The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-06-04
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 1890.
CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE.

CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE.
One of the most serious distractions TO the
material progress of Virginia in the pas'
has been lack Of faith on the part oil man!
Of our most influential citizens IN the goou
10 be accomplished by the exhibition Oh
bold and enterprising spirit here In virginia
in advancing the fortunes of individuals
and building up the prosperity Of the state.
Not a single citizen Of Virginia who is IN
telligent and well-informed has a doubt IN
his mind as TO the varied and inexhaustible
resources Of the Commonwealth, its salubrity
Of climate, its fertility of soil, its diversity
of productions and the yastness oft mlnerai
wealth. These are the elements oil an uh-
limited prosperity, elements that are mol
merely casual and temporary but permanent
because existing in nature. Who can deny
that these elements open up prospect Oh
material development in Virginia when
has never been surpassed, and has rarely
been equalled on the whole American con-
tinenty The most grabbed, reactionary and
short-sighted individual in our midst could
not. with conscious truthfulness, deny It,.
And vet, universal as the recognition
OF the material possibilities Of Viz
ginia is among its own citizens,
and sound as is the basis Of facts upon
which this recognition rests, there is an UNI
fortunate timidity and conservatism in the
attitude of too many Virginians towards
that spirit Of energy and enterprise that has
invaded the State, and above all towards
that material growth, which is still in its
very first infancy.
A wise and discriminating conservatism
il quality to be admired and respected,
bat ii can he carried too far, and there can be
little doubt that it is carried too far when 1t
leads men of prominence amongst us to cast
a doubt upon the rising prosperity OF the
State, to reflect upon the character OF the
progress that has already been made, and TO
deprecate the activity that is being display
ed in the most favored sections OF the Com
monwealth. The overwhelming majority OF
those who take these pessimistic views are
honest and sincere in their opinions, but in
most instances. they will be found 10 be
men who are influenced in their views by
their experience and observation in the long
period of depression that followed the war.
Accustomed TO see every industrial en-
terprise Of an unusual character
that was started in that period,
fail, they cannot realize that
new era has dawned in which new econo-
mic conditions, largely imported from out
side communities, have come into play; con-
ditions that create and promote success,
and in proportion reduce the probability Of
failure. How many skilful manufacturer
or business man in special lines who was
inQuiring into the sdysability Of settling in
this community, has been discouraged by
our own citizens from doing so because
decade ago, perhaps, or even twenty years
ago, some one among rs had made an effort
to establish similar business and had lost
the whole amount Of money invested. The
conditions Of to-day are not what the condi-
tons OF even five years ago were, and this
fact should he carefully borne in mind. a
failure to remember II is even now, when
the material prospects Of Virginia are so
much brighter, costing the State large
amount Of capital through the honest short
sightedness of its own citizens.
The great BODY Of the Virginian people
have so long been impoverished that while
fully assured as TO their possessions Of
material advantages, they are yet entirely
incredulous as to the probability OF any
marked improvement in their pecuniary
condition, even though the value Of the ma
terial advantages they possess should be
advanced by outside influences alone. The
material development going on in South
west Virginia has been regarded in Vir-
ginia generally with certain degree Of
skepticism, simply because the people Of
the State have not yet grasped the fact that
the old era Of languishing poverty is on
the point OF passing away, and the new era
OF prosperity is coming in. To man who
for twenty years was unable to sell mineral
land for more than two or three dollars an
acre, rise in the value OF that land to ten
or twenty dollars an acre, seems like an I'M
natural imitation that must inevitably end
in collapse, and yet IN Northern communi-
ties like those in the iron regions OF Penn
sylyania, the same land could not be pur-
chased for ten times that sum.
The advance in estimates in Virginia is
not a tendency towards imitation. 1t is a
tendency towards true values. That ten
dency will continue upwards, though 1t may
receive a temporary check from time 10
time. The people Of Virginia should firmly
and Systematically discourage the spirit of
wild and groundless speculation, but they
should foster and promote the spirit Of ac-
tiyity and enterprise, even though 1t ap-
pears to hover rather closely upon the bor-
der Of speculation. They should have an
mistaken confidence in the material desti-
mics OF their State. They should have faith
In its future, and they should condemn
without reserve the slightest disposition TO
depreciate In word or act the grandeur Of
Tie material prospects which are now spread
out before virginians. Let the doubter and
the croaker, whether sincere or dishonest,
De relegated 10 the rear, apd let the timid
and reactionary he sent TO join their COM
pany. Neither the cowardly nor the luke
warm are wanted as participants in the
mighty struggle for fortune which has only
just begun in the Old Dominion.
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THE IRATE INGALLS,.