The Washington times., 1901-08-01
American Amateurishness.

An article in the August Atlantic"
contains a strong plea for professional
methods in American affairs. and reit-
crates the statement that we are a ma
ton of amateurs. The author of the
paper in question says:
''Ours must be- not "a nation Of amateurs
but nation of professionals, if it is to hold
its in the coming stregles-stEuggles not
merely for commercial dominance but for the
supremacy Of political and moral ideals our
period of national isolation, with all it brought
Of good evil, has been outlived. The new
eroch will place a heavy handicap upon ignor-
ance of the actual world, upon indifference to
international usages and undertakings, upon con
tempt for the foreigner. What is needed IS,
indeed, knowledge, and the skill that knowledge
makes possible. The spirit with which We
confront the national tasks of the future should
have the sobriety, the frmness the steady ef-
fectiveness which associate with the profes-
sional.'
1t is a question. however, if we are
quite as much a nation of amateurs as
We have been said to be. 1t should be
remembered that this population CT
ours is spread over a territory bigger
than the whole of Europe put together.
The fact that when mans buggy
breaks down in some Western village,
and he finds that the wheelwright is
also blacksmith, carpenter, and dozen
other things, does not therefore II can
that there are no wheelwrights in
America Neither does the fact that
some provincial musician is badly edu-
Gated prove that there are no thorough
ly trained musicians in this country.
The truth is that we have probably as
many well trained men, in proportion
to our population, as any other cnun-
try; but they are scattered over an inn
mense area, and great many Of them
are amateurs in some trade or profes-
sion, besides being trained in that which
affords them their living
The dressmaker in some country vii
lage may be a farmers daughter. with
no professional training, and her work
may be bad; but woman of the same
status in Germany would be working
in The fields or harnessed into a cart
with a dog beside her. The local news
paper in a half-hedged town may be in
differently edited. because the editor is
a man of little or no education. But in
the Old World. a town of the same size
AOuu Dpl nave ANY newspaper III
short, the American is in nine cases out
of ten trying to do something which is
beyond his power, in addition 10 the
thing which he can do well. The more
stolid European peasant does the thing
which he can do well and keeps on do
ing it to the end of his days.
Some of the progress of this country
is due to the amateurs. The farmer
who is an amateur mechanic thinks of
new way to reap or plow, or make
butter, which is an improvement on
hand labor. The mechanic who is an
amateur artist devises machine which
is shapely as well as efficient The cit
iZer who is an amateur politician
brings his practical knowledge of life
| to bear on tradition and theory. The
man who knows something outside his
own business is always likely to i'm
prove his business methods in some way
which would not have occurred to him
had he been a man of one idea. The
old proverb which advises man TO
know something about everything and
everything about something is a par
ticularly good one for the American,
with his ever changing surroundings
and mobile nature