New-York tribune., 1842-03-31
Attractive Industry.

Attractive Industry.
L By LndMstry, understand all branches o'
Agriculture, Manufactures and Mechanics II is
a convenient general term, to express the whole
[ictivity of Man, applied to Production. We
never use the tern. Industry in the sense of ASST
duty or Diligence
Industry, Us it now is prosecuted or organized
IS rePugnant, ill-requitcd and degrading and as
! long as II continues so. the Laboring Classcs will
suffer from its defects, and will be more or less
poor ignorant and degraded low can they en-
Joy real Liberty and Happiness, when seven
eiglitlls Of their daily occupations arc rcpulsiye
and oppressivel They cannot, and to omeliorate
eticctually their condition. resort must not be had
to Political Controversies and Administrative Re
forms, but the occupations of industry or Labor,
to which they forced by their necessities
Or from fear OF want and starvalion must be rem
dercd Attractive. Honorable and Lucrative. This
proposition Us Scif-nident.
Why is Industry al present repulsivc and de-
grading? why IS ii looked upon as ;.u accurscI
drudgery, fit only for hireugs scrts aud slaves
and avoided by every means and device that men
can invent, We will explain few of the reasons
why this is SO. Ii is because lis occupations are
prolonged the entire day and year through without
variety or change, which wears out the body, and
leaves the mind no time to think or the heart no
time to feel because it not an avenue to fortune
or rank for he who labors with his hands never
gets rich because the workshops and manufac-
tories are filthy and hidcous, and the fields lonely
and dreary; because Employers are unjust ard
| IL d 4
| fruit of his labor; because there arc dependence,
humiliation and degrading subjection of Man to
his fellow Man; and because, in short all the sem
tnents and attractions Of the Soul are violated,
and intellectual Culture. Refinement and Eleva-
ton are banished from the existence of the Labor
ing Multitude.
The World, seeing Industry exercised according
to system which produces all these results, be-
licvcs that it is inherently rcpugnant and will al
WAYS remain But it is not possible that IA new
Organization may be given to Industry, that new
Systom Of Labor may be devised, which, differing in
every respect from the present false. monotonous
and rcpulsiyc System, may strip it of the disgust
and loathsoncncss now attached to it We as
sert that there Suppose n ball, an opera or
party were held III dark and filthy place. that
the guests were badly dressed, and many Of them
coarse and vulgar in their manners, and that, in
addition to I'LL this, it were TO be continued for
from twelve to fourteen hours-would it be at
uac;ivcl Most certainly not. How, then, can
we expect Industry to be pleasing when exercised
| in filthy workshops amid persons not united from
choice but from necessity, between whom syEl-
pathics and not unfrcquently antipathics exist;
and when, moreover, the Laborcr must toll from
twelve to fourteen hours per duy-the entire
week and year through? But balls and parties
arc agreeable and attractive; and why? Because
they arc given in elegant rooms, and the company
is CAV. polite well dressed and composed of both
sexes; moreover, they last only for few hours,
and there is perfect liberty to leave whenever the
desire nay dictate. Why should no, Industry,
noble Industry, which feeds and clothes all,
and without which We should starvc upon the
fruitful earth, rcceice the same attention. at our
hands, with respect It's organization and method
of exercise, al do our ordinary auaSemcnts Why
do no, our Politicians and Statesmen, who are
vehcmently engaged in reforming the Currency
that is the medium in which tho Products of La
Dor are paid, cndcavor TO discover some means OF
improving the source from which those Products
come-or in other words, of cnneblins Industry
and rendering it honorable and ATTRACTIVE?
If balls and parties are agreeable from the nlaN-
ncr in which hey are conducted: could not the same
| conditions or others us ciectual, be applied to
| scven-eich.hS of Industrial Occupations to
! render them attractive Il there any fatality
which prevents it? Are there difficulties and OBJ
staclcs in the way which arc insurmountable =
This question cannot be answered in the affirmative
until the subject has been tested by experience, and
until u trial of Association has been made Up to
the prescn, day it has been totally neglected, and
SO stupid a neglect must not pc brought as ev'-
dence agains, its practicabihtv
No a,nelioratien Of the condition Of the Pesple.
no elevation of the Laboring GLASSES, is possible,
unless we can render lSpuSTRY ATTRACTIVE
In fact, Health and complete Happiness can
never be the let of the richer Glasses without it.
If VIC cannot render Industry attractive, every
thing necessary to the Existence physical Happi-
ness and Greatness of Man, will have eternally to
be produced by the dreary toll of large majority
of the Human Race.
Let Industry be exercised in such way as is
suited TO the Sentiments, Tastes aad lnc!inations
of Man: give it an Organization, which will cal!
out his Ambition, Emulation, cooperative Spirit
and Friendship; make il an avenue TO Fortune
and Distinction in Society and it can be ennobled
and rendered honorable as War, Commerce, the
Magistracy and some other pursuits have been.
We viii explain later how this can be done.
Commerce and Banking rank at present among
the mos, ho.orable of pursuits, because they are the