Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-19
American Boys Chances
Are Better Than Cousins
special Correspondence Of The Star.

LONDON, July 10, 1908.
IS A MEXICAN boys have a much bet
~ ter chance of rising than their
English cousins" is the opinion
Of the managing director Of a large en-
ployment agency in London who has
been preaching and applying American
methods to English conditions for some
months past with great success. It would
be difficult to discover a better informed
man On the subject Of employment than
the speaker, for not only has he had
years Of experience in the United States
in supplying high-class men to business
houses, but he has had. as well, consider
able experience in England. He says:
1.-The average young man is much better
of in the United States than here. To
begin with, he is much better paid That
Is due, I believe, in large measure to
the regrettable system of living in
which Is in force in many Of the retail
business houses in England. and which,
I believe. Is great evil. I know as a mat
ter of fact that in the drapery trade,
which corresponds to the dry goods trade
in the United States, the houses here
figure that they can get their men and
women at about half price so long as
they enforce the living in system. They
exact much more from their employees
for board and lodging than they are will
ing to allow them should they wish to
live out. They figure to make no small
profit out of boarding and housing their
employees.
1.-THE chances for q young man to rise
in business In England are vastly inferior
to those In the United States. For in
stance. in America a premium is placed
upon initiative. and suggestion is as
welcome from the Office boy as from
the manager. In England a suggestion
from a man or boy in an inferior position
touching on matters outside his own spe-
cif1c duties Is looked upon as an unwar-
ranted impertinence. The man is fortu-
nate If he Is not discharged. In England
the men and boys are hired to do certain
work and. they are expected to do that
work and leave the rest to their betters.
Initiative on their part is treated as
vice, not as virtue.
No Finely Graded Steps.
"In the United States in every great
business there is a large class which is
getting fairly good wages. In England
there is no such class. Here there are no
finely graded steps by which man or a
boy can advance. Instead there is a wide
gap between the poorly paid clerks, who
may be getting $500 or $500 a year. and
the well paid managers, who are drawing
$1,000 Or $4,000. That is a terrible gap
and difficult one to bridge and it takes
man Of unusual ability to do it. The
result is that the majority Of English
men remain poorly paid clerks all their
lives instead Of advancing to the middle
positions, which are the salvation of the
American clerks.
1T takes considerably more men here
to do the same amount Of work 1t is i'm
possible to get the amount of work out
OF the average Englishman than you
can out Of the average American In the
same time. This may be due in no small
measure to the fact that the average
Englishman has far fewer opportunities
to work his way up to a gOod-paying
billet. But. anyhow. the Englishman is
constitutionally inclined to take life cas-
Ter than the American. Likewise, he Is
conservative by nature and needs lot
OF prodding before he can be induced to
change his methods. Some of the largest
business houses in Great Britain are now
conducting their affairs in exactly the
same way as their predecessors did one
hundred years ago.
But there is an awakening coming.
In fact, the awakening is already here.
The typewriter is now in almost universal
use; the telephone is becoming more pop
ular every day, and the card system, the
vertical file system. the loose-leaf system
are rapidly coming into general use, and
everywhere l find a remarkable interest
I'm up-to-date methods. Not only is this
true OF London, but of many provincial
towns England Is undoubtedly learning
to hustle