The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1907-05-31

kIley get into position where they
lido no hard manual work whatever;
where their hands will grow soft. and
their working clothes win be kept
Ielean Such a conception is both false
and mischievous. There are, OF course.
kinds of labor where the work must be
Ipurely mental, ana there are other
kinds OF labor where, under existing
conditions, very little demand indeed
Is made upon the mind, though i am
glad TO say that I think the propor-
ti0n of men engaged In this kind Of
lwork is diminishing. But In anv
i ihealthy conmunity, la any community
with the great solid qualities which
alone make a really great nation, the
bulk of the people should do work
which makes demands upon both the
body and the mind. Progress cannot
permanently consist in the abandon
nent of physical labor, but in the de-
lvelopment of physical labor so that
II shall represent more and more the
work of the trained mind In the
Efrained body To provide such train
ing, to encourage in every way the
production of the men whom 1t alone
can produce, Is to show that az a ma
| ton we have true conception OF the
dignity and Importance OF labor The
calling of the skilled tiller OF the soil
| the calling of the skilled mechanic
| should alike be recognized as profess
lsioris, just as emphatieally as the
callings of lawyer, Of 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
earn $12 a week and caIl ii salary is
better than to earn $25 a week and
call it wages The young man who
has the courage and the ability to re-
fuse to enter the crowded field of the
so-called professions and to take to
Econstructive industry is almost sure
lof an ample reward In earnings, in
health, in opportunity to marry early,
and TO establish home with reason
able freedom from worry. We need
/ the training, the manual dexterity,
and industrial intelligence which can
be best gwen in a good agricultural
or building, or textile, or watchmak-
ing, or engraving, or mechanical school,
1T should be one of our prime objects
to put the mechanic, the wage worker
who works with his hands, and who
fought TO work in constantly larger
degree with his head on a higher
plane of efficiency and reward, SO as
to increase his effectiveness In the
economic world, and therefore the Dig
nifty, the remuneration, and the power
of his position IN the social world. To
train boys and girls in merely literary
accomplishments, to the exclusion Of
Industrial, manual and technical
training, tends to unfit them fer in
/ iustfial work. and in real life IN ist
work Is irttsi:ial.
"'llne Fsspblem Of furnishing nrll-
trained cTaftslrIn, or rather jonrncY-
mrn fitted in the end to beconre sucn,
is not sifnrle--few problems ara s.'i,-
3l, III the &C teal rrocess Of the. Solu-
tion--and much care and forethought
and practical common sense will be
needed, in order to work 1t out in
fairly satisfactory manner. 1t should
appeal to ali our citizens. / am glad.
that societies have already been
formed to promote industrial educa-
tit,n and that their membership i'm
Guides manufacturers and leaders of
labor unions, educators and publicists,
men cf all conditions who are inter-
ested in education and in industry. It
is such cooperation that offers most
hope for satisfactory solution of the
question as to what is the best form
OF Industrial school, as to the means
by which 1t may be articulated with
the rutlic school system, and as to
the way to secure for boys trained
therein the opportunity to acquire in
the industries the practical skill which
alone can make them finished Journey
men.
There is but one person whose
welfare is as vital to the welfare Of
the whole country as is that Of the
wage worker who does manual labor;
and that is the tiller of the soil-tl1e
farmer IL there is one lesson taught
by history 1t Is that the permanent
greatness of any state must ultimately
depend more upon the character of its
country population than upon any
thing else No growth OF cities, no
growth Of wealth can make up for a I
loss in either the number or the char |
acter of the farming population In
the United States more than in al |
most any other country we should
realize this and should prize our coun- /
try population When this nation be-
gan its Independent existence 1t was J
as nation Of farmers. The towns
were small and were for the most part
mere seacoast trading and fishing
ports. The chief Industry of the coun-
try was agriculture and the ordinary
citizen was in some way connected 1
with it. In every great crisis OF the
past a peculiar dependence has had
to be placed upon the farming popu-
lation; and this dependence has hith-
erto been justined But It cannot be
justified in the future If agriculture i
is permitted to sink in the scale as
compared with other employments. We
cannot afford to lose that pre-emi
nently typical American, the farmerE
who owns his own farm.
yet ii would be idle to deny that
In the last half century there has BEEN
In the eastern half OF our country a +
falling on. In the relative condition of
the tfllers of the soil, although signs,
are multiplying that the nation has
III. 49, kl4s~ u Il