Year: 1877

A mob Of half-staryed men is pitt
full sight: a mob Of idle, vicious men
is sad commentary on our civiliza-
tion. and in all our large cities VIC are
frequently called upon to contemplate
both pictures.


That such condition Of affairs exists
is not the fault Of the cities of the pub
/ lie al large. There are more people in
the cities than can find employment,
aud these people are in Chicago and
other cities by their own choice. The
! facts that came to the surface last week
as TO the number of people out Of en-
ployment were appalling, but will they
/ prevent one young man from the coun-
try from carrying out his pet scheme
OF coming TO the city? Will one farm
er's boy, with good home and plenty
TO do, read of the great masses who
have bad homes, little TO eat, and moth
ing 10 do, and be deferred from COM
ing to the city? Not one. The rush
will continue, aud our cities will con-
tinue 10 be burdened with more people
than can find employment in their
borders.


Boys and girls born and raised in
the country have an INSANE desire to
live IN towns. They dwell on the
bright side OF city life so much that
their own life in the country seems al
ways dull and prosy, and city life al
ways charming and bright. They mag
nifty the drawbacks on one side and ex-
sggerate the pleasures Of the other.
They drone over the dullness of coun-
try life and decline 10 see the dark side
of city life at all. In this way they en-
courage a dislike for what is in their
possession, and cultivate an insatiate
longing for what their fancy makes ex-
istence in the city.


A boy hesitates to round out his life
on the farm. 1t is in some way be-
meath him, and he goes 10 the city TO
realize his ambitious schemes and be-
comes a clerk in a dry goods store, or
a laborer in some mandatory, or a
driver OF street car, or brakeman on
q railroad. He comes from home
where he was in q certain sense his own
master, and enters a business where he
works harder, where he lives less COM
fortably. and where he is always in
subordinate position. He comes from
the farm, where his living is assured,
and enters . field where a position,
ever so humble, is difficult TO secure
aud hard 10 retain; where he takes
great chances of being thrown out of
employment under the most distress
ing circumstances. he comes from a
locality where there are no beggars, no
poyerty-stricken people, no men pre-
sume to dictate as to when he shall Ia
Dor. and where and how, and enters
cal!ings in which he ceases to be mas
ter of his own action.


The boy that does this sort Of thing
is indefinitely multiplied, aud he keeps
doing 1t all tho time. In nine cases
out OF ten he is disappointed, but he
never acknowledges this, and other
boys, knowing nothing OF the disap-
pointments, and trusting only the boys
exaggerated statement, manufactured
to hide his real feelings, follow IL his
footsteps.


Let the boys and girls, young men
and young ladies remain ia the coun-
try, patiently aud thankfully. Let
them disabuse their minds of the false
notions they have formed Of the city
and look at facts.


A young man employed on a farm
has TO work hard. He would have to
work harder IN nearly every occupation
in the city. He has TO work IN the hot
sun and ia the rain and snow. 1t may
be. Ia tho city he works IN the smoky,
dirty atmosphere OF come mandatory,
or would be exposed TO the same incle-
ment weather as on a farm. \ farm
hand getting SlS per month and bis
board is making more money than be
would in the city at $40 per month.
And yet, while farm hands ara scarce,
laborers in the city are ever abundant,
and clamoring for work IN every de-
partment Of business.


In addition 10 this influx from rural
districts, cities receive the larger share
Of immigrants from other countries.
The poorer classes cluster IN squalid
localities where there IS little comfort
and little 20 do, when outside OF the
cities are broad farms where there is
much comfort and much 10 do, or new
lands inviting them 10 the possibilities
of ownership. While every depart
ment OF labor IN the cities is overstock-
cd, thousands Of acres Of public lands
await owners and OCCUPANTS.


People perversely looked in one di
rection for employment. They must
adopt "a different rule, and look in all
direction2 They have expected 10
find employment where laborers are
most abundant; they should look for IL
where laborers arc scarcest