The Washington herald., 1912-09-08
SENATOR PAGE, KNOWN OVER THE WORLD
AS THE GREATEST EXPERT ON Gl4IFSKIN
Having Made Fortune, Vermont Lawmaker
PHILOSOPHERS on How One Can Be Made
NoW-"To Earn More Is to Learn
More" He Says.
Nv JAMES p. MORROW.

secret of money-making with an cpl
gram. ITO earn more" he says. is to
learn more" Achieving men bore with
a big auger" Again, sitting sentence
from his blunt philosophy. don't let
any one throw a monkey-wrench mo
your separator"
This man, when he was boy OF
twelve, began mongering on his own
account in calfskins. The village IN
which he lived and where he lives now
has never had more than 4S Inhabitants.
Burlington, on Lake Champlain, Is forty
miles distant nor is it large place
Nevertheless, Carroll s. Page is known
throughout Europe and America to tan
ners and leather dealers. He Is the
greatest. caIfskin expert in the world
Other firms and corporations may DO
more business totaled up IN car loaos
and cash. but ii Is his monthly price INST
a voice from a hamlet amid granite mis-
that fixes the market In the United
States. As 1t happens, he Is also presi-
dent of two country banks and SEN
ator In Congress Once. back in the
SOS. he was Governor of Vermont.
I'VE study live stock" he said 10 me
why not study human beings!
plain man he is, with sound Ideas ana d
talent for putting his thoughts into un-
derstandable language. He stood on ms
feet for three hours the first time ne
spoke in the Senate. heckled by antas-
onistic Democrats and censorious hepuo-
leans Stood. pouring out facts from
his wonderful storehouse OF practicai eA-
perience. and establishing himself as
debater of uncommon skill and sagacity.
what are We going to do with the
boys In our cities?" he asked me- 80
ciologtcarly, that is the gravest subject
before the American people we are
saving our mines, forests, and quarries'
but. as Prof Carver, of Harvard, can
didly observes, are wasting people more
than we are wasting anything else
Wants $4,000, 900 for schools.
7 had gone to Senator Page for an inter-
view about his sl2.OOo,0OO bill in behalf OF
vocationa; education in secondary and
normal schools and in the agricultural
colleges of the different States. he is IN
his SEVENTEEN year-a slender man. Win
Iigbt and youngish brown eyes, a snort,
white bread, and a speed and agility Oh
leg motion that is actually astonishing.
The 80 100000 is to be paid by the nauon-
al Government. States are to appropriate
as much as they get. Local commune
ties must double both amounts.
zach year 100000 children are gradu-
7sted from our elementary schools, Sen
atorr Page said. AN equal number iea'e
school at the age ot&fourteen OF iess'
having gone no further than the SIKH
grade. The boys, and many OF the giris,
obtain work in factories, shops, ana
stores, What is being done to discover
their ATTITUDES, If they have any? Moth
ing. Now I say that every scnooiooS
should be studied. physically and temper
amentaIly. We study horses, making
roadsters of some and workers OF others.
'TJp at Newton, in MASSACHUSETTS,
every schoolboy is scientifically invest-
gated. His habits, character, parentage,
environment, tastes. and records as
student are considered in an ehort 10
find out what he ought to do when ne
starts to earn his living. A work place
is obtained for him when he drops MS
hookz that's INV idea of a sensible edu-
cational system
LET me give you a fact that is I'M
known to most persons. Only seven IN
every one hundred pupils of our country
village, and city schools pass beyond the
elementary grades. Only seven pupils out
Of a hundred, in other words, enter our
high schools or colleges. The ninety-three
who are learning to read and write, 70
add, subtract, multiply. and diVloe' are
not getting any training whatever tnat
will help them gain their bread and out-
fer. Among InSIn ~ s0s'
those who will fill our jails and asylums,
or those who will become restless and
dissatisfied American citizens 1 assert
that the 90 per cent are not being given
a square deal
Wants to Help the Girls.
Nor are the girls getting any better
treatment The great mass Of our girls
like our boys. leave school while in tine
lower grades. They are to become the
wives OF the boys who are being neglect
cd nv our educational methods. What
is done to fit them for w1fehood ana
moths rhood? Nothing. They learn to
read and write. That Is necessary. But
they also should be taught cooking, sew
ing, baking, sweeping, gardening, and
bcw to nurse the sick and bring up
children. They ought to know about
food values, hygiene, ventilation, and
disease prevention. Theoretically, the
boys and girls who enter our public
schools are finally to be graduated from
colleges or universities. They are trained
accordingly. As a matter Of fact, most
of the boys are to become farmers,
clerks, and mechanics, and most OF the
girls housekeepers, stenoSraphers, and
workers in stores and factories We
have carried the ancient classical idea
SO far that We are not only inefficient.
but ridiculous.
ct is not so in Germany. That great
country is yearly selling billion dollars
Of its products in foreign markets. It
is fast expanding into the most impor-
tant industrial nation Of the world
There everybody learns a trade. En-
peror William Is a shoemaker, a carpen-
ter. or a stonemason. American skins go
to Germany. Coming back. they pay q
heavy duty, and, under the name Of
French enameled leather are made into
righ-priced shoes for people In Boston,
New York, and Philadelphia
ct frequently go to Europe. My father,
a dealer in wool and hides, said to me,
when was twelve years OF age: Here
is a little room. The calfskins that come
in after this belong to you. But you
must pay for them, take care of them
and sell them to tanners / got a large
caldron, filled 1t with salt and water,
and have specialized in calfskins ever
since That was fifty-seven years ago.
] left school at the age OF seventeen I
put the skins into the caldron with my
own hands and stretched them and dried
them on boards. I could have entered
college, but my father thought I might
do better in business
some Secrets About Prices.
"And now" I interrupted. you say
what prices are to be paid for calf
skins all over the United States?"
That accusation was used against
me when 1 ran for Governor twenty.
three years ago." Senator Page an
swered. "Calfskins happened to be down
at the time, and I was pictured as a
mated and elected. I did not control
do frn1 fh<z,, v.nx