Morris tribune., 1883-09-29

| its kind, no matter what the kind u.s. TO
spoil good shoemaker in order to
make bad parson is surely not going
"up," and man who digs we'll is by all
sound criteria superior to the man who
writes i'll. Every one who TALKS to Amer
l lean school boys thinks that he does
| them and his country service II he re-
minds them that each one of them has Il
chance to he president of the United
States, and our literature is all the time
stimulating the same kind of senseless
social ambition, instead of intoxicating
the code and the standards which should
be adopted by orderly, sober, and use
| full citizens. -
J. The consequences of the observations
which have now been grouped together
are familiar to us all. Population tends
| from the country to the city. Mechan-
ical and technical occupations are aban-
doned, and those occupations which are
easy and genteel are Overcrowded. OF
course the persons in question must be
| allowed to take their own choice, and
| seek their own happiness in their own
| way, but it is inevitable that thousands
Of them should be Disappointed and sui
| fer. II the young men abandOns farms
and trades to become clerks, book eep-
ers, ETC., etc. the consequence will be
that the remuneration of the crowded
occupations will fall, and those ofneglect-
ed occupations will rise. If the young
| women refuse to do house work, and go
into shops, stores, telegraph offices,
schools, etc, the wages of the crowded
occupations will fall, while those of the
domestic servants advance. If women
In seeking occupation trv to gain admls-
sion TO- some business like telegraphing,
81 HnX .l,itl
under the men. Similar effects would
be produced if a leisure class in an old
country should be compelled by some
social CONFUSION to support themselves.
They would r III down the c9mpensa-
ten for labor in the few occupations they
could enter.
| Now the question is raised whether
there is any remedy for the low wages
of the crowded occupations, and the
question answers itself. There is no
remedy except not to continue the
causes of the evil. To strike, that is to
| say that the workers will not work in
their chosen line, vet that they will not
leave it fer some other line, is simply
hsuidcte. Neither can anys amount of
declaration, nor even ,of aw-making,
forca-a man %ho-owns- Business to sub
nit the control of it to man who does
not own it. The telegraphers have an
occupation which requires training and
skill, but it is one which is very attract
| I've III many respects to those who seek
| natural occupations. tEzis also an Occu+
| patton. which is. very suitable at least in
tmany$Otlts~ branches, Tor women. The
Occupation is thereioreeapable of a linn
fitted monopoly. The demand that Wom-
Ter should be paid equally with men is,
| e. E H,,t To-, Il ~
would be to keep women out of the BUSH
ness, 1t was often said during the tele-,
! grapAer,s strike that the demand OF tne.
STIR aers. was Just, because their wages
were less than those of artisans
The argument had no force at
all. The only question was wheth-
er the current wages for tele-t
graphing were sufficient to bring out an.
adequate supply Of telegraphers. If the
growing boys prefer to be artisans, the
wages Of telegraphers will rise. If, even
at present rates, boys and girls continue
to prefer telegraphing to handicratt or
homework, the wages of telegraphers
Will fall. Could, then, a strike advance
at blow the wages OF all who are now
teegraphers? There was only one rea-
son to hope so, and that was that the
monoroly of the trade might prove
stri lgent enough and the public incon-
yenience great enough to force con-
cession, which would, however, have
been speedily lost again by an increased
supply of telegraphers.'
Now let us ask what the state of the
case would be 1T was really possible
for the tel; graphers to make a success
tuI strike They have very close mo-
nopolv. Railroad men have much less
effective monopoly. Six years ago they
nearly arrested the transportation of
the country for fortnight. They were
unable to effect their object More re-
Gently the freight-handlers struck
against the competition of a new influx
of foreign unskitled 4aborers, and in
vain. Tine printers might make con-
blnatlOn, and try to force an advance
in wages by arresting the publication of
all the newspapers on a given day, but
there are 50 many persons who could
set type, in case Of need, that such an
attempt would be quite hopeless. In
any branch of ordinary handicraft there
would besno possibility of creating a
working monopoly, or of producing a
great public calamity by strike. If we
90 on to other occupations we see that
bookkeepers, clerks, and statesmen
could not as body combine and strike.
Much less could teachers do So. Still
less could household servants do so.
Finally. farmers and other independent
workers could not do it at all. Inshort,
striker is man who says, l mean to
get my living by doing this thing as nv
share of the social effort. and | 90 not
mean to do this thing except on such
and such terms. He therefore proposes
to make contract with his fellow-men.
and to dictate the. termsrof it,, Anyn1an
Who can do this must be in a Veiy ex-
ceptional situation. He nust have
monopoly of the service in question,
and it must be one of which his fellow
men have great need If, then,a4the
telegraphers could have succeeded in
advaneingtheir wages fifteen per cent
simply because tiley3haa agreed, to ask.
forthe advance they must have been
far better off than any of the rest of
their fellOW-men.
Our fathersS taught us the old NJ AKIN,
Cut your coat according to your cloth.
The popular discussions of social Ques-
tons. seem to- be; leading sup. to a new
yn1axim-Demand yonr- cloth &C :ording
TO your coat. The fathers thought that
a man in this world must do the best he
could with the means he had, aud that
good training and deve opment consist
ed in developing skill, sagacity, and
thrift to use resources economically. The
new doctrine seems to be, that if a man
has beer born into this world he should
makeup his mind what he needs here,
formulate his demands, and present
them to society" or the estate" He
wants a congenial and easy occupation,
and good pay for it. He does not want
to be hampered by any limitations such
as come from a world in which wool
grows, but not coats; in which iron ore
is found, but not weapons and tools; in
which the ground will produce wheat,
but only after hard labor and self denial;
in which we can not eat our cake and
keep it; in which two and two only
make four. He wants to be guaranteed
market" so as not to suffer from
''overproductlon." In private life and
in personal relations we already esti-J
mo 70 a hi ppav If I'M Ii po oft hip,yc % rs