The Grand Haven news., 1865-12-27


The young men of today are to be the
old men Of the future. The clerks Of
our time are to be the merchants Of time
to come. If the great city Of New York
is TO be city of honest, eminent mer-
chants thirty years hence, il must be by
means of the young men now learning
the lessons Of life. The counting rooms
and business houses af to-day are, so to
speak, nurseries from which saplings are
TO be taken to supply the places Of those
sturdy oaks that time will soon remove.
if the saplings are found rotten TO the
core how will they grow upa Or il by
chance they have sufficient vitality to
reach maturity, are they better fitted TO
become strong and maintain vigorous
growth in the midst Of storm and sun
shinei To leave metaphor and speak
plainly, the morals Of too many Young
men filling subordinate positions are tend
ing downward aud call for immediate
measures of correction. Time was when
this was not SO, and when the case Of a
young employe detected in immoral
practices was something out Of the com
iir,n run. But that change has certain
ly taken place, the daily records Of the
courts, and the private experience Of ma
ny employers will show. Nor has this
condition Of things been suddenly pro-
duced--although few recent marked
cases have, perhpas, caused it TO appear
so. 1t has been coming upon us step by
step--so gradually, indeed, as to prevent
any systematic attempt to devise means
for It's correction. Now, however, that
the evil s,ares us in the face, il must DO
met aud recognized. While il is need !
less to detail at length the causes which
have couspired to bring it about, yet a
few Of them may be presented, and pos
sibIy some remedy may thus be suggested.
The present system of training clerks
is radically different from that which OBJ
taincd in what is termed the sold FASH
| ioued times" and which made the mer-
chant princes-a few Of whom yet remain
among US. The clerks then, after days
work, were accustomed TO spend their eve
nings either in learning instructive lee.
lures, or in the families Of their employ
ers, or others, in reading works Of hislo-
~, biography, and general instruction, or
10 pleasant social life. No time was vast
Ell, either 10 the countng-room or at
bome--snd this expression, at home,
gives another explanation of the difference
so observable between the young clerks of
the present and those of the old regime.
For the clerks Of that day had homes.-
The general, indeed the universal custom
was for clerks to board in the families Of
their employers. n The merchant consider
ed himself responsible not only for the
business habits Of the youth entrusted To
bis care, but for their morals also. Hence
ensued personal supervision oyer1the
young men on the part Of the employers.
Where their evenings were spent, what
books; they read, and with whom they
associated, rwere generally known.po That
thecase is widely different at The present
day is plain. A few old merchants, per-
haps, may yet have such sold fogy' no.
tions, and pursue the same course |;
but with most Of the employers and en-
ployes at the present time the bare sug-
gesticn of such relation existing between
them would be received by both parties
with smile of dersion. Merchants
TOW hardly thiuk they have RIG toin-
qpire where their clerks spend their time
after otiicc hours, Provided the
work is done satisfactorily in the Office,
that is sufficient; and, indeed, so false q