Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-04-29
OUR YOuNg MEN AND LOCAL INDUsTRY-
TECHNOLOGY, &C.
No. 3.
lFor the SPECTATOR l

The business habits and customs of tho
Virginia people must, in some portions of
the State, be recast, and everywhere amend
ed to get us on equal footing in the great
battle of life. The old habits and customs
OF Colonial times which are vet cherished
and practiced in Tide water Virginia. must
be discarded. The fox chase continued for
five or six weeks and through SO many
counties without interruption, and numer-
Gus other diversions and entertainments.
which could be sustained in princely style
in former times, must be curtailed, if not
entirely abandoned, if the commerce and
trade of the back country is to be accom-
modated at our magnificent waterfront.
Middle Virginia with it's almost endless
adaptation to every thing which supplies the
wants, gratifies the tastes of man, and fur
nishes t e elements of stately wealth and
power, demands thorough reorganization
OF the business-modes and labor of the peo-
pie.
The great Valley, though industrious and
prosperous, has much to learn and do in de-
veloping her rich resources and local ad-
vantages. The store-house and granary Of
Virginia in the past, should now become,
also a great manufacturing district. sup
plying the wants of their neighbors and
reaping the great harvest of profit which is
annually sent abroad to other States.
Our people must be educated to take
pleasure in attending to their business,
rather than in fun, frolic, and loafing. The
enJoyments of he business man are sweet
ened by a conscious sense Of duty done, and
the prosperity and happiness which he helps
10 bestow on society and the State. His
success challenges the attention and eneo.
miums of all. The drone, the indolent, tha
sluggard, finds more hardship in rising at
and breakfasting at nine, than the former
will accomplish in day. 1t is the mind
in which anything is done that the enjoy
ment consists. In short, the people of Vir-
ginia must accustom themselves to closer
attentlon TO business application. The
young people of Virginia must be trained
to take a new departure in business. The
patrimony that is left us is enough for all
to be profitably employed in utilizing its
endless details. ''Diversify! Diversity,
Save the fragments !p' should be the Or
der OF the day. Why go abroad to produce
the wants of domestic necessity when they
can be as we'll produced in our State? Il
lustration.-The McCormicks have left US
and enriched others and themselves, while
Virginia would have been the recipient,
but for her lethargy. There are, doubtless,
hundreds of talented young men in Virgins
la, If developed at school of Technology.
who could equal, if not surpass, the
McCormicks in inventive genius. The age
OF invention is not over. Where are the
boys who are to astonish the world in the
rising generation? Most probably at tho
shops and schools of Technology in other
States. 1t has been said that ''Falsehood
will run mile while Truth is putting on
his boots" When ,eiU Truth get on his
boots in Virginia? People of Virginia, for
posterity's sake, help him up that he may
have an equal chance in the race.
z But probably some say that boys will not
enter school of Technology. Who knows
tnat? 1t has not been tried iu Virginia.
In ether States they do. They go to the
West and enter hard drudgery service. Let
attention to business is honorable and the
high-road to honorable distinction and
success That Idleness is the parent Of
vice and shame. Teach them that they owe
a duty to themselves, their family, and
State. That the path of duty is one of
safety and happiness. That the Arbiter of
destinies helps those who endeavor to do
their whole duty. Inculcate noble senti-
ments and honorable aspirations. Cease
talking about finding easy places and inn
munlty from the great contests of life. It
is these which develop the man. Teach
them patient attention and perseverance in
all they undertake. The old Romans, long
since, learned that labor conquers all. Teach
them that failure in business, prudently
and intelligently conducted, seldom occurs
in Virginia. The thousands of advantages
which We say are open to the immigrant,
are equally accessible to the Virginia boy.
Let parents and others cease their everlast-
ing croakings. If their habits and training
do not qualify them for the work, for heav-
ems sake keep quiet before the young, and
encourage them to persevere and triumph
over all difficulties as the young in other
states do. Encouragement is what tho
young need. Divide the farms. Divide
the business. Specialize-seek pre-emi-
nance in some speciality. Encourage home
industry. PRoGREss.