody, but these people will see it
rot rather than have 1t taxed into mar,
Rot. These are plain facts plainly told.
which do not appear to advantage in
contrast with the Deadwood example we
have instanced.