The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-03-19

s he may have to lay.oH several workers VIII o
show no ESPECIAL ability The president
sof the carpenters.un is of the game opIn-
: Ion. These trades. representing more work
men than any other two organized trade s In
! the world. are ones wherein It ist surely not
profitable for. a manic be a dabbler In many
things and an expert In none. s4
Possibly this will hold good with many
other lines of occupation. Yet in some Il is
certain that the Indifferent workmanhas an
equal chance with the expert and II !. just
good enough ITO earn the union scale will be
paid Just the same as the man working along
side him who does more and better work.
/ This is a fact which ma ny abor% Off ais.
even those OF the unions where the situation
Obtains sincerely deplore, as 1t teaches the
worker scarelessness and brings Into the
. trade large number OF sincompetents. who
lower materially the stand ard Of the organi-
cation. h "a sc
b In some OF the building trades there are
seasons OF the year when work is scarce. and
some times impossible to obtain. The paint
aers possibly have the shortest season In
which they can keep occupied steadily at the
union scale. During the winter months 1t is
only the fortunate few who have permanen t
employment with firms which do interior
decorating. gS " vi Nj jttS$ 8 58
Az consequence the painters are many.
things besides workmen at their trade.
Many OF them are wall per. workers during
the winter months, finding employment in
the order shipping and salesrooms Of large.
downtown houses. Here the pay they re-5
.ceive possibly is but little more than half OF
that earned while employed at their ira de.
lbut5certninly in this line the learning OF more
than one tradeis profitable. as the lower
grade Of work helps All in the dull season
most satisfactorily.
Strike IL Hard on One rade Man.
5ssI IN case OF general strike In city the man
who depends upon one trade for his livelt-
hood is up against 1t hard. He has no alter
native but to wait until the trouble blows
over and he is able to go back to work 1t his
old occupation. The man who has worked
y ear after year at one Kind ofwork IS loath
to go out Ito look for employment Of another
Kind fIe has all unconsciously become ma
chine, a machine that is fitted especially we'll
for one particular duty and fitted for no i
other. Then there a ways is the hope with
him that the strike Will soon be settled. so
hefis apt to wait. 5-
In the meantime he will lose his pay, for the (
treasury Of the union will hardly be in; con-
ddtion to do more han help him exist. II he
faQ dlOtHeTN tEdue 70 loOhElo ue COulu GDeSIHE
a search for work as soon as his old job was
gone. He could go to another town II neces-
sary. This same ability to find work wher-
ever he may 80, however, may be reckoned
as apt to prove harmful to the worker in
many cases. It surely will tend to teach him
shiftlessness II his character is at all In
clned that way. is VI
Il If the young man is starting out In life,
with an idea OF ever amounting to anything
better than worker forswag es 1t is safe to
say that tits better for him to shift around
occasionally than to stick in one shop at one
trade and at one bench He may find 1t
harder to save any money while in the shift
Ing stage Of his career thai. he would II work
Ing day after day for good wages, but II he
Is the right kind Of man he will by shifting
some day find the place he is suited for and
where he can direct tho climb;for success
with every advantage on his side, g