The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1888-08-22
Give American Boys a Chance.

Give American Boys a Chance.
The question Il ohen asked, Why DO
90 few American boys learn trades ?
/ There seems to be two chief reasons for
this unfortunate condition 81 things. Thc
first is that somehow the notion prevails
that a mechanic is not as respectable a.
a salesman, a b~ookkeeper, q clerk or a
telegraph operator. Although a good
mechanic may easily earn from 5000 a
week upwards, while thousands OF would
be clerks and statesmen are out o~femploy-
ment because no places can be found for
them al half that sum, the false notion
that a half-s.aryed clerk is more respect
able than a well-paid mechanic serves
10 keep the ranks Of the semi-respectable
class full to oyeriowing. A Chicago mer-
chant recently advertised for n book
keeper at SIS per week, and BY moor the
next day he had received 49, applica-
tons for the position. The other reason
why American boys are tradeless is that
the trade unions, denominsted often By
foreign mechanics, have put up the bars
against apprentices The American boy
who is willing to fly in the face Of the
social dietum that a trade is not respecta-
bic, can scarcely find a master who IS
willing or who dares TO take him and
teach him the radimenis of a skilled
handicr&ft
The first named reason appears TO have
taken frmer hold in the United States
than anywhere else, Notwithstanding
that N titled or other aristocracy exists
here. This strikes one as inconsistent to
the last degree in a country the chief
corner stone Of which is the declaration
that all men are created equal. In I'm
perial Germany it is considered the prop
er thing for even the sons OF royalty and
the nobility 10 have a trade. The present
Emperor, Frederick III, isa skillful jew
eler the Crown Prince William is a
glover. and Prince Henry, the future Adj
miral Of the German navy. is q watchma-
ker. If men born to rule empires and
control the destinies Of nations find il no
disgrace TO be able 20 earn their living by
a handicraft in case of need, how foolish
il is for those who mus earn their living
somehow to conhne themselves to a
choice between q half.paid ~clerkship and
the lowest form of unskilled labor. 1t
seems that n republic, after all develops
the most silly as well as the most uniyer-
sal form of snobbery known to the civil
lied world. Starvation is the only sure
remedy for this flse notion, and the
sooner a little common sense is starved
into the great army Of scmi-genteel Amer
leans the better il will be for them and
their children.
The hostility of the all-powerful trade
unions to any apprentice system that
would give an American boy q chance 70
earn good wages by the skillful use Of
his hands IS an obstacle to his best inter,
ests that is practical rather than senti-
mental. For this reason II is much more
easy of removal. When the American
people find a real obstacle in the way o.
their own prosperity, they generally find
a way of getting rid Of it. 1t is not prob
, able that the apprentice system viii eveI
, be restored. The trade unions, which
/. are 4 law INTO themselves, can proven
chat. But in the place ofthe oy~erlevel
I, ed high schools and other unealled foi
~appendages of our public school system
should arise a system of mutual trainin!
or trade schools which Will be quite eff
fective. The few experiments that ar
!, being made in this direction give prom
/ ise Of unlimited and successful develop
; ment in the future, if Americans once &c
; into their heads the idea that a good trad'
Is better for 4 boy than a poor profession
or a life Of genteel idleness.
If the American boy is TO have tn
, chance he is entitled 10, the way must b.
2 cleared for him. by teaching him tina
all honest work is honorable and tha
the life of a thrifty mechanic is TO b,
2 preferred to that of a half starved dud'
or q doctor, or a lawyer without practice
To the shame Of many American me
I chanics and Others il must be said tina
2 this is not always done. On the contra
4 ~. they too often teach their children t
: despise the calling by which they have
= provided for themselves and families
S Such a course is disgaceful, and unwor
thy Of any American citizen. Wlereve
it has been followed il should be aban
doned. This Is one of the many direC
. tons in which Americans must learn .
. rule America. They must cultivate
I manly and truthful American sentimen
5 on this subject.
This frst and most necessary step be
ing taken, the American people shoul
see to ii that a way is provided by whicI
e their boys can be taught the use Of thei
o hands. The future Of the American DO.
: IS at stake in this matter, and if tn
American people are true to themselve
they will not allow a sestrictiye policy t
be persisted in which must result in leaN
e ing the United States in the next genel
r alton entirely dependent on foreign cour
/, tries for its skilled labor, while an arm
| of worse than native-born citizens ar
living a hand-to-mouth life for the war
, Of the skilled training which they shout
b have received in youth.
For this Relief, Much Thanks
e am afraid that the habit of - iumpin