Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-09-12
SOME rEsDsnorrs OF crv.IrzAr1on.

II is complained that there ia q con
stantly declining inclination toward hard
work among the boys and girls now grow.
ing up. 1t is said that the children of
farmers do not wish to be farmers, that the |
children OF artisans do not wish to be arti-
sans that in all classes the young seek |
easier and more profitable occupations-or,
at all events, occupations which demand |
less manual labor. Nor is this tendency
confined to the rising generation. The SO.
called working classes have for many wears
been organizing and agitating with view
to solve tue problem of getting the most
money for the least work. That is the end
aud aim OF every labor association, and it
is defended and justified on the ground
that the producer ought to enjoy larger
share of the profits of his work, and that
he ought to have more leisure for the cult.
walton of his mind. In fact the whole
tendency of modern civilization is in this
direction. all manner of quacks are per.
petually pretending to have discovered
panaceas for existing evils, and plans by
which the necessity of constant work
shall be avoided in some ingenious way
When all other resources fail, attempts are
made to utilize the brute force of MAORI
ties by decreeing that full days wages
shall be paid for less than full days work.
Our politicians, our teachers, our success.
full men in all callings, continue to declare
the glory OF whatever methods put people
above the necessity Of hard work. There
still fingers venerable theory to the effect
that hard work is honorable. The stump
speaker still occasionally apostrophizss the
horny. handed sons of toll" But every
practical man and woman dislikes and de.
spises the kind of life which is devoted to
manual labor, and endeavors to get out of
it and above it as SOON as possible.
Considering how emphatically the trend
OF civilization is against hard labor and
how persistently all social influences exert
their power upon Us all to drive US away
from the old views regarding it, it is
strange that there should be 30 many
lamentations over what is the most unmis-
taxable consequence of the prevalent teach
ing Of the times. How should parents be
serious In their regret that their children
will not content themselves with the
reversion Of the old homestead and its
humble appliances, when they themselves
are bringing up their children under con.
| ditions which must render hard work re-
pulsive to them? What is the meaning of
all the eloquent declarations about the
merit of success in life, if it is in.
tended not to be applied by those to whom
it is addressed When, short time
ago, the career OF General Garfield was
familiar throughout the country, it was
not the fact that he had been a canal boy
which gave its interest and charm to his
story it was the fact that he had risen
from the position of canal-boy to that of
President of the United States. How long
ago was it said that every boy born in the
United States is free to indulge the Pres
idential dream How many years have
we all been boasting about the elasticity of
social conditions in the United States,
and the infinite opportunities within the
reach of the humblest American citizen !!
Aud what is the Significance of this unless
the rising generation is to be perIneated
| with ambition, and unless it is to begin its
hfe-work filled with the highest aspira-
lions?
The truth is that the repugnance to
manual labor which is among the most
marked feature of modern society is a
necessary consequence of the growth of
popular intelligence. 1t is a sober fact
that life of unremitting toll is not worth
living. 1t is fact that men who lead such
life can not hope to effect anything con-
siderable. Il is fact that severe manual
labor unrelieved tends to deaden the intel.
lectual faculties. Il is fact that manual
labor of the hardest kind is the worst paid
labor. Il is a fact that sensible progress
in the higher regions of civilization cannot
be made by men who are doomed to cease.
less and brutalizing toll. We are teaching
| our children that the cultivation of the
mind is the most necessary part of educa-
ton. We are assuring them that It is es.
sential to their happiness to know more
and more of natural science. We are
persnading them to broaden their views
in all branches of knowledge Yet in the
same breath we utter laments that they will
not stay contented on the farm that
they will rebel against the slavery of the
workshop and the factory. This is not
reasonable. We ought to have measured the
consequences OF our teachings more accu.
rately in advance. We ought to have
realized that contentment with hard labor
and passionate aspiration after higher
things are not compatible. But un fortu.
nately We have not even made sure that
the so-called higher things for which we
are whetting our children's appetites are
really the best to be attained.
The age is simply one of Mammon wor.
ship, and that which we too generally call
success in life is simply the attainment Of
wealth by any means whatever. Riches
override all other considerations in the
common estimation. They are the test
of merit everywhere. And yet this is
not popularity of any age. Shakes.
peare, three centuries ago, saw precisely
the same tendencies when he wrote
Plate sin with gold,
| And the strong lance Of justice hurtless breaks
Arm it in rags-a pigmy's straw does cree it.
There is more danger to national morals in
this elevation Of the Golden Calf than in
the growing indisposition to labor. For in
the natural development of an intelligent
and progressive people time will come
when the coarser labor necessary to the
welfare of the community must be per.
formed either by mechanical appliances, or
by some less advanced race or class. Nat
urally the least developed classes will fall
into the ranks of labor at first. and as they
develop they will struggle upward and
abandon their plaaasf asiginatien.=An And this
is what is happening with us. Our work.
ing classes are becoming more intelligent
continually, and as they do so they txcome
less satisfied with their condition. 1t first
they endeavor to arrange matters b that
their condition shall be improved But
they soon discover that there is no means
OF making labor anything else than toilsome,
and SO instead of wasting time in fruitless
struggles they seek easier and more remu.
nerative occupations. Brain pays better
than muscle, and always will, and brain