New-York daily tribune., 1844-01-12
THE TRIBUNE.
Autobiography of q Professional Cen

go forth into The feds

ITlOune Oh last Saturday gave ils iecuoio . - -
full and pithy sermon. 1t was addressed 10 the
ten thousand Young men in the City OF New
York, and In other Cities, who are now trying IN
vain to find employment as clerks or aiming 10
rise in the world by some other pursuit than tha'
of Productive Industry.
Wbv are there SO many non-producers in the
country, many of them living sumptuously =
What is the remedy of the evil 2 paragraph
or two from the veritable autobiography OF the
writer of this may she'd some Light upon this neg
lected subject.
am the son of tanner and curler IN the III
Yer;or of this State. When fourteen years OF age
wss much inclined TO learn thetrade prosecuted
successfully by my father, but was induced, like
thousands of other sons of farmers and mechan-
ics to study profession, from the following con-
siderations:
Kind parents said TO me, (" Daniel. if you keep
on YOUR leather apron and continue TO work II
the lanyard and curriers' shop for the next seven
years, till you are one-and-twenty, and become
skillful and useful mechanic, the most you can
pet in the way of compensation for ten hours
severe toll over filthy hide will be one dollar.
But if you will take our advice and devote the
next seven years to the study Of the dead laneua-
ges, in use practically only two or three thousand
years ago. and to reading law in warm office,
no man will ask you to think and work Tor HIM
ten hours either at the bar or elsewhere, short Of
paying you fee OF ten or twenty dollars" :" Fa-
ther," said I, for I directed my conversation
mainly to him, " if the community continue to
nav LAWYERS and doctors as much for one hours
mental or physical labor as they do for ten hours
agricultural or mechanical labor, is it not certain
that all intelligent boys who are blest with intelli-
gent parents will become professional men, until
there will be ten times as many lawyers, doctors,
merchants, spectators, bankers, &c. as there
will be legitimate business for all of them ? In
answer to this, it was said by shrewd tanner
that $50 long as the people are willing to pay
lawyer as much for one days work as they do
skillful farmer for twenty-slx days work, If the
LAWYER be able to find employment two days IN
month he may sit in his parlor or ride in his car
rage the other "a days, and still enjoy twice as
large an income as the cutivator of the SOIL
This latter argument was decisive in my case.
OFF went to learn to speak Greek as natural
" as pigs do squeak" and of course became
professional gentleman.
There is no fiction in the above statement, nor
is there any lack of truth in the remark that
have at this time worthy son at the night age
to learn trade or profession | reside IN city,
and he urges me to let him 60 forth into the
fields as you, Mr.. Tribune, advise, and learn TO
earn his bread by the sweat of bis brow Now,
if there was IN the great agncuitural State OF
New.York one we'll conducted pattern iarn IN
lt,,ro
nv son and the sons of all others similarly stu
ated could be taught the field practice ofgood hus-
bandry the analysis of Soils and how to improve
all cultivated plants and domestic animals, so as
to realize the largest return in profits on any Civ
en- amount of land and labor, should rejoice to
give nv child the benefit of its obvious advant-
ages. Unfortunately, while we have more than
one hundred Academies and Colleges in this State
to prepare young men to become lawyers, doctors
and priests, there is not institution that i'm
parts to its pupils knowledge of the science of
Rural Economy. | appeal to my professional
brethren, and ask if 1t be not high time.to open
new theatre for the display Of the talent, genius
and enterprise of the rising generation? The |
barriers that surround the learned professions are
utterly valueless means Of protection against |
overwhelming competition. We must kindle
a back fire in the burning forest to ward off the
consuming fame that surrounds US on all sides. |
Agriculture must be made attractive, as well as
profitable, by impartlng to those ambitious young
men who may choose to follow that noble calling,
a knowledge of geology, chemistry, vegetable and
animal physiology, so that they may justly hope
10 become men Of distinction, scientific agri-
cultursts. All monopoly in the practice Of law
and medicine will soon be named with the things
that were. Every man will soon be allowed to
,lol,.c oil
of law, without the let or hindrance of any third
party who, obviously has no right to interfere be-
tween the employer and the employed. The cost
of collecting debts in this State, where the duties
to be performed are almost entirely clerical, will
soon be reduced at least one million dollar.
year. All knowledge is daily becoming more and
more abundant, and therefore cheaper and cheap.
er in the market. \ large very large proportion
of this wonderful mental energy and aspiring
hope must be safely and quietly expended on
Agricultural and Mechanical operations Instead
of paying bounty of 1000 per cent, upon unpro.
ductlve mental and muscular labor, the tables
will soon be turned. Every tree will most as
snredly be judged by its fruit The axe is al
ready LAID at It's root. Let us then be wise in
time and pray the Legislature to apply the SS4,-
UO0 derived from the sale of the Public Lands to
establish, under the control of the State Agricul
tural Society, or of competent trustees, Pattern
Farm and Agricultural Institute in the central
part OF the Empire State. That fund is ample,
IN the hands of plain, practical farmers, to do all
that is required to accommodate five hundred
young men.
From this Central Institute County Agricul.
tural Schools could soon be well supplied with
hundreds of able and active young gentlemen
thoroughly versed alike in the science, the prac-
dustry prosecuted in New-York These gradu-
ates would know all that is known by any body
about this great department of Productive Labor,
and would carry such KNOWLEDGE home to the