The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-05-21
LABOR'S LOVE WON.

When a youth comes out of school
and stands, free man, in the open
sunlight, he is Immediately aware of
two urgent needs. One is the need
to express himself by doing some
thing with his brain; the other
is the need to make a living. From
thousand different directions there
comes the hum of industry to his
ears. He has seen men working here
and yonder-caught glimpses of III
tent faces bent over hatf-fnished
products. Perhaps he has tried his
hand experimentally during summer
vacations, but in the main he IL jg-
norant of what takes place at the
benches and desks Of manufacture
and commerce. The world is his. he
may choose where he p:eases. Of all
the arts or sciences there is some
one particular thing which holds spe-
cial attraction for him. To some boys
this chief end is the railroad sncp;
to another it is the banking house;
to another, the print shop; to another,
the call of medicine comes louGes:;
to a few, the foreign fields gllsten
white with the ungarnered harvest
Whichever of these it may be the
youth enters by one OF the swinging
doors and seldom comes out again,
even to look about MIN.
Often his job has for him all the
glamour of romance, the mastery OF
the midnight vestibule as she races
over grades and through towns. IN
the first flush of his lSve for his job
he pays no attention to other phases
of existence. He is likely to despise
in his heart all men who are not of
his own vocation. Even the tools of
his trade and it's special rules and
exigencies take on for him ritual
istic significance. Watch the carpen-
ter ho~ he tenderly handles his sharp
adze, the painter carefully cleaning
his extensive camels hair brush. The
stenographer can find pure joy,
quite apart from her employer or his
business, in taking dictation infalli-
bly,, even the apprentice housewife
finds pleasure in hot oven, new
of.5 ~ in her knack of washing
dishes, .Es>-- ~ IT, !
This personal satisfaet!sn with a
task we'll done is enough to content.
a o1eat many citizens until they have
grown o1i or until the task has worn
them out and buried them. The deep,
er we are engrossed in the labor he-
fore us the quieter We are likely to
be and the better citizens we are
the more productive, accomplishing,
uncritical. But there are disturbing
factors in sll trades and professions.
Many men are compelled to work at
trades that have no appeal for them.
These men are restless. Others, many
of them, though working at trades
they prefer, are underpaid and con-
seouently dissatisfied. A smaller
number of men find it irksome to,
stick at one task, no matter how con-
genial. They regret that they cannot
try out all trades and are envious of
the expert in trades of which they,
themselves, are ignorant. They want
to start over again in new trade
every three or four years.
These three classes of men are the
leaders Of strikes and their willing
followers. Until a majority of the
employees in a certain trade are dis
continued a strike is impossible.
Some few may be dlscontented for
purely psychological reasons alone,
but a majority will never be. Low
oo,, oununt;no tn iniustice is essen