Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1847-05-04

ana manhood We wish il was not 90 true as
Il u, a. well for the sake of the boys as their
tAscnts and more than this, for the sake Of
iAe general hsppiness and prosperity Of sh
slasses Of the community.
To all who have occasion to employ the SER
vices Of niinops, in the various operations OF
hard eTaft, there 10 one fact that must have
sppesrrd to them most inconveniently obvious,
sksf the tendency Of things, for the last few
yvars, kas been 10 do away entirely with the
knds of mutual interest that formerly existed
between master and apprentice, aud establish
is their place a sys.em Of work and wages
that haa been anything but advantageous TO
both parties. We were never partial to the
ola sys,cm Of indenturing apprentices, for there
vac IN that system an acknowledgment Of the
principle ofscverity and forces right Of COM
pulsion TO perform service which was antag-
dpistie to those better feelings OF mutual good
will and confidence that should always exist
I; between master and apprentice, and without
whsch these relations cannot exist with any
degree of harmony or benefit. But there was
and 10 q better system than this, founded spon
nssre JUST and eqoitsbt~ principles, in which
tn apprentice, with full understanding and
.Answidgr Of what he is doing, bargains with
his en- ployer to devote the years of his minor
ny 10 the acquisition of a knowledge Of his
trade, or calling for his board and a stipulated
su,n for clothing and necessaries; while the
sasstrr, on his part, agrees to instruct him in
all that it will be necdful for. him to learn in
order 20 become finished workman. But
this system, AZ well as the other, seems TO have
bsen, within a few years, entirely abolished,
and the consequence is that every mechanical
sYaic in crowded with an indifferent set Of
workInrn, many Vi whom are almost as incom.
oetsnt 10 turn out job, in a workman-like
manner, as If they had never attempted or pre-
tended TO learn trade.
X isa great mistake which young men and
the parents OF young men commit, when they
sacrih;e all their future welfare and prosperity
TO some trihiug present p,epniary gam, by en-
vosraeing a disposition 10 change from place
90 place, from work shop to workshop, for the
paltry consideration of few additional dollars
PER annuni. Al the sacrifice of those opportu.
mites, (wh ch can never return after the days
of boy hot sre over,) TO learn TO aequit them
srivcs like mrn, when the proper period arrives
for them TO participate in the active duties
Vi life. fs.
To such an extent has the great idea which
Oh 'uid be uppcrmost in the minds Of young
i-echGncs brcn neglected, that Of making
themselves perfect workmen, that II is very
d,f5euit to find, in ony Of the branches of me-
ehanicsl skill, sufficiency Of real competent
hands and almost every master mechanic
6ads himself fnccessitated, at times, to employ
. set cf jaarneymrn utterly incompetent, as
far ~ a knowIrdge Of the business is concern.
ed, to perform the work which he has to do.
ls the printing business for instance, it is
hardly possible to find one in twenty Of the
present generation who are competent to take
charge OF an Office and il 10 no uncommon
thing 10 find that what little knowledge of the
business they do possess, has been picked up,
r.,a~~ Il in half doxar dif.rent officea in
ss many different towns and cities In book
binding, the facts are precisely the same and
50 we might go through the whole catalogue,
--shoe making, harness making, tailoring, ship
building, house building, blacksmlthng, &c
The trades have been imperfectly learned too
late the workmrn are made sensble OF their
error and are glad to work at low wages
rather than not work at all. They start in life |
destitute Of the requisite knowledge to ensure
competence, and they remain poor to the end
Of their days.
We viii cite an example which will illustrate |
tho evils of the adjustment Of the apprentice
system. We will take two boys, who shall be |
Of the same age they shall leave school at
sixteen, and be appre entced to the same mas
tor He agrees to receive their services, while |
learning their trades, as an equivalent for the |
trouble he may be at in learning them, and the
Amount it will cost him for boarding and cloth
ing them until they are twenty-one years Of
age. He says, ~ will give you thirty dollars
besides board the first year, forty the second,
and fifty the third, and so increasing ten dol
lars every year For the first year things g. Il
ON swimmingly enough; at the end Of that
time, both boys find that they have made some
progress in learning business which will ena-
ble them to procure a comfortable livelihood
Thomas is satisfied with his place, and his
ray; but William thinks he ought to have
nsor~ he looks about him and finds that some
other employer, in consequence OF the prohc
rn~y nc has made in his calling, will give 1
him sixty or seventy dollars besides board for 1
his next years services He leaves his first
place and goes 20 place No. 2, sundering at
once all those ties that had begun to be formed !
between himsrlf and his first employer. He
begins to feel quite independent, and sneers al
Thomas FOR being such drone rs to content
himself with 30 little {; but the advantage IN not
altogether oD his side. Ilis second master
does not consider him exactly in the same
light as the first, but ~ iourneyman rather.
Hc knows the patry excuse with which he |
justfes leaving his former master, and rightly
judges that the same sordid spirit may prompt
him to Leave him.
He docs not feel that interest which he does
who has the first direction of young mind in
the pathway of life and seeks only To get as
much labor as he can, with the least instruc-
ton and trouble To- himself. At the end of the
second year, Thomas has received his forty
dollars he has made large accession to his
fund ofhnowledge, secured the esteem and con-
fidence Of his employer, and received his pay
as per agreement. William has labored as
hard, but has learned less, and to compensate
him for this deficiency he receives some twenty
or thirty dollars more, which his master can
we'll afford to give, as he has been kept upon
pne kiud of work aud lost no time in learning
thc ne " and difficult branches which he was
unscqnaiuted with. lie does not feel satisfied
with his place or his pay, and he again looks
about him and finds that he can get from EN-
ployer No. 3, for his third year, 100 dollars,
which No. 2 does not feel willing to give. So
he leaves again, enters the new shop, INDUCES
smother sneer nt Thomas, feeling himself quite
. man in comparison, ls put upon the same
kind of work To which he has been accustom-
ed; that being the only kind in which his new
employer can make his services profitable, and
90 another year passes away, and perhaps
another All this while the other boy is max
ing great progress he has less money but in.
hniicly more Of that knowledge which will
command money in any state Of the times, viz
Mechanical Skill. Both are now twenty years
IL A.