The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-06-01

the work must be purely mental
and there are other kinds Of labor
where. under existing conditions
very little demand indeed is made
lupon the mind though | am glad
TO Say that ! think the proportion
of men engaged in this kind of
work is diminishing. But in any
healthy community, in any com
munity with the great solid quail
ties which alone make really great
nation. the bulk of dhc people
should do work which makes de-
mands upon both the body and the
mind. Progress can not permanent
" consist in the abandonment of
phySi.al labor but in the develop
men. of physical labor, so that 1t
; shall represent more and more the
worl; of the trained mind in the
trained body. TO provide such
training. TO encourage in every way
the production Of the men whom
il alone can produce, is TO show
that as nation we have a true
conception of the dignity and lm-
portance of labor. The calling OF
the skilled tiller Of the sod, the
calling of the skilled mechanic,
shonld alike be recognized as pro-
fessions. just as emphatically as
the callings of lawyer, or doctor,
of banker, merchant, or clerk. The
printer. the electrical worker, the
house painter, the foundry man
should be trained just as carefully
as the stenographer or the drug
clerk. They should be trained alike
in head and in hand. They
should get over the idea that to
darn twelve dollars a week and
call 4 "salary" lis better than to
earn twenty-five dollars a week
and call il wages. The young
man who has the courage and the
abilay to refuse to enter the crowd
ed field Of the so-called professions
and TO take to constructive indus
try is almost sure Of an ample
reward in earnings, IN health. IN
opportunity to marry early, and to
establish home with reasonable
freedom from worry. We need the
training. the manual deXterlty, and
industrial intelligence which cam
be bost given in n good agricultural
or building, or textile, or watch
making, or engraving, or mechan-
'aal school. 1t should be one Of our
prime objects TO put the mechanic,
thet wage-worker who works with
his hands, and who ought to work
in a constantly larger degree with
his head, on n higher plane Of ef-
ficency and reward, so as to in
crease his effectiveness in the
economic world, and therefore the
dignity, tho remuneration, and tho
power Of his position in the social
wcrd. To train boys and girls in
merely literary accomplishments TO
the total exclusion of industrial,
manr,al, and technical training
tends to unfit them for industrial
Work; and in real life most work
is Industrial.
"The problem of furnishing well
ma'aed craftsmen, or rather Jour
neymen Fitted IN the end, to become
such, is not simple-few problems
are simple in the actual process of
their solution and M tch care and
fmethnught AID practical common
sense will be needed, in order to
work it ont ;m fairly satisfactory
manner. II should appeal to all oul
citizens. | ann glad that societies
have already been formed to pro.
mote industrial education, and that
their membership includes manufac,
tneis and leaders of labor unions
educators and publicists. men OF
all conditions who are interested m
education anu in industry. 1t i,
such cooperation that offers most
hope for satisfactory solution oI
the question as TO what is the best
form Of industrial school, as to The
means by which IL may be articu
lated with the public school system
and as TO the way to secure for The
hoys trained therein the opportun
dy to acquire in the industries th,
practical skill which alone car
make them finished journeymen.
"There is but one person whost
welfare is rs vital to the welfar,
of the whole country as is that oI
the wage-worker who does manua
labor; and That is the tiller of tn,
so:l-the farmer. If there is on,
lesson taught by history it is tina
the permanent greatness of an,
State must ultimately depend NOR,
Wpon the character of its countr,
population than upon anythin,
else. No growth Of cities, n,
growth Of wealth can make III
for a loss in either the numbers o
the character of the farming popu
latiou. In the United States NOR
than in almost any other countr,