prentices and indentured them, the indentures obliging the employer to teach the trade to the apprentices; that is, to instruct them in every branch of the trade, and give them a chance to learn to run any and every tool in the shop. For example, in the machine shops of the United States, as well as in Europe, the apprentice first learned to fire the shop boiler, then to run the shop engine, then to do vise work, then lathe work, and planer work, then a period at the drills, millers, and slot machines, and finally three months in months in the draughting room. The apprentice's wages were small. Sometimes he spoiled work for the owner. But when he was finally graduated he had a trade, and was invariably proud of his trade. He was in the class of the builders who made the Republic great. But as time went on, the factories were able to employ the children of immigrants at less wages. The class of the apprentice was lowered. The manuThe manufacturers, finding that machine-made goods met no such opposition here as had been found abroad, used more and more machinery, and they found that by specializing, keeping a man or boy on one little article all the time, production was enormously increased, and the operator, becoming skilled in the specialty, produced his article to perfection. About half a century ago this was called the "American system," but it is becoming general in Europe now. The system is in use in clothing factories, ship yards, engine works, and in fact in all factories, and though the excellence of the entire product is unequalled, as in the case of sewing ma

chines, typewriters, cash registers, automobiles, etc., no one man is capable of skilfully repairing the article when it is extensively damaged. This is not an exaggeration. It is well known that many good lathe hands, in such a shop, are unskilled in planer, miller, or shaper work. The result of this system surely must be felt "over there," where all the heavier guns are worked by machinery.

The factory workmen see this and understand it as well as anybody else, and it is probably the cause of their forming federations of labor or amalgamated unions. But the trade federation is far from being the same as the trade union. The latter would exact the employment of apprentices and insist on their proper instruction; the former does not pretend to protect or promote the art, but arrays the workman against the employer. While the "system" places goods on the market at a lower first cost than is possible under the old rules of the trades unions, it makes repairs much more expensive. The public in its wisdom is able to judge of the excellence of the goods in the show rooms, and will give preference to the better article, but does not contemplate its short duration. Many men trade in their automobiles and get new ones every two years, whereas, if given proper care and timely repairs, the machine should last 15 to 20 years. Taking into account the interest on the money invested, it makes the automobile a very expensive means of transportation. The repairers of motor cars are usually

graduate chauffers, amateur mechanics; in their shops will be found in most cases only a vise and a few hand tools.

Europeans, slow to imitate the "American system," were astonished when, at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, Waltham watches were shown which were sold at a less cost than an equal watch would bring in Geneva. They were making watch movements in Geneva by machinery, and that was all they knew of Waltham watches. But there are machines and machines. In the great factory of Capt, in Geneva, a gear-cutter cut one wheel at a time, while in Waltham, a number of discs (about thirty) were strung on a mandril, and on a little gear-cutter the whole number of discs were shaped into gear wheels, which were absolutely interchangeable. Every part of

the movement of the watch is made to micrometer gauges, and like parts are interchangeable, so that no fitting is needed. When the Swiss visitor saw that, he bought American watch-making tools to carry back to Switzerland.

The writer has seen Chilean peons throw sticks into an American agricultural machine to break it down, believing it was undermining lawful labor. It was common practice in South America at that time. It stops the harvesting as successfully as a strike does in this enlightened Republic.

While it must be admitted that it is grossly unjust to the workman to confine him to a specialty which unfits him for any other work, it is equally unjust to his employer for him to interpose

any obstruction, and it is disloyal to the commonwealth for any person to obstruct or retard any kind of production. There can be no such thing as an obligation which is binding on one side only.

While the federation of trades has supplanted the trades union, it has not filled its place. Nor does the federa

It

tion benefit the individual as much as pretended. Members of federations state that, after paying their dues, fines, and assessments, they have less than before they became members. The federation imposed conditions on factories which not only operated to their disadvantage, but menaced the interests of the commonwealth. It has restricted the number of apprentices, and this has resulted in diminishing the number of skilled mechanics. forbade the scaling of wages, which has prevented a superior workman from receiving more money than an inferior one, thus discouraging the ambition so cherished in the old trades unions. It has failed to impose in its obligation the promise to do justice to the employer, which had hitherto been regarded as a sacred duty. And when the nation was plunged into war, a shameful lack of skilled mechanics became evident. The rules of the federations or trade amalgamations forbade their members to work with non-members, which led to strikes, to the great embarrassment of the nation. It is currently reported that men unskilled in the trades were able to purchase union cards from these federations, and were thus permitted to work on

government buildings in this drastic time of war. Had one of these unskilled, untutored amateurs been discharged by the government inspector, a strike might and very probably would have followed. The federation had, in such cases, become an employment agency, a very far departure from the principles of the old trades unions.

Congress, in its earliest sessions, was keen to oppose the creation of a privileged class. Our best legislators are recorded as having eliminated from bills and resolutions any intimations of what might be regarded as an advantage to the ambitions of a privileged class. But their eyes were focussed on the wealthy citizens more than on the hustlers. Money makes money, and the interest on the investments of the rich is sufficient to support them. But unfortunately, leisure, idleness, and amusement destroy industry, energy, and thrift, and the fortunes of the fathers usually disappear in two or three generations. The poor boys of the last generation are the rich men of this. It is because they are in the habit of earning and saving, while the rich man's son has the habit of spending. So in a few years they are leveled. While the nation has checked the old privileged class, as seen through the lens of the legislators, it seems to have lost sight of the privileged class which has developed in the federations of labor; for there seems to be a consensus of opinion that the latter is a privileged class, and a dangerous one. The average citizen has faith in our law-makers, and trusts them to take care of the best interests of the com

monwealth, in spite of the pressure brought to bear upon them by segregated claimants, ward heelers, and other such, but when men of influence and prominence offer excuses or encouragement to prominent leaders in the I. W. W., there is murmuring. It has been admitted that measures have been carried through because no one came forward to oppose them. This is but natural. The persons opposed to bills should not expect to be invited to come forward and make objection, but should volunteer, just as the ward heeler and the enthusiastic uplifter does. Unfortunately politics does not seem to make it possible for the election of free lances, as in the olden times, and efforts are made to pledge a candidate in advance.

Since labor has been federated, men have been accepted to membership who have never served an apprenticeship. Such men would not have been able to obtain membership in the old trades unions or guilds, any more than a quack doctor could be accepted in a consultation with graduated physicians. The promoters and orators of federated labor claim that the example has been set them by professional men, who have their scientific societies, and allege that a physician will charge a rich man a very stiff price for treatment, and will give the same treatment to a poor man for a less price. In answer to this the physician will say that he is obliged to give much of his time and labor to charity cases for which he makes no charge. The same thing is said of the lawyer, the expert witness, the chemist, etc. While this may

be true, it is not claimed that these professional men ever "strike on a job" or attempt to prevent any other person from taking the case at a lower figure. Nor is there any record of amalgamation of two distinct scientific societies, nor of their influence being lent to political purposes. And yet professional men would not approve of their tailor or huckster having several prices for the same article, particularly if they were not in their favor.

It has been estimated that ninety per cent of the men who go into business fail. They must go back to wage earning. But if the wage earners take advantage of the ten per cent who do succeed, in the way of strikes, it may not take many decades to place us all on the same level, like the Arabs in the desert. The man who succeeds in business will naturally regard it as a hardship to be obliged to share his profits and savings with those who have failed. It happens, but not often, that a man may grow rich by accident or luck, but it will be found that in a very great majority of cases his success has been due to knowledge of his business, attention to business, and to toil and foresight. He will have had but little time for pleasure. It will be difficult to convince him that he should divide his savings with others in his trade, or to make him see the justice of the surtax. Yet there is hardly a rich family in the great metropolis but is carrying at least three others who are not earning a living; and some of them are carrying as many as fifteen indigent families. They all have pen

sion rolls. They support all the great charities. There is no excuse for a healthy man to remain poor, unless burdened by dependents, but unfortunately, dependents soon come to regard their sustenance as a right and see no need of working for themselves. Poverty has more promoters than misfortune and illness. Indulgence, laziness, indolence, leisure, and intemperance are all enemies of thrift and comfort. These are augmented by shortening the labor, and so on. hours of labor, by preventing child

All animals are creatures of habit, and they acquire their habits early in life, so that if a child is forbidden to do useful work or to cultivate habits of industry, it is not likely to become industrious after attaining maturity. A healthy child "gets busy" as soon as it is able to walk, and, if encouraged, its attention and desire may be turned to what is useful, but if prevented in that, the child is bound to get into mischief. Particular cases were cited of the abuse of children in factories which induced the enactment of the Child Labor Law, but in some of these cases the abuse was more the fault of the parents than of the factory bosses. There already existed laws for the punishment of persons guilty of cruelty to children, but the laws were not enforced. There existed orphan asylums, which would have afforded some relief, but new laws were asked for, and passed by obliging legislative bodies. But rules work both ways. We have knowledge of a boy, of school age, but less than sixteen, whose mother had married a

man working for a small salary, and the boy, having ambition enough to wish to avoid being a burden on his step-father, obtained light employment after school hours. His contract was with a dress-maker, whose finished goods he delivered daily, which took about two hours of his time. He received enough to enable him to pay for his clothing and his books. But there appeared a female officer of the law, who informed the dress-maker that it was unlawful to employ that boy, who was under age. She was obliged to discharge him, and the best she could do was to employ an older boy, for eight hours a day, to do one or two hours' work, and to pay for his full time. Of course her customers were charged more, to relieve her of the increased burden. But the boy who had been discharged was obliged to depend upon his step-father for his clothing and books, which the latter, already obliged to observe strict economy, could ill afford. Other examples could be given, but it is not necessary to multiply them. They are due largely to the up-lifter, whose philanthropy is satisfying to himself and his friends, but at the expense of others. His labor is not in the best interests of the commonwealth. We are drifting away from first principles. We can never find as good principles anywhere as in the formulas laid down by the founders of the Republic. We were guaranteed "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but gradually we are being deprived of them.

This nation, so far separated from the rest of the belligerent powers, apparently did not need a large army or navy, and it was believed that the ambition of a powerful armed force would grow and become a menace to the Republic. This was not new; it had been proven many times. The latest example is that of Germany. Since 1871, when renewed efforts to increase the commerce, the manufactures, and the armed force of that nation were begun, it will be noticed that Germany has not produced a great musician, a great poet, a great sculptor or painter, nor anything artistic or aesthetic, but has devoted the best years of the lives of her men to militarism, chemistry, and mechanics, evidently with a view of increasing power, but without pleasure or refinement. What a contrast it affords with the Germans of the past! When we take the compositions of Mozart and Beethoven, of Handel and Brahms, from music, what have we left? And if we take Schiller from the poets, we lose greatly. The beautiful paintings of Rubens and the sculptures of many Germans are among the best. What a blessing Von Steuben was to Washington's army, and what a comfort Carl Schurtz was to Lincoln, and what a help Frederick the Great was in the time of our Revolution-his treaty with France to prevent molestation "so long as France was helping the colonists," his prevention of the enlistment of the Hessians, his presentation of a sword to Washington with a beautiful message. And when we think of the great invention of Gutenberg, surface printing with movable type, we can