Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-10-31
THE AMERICAN COY.
DOORS OF ALL TRADES ARE SLAMMED IN
Ills FACE.

until this one has been free to enter the
trades, and he has made the finest ma
chlnist, shipbuilder, carpenter and gen.
eral workman the world has ever seen.
Only yesterday the foreigners suddenly
slammed the doors of all the trades In
his face, and he stands before these
closed doors bewlldered, angry, and ap-
parently helpless, without q trade or
even the right to learn o trade, or to
practice It II he should learn It.
This IL the most serious problem ever
placed before the young men OF any gen.
Grafton. What the American boy viii do
about II, what he can do about II, Ii
something that vitality concerns every
citizen In these United States.
All unskllled labor was at one time
performed by native Americans; now all
this and all the more common mechan-
ical trades have been monopollzed by
foreigners, not wholly because they
wished to push the native boy out, but
because the boy Ia quite willing to stay
out. He sees that the trades are In state
Of transition, and that unskilled labor Il
rapidly changing Into skilled labor.
The car driver becomes q motor man,
the stable man becomes an engineer In q
power house, and the lampllghter drops
his torch to tend dynamo. Within the
past decade the artist has Invaded the
brickyard, and new styles, shapes and
colors have been produced 10 bricks, and
terra-cotta has been raised to q fne-art
product. II Is not enough now that the
brlcklayers pile bricks In mon0tonous
rows OF "headers and stretchers," or
build pier with hole Ia II, and call Il
a fireplace. With the new bricks coming
from the yards, his wall must be an ar
tlstlc creation, and his fireplace worthy
the modern palace Ia which II may stand.
The American artist has also Invaded
the glass house, and with new pots Of
color has created the most beautiful and
wonderful window glass the world ever
saw, and 1t follows that the glazler must
be an artist too.
In addition to all this, the boy OF to-
day, even while at school, has learnt
something of the trades, and as a result,
has acquired q healthy disrespect for
their traditions. He knows that In all
the common handicrafts, with the usual
allowance for American "gumption," u
very fair degree Of skill may be attained
by any intelligent American boy, under
good teacher, In comparatively
short time. Moreover, the boy to-day
recognizes that the antique rubbish
about the slack at all trades, good at
none," Is rubbish.
These are the aspects Of the trades
that strike the American boy Just out
Of school. IL he hesltates about enter
Ing the common trades Il 10 largely be-
cause they are unskilled. The trades
union promises and obtains wages for
all, skilled and unskilied, active aud
lazy alike; but the American boy IL not
looking for wages. He regards the
trades only as stepplng-stones to higher
skill, higher workmanship, and higher
earnings. The methods OF the union
are opposed to his aims.
What will he do about the tradesY He
will certainly 20 Into them, the union to
the contrary notwithstanding. Not as a
laborer for the hire only, but to become
a master-workmau, designer, master-em-
ployer, and builder OF his own fortune.
lie will 20 Into the trades because they
are the foundation OF the arts, because
they always lead to better things. He
will some day command wages a. q
workman that the unions dare not dream
about.
There Is, however, In this matter OF
the trades one unspoken reason In the
minds of many young people that is q
powerful factor In this problem. Be-
tween the lines OF almost the entire
our mass of foreign fiction that swamps
our bookstalls, there 10 printed the ever
lasting lesson that labor with the hands IL
q disgrsce. Unfortunately the boy who
looks only at the surface of things Il
guided very largely by this view.
IL should be observed that one OF the
great trades Is almost completely ign0r-
ed by our young men. The farmers boy
deserts the farm and seeks the city.
The farm Ii said to be dull, lonely, and
the farmers life hard and Improbable
and uncertain. All these things are
rapidly changing 1.-The trolley-road 10 COM
pletely changing the social life of the
farm. The old "homestead" Of the poets
may indeed disappear, with all its bad
drainage, malaria and pretty sentiment.
The food-lnanufacturcr L. the coming
man In the worlds greatest business.
One other almost unspoken argument
has been presented to the boy Of to-day
In this question: What shall he dor
This 10 Q feeling that II spreading
among certain Of the clearer thinkers OF
our young people that 10 ID not all Of life
to get rich that there are Ideal ways OF
living, not exactly profitable, but delight
full. Tho art-llfe In all its ever-growlng
opportunities, leads to splendid living.
Many now stop and consider whether IL
Il not better to do the work that 10 de-
lightful than to earn much money.
Which shall Il profit man most, 70 live
for the sake Of life, or TO sell the life for
stocks and bonds that neither satisfy the
heart nor feed the soul.
DISTINCTIONS are the stones out OF
which character u built. II the boy Of
to-day has new difficulties before him, u
10 certain that these very things will
make Of him new kind Of man. We
can only guess at what he will Be, from
what HE father 10. He 10 the son Of the
republic. II the American spirit ID In
him, he win nnd bis honorable place In
the worlds work.
CARTER HARRISON AsSAsslNATep.
Mayor Carter Harrison Of Chicago was
assasSinated Saturday night b. . man
who gives strong evidence OF being In
sane. The assassin 70 Q man who had
been on the police forcs, and was CO.
deavorlug TO Get back. on the force. he
was alnost immsdiatsly secured and