The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-02-07
Industrial Schools.

no iViioWlbS pTeSeutul0uC Oh Lni
question Of industrial education is from
the pen of Mr. HI. M. Cobb, in the Jour
nal Of Pogress: The effort TO give ar
industry an organized form is, 80 far q
the technically useful arts are concerned
of comparatively modern origin. The
| old syotem Of apprenticeship pur, BY
the various trades down to q period no,
so remote as to be purely tradition un.
doubtedly gave good results, though sell
dom the best. But in our time thS yasi.
ouo trado organizations have 90 circum.
scribed apprenticeship, and SO weighted
it with disabilities, that it can hardly be
said 10 exiet. Undoubtedly thore are ap
prentices, but they bear little resem.
blauce to those known under the old
syatem. The trades unions declare that
they only aeek to defend the public and
their guilds against imperfect work and
unjust competition. In limiting the
number Of apprentices to be employed in
any establishment, however, they have
closed the avenues to thousands Of boya
Who must earn living, by narrowing
the field Of choice. The question con.
tinually recurs, "Wbat shall DO done
with the boys?" and to this question tho
Generalization of the youth in great
cities lends O sin:star Significance. Every
day some newepaper deplores the increas.
Ing number Of b ys who have no trades,
and no Visible meaps of support. And
it 10 common enough to hear the blanc
Tor this want Of occupation laid upon the
parents of tho boys, who are said to be
ambitious Of more brilliant future for
their Gons, or upon the boys themselves,
who are said to despise, manual labor.
OF course there 10 como truth in these
common enough charges. But there
mnst have been trcSii y IaSu d century
or two ago likevine. Yet the evil ge
-PSas az ss rRaaaiRttis pf tauaasn ossS!s,
and we are not to assume that II 10 deriy.
able from contempt for labor solely, or
even chiefly, until the fact 10 apparent
The fact 10 that this evil began to Increase
with tho spread Of trades unions and
other organized efforts to limit the num-
Der Of working members in any guild.
The rules OF these organizations are re.
proasire. They 60 30 far a. TO take from
the father the selection of on occupation
for his son, ifitgo happens that the father
DO betheproprietor ofan Industrial establish.
mont where ths unions bear sway. These
ruleo are fGur1ed In Bel6shness, which
would not 90 much matter were they not
dlssetrically opposed to the exercise OF
that freedom of choice which goes before
all healthy progress and prepares the
way. The establishment of art.indus.
trial schools was forced by the narrow
policy OF the various artisan guilds.
Their utility .as been demonstrated be-
yond any question whatever, and they
have, in fact, given o breadth to the field
OF choice for youth which has alreadd
boTno abundant testimony to their excel.
lenoe. But they have done much more
than this. Avoiding tho rigid rules of
other organizations, they not only prac.
tically make choice Of occupation free,
but give opportunity to the pupil 10 dis.
cover for himself TO what occupation he
should devote his energies. These
schools are conducted strictly on the in.
ductive System. A boy entering one Of
th.m, uncertain az 10 what he can best
do; coon findo his Rsetier, end if destined
to profit by opportunity and instruction
equipped for victorious campaign in
the Industrial domain.
The schools Of industrial art now in
operation have taken many o lad with
nothing to do and no opportunity to do
Ply shtoB, eho Saseu Aiu. now OUJect IN
life. That these achools will, ct not
distant day, Danish apprenticeship from
enr chops aad factories. and give tc the
artisan world greater amount Of skill
and enterprise than it ever had, and that
1t can ever have under the Systems of ap.
premiership now in vogue, seems undo.
niable. They may be regarded as the
beginning of revolution 10 art industry,
but, ifproperly encouraged and sustained,
they may be made most prominent fac
tor In the solution OF tho social problem.
The question, "What shall be done with
the boys9" Is fundamental. The boys
of to day, exactly au We equip them, ill
be tho men Of tomorrow. II IL for us to
say what order of men they shall repro.
sent, and what shall be the measure OF
their manhood. .h