The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1907-06-07
Pauper Labor Protection.

laOOr are not the formidable In
dustrial competitors of this coun-
try. What the American work
ingman has to fear is the compe-
tition Of the highly skilled work
ingman of the countries Of great
est industr al efficiency. by the
tariff and by our immigration
laws We can always protect our
selves against the competition
of pauper labor here at home:
but when we contend for the
markets of the world we can
get no protection, and We shall
then find that our most foI1nida-
bic competitors are the nations
IN which there is the most high
ly developed business ability, the.
most highly developed indusiria
skill; and these are the qualities
which we mutt ourselves dc
yelop.
We have tended TO regard cdu
cation as a matter of the heas
only. and the result is that q
great many of our people, them
selves the sons of men who
worked with their hands. seem
to think that ther rise in the
world if they get into a position
where they do no hard manual
work whatever; where then
hands will grow soft, and their
workingclothes will be kept
clean. Such a conception is both
false and mischievous. There
are. of course. kinds of labor
where the work must be purely
mental. and there are other kinds
of labor where. under existing
conditions, very little demand in
deed is made upon tie mind, tho
| 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 community with the great
solid qualities which alone make
IA really great nation. the bulk OF
the people should do work which
makes demands upon both the
body and the mind.
The calling of the skilled tiller
OF the soil. the calling of the
skilled mechanic. should alike be
recognized as professions just as
emphatically as the callings of
lawer. of doctor OF banker, mer-
chant or clerk The printer, the
electrical worker. the house
painter. the foundry man. should
De trained just as carefully as
the stenoglapher or the drug
clerk. They should be trained
alike in head and in hand They
should get over the idea that to
earn twelve dollars a week and
call it salary" is better than to
earn twenty-five dollars a week
and call it wages.
Ambitious native-born young
men and women who now tend
away from the farm must be
brought back to it. and therefore
they must have social as well as
opportunities. Every
thing should be done to encour-
age the growth in the open farm
ing country of such institutional
and social movements as VIII
meet the demand of the best
type of farmers. There should
be Libraries. assembly halls. so
cial organizations of al kinds
The school building and the
teacher in the school building
throughout the country
districts, be of the very highest
type. able to fit the boys and
girls not merely to live in, but
thoroughly to enjoy and to make
the most of the country. The
country church must be revived. |
All kinds of agencies, from rural
free delivery to the bicycle and
telephone, should be utilized to
the utmost; good roads should be
favored: everything should be
done to make it easier for the
farmer to lead the most active
and effective intellectual, polltI-
cal and economic life
Hitherto agricultural research,
instruction and agitation have
been directed almost exclusively
toward the production of wealth
from the soil. 1t is time to-
adopt in addition a new point OF
view. Hereafter another great
task before the national depart
ment Of agriculture and the SINH
lar agencies ofthe various state
must be to foster agriculture for
it social result, or in other words
TO assist in bringing about the
best kind of life on the farm for
the sake of producing the best