The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1885-11-19
which, by our present law, it is TO draw its


instruction in agriculture, and such ex
periments should, in my opinion, be un
der the strict supervision and control o.
the Board of Agriculture, as represented
by our State Chemist.
4th. Should the school prove a success
other sections of the State will desire sim
liar institutions, and inasmuch as ali Tho
institutions will be dependent upon State
aid the legislators will have abundant op
portunity to examine into the expenses
and advantages of such institutions, pro
vided the first one is located near Raleigh
and within easy reach when such informa
tlOn is desired
Mr.. WM. JOHNSON. Mayor of Charlotte
writes II beg to say | am in favor
of education in all its forms, moral intel
lectual and industrial and that the state
of North Carolina should give reasonable
aid and encouragement IN all these meth
DDS of culture.
1t is the industrial and intellectual educa
ton Of a people that gives strength and
power to the State holding it up in peace
and maintaining its defense in war. In fact
II is education, manual and intellectual,
that makes the marked difference between
the savage and civilized man. Technical
or industrial education is indispensable to
the promotion and development of the va
| rlcd industries of the South, now inviting
| skilled labor INTO many new and profitable
fields. To inaugurate and control these
new industries, agricultural, and manu-
featuring Of all kinds, we are compelled
to send to the North or Europe for experts
or snperintendents, or manufacture them
| at home. | prefer to make them at home,
| because 1t is cheaper, more patriotic and
more honorable to the State of North Car
Olina, and it will give to her more wealth
| and power. Why should not the hand be
educated as well as the head Manual
and physical labor should be cultivated in
the varied industries of life as we'll as the
| intellectual powers. | am gratified to see
that the good people of Raleigh appreci-
ate the wise action of our Legislature and
are moving in the right direction"
MIR. W. S. PRIMROSE, Of Raleigh, who
was President of the State Exposition,
writes: II consider the question of estab-
fishing an Industrial School an exceeding
| ly important one, and the Board of Agri-
culture in its determination of the sub
| ject will add much to the increas ng veal
or leave much to the remaining woes of
| North Carolina x
Please allow me to mention three argu-
ments in favor of the proposed Industrial
| School,
| 1st. The incentive offered to make an
| early choice for a life work !! Too much
| of the education in the South has been of
| too general character. The time is upon
us when we can not afford to be as liberal
| as we were at a former period, either of
| our time abilities. One of the Kings
| of Sparta on being asked how the youth
of the country should be taught, answered
Teach them what they expect to do
| when they become men," We need edu-
cation in special branches, and we need to
have the hand educated with the brain. 1t
is undeniabe that for the past 20 years
large numbers of our young men, too often
from the farm, have crowded into the
mercantile, the legal and the medical pro-
fessions. A number of our people know
of the existence of Industrial Schools in
New England and elsewhere, but an ex
ceedingly small number can avail them
selves of these advantages. The opening
of good Industrial school gives a sugges-
tive influence and bearing on the most
practical forms of education and such a
school here would undoubtedly lead our
youth to consider the various branches of
honorable work in their choice Of an Oc-
cuDatiOn. 1t will be found that this sug-
gestive influence will exert its effect alike
on the youth of the honest poor, the happy
middle class and the better to-do class
which we denominate the rich.
End. would mention the need of skilled
labor in the South and as far as possible
this should be home made labor for home
| work. l certainly do not wish to under
| value the labor we now have; on the con
| trary, ! would do everything in my power
to sustain and improve it. But every con
| tractor will readily grant that much of the
| dissatisfaction with work done as well as
| the high prices charged for the same is
| due to the want of thoroughly competent
| labor If this fact exists in the cities,
much more is it manifest in the country.
| A prominent man of large observation,
| owning considerable interests in an ad lon-
| ing county not far from railroads: has re
| Gently informed me that it is exceedingly
difficult to get any kind of work done with
satisfactory results. am convinced that
this applies to the rural sections of our
| State at large The various branches of
| labor seem to go begging for intelligent
| artizanS In my own limited experience
| | have seen many instances in which both
| in wood and iron work the best labor en-
ployed Excepting head men and contrac-
| tors, and sometimes even including them)
| could not follow out the details of work
| ing plans of average difficulty. TO know
| exactly how a thing should be done is an
| important factor in any work, from paw
ing street to making a steam engine. To
and to work with SKILL neatness and dis
patch is of the utmost value to all The
| Industrial School will undertake to teach
| these things, and if it does its work will
be appreciated by all good citizens.
3rd Iwould by no means omit to say that
the reward of skilled labor is an induce
ment which must be recognized. To illus
trate; a prominent contractor III one of
our cities recently said to mel would
willingly pay higher wages if | could get
its equivalent in good skilled labor" AL
| lowing perhaps the merest point for eli
matte influence, but much more for con-
| tact with the nervous, ceaseless, activity
of the people of the more industrial States
farther North and Northwest there is no
doubt but labor is more skilled and rapid
ly performed in nearly every department
there, than here.
To conclude, l am thoroughly convinced
that the school should be put in opera
ton. And as the State has always been
pre- -eminently an Agricultural State-and
remains so too day--that an experimental
agricultural farm should be established
and that it would be feasible to commence
one or at most two departments of me-
chanical labor. Other departments could
be added as the matter develops in after
years. North Carolina must be abreast
with the times, not in fanciful innovations
but in all solid improvement"