The times., 1901-05-16


common things There are certain
kinds of work in which hand labor IS
superior to that of the factory, ana
must always be SO: and there are nun
dreds Of common articles which might
be better made and more beautiful than
when turned out by the factory which
would be entirely within the scope Of
the abilities of pupils of the industriai
school. Some of the Indian schools cf
the West are encouraging the produc-
ton of Indian blankets. which is a step
in the right direction. The Indian blan-
ket is likely never to be made by ma
chinery with thorough success, and the
same is true of the Indian basket and
bead work
1t would be a good thing if some of
the cultured and enthusiastic people
who are interested in charitable work.
and who have access to art treasures
and art books, would devise patterns
and shapes which would not be simple
reproductions of factory products, but
would enable the worker to turn out an
article a little different from anything
now on the market. 1t would not be
difficult to teach. in a sewing school
the making of dolls clothes; and at the
end of the year bazaar could be held
at which the dolls might be sold; and
the opportunity for individual work and
taste would be so great that people
would be glad TO buy the dolls because
of their actual superiority to the toys
found in shcps. Anything which raises
e. e
a demand for beautiful or valuable
things, does not hurt trade in the end;
the lowering of labor comes in when
people who are not paid make exactly
the same articles as those turned out
by the factory, at a lower price.
The industrial schools where carpen-
ter work is done could be furnished
with books for the study of household
art, so that the boys, in making their
chairs or tables, might construct them
on essentially right principles, and the
result of the work might then be some
such quaint and exquisite things as we
pay high prices for when they are made
by the people of Sweden or Germany.
The ordinary factory worker has no
time for original devices or for the
thought of duty; neither has the en-
ployer. as a rule. They have to study
the market and meet the commercial
standard. 1t remains for the people
who have time and thought and educa-
ton to originate new forms of house
hold art, and make their experiments
with labor which need not be paid, in a
shop which is not part of some strug-
Cling commercial enterprise. The train
ing gained there will be just as good for
the children whether they are working
on something beautiful or something
ugly. The little girl can learn to sew as
well when hemming a dolls dress as
when working on a straight bit of cot
ton; and the boy can use hammer and.
plane as we'll on a constructed
table as on one badly shaped.
Most of the Ministers in Pekin regard
the Chinese proposition. to pay the in
demnity of three hundred and twenty
seven million dollars. in thirty annual in
stallments. beginning in 1902, as absurd
and ridiculous Germany, however, is in
clined to side with the view of the United
States that the claim should be sealed
down to the point of China's probable
ability to pay. The question is still in
the air. The Ministers are waiting for
instructions from their Governments be
fore taking final action.
The Administration seems to feel that
some consideration viii be due TO Cuba in
the matter OF the tariffs on sugar and
tobacco, after she has accepted the Platt
terms in good faith and gone to work to
erect a stable government. 1t is not GER
tain, though probable. that President Nc
hinley viii recommend a reciprocity ar
rangement with the island, in his Decem-
Der message to Congress. In any case
the matter will be taken up in both houses
at an early day after they assemble. But
it is quite certain that the domestic sugar
and tobacco interests will fight hard
against the granting Of any concessions,
no matter how slight. The Sugar Trust
and the Connecticut cabbage leaf grow
ers have too good a thing to let any of
1t go without desperate struggle.
Albany is an armed camp in practical
possession Of a brigade Of New York
State troops While they are on duty it
is unlikely that any more motormen will
be brickbatted to death; but when the
traction company attempts to resume op-
erations it is possible that there may be
riot, and. if so, bloodshed. The New York
National Guard never hesitates to fire on
mobs, a fact which will account for the
rarity of civic outbreaks in the Empire
State.
SOUTHERN WOMEN OBJECT.
They Desire That the Bodies of Con-