The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1889-07-03
A WORD ABOUT BOYS.
The Need Of Good and Thorough Businoss
or Professional Training.

| ThO Need OF GOou anu JnoEOuEn 0ubAuO5o
or Professional Training.
In the existing state Of society, with keen
competition in every department Of busi-
ness, and scores Of well-equipped men
ready to snap up every vacant position that
is worth any thing, 1t Is crime for parents
to turn their boys loose upon the world
without trade or profession. The gam
ing Of an honorable livelihood is difficult
enough with the best preparation, but to
send boy out from the paternal roof with
nothing but his hands to depend upon is to
consign him to a life Of toll, II not Of crime
There are exceptions, but they are few.
Greatness of intellect and moral rectitude
sufficient to overcome natural obstacles are
SO rare as to be scarcely recognized when
they appear. Men like Henry Clay, Abra-
ham Lincoln and Henry Wilson, all poor
boys who worked their way from the low
est to the highest positions In life, can be
counted on ones fingers without going over
them twice.
One Of the Oldest and most capable busi-
ness men in Pittsburgh expressed his views
in regard to training boys for the duties Of
life substantially as follows to a reporter OF
the Dispatch "If had a boy would no
move think of sending him from homo to
earn his living without the necessary train.
ing to enable him to make his way against
the strong opposition that he would be sure
TO encounter at every step than / would
think OF flying. l would consider 1t crime
against society to do so What chance has
boy got TO hold his own in the fierce strug-
gle for existence without skill of some kindi
None at all. The most he can hope for is
lowly station and career Of drudgery at
manual labor Of the toughest kind. BE
may stsrtout with high hopes and noble pur-
poses, but when he comes in contact
with actual business affairs he will
soon find that they are too COM
plicated and precise for his crude ideas
and methods. The result can not be doubt
full. He will drift from post 10 pillar and
finally bring up at the bottom Of the ladder,
where he will remain He has been tried
and found wanting. This Is not his fault;
he may have done the best he could; but 1t
all comes from his parents neglecting to
t give him that training of brain and hand
> which is so necessary 10 success In this age
l Of keen wits and sharp competition.
| business methods have changed wonder
: fully since was u boy. Then 1t was con.
) Quoted, for the most part, in crude, hap
9 hazard sort of manner. Nearly every thing
/, was on small scale, requiring no particu-
. lar training or experience. Some people
s have the notion that 1t is the same now, but
Q they are sadly mistaken. Men who were
: successful in business life forty or fifty
years ago could hardly I'LL q clerkship now.
d Business has been reduced to a science,
v and its manifold complications are as hard
}. to understand as any other branch OF knowl-
| a. hua ms In
Q is competent TO fill any position, public OF
r private. More than one President has
@ called men from the store or factory To as
Il sist In carrying on the Government
4 do not care how or where boy Is trained
5 so that correct business principles are In
q stilled into him. He may learn these a.
y home, in store, factory or workshop; dC
d not insist that he shall be highly educated IL
a the learnings Of schools, but do insist thai
he shall be thoroughly grounded in some oc
t cupation, trade or profession. A business
q half learned is not learned at all. This /!
d the cause Of SO many iack-of-all-trade'
g which infest every community. They know
Il a little OF many things, but not much OF any
10 They have 10 give way when they come IL
4 competition with better trained hands am
70 brains.
n 1.-THE future glory and prosperity Of thii
le country rests with the boys. They will II
IN due time be called upon TO take the place
Of the men who are now at the head OF Of
n. fairs-who are filing the Offices Of the Stat
n and Nation and conducting the variou
- business enterprises for which we are 8
~ greatly distinguished. How important II Il
N then, that these boys be brought up SO q
~ to be competent 70 discharge these grea
IL duties. There is no excuse for neglect l
Il, this matter. The country is tull Of publ
= schools where good education cap oil
= tanned without money and withou. .,flce
N Every city, town and village has its fac
- tories, shops and stores where actual bus
ba ness can be learned by tAe proper appfici
=, ton. Therefore, say there is no excus
N for parents allowing their boys TO go fort
'a into the world and tie themselves down TO
a. life Of drudgery, which they must do II the
=. have neither trained minds nor skille
!. hands. The dangerous classes Of societ
-, are composed Of men who, when boys, LEI
- home without knowing how to do soms
thing Having no skill at any thing, the
"a seldom find employment, and then onl
=. at the toughest and least remunerstiy
10 work. The result is that they first becon
~ dissipated and then criminal. This pic
~, ure II not overdrawn, II is borne out
10 statistics, and matter Of almost univers
., experience and observation. l have know
~; , many naturally bright boys who, from th
,. an cause, have grown up 10 be drones in .
itn ciety. They failed In competition with me
'rl. better equipped than themselves, becar
sxI discouraged, and settled down in power
ny and obscurity
'ne ''These are facts which parents chou
ce, take home and seriously ponder. II tn
MO have boys they should see TO 1t that th
an are brought up 10 some honorable occup
oul ton and not permitted TO spend their tin
"a In idleness, In which there Is neither d.
" nifty nor profit. II will serve as an anch
on, to keep them from drifting with the win
veg and give them fair start In the race
ead life II will not only be Of lasting bene
40 TO the boys, but will be source Of comic
ip9 To the parents, save some Of them fro I'm
ew ing down TO the grave with broken hear
No and be an element OF strength TO the cou
tc try which can be depended upon in time
ger need. Nothing good comes from idlene
the which is the parent Of evil; but intellig,
eki industry is always honored and honorab
lnsl To slightly paraphrase the sacred To,
'ise Train up your boy in the way he shot
'ke go and when he is old he will not dep
see' from IT. ~