The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-11-29

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tend all this attract the young, fascinate
and then enthral.
Utah is no exception to the rule in this
matter; that is, our young men are leaving
the country and aocking to the cities; and
the condition of our cities, especially OF
Salt Lake, may make few remarks on
this subject not out of order. In the first
place we think it unfortunate that the
honorable pursuit of agriculture is
falling into disfavor because its
labor is SO poorly paid and if what may
be saved in an occupation instead of what
is earned measured the value of that occu-
patton, we feel confident that farming
would not be at such a discount as an occu-
patton. Then, if coupled with that con-
sideration, the freedom and independence
of agricultural life be taken into account,
aud properly valued, and set in contrast,
with The dependence, not to say servitude,
of occupations that are often followed in
the city, there is much that is in favor Of
country life and farming as business.
The freedom of the farmer = freedom
from servitude, from the dictation of an
employer, SO prone to be over-bearlng, the
consciousness that he is in partnership with
nature and dependent upon GoD alone as
pay master, will ever make farming
favorite pursuit where the love of indpend-
ence is deeply imbedded in the hearts OF
people. These considerations make up for
the difference in the amount of cash re-
turns between farming and other occupa-
tions. The sense of freedom that the in
dependent farmer experiences must ever
have salutary effect upon character;
one more valuable than at first thought
might appear, and one which is sufficient
to make the position of an independent far
mer worthy the ambition of our young men
to attain. The ancients appreciated the effect
Of occupation upon character more than we
moderns do. For instance, DEMosTHENEs
taught the Greeks the following: at can
never be, me thinks, that your spirit is
generous and noble while you are
engaged in petty, mean employments:
no more than you can be abject
and mean spirited while your
actions are honorable and glorious. What
ever be the pursuits of men, their senti-
ments must necessarily be similar" We
believe that doctrine, hence it follows that
in our Judgment the more men who follow
occupations which will leave them indie
pendent-their own masters-the better it
will be for the community; for the sense
of manly freedom which accompanies the
man who directs his own labors and dis
poses OF his own time must have ten
dency to render him more self-reliant, ca
pable OF grander'thought and nobler action
than he who laoors under the eye of a mas
ter and who depends upon the favor and
good will Of another for the position or la
Dor which secures him his daily bread. The
latter stands in great danger of stepping
from civility TO subserviency, thence to
abject fawning at the feet OF the brother
worm who gives him leave to toll, and by
these steps loses that nobility of spirit
which best distinguishes the man from the
slave.
But say what you will, the excitement
and allurements of city life will continue
to attract the young men to the city, and
when they arrive, what then! Well, happy
for them if in the home life in the country
village whence they come, the foundation
for sturdy, honest temperate character
has been laid. If they come to our seething
pool of iniquity without that preparation,
they will be pretty likely to go to the dogs,
and that in short order. All the elements
to bring to pass their destruction are right
here in Salt Lake today. Old time settlers
of Utah should bear that in mind. They
should remember, in the language of our
mayor, that Salt Lake is 'Doom town.
and that means that in addition to its rush
of business it has gin mills at every turn,
its gaming dens, its prostitutes spreading
abroad their vile attraction on our streets,
and the haunts of sin and debauchery are
made as attractive as possible to
entrap the feet of the unwary.
We may be censured for re-
ferring to these things; 1t may be esteemed
unpatriotic to so speak of the city which
we are anxious should have a good name
abroad; but these things exist, and exist
10 an extent that is alarming. Parents
who will see their sons and daughters
leave the old homestead, where they have
grown up free from these influences and
that they may fortify, as far as may be,
their sons and daughters against them.
We live in hopes that the time will come
when things will rot be SO bad in
this city in these respects. We
expect 10 see city govern
ment inaugurated next February that will
set its face as a flint against the evils
about which SO much complaint is Justly
made now. Yet all that can be done, all
that can be expected is that these evils will
be lessened, not destroyed Therefore
parents should so educate their children
that if their inclination or fortunes bring
them to the towns they may not fall prev
TO the vices that abound.
Meantime the advantages of agricultural
pursuits should be set before the young of
our territory. The dignity of manual
labor should be exalted, and the petty
meanness OF dependent position at a
stinted salary at some desk or behind some
counter, where habits of subserviency are
likely 10 be engendered should be set in
contrast to the manly freedom that OBJ
iains with our Independent farmer. that
more Of our young men may be fired with
an ambition to seek and find that desira
BILE goal.
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OF COURSE.
And SO Secretary NOBLE is going to op-