The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1886-04-08
Life in the City.

Man is q gregarious animal. He
loves to go in droves. and to be in
company is a natural instinct. He
is endowed with reason, the prime
office of which is to direct and con-
troll his instincts within safe bounds
and guide them in such directions
as will result in the most ultimate
good. The tendency of cities to in
crease in population much more
rapidly than the country, is an un-
pleasant fact to the man who stu
dies either political economy, or
the morals of the country There
is a common idea, especially among
young men and women in the
country, that the city is the best
place to find work at the highest
wages, and the larger the city, the
more readily may work be found,
the more respectable the character
of the work and the more remuner.
alive the compensation. Now all
this is a mistake, as great and as
mischievous as it is common. We
certainly have 70 disposition TO re-
tard the rapidly increasing pepula
ton OF our city while that confines
itself within healthy limits; but
population without labor to employ
it pIoftably, is a curse to either
city or country.
The two doors tn ough which
young people from the ceun-
try hope to enter city life and
achieve success, is either book
keeping, or the position of sales
man. But let us say to our coun-
try readers that cool positions of
this kind, in our city, are already
overcrowded, and the reports from
other cities is that the sup
ply is above the demand. Many
seekers for work are ensured by the
delusion that double the amount is
paid in the city for work, that can
be obtained in the country; but the
fact is over ooked that the city
worker must pay personal expenses,
such as boarding, lodging, washing,
etc, while the worker on farm,
genei ally, has these furnished. so
that his clothing excepted) his
wages is nearly net profit,
But what is the secret of city fas
cinatiou that young people FROM
the country will persist in pressing
toward the town? We think we have
discovered it. It. is to get rich-to
get rich fast, and to get very rich
with but little exertion. 1t is true
that men do sometimes become
rich in the city, even very rich in
an incredibly short time. But these
are rare Occurrences, and their sue
cess depends upon accident or dis
honesty. A few get rich in cit es
by honest, Legitimate means; but
certainly not a larger per cent.
than achieve q com forta hle com
potency in farm life. Hardly one
merchant in 10 enters old age with
competency, and the man who
dies merchant prince. is one in u
thousand. The successes are
EN- halmed as sign boarde, the fail
ures sink out OF sight and are soon
forgotten.
But suppose you should be the
lucky one in n thousand, is wealth
the chief end of life? Now ct us
say to our country cousins all over
this wide land, that going to
the city is a hazardous business,
beset with dangers on every hand.
1t is probably true that You
will never realize the air-castles
that your imagination has built on
going to the city, bnt there is great
danger that you may lose what is
worth more to You than the fortune
that that your Imagination has
painted-your virtue, your hon
or, or your habits of sobriety. But
suppose you should keep yourself
Unspotted from city wees, yet you
will put yourself in q more unta-
vorable position for the enjoyment
of quiet country life than if you
had remained at home. The ex-
elements, extravagances and the
peculiar habits of city life will
have disqualified you for the real
enjoyment Of rural life,
Our advice to farmers sons and
daughters is to make the country
your home, till circumstances i'm
periously call you to the city. If
they do, then 60, hut donot run be-
fore you are called. Do not sup
pose that because town folks dress
finer and make grander display,
that they are either wiser, better, or
happier than country people. True,
they know many things of which
the rural population are ignorant,
but fwhere ignorance is bliss it's
folly to be wise"
When you visit the city, and
have looked at the street fronts, do
not think you have seen city life.
1t is in the attics above and on The
dark back alleys beyond these
where hard labor e es out q scanty
support-where dwell poverty, vice
and wretched such as country
youths may have read of, but never
supposed to have real existence
misery such as even his night mare
dreams, never pictured 60 him.
Our advice to farmer girls and
boys is stay on the farm, read good
books, learn te think, and by pa
tent labor secure to yourselves
competence and -happiness.-Indi-
| ana Farmer