The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-09-23
PERENNIAL PARAGRAPHS.

Advice TO country People - Som'
Thoughts About city Boys ant
Town Boys Ambitious Boy
should Leave the Land OF Theil
Birth and Seek New Homes.
The Atlanta Evening Journal OF recen
date publishes the following Us editorial:
"Goop ADvICE.-In the series of sdmirabl,
addresses which State School Commissione
| Glenn has been making in all parts OF Geor
gia ne has said many good things, but moth
ing wiser or more apt than his advice to boys
and young men in the rural districts not Il
| Ioir the rush Of The cities.
| This deplOrable tendency is largely the re
Snlt oE the pervading craze to make money
| The average country youth Is afflicted with
the idea that he is losing great opportunities
by remaining on the paterDal farm, and that
| he can step into easy and lucrative employ
| meut: that he can rise to wealth and d'Siinc
tinn ny cnsting his lot in Il city. This Is
grievouS mistake. It is causing the disap.
| pOintment of hopes, the niSdirection ol
energy and the wreck of many lives. the
young man who goes tO a city TO una employ
| ment enters upon rocky road. Every ciIS
| In this country now has more men, young
and old than Can get work. aud yet the mum. .
Der is being increased every day by deludeu
seekers for fortune VINO came from the sur
rounding country or from uiSirlct sectlouS
where they cOnld at least nave Ilaue Ill Hou-
est living ON farms. ,., r..
"There are too many people IN our cltleS. ~
! has been said that IL would be we'll lor the
| United States if there was not city OF more
| than half a million people within their lin
| it's and we believe the remark is true. Ihe
| relative increase of the city population ~
com pariS0n with that i'll the rural regions is
one of the dangerous tendencies OF the times.
| "The glamour OF city life Is unfortunately
att tracting thousands of Young men who have
surroundings where they could have been
useful and lived happily, TO enter Whirl ana
L IN n
at will be- very hard, IL not impossible, TO
check this foolish craving for city life. but
men who have opportunities 10 address the
masses of the people, and newspapers when
euter heir homes. oug ht to protest against IT.
and TO show It's demorallZing influence ana
It's increasing dangers"
The contl iuous repetition OF sentiments
like the above by practical business men Is q
wonder TO us.
There is no accounting for the utterances OF
! politician, and for this reason we have
nothing TO say of the address Of School Com
missioner Glenn, who brought out and re-
peated the stereotyped, stale and unwise pro-
position that country boys should stay in
the country and not go to the towns. He SIM
ply wanted the boys to plow on.
Than perennial advice to stay away from
town nothing could be more repulsive to the
sense and good judgment OF worthy country
boys who may be possessed of the ability
and The ambition 10 seek broader and wider
fields in which to conquer honorable ana
worthy positions.
The giving OF utterauce TO such an absurd
proposition can only be excused on the pre-
sun plion that the people, like the repeater of
such talk, will accept as true whatever may
be said by others-uU matter how far II may
be removed from the facts.
The fact that there are people In every city.
town and ha'nlet who do not. or cannot, hnd
employ ymeut, Is incon trOvcrtible and cannot
cut any Ice on this occasion.
Nobody would be foolish enough TO deny q
fact which Is patent to all.
The history Of some OF the cities would no
.loubt prove that country boys are at the
mead OF many Of the different lines OF sue
ressful business. The probability Is, that not
ten per cent. of the prominent business firms
,t the city OF Atlanta are controlled by At
lanta boys.
City boys. ms a rule, lack the training which
dts them for the successful discharge of the
practical duties OF life.
Ambitious country boys who have aspired
to higher and greater things than can be &C.
.ompIiShed III the rural districts and have
sought larger fields of usefulness than can be
had in the mountain Businesses have goue TO
the cities and conquered succeSS-a notable
instance neins Joseph +. Brown.
In politics. trade, mechanics, arts and
other great spheres Of usefulness we find
country boys often taking the lead.
ing account of The men in Atlanta who could
or could not swim.
II that paper will let his local scribe can
vass the city it. Is fair to be presumed that the
Evening Journal will be astoniShed TO Ses the
per cent. Of men who were born In the coun-
try, and who are now at the head OF business
In that great city.
If the Journal will impose further labor on
his local scribe, let him enquire how many
former country boys are now the stay and
support of the city families into which they
have married.
Another duty-Let the Journal scribe ascer-
tain how many OF the toney city boys have
improved or maintained the condition into
which they were born.
Let no man misunderstood the Press and
Banner.
We would not have people rush pellmell to
the cities.
But we would let every boy obey the i'm
pulses OF his own heart, and respect the insp-
ration which bids him to strive for greater
and higher achievements.
If he feels that he has the God in him, and
that he possesses the virtue aud the manhood
that fit him for the greater and wider fields Of
usefulness he should seek the busy centres,
where his manhood may assert itself and be
appreciated for all that 1t is worth.
The humber walks OF life may be crowded
to sutfocation, but If a boy has ability, virtue,
honesty, ambition, frugal habits and good
health he can In the city soon rise to the
higher planes where there IL less coin petition
| and where there is ample demand tor the best
OuSlnesS QuallHcatlOnS, anu Wnere cOmpe.
tency Will be sure to,ind its just reward.
The difference between city boys and coun-
try boys lies in the difference Of domestic
trainlng-and not in their native ability,
which, on an average, must be nearly the
same.
The constant contact with the world by city
boys sharpens their wits, but 1t blunts their
morals.
The surrounding OF the city boy tends to
he development of the social qualities, while
the moral and business qualities may be neg.
lected.
The crowded streets OF the city furnish
opportunities for the secret practice OF those
things which are Injurious TO character, and
which undermine good habits and unfit
the city boy for the higher trusts.
The country boy. while naturally no better
than his city brother, is more carefully look
ed after by his mother.
While his mind and his character are in the
plastic state, he Is more carefully protected
from those evil Influences which unfit the
city boy for the greatest usefulness.
When boy, who was born right, has FORM
ed his character, he may with reasonable
safety 40 TO the city-and the number OF coun-
try boys W no are now In the best and most
desirable places In the city of Atlanta, fur
nish practical and positive proof that the edi-
tor OF the Evening Journal was simply talk