Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1881-08-03
che freemaa.


NIX fplloR:-ll Is TACT tllat nom
will dispute hat this is period of grea
rHrtgc~. Old things and old customs
hive passed and are passing rapidly away
AMI the methods of doing business hav
be- ONE essentially different from wha
hey we're formerly. These innovation
must he attended by marked results, AN,
it may not be amI>s to reflect momen
and sec what their influence is, and wha
it's lhcly to he, upon the rising genera
ton aud the country at large.
Our people are disposed to indulge il
hopeful anticIpatlons of the future, in con
sidcrllion of the improvements of th,
present, and would not attempt to dis
ruuose such view; but. being some
Thin. of au old lpsy myself, as my article
win p'rap- show. tail to see the rain
bow % prami.. lu every change that oc-
GUS; and. 100 n.l. Wu sonetimes led Il
doubt Tie st.uspry HuI e,rvating influence
of some of oar so called improvements
upon The eleat mass of the people The
tendency viii doubtless be to make class
Of our poopl. very rich, and another and
u much larger class very poor, and in view
Of such u prooghiity it would be well for
The young 70 make the best use OF present
opportunities, and prepare themselves for
,urIl emergencies as may arise.
Bus,nr-s of all kinds Is rapidly working
: way into the hands of the few, and
liain. its lu'a'iDn ia the cities and man
uGcjmlug towns, and he great majority
OF hose vino wish to devote themselves to
tno mechtnical arts are obliged TO earn
ln'lr Dre 'd in the capacity of hirelings,
with ljlyIe pro ,pect of ever being able to
~ mp tor themselves. An amount of
capua : now required to do almost any
k.nd ot manuf curing successfully thai
once would have been considered for
tune; and competition has become 50
gpc,, u, TO discourage humble effort.
We ul The "older sci " can remember
when there were "a great many smart little
places in Vermont. Every village could
boa,. of its machine shops, where differ
cnt articles for home consumption were
manufactured, and where many of the
Young men of the town could find employ
mcnD, with prospect of sometime going
into business for themselves, and adding
their mite to the wealth and Importance
Of the place. But where are such shops
to day. The great majority of them are
closed up. They have become the recep
ucle> of lumber and rubbish, or a retreat
for mice and bats. Many of them are
going to decay. The five hundred horse
power engine of Messrs. Smasher Co
has demolished the waterwheels thai used
to play along the course of our mountain
streams, u d me business OF scores of am
bilious little men has been absorbed by
one great concern.
For instance: There was in almost every
considerable village a cabinet shop where
all kinds of furniture for home use was
made, and where the smartest girl in
town, upon the event of getting married,
could find setting out quite as good
as she cared to have. But how is it with
these shops nowAz They are silent. The
hum of industry has ceased The sills
perhaps are rotting out, the floors are
settling, he roofs are becoming shaky and
the robin comes in through the broken
deserted work bench where strong arms
once showed the plane. Somebody. per
haps, Keeps a furniture shop cup town,
but he don't manufacture. His wares
come from the great works of somt
wholesale manufacturer in the city. The
business of manufacturing has been alb
from 1t have vanished from the place.
It's Just so with the business of the
blacksmith. Horses, of course, must stll
be ehod, but those VINO made the shoes
and the nails have laid down their ham
mer- and their fires have gone out. Thes'
articles are made somewhere else-in the
city, perhaps, and by some great concern
where hundred thousand dollars ar
invested, and where machinery is employ
ed that will do the work of Il hundre'
men; and The profits of the business &C
into he pockets of few. Carriage iron
break, but they are replaced from stool
OF ready made work procured from tn
city, and made very cheap A little Gus
tom work is called for, but the blacksmit
don't keep "a Jour" With the presen
convenences he can do it all himself, an
"ours" must do something else O
tramp for IA job.
It is Just so with carriage business
Very few of our country carriage maker
can afford to m Ike any new work. The
may keep ii stock of down country
work on hand Gf they happen to have ttl
capital to nvest, and be able to sell yo
stylish buggy very cheap. Perhaps
will break down The first week, and pei
haps it won't. But 1t looks we'll, anyway
and i, one of the lriumphs of machir
labor. In some corner of the old .shol
whore once dozen men or more wei
employed, you find the proprietor WIN
AT smal, dlngy looking bench, manage
t. keep himself busy part of the tim
douga lIlIIe repairing and such jobs
caunoi b. furnished ready made.
The boot and shoe business, that one
gave employment TO so many men a
through the country, is now complete
m,nopoIized. The work is done most
by machinery, and the profits go into Il
hands of comparatively few. Son
custom wOrkmen are needed, but n
many, and they no longer Hammer al
whistle and sweat" but they give vent
their feelings in grooming about ha
times.
But it requires no arguments to pro
that manufacturing on II small scale
beng given up, and is vanishing from