Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1885-06-22
LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA

Orange, Cal., Mag 81, So.
Mr.. Eduor.-Your editorial on the
subject of western migration was
right to the point, and if discontented
denizens Of Vermont are wise, they
will heed your monitions. 1t is GUS
tomary for people who change their
location to assert that their condition
is improved by so doing, for they
dislike to admit they made a mis-
take, and pride tempts them to talk
cheerfully and encouragingly even if
they don't feel so. AS | said in a
former letter, l have seen great
deal of the west, but no part Of it
presents the attraction to me that
New England does, and [ positively
know that a man without means is
no better off, if as we'll. in the west
as he is in the east. If there is a
place where wages are high, the cost
of living is also the same, and no
man can engage in farming in either
place without some means to start
on. A team and farming imple-
ments are an absolute necessity to
one who intends to till the soil, and
should Uncle Sam give every one
who wants, 100 acres of land, it
would be useless to 60 on to it with
out means to build, and purchase
team and tools. 1t would also be
necessary to have something to live
on until crops could be raised, but
many think all that is required is to
get into the west and the way is
clear to success and affiuence. The
fact is, the lot of the poor man, the
common laborer, is hard wherever he
is placed, and the great majority of
people under our present wage sys-
tenn, will always live from hand to
mouth They can't get much, if
anything ahead, and only in isolated
cases is there any benefit derived
from changing about. Of course we
hear of every successful man, but
whele one succeeds thousands fail,
and the failures are not recorded.
Take mining, for an example, in
Colorado or New Mexico. If a
prospector strikes it rich the whole
world knows it IN "a hours, but who
knows or ever hears of the thousands
who have prospected for years and
undergone perpetual hardship with
out making more than a bare living
The bright side is the one that is
constantly held up to view, but there
is dark one also. / was in Colora-
do in 70 when the Leadville excite
ment was at its height, and though
hundreds of men were unable to find
employment, every paper in the state
kept holding out false inducements
for more to come. A surplus Of
help reduces wages you know, and
hotels, railroads and stage lines find
profit in these ephemeral excitements
and are never backward in lending
assistance to keep them up. Look
at the Cour de Alene influx last year,
and see how the Northern Pacific r.
R. advertised to keep it going. 1t
was like old times here in California
when merchants would start a min
ing boom in some remote section,
ship goods and provisions there and
then sell the same at big profits to
their short-sighted dupes. Excite
ments in the west catch quick like
prairie fires and run accordingly.
Last fall Los Angeles papers made
the statement that tunes were dull
everywhere in the state except in
Los Angeles, and that times the
coming winter would be the liveliest
ever known in that city. What were
the facts? Why times were never
duller, and men without number
looked for work in vain. Tramps
abounded, and from Los Angeles to
San Francisco the Southern Pacific
r. r. was lined with them, as l
know from having seen them. l
rode seven miles to and from my
days work, in the saddle, right here