The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1908-03-14
" BEING ADVOCATED AWAY FROM
LABOR
What President Roosevelt Had to Say
to the National Educational
Association


When the National Educational Association
was in session in Washington President Roose-
welt rendered the members a reception at the
White House. He made an address in the course
of which he said:
1T is idle for any man to talk despairngly Of
the future of this country or feeling unduly
alarmed about 1t If he will come in contact with
you here and with the forces that you repre-
sent. Fundamentally this country is sound;
morally no less than physically. Fundamen-
tally in its family life and in the outside activi
ties Of its individuals the country is better and
not worse than it formerly was. This does not
mean that we are TO be excused If we fail to war
against rottenness and corruption, If we fail to
contend effectively with the forces of evil. and
they waste their time who ask me to withhold
my hand from dealing Herewith. But it is
worth while to smite the wrong for the very
reason that we are confident that the right will
ultimately prevail
81 trust that more and more of our people will
see to 1t that the schools train toward and not
away from the farm and the workshop. We
have spoken a great deal about the dignity of
labor in this country, but we have not acted up
to our spoken words. For in our education we
have tended to proceed upon the assumption
that the educated man was to be educated away
from, and not toward, labor.
"The great nations of medieval times who left
such marvellous works of architecture and art
behind them were able to do so because they
educated alike the brain and hand of the crafts
man. We, too, in our turn must show that we
understand the law which DEGREES that people
which loses physical address invariably deterior-
ates. so that our people shall understand that
the good carpenter, the good blacksmith, the
good mechanic. the good farmer really do fill the
most important positions in our land, and that it
is an evil thing for them and for the nation to
have their sons and daughters forsake the work
which, If well and efficiently performed. means
moro than any other work for our people as q
whole.
zone thing that would like to have you teach
your pupils is that, whether you call the money
gained salary or wages does not make any real
difference, and that if by working hard with
your hands you get more than if you work with
your head only 1t does not atone for it to call
the smaller amount salary.
1.-THE term dignity of labor implies that man
ual labor is as dignifed as mental labor; as, of
course, it is. Indeed, the highest kind of labor
is that which makes demands upon the qualities
of both head and hand. of heart, brain and body.
Physical powers, physical address are necessi-
ties. They stand on a level with intellect, and
only below character.
"Teach the boy and girl that their business is
to earn their own livelihood; teach the boy that
he is to be the homemaker, the girl that she must
ultimately be the homekeeper; that the work of
the father is to be the breadwinner and that of
the mother the housek eeper; that their work is
the most important work by far in all the land
that the work of the statesman, thelwriter, the;
captain of industry and.all the rest is condition
ed first upon work that finds its expression in
the family, that supports the family.
$50 teach the boy that he is to be expected to
earn his own livelihood; that it is a shame and
scandal for him not to be self-dependent. not to
be able to hold his own in the rough work of ac-
tual life. Teach the girl that, SO far from it
being her duty to try to avoid all labor, all eff
fort, that it should be matter of pride to her to
be as good housewife as her mother was before
her.
1.-THE effort should be made to teach everyone
that the first requisite of good citizenship is do
ing the duties that are near at hand. But, of
course, this does not excuse man from doing
the other duties too. It is no excuse if a man
neglects his political duties to say that he is
good husband and father stu less is it an ex-
cuse if he Is guilty of corruption in politics or
business to say that his home life is all right.
He ought to add to decency in home life decency
in politics, decency in public life."