The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1872-06-14
Son He Dc not Laarn ! Trada.g

SOITy ne OlQ u0L 4SdAA = 4Aaa5-
A young man, well dressed and o.
prepossepsing appearance, called al
our Office recently and inquired il
great earnestness if we had employ
ment Of any kind to give him fol
but few days, if no longer, as he
was a stranger in the city, out oi
money, and unable to pay for a few
days board and lodging. He fur
ther stated that he Was a boOk-keep-
er, but after a diligent search, he
had found no one who wanted any
help in that line, nor could he obtain
employment at anything that he felt
competent to perform in satisfac-
tory manner. The positions of
clerk and book keeper he remarked,
were all filled, and applicants for
them far in excess of the demand.
81 am sorry" said he, @that 1 did
not learn a trade"
The appeals of the young man ex-
cited our sympathy, but, requiring
no farther assistance in the Office,
we were compelled to reply to his
eager questioning that we could not
employ him.
The door closed after him, and he
again went out to continue what, in
all probability, proved to be a fruit
less search for employment. But
his words fingered behind and, as we
sat musing on them, recalled to mind
the oft repeated expressions of the
mechanic, in which he reproves him
self for want of foresight in selecting
an occupation. Here 1 am doomed,
he says, to toll in a shop, at work
which is Lard, affording but poor
pay. Like a dog, 1 must come at
the call of q whistle, or like ser
want, obey the summons of a bell;
had studied bookkeeping or en-
tered a store as clerk, 1 might have
been leading a much easier and more
pleasurable life.
In the cases cited, we find one dis
satisfied with his selection, and wish
ing to exchange places. And the
difficulty at once presents itself, as
to how we shall decide for them and
the classes they represent, so that
the seeming mistakes in selection
may be remedied. We acknowledge
we are unequal to the task.
Food, clothing, tools, machinery,
houses, ships, and an almost endless
variety Of other things are contin-
ually in demand, which require the
labor of farmers and mechanics;
while that class which makes ex-
changes (merchants) is of necessity
comparatively few in number, and,
therefore, needs but a small force OF
assistants. The necessities of the
millions of earth require by far the
largesr number Of persons to be en-
ployed in agriculture and manufac.
lures. Whenever then, through
pride or any other motive, parents
disregard the law and encourage
their sons in seeking after situations
as clerks, book-keepers, ETC., rather
than to engage in those pursuits fo1
which there is always a natural de,
mand, there must be a correspond
i ing amount Of suffering as a penal
ty. Hence we find the so called re-
spectacle occupations are gIuttered,
while the mechanical branches are
suffering through the lack of skilled
labors. An advertisement for g
clerk will quickly bring to the Office
door a small army Of applicants oi
all sizes and ages, while the want
column may plead several days for q
good mechanic, and fail to meet with
a response.
"Sorry he did not learn a trade. -
Let apprentices and iourneymen,
who may be bewailing their lot, at
once resolve to thus repine no lon
ger, but by hard study and close
application master their trades, and
having done so, demand a fair COM
lpensation. Then by adding to skill,
honesty, punetuality and economy
in expenditures, there need be no
fear that they shall be compelled at
any time to beg for sufficient en-
IplOyment to pay for a days board
and lodging.-COach Makers Jour,