The San Francisco call., 1897-04-28

I At once the wigmakers held q meeting and
petitioned his Majesty to cease from wearin 6
his own natural hair, because their trade
They enumerated the number of men
, engaged in il and said, as final
and conclusive argument, that in their
places French bar bers and hair-dress-
ers would come across the channel and
take the bread out of their mouths and the
shingles off their roofs. Now, what would
you have done in that case? The King con-
tinued 10 wear his natural hair. and every
gentleman in the land followed his example,
and the wlgmakers lost their employment.
But in q short lime the wigmakers' sons be-
came BARRIERS ana hair-dressers and found o
more extensive employment, because whereas
wig would last for a very long time the hair
OF a man will grow and be in need of dress
ing. And probably in the United Kingdom u
great deal more money was spent for this rea-
son in the barber's chair tn an formerly ever
had been spent in the wigmaker's shop. So
men engaged in industrial employ ments may
be shorI-sighted in their demands, and re-
Gently saw, TO my surprise that ali associa-
tion (of the Brotherhood of Engineers aud
Trainmen, l Delieye) petitiOned the Legisla-
ture of one OF the Middle Western States not
to reduce fares and freights because their
wages would possibly be reduced. DO not
know what the Legis lature did, but am sat-
isfied that If they reduced fares ana freights
the increased volume of business would COM
pensaie for the loss which the petitioners had
lmag ned would ensue.
1t is always safe rule to consider the inter-
ests OF the greatest mum ber IN all these mat
ters, because, in case railroad fares and freighs
are oppressive, u man cannot get his goods TO
market, or. in getting them to market makes
forced con ntrlbution TO the common carrier,
which absnrbs his profit ana visits the COM
mun1ty with chronic depression and peren-
nial hard times; and no employe is either
safely secure or rewarded in his emp ploy me mt
where whole communities OF men suffer from
a real grievance or wrong
With these changing times, fashion inviting
and invention compelling change, there is no
certainty in employment unless deep foun-
dation in technical knowledge is laid, or a
mans versatility be broad and his adapta-
bility TO new conditions be easy. man must,
in these days, be progressive and move with
the age in which he lives. There is nothing
SO staple that is not subject to the law
OF change or to the exigencies of accident.
You will remember in Hamlet" how the two
oiu graye-dlggers conversed. One propounds
stronger Than either the mason. the
shlpwright or the carpenter3' snd the answer
is, THE grave-digger, because the rouse tnat
ne makes lasts till doomsday." That seemed
good answer in Hamlet's time. but in onr
modern cities we move even the graves of the
dead; cemeteries change their locations, and
even the graye-d1gger himself superseded
by the fireman who attends the crematory.
Certainly G Ie of the great duties of a we'll
ordered municipality that absor bs in its greedy
NAV such vast popu ations, tempting the farm
er's boy from his native fields, and bringing up
progeny Of its own which throng its stree Is is
to keep every one If possible well employed.
The trades unions limit the mum Der OF appren-
tices in the industrial trades ana the hard life
OF the seaman keeps the city bred boy at home.
Here employment on the sea has It's draw
backs, on the land It's limitations. Now, the
city must overcome these limitations and
drawbacks. In this great port training ships
should accustom the boys TO the sea and teach
them the duties of a sailor, SO that they will
ultimately take the place of the hardened
jack tar (who is now ruled by brutality and
Iorce) and give the merchant marine service
class OF men worthy that fascinating and
venturesome, honorable and heroic voca ton,
which in ali ages has been the forerunner and
the feeding stream of national prestige and
I IN q
But in order to have trade we must give as
well as receive, and the city that produces
nothing, nothing shall she get. The COM
Inerce OF San Francisco is with the islands of
the Pacific and the great Oriental shores be-
yond, and their wants we must studiously cul-
tivate. But in order to compete in the mar
kets oil the world, we must produce the best,
or as good the best, and in order to give
e N ploy ment to our people and bring wealth
10 our community we cannot continue as we
have been doing, in purchasing goods made in
Germany and In France and i'll England or
continue to import skilled labor whenever any
manufacturing enterprise is projected. The
secret OF the success of the great European
cities, among other things, consists very
largely in some thing that we have not fos-
tered, nor has any American community con.
splcuously encouraged, and that is the .estab-
iishment of schools 10 give trade and Nchni-
cal education. When we mention the name
of Paris we at once conjure up IN our i'm magina-
tion everything that Is dainty, beautiful and
artistic, and looking for the source OIL Partisan
success we at once see that even in the pri-
OF design and familiarity with tools are incul.
Gated.
From the primary school the pupil may go
al 13 into trade as an apprentice, and pro-
vision is made for the continuance of mis-
studies either in the everyday classes or in
night schools. II he desires TO qualify for the
civil service OF his country there are high
schools ior that purpose. Ii he goes in for .
skilled trade, there are professional colleges
10 impart technical knowledge, and they ali
bear directly on the trades which are profit.
ably conducted in France. They teach work
in wood and iron and in the decorative arts
They teach chemistry and physics, furniture
and upholstery, making printing, Iithogra-
ply, bookbinding, photography, photogravure
and many new mechanical branches of the re-
productive arts. There are schools for girls in
which dressmaking and millinery and various
other industrial arts as well as domestic occu.
paiions are made the subject of patient care.
But the pecuiiarity of these schools is that they
teach those industries which are best adapted
to the localities in which the schools are es-
tablished, as at Lille, in the north OF France,
ior example, young men trained in the
knowledge OF the great textile and mechanical
industries which thrive in that region And
land and Scotland.