The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-10

of the city, but the city-bred man rarely adjusts himself to the ways of the coun- try. Those who do go to the country and make success of 1t are usually free from necessity of doing so.
 But it may be said, granted that the effort to colonizs be futile, In view of the factors which are driving men to the city-what is there to prevent the people of the city from accepting tempor- business depression?
 "Rubesr Not Wanted.
 There are two classes of men who would be concerned in such & proposition; nrst, the skilled artisan, who is out of a job for the time being; and, second, the un- skilled laborer, who earns small wages even when he Is employed. can imagine the expert workman coming back to the city at the end of the harvest season. and attempting to get another Job at his trade Where did you work last?" the foreman will inquire. "Oh, l was out on farm," tho mechanic will answer-if he wants to tell the truth "On farm? We're not hiring Rubes-we want skilled men" And no amount of persuasion can make the average foreman believe that the fact that the man before him went to work on a farm rather than loaf in the oity is really to his credit. He cares noth- ing about the finer points in the matter; he wants men who can do the work de- manded of them, and he must judge of their ability on purely surface grounds.
 To some, this may seem like a trivial barrier, but it is a very real one, not only as far as the foreman is concerned, but the shopman as well. for they have a feeling of contempt for the hayseed," be he the original article, or merely one who became such as . make-shift. And go the workingman tramps tho streets, with all the pride of the skilled Ameri- can workingman-some of 1t foolish, but some of it most commendable-hoping that tomorrow will find him at work at his trade.
 The unskilled laborer hasn't this ob- stacle to contend with--at least, not to so great a degree. He could accept job in the country without the sacrifice of very much pride. But there are even more serious reasons as to why he can not go from the city to the country to help the farmer get in his hay. Anyone who knows the man of the poorer tene- ment districts Is familiar with pale. narrow chested individual. who simply could not stand day in hot August sun, using a pitchfork or even driving a team It would be physically impos- sible for him to make good In task which would be absolutely new and which would require more muscie than ne ever possessed. With him, 1t would be mat ter of endurance, aside from the social questions which are bound to influence him to a considerable degree, and he Is not eeasi to the job.
 Immiqrants on the Farm.
 There Is a possibility that the immi- grant may be induoed to go to the farm, although the effort to persuade him to do SO has not been very successful. large ly for the reason that most of the for eigners who are now coming to us lived in the city or the town back in the fath- erland. In several of the colonization schemes for immigrants. the foreigners found that they were being exploited by the promoters with the result that the news was carried to the remotest villages of the old country, creating a prejudice against the farming industry. It will take a long while to overcome this feeling.
 After all, this whole matter Ia princi- pally a question of human nature We may find fault with it, and persuade our selves that the city's poor and unemploy- ed ere fools, but whatever else they may be, they are human, and somehow, they can't very well help that To fly in the face of prejudice. pride and all ths tsaAttions Of city N6a seQtiires ereatr