The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1867-08-17

ed tneit
~se.-5 ~.-r ---Svu uscm 70 compoand for
them; SO thai il msy be said thai, although
TIE process begun mvre than thousand
u . ago, it is only within lifetime of the
present generation that he substitution Of
leontract for statue has beer completed. No
| body is now predestined by iSw 70 any cali
ing or condition, When be has reached the
years Of discretion, he can determine what
mis- pursuit shall be. The lives OF all of us,
OF course within the limits prescribed BY our
eircamStanees and our capacity, are regulat-
ed by contracts cf cur own making, and rot
b. legal rules or traditions OF customs.
Probably few, who have not paid very
close attention to the social phenomena Of
our time, have noticed to what M extent
this change is affecting many Of the most
important relations Of modern life. Parents,
for instance, srelgii, ami must always retain,
the legal righ: to regulate The conduct Of
their childIeh, u til the latter attain their
majority. But N practice the exscise Of
tnls fisnI is undergoing serious modifca-
lions. The advocates Of iaplcit, blind ODE
dlence are becoming alm0s as rare as the
dyocates of corporal punisnment Children
rot ROW expecte I, as they were expected
ears ago, 70 do or not TO do things
because s'1hey are told . or because
e children. Most plans Of education
4 on annesls 10 the .iG1erstan,.
parents and teachers think it necessary,
sneyer il is possible, 10 give reasons for
ir orders or decisions, TO point out .ue
sural, and not simply the artif sial, &C nse-
les Of obedience or disobedience, and
thus bripg the cullo's own will into play in
the regulation of his conduct.
In like manner the institution of appren-
liceship may almost be said to have disap-
peared from among Us, at least in the form
in which o. '.ancesters were familiar with
it. half ac ltury ago lad, who wanted
to learn trad, was literally forced to be-
come bondsmaa for five or seven wears.
he was made member Of the master 4 fam
lily his conduct was controlled By orders
and raLes from his rising to his lyiG: down.
His earnings belonged to his master, and the
trades were not open TO him until he had
served out bis time. He might &c beaten or
disciplined in any other way short of legal
ef1elty that seemed necessary to secure bis
obedience; and if he ran away be was ad-
yertised for, pursued, and brought back,
With mucfof the same formalities Of fu-
gitive slave. la facs, advertisements Offer
ing rewards for capturing runaway appren-
tioes were not uacommOa in the Northern
Newspapers sixty years since and we know
with what easnessne1 one set oil interpreters
Of the Constitution Of tbeU nitsd STATES have
contended that the clause providing for the
fetarn Of fugitives s'heid 10 service" applied
TO apprentices, and nos to slaves But ap-
premiership of this kind may now be said 10 |
be unknown. No lad will accept Of. such |
position, and few matters wcS.d like TO have !
him work for them on any such t rras. AS
a general rule, apprentices renal appren- |
toes as long rs they please and in practice
the master claim ON their obedience 10 r.
stronger than on that Of his journeymen. In |
snany trades, coo, apprentices cannot nov
~ bad on any terms Young rzsn learn
trades when they choose and how they
choose.
80 slso infthe relations Of husband ana
wife She tendency OF legisiatisn In al mod.
ern stAtesz -ok coQrse IL 10 in soma more "a
pid ahd more prerequisite than Ia 0tkera--is
rs-Anpz wRrri1gH 10 d fnstrumens for the /
I4gftt4iesdpn ~ ohiidrsp siuply sisuwinr Iii |
fhefeimAidms dG h ssband and wife which 4 r.
1et necessary TO this end to be regulated by
indiHdnal will. The common law hsd \
ssatrw ready Tor Tho wife, into which sne
passed the miDpts the ceremony was, over.
Ind which placed both her person and prof.
perty under the absol,ts control OF her hus.
DADS Aln most Earopean countries the wo-
nan ig1sprived, pcust0m, TO this day. Of
III 800 VI choosing her husband but ia IN
] go Ger u every day Stronger andj
~-ds her nhsrstionI
VI s9hl