The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1890-01-10
THE BOY OF THE DAY.

many advantages over the boy Of
twenty or thirty years ago, has
also many stumbling blocks in his
path. His case is one calling for
consideration, and is not to be
dismissed with a wave of the hand.
"Wbat shall do?" is a query in
the minds of $4,000 boys in the
United States to-day who have
not decided on trade or profession.
The great obstacle in the path
of the boy of to-day who starts out
to seek an opening to learn trade
is the rules made and rigidly en-
forced by the men who should
have their welfare nearest at heart,
the knights Of labor and the trade
unions. These bodies, every men,
Der of which had better show
than the boy Of to-day has, have
bylaws which forbid an employer
from taking more than one ap-
prentice to several iourneymen.
Shops which, fifteen years ago,
had fifteen boys on the way towards
learning trade and being able to
earn good wages now run only
three to five. While such action
on the part of these bodies pre-
vents ''duke," or half finished
apprentice, from coming in compe-
tition with them in the matter Of
wages it cannot fail to prove a
pernicious one in the end. The
boy who has no chance to learn
trade cannot become producer.
He must be supported by those
who work. The chances are
against his becoming a taxpayer.
They are in favor of his becoming
a bad man. While few journey
men profit by this rule to the eX-
tent of a few dollars. the commu-
nifty and country at large are heavy
losers. There are plenty of cases
in Detroit and every other city
where fathers, bound by this rule
and believing it to be good thing,
are making lcaiers of their sons
who are barred out.
The question is not, therefore,
CHOW much can [ earn, and how
long must | serve as machinist,
cabinetmaker, stovemoulder, etc?"
but rather, "How can [ manage
to secure place as an apprenticel"
The second obstruction did not
exist, either, fifteen years ago. If
anyone had predicted twenty years
ago that the time would soon
come when the girls of the country
would usurp the places rightfully
belonging to the boys, and thereby
become a menace to their future,
he would have been called crazy.
And yet that time is here, and
from Maine to Texas the girl has
crowded the boy out and is keep
ing him out. 1t began first with
the stores. There was time
when every clerk behind a dry
goods counter was boy or man.
To-day, in the north more espec-
ally, the boy and man have been
cast adrift, and the girl has come
in to fill their places at half the
wages. 1t is SO in postoffices,
banks, insurance offices, lumber
Offices, railroad headquarters and
many other places, and it is still
spreading. Even the grocery clerk
and the hardware salesman are
losing their places. 1t was a move
for economy's sake, and there can
be no question but what it has
been a great saving. The average
girl at IS per week will sell just
as many goods as the average
young man at $40. She makes
just as good a stenographer or
typewriter at half or two-thirds of
a mans salary.
But the question goes farther
than that of the salary-of the
saving of a few dollars. Every
girl takes a place which should by
right go to some boy. The bust
ness of this country or any other
country can never be turned over