The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-06-06
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1871.


which it states that the rapid abandonment
of the apprenticeship system ''robs many a
youth of discipline that might prove an an
chor of safety to him; whileit also perceptibly
embarrasses our measures for the care of
friendless and the reformation of improvident
Juveniles" Truthful as this statement is,
however, it may well be questioned whether
the old practice of indenturing the young can
ever be re-established. Various circum-
stances have united to destroy it, probably
forever. The character of the tuition or in
struction impaired has, in many trades,
been radically changed. Formerly, an ap-
prentice mastered varied departments before
he became journeyman. If he was halter,
he learned how to make q complete hat; if he
was shoemaker, he made an entire shoe; if
he was saddler, he made saddle; if he was
q cabinet-maker, he made all kinds of furni-
ture; if he was carpenter, he learned every
thing deemed important that appertained to
that trade, etc. Now, however, through the
introduction of numerous machines and the
concentration of many workmen in large
establishments, there is a constant tendency
to increase the subdivisions of labor in nearly
all trades, so that there few places in
cities where an apprentice could learn any
trade as an entirety, in the old-fashioned
manner. 1t was also common feature of
the apprenticeship system that the appren-
tices boarded under the same roof as the
master, becoming part of his household as
well as employees in his workshop. For
obvious reasons this custom is not adapted to
the mode of social life now generally prevail
ing in the large cities. Aside from these
reasons, there would now be great repugnance
on the part of the parents of Young America,
and on the part of Young America himself, to
such submission to the will of a master as
was generally exacted under the old system;-
80 that it is not difficult to discover causes
for the decadence of the custom of indentur-
ing apprentices however much such result
may be deplored.
The practical question is, how the best
substitute for it can be supplied. partial
substitute is already in very general opera
tion; that is, many thousands of boys are now
at work under verbal or written articles of
agreement receiving money wages in lieu of
board and clothing, and remaining with their
employers for such periods as are mutually
agreeable, the boy being discharged instead
of being whipped when he is incorrigibly idle
or vicious, and a change of employers being
made by the boy, whenever he considers it
his interest or advantage to make such
change, without any danger of his being ad-
vertised as a runaway. This may be a poor
substitute, but it is the best that has been
provided, and in some trades in which it has
become the custom of all the employers to
avoid employing or enticing away from other
employers partially trained minors, it still
works tolerably we'll.
Additional provision for the practical busi-
ness instruction of tens of thousands of boys
is, however, manifestly needed. They are
sent to the public schools, and bright hopes
are built upon the prospect of the wonderful
things they will accomplish after they are
rendered prodigies of learning. But in
thousands of instances all the geography,
grammar, logic, Greek, and Latin that can
be crammed into their brains does not teach
them how to make an honest living. The
people who obtain a livelihood directly
through their book knowledge, in this coun-
try, form a very small portion of it's inhabi-
tants. While book education confers i'm
measurable benefits by the mental training
IL p1OuOtoS anu ny INC BOHoia CAlikhVoh-
ment it produces, it does not, in one case out
of hundred, absolutely furnish the means
for self-support. A very large proportion of
the best educated men are, in a money-making
sense, utter failures, while large proportion
of those who were pecuniarily successful were
dull scheol-boys, and remain throughout
their careers ignorant of and indifferent to
book knowledge. We make these trite state
ments here only to give point to the sugges-
tion that greater amount of mechanical or
technical instruction should be infused into
the educational system of all large towns.
We have seen what the Schools of Design are
capable of doing for young women, what
polytechnic schools can do for young men
destined for special pursuits, what West Point
does for the officers of the army of the United
States, what the Naval School does for the
navy and it is question worthy
of the most serious attention
whether the principle developed
by the success of the institutions referred TO
might not, and should not, be extended to
many of the common callings, trades, and
arts. We are aware that the task involves
some practical difficulties, but it is every year
growing more and more of a necessity to pa
rents in moderate circumstances aud to So
ciety at large that better agencies than those
now existing should be provided for the dis
charge of the homely but imperative duty OF
giving to many thousands OF young lads in
struction that win insure to them an honest