The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-01-14
MAYOR srRoNG no Place HuNrERs


Mayor Strong has entered upon the
duties of his Office, and as was to be ex-
pected among the first things he has had
TO encounter is the office-seeker. in one
guise or another but he viii be able to
meet this difficulty, and in a way that
shows his fitness for his position, as
the following incident will show:
Among the Mayors callers the other
day was a man from Norfalk. Va, who
wanted a place under the city govern
ment. As is proper In such cases, at
least as is customary, the man brought
with him a bundle of letters Of recon-
t1ienSaIIon, containing, no Doubt, the
usual Mandatory language telling of the
bearers qualifications for any office
to which he might be appointed. The
Mayor read the letter. Turning to his
visitor he remarked; "You are from
Norfolk are you not?'
To this the visitor replied that he
was, and that he was tired of living
down there among the birds and fish
es. The Mavor then asked if he was
looking for work, to which he answered
that he was. He was further asked if
he had any money, to which he replied
that he had little and that he was
not a beggar. evidently being under
the impression that the Mayor might
think he was seeking charity. Such was
not the Mayors idea. for he followed
his last question with this one: Have
You got enough to pay your fare back
home?" The answer being in the af-
firmative, Mayor Strong said: ''Then
go right back to Norfolk and look for
work. We have thousands of idle
workingmen here now, and you would
be one more. Go back to Norfolk, and
am sure you will be able to get work
there; at least you will not meet with
so much competition in Norfolk"
However successful his administration
of New York's affairs may be, however
great the fame he may achieve. how
ever good and wise the counsel he may
give his subordinates, he will never give
better advice to anyone than that he
gave TO this man from Norfolk. It is
such advice if given oftener to those
focking to the great cities, the centers
of population where the stream of life
is fullest and most active and where
excitement rules the day and quiet is
absent during the night, and oftener
needed would solve many "a problem of
both town and country.
This young man, we presume he was
a young man. said he was seeking
work. This is probably true: but he was
seeking more than work. He
was seeking a change Of sce.,a, for as
ne himself says he was 'fti1ed of 1iv-
ing down there among the birds and
fishes" And he was tired because
among the birds and fishes there was
an absence of that intense and
feverish life that produces not only
WEAKNESS but discomfort. When the
great city is reached by this class the
dream is rarely realized and the dis
content deepens and becomes agitation.
Seek as man will he shall never find "a
panacea for all our human ills. 1t is
not so written IN the book of destiny.
But the Disconnected never realize this.
They are looking everywhere for nos
uums to cure mans woes but the right
place-within themselves.
Many of the evils by which modern
society is beset are the result of men
overcrowding the cities and forsaking
the country. 1t must be plain to any
one that If the supply of labor in small
towns and sparsely settled districts is
in excess of the demand in dull times
then that condition of affairs wiz be
greatly aggravated in the large cities.
and every new arrival, like this young
man who went from Virginia to New
York, only adds to it. This, was the
very trouble with the tramp armies
last summer. Those who were out of
work and those who would not work
if work had been offered them, assem-
bied in large bodies and nursed their
discomfort and told the story of their
until they half convinced
themselves that society and government
were their enemies: and from a nuis-
auce- they became a. menace. What
they needed in the first instance. and
what those who are now hoclzing from
the small towns and the coun-
try to the great cities need,