792 THE INDUSTRIAL GROUP 



ceases, - - the friendly relation with the animal world, the growing up 

 with the elements, rain, storm, and inclement weather, the depend- 

 ence upon the events of nature, the rotation of summer and winter, 

 of day and night. The modern industrial wage-earner becomes a 

 characteristic representative of that artificial race of men now 

 growing up in cities. Away from his natural environment, that is, 

 away from home, the thousandfold spiritual ties and tender senti- 

 ments are lost. His home is the world, he is a child of the world. 



Another feature of the laborer's existence is his liberation from old 

 institutions which confined him but restrained him as well. Among 

 these was the village community with its customs and its usages, its 

 festivals and fashions, which in part survive in the smaller towns. 

 Propinquitas ! But the proletariat has cosmopolitan customs and 

 usages. Thanks to the development of commerce, provincial man- 

 ners are abandoned. 



There was also the family group. Not only is the old family con- 

 nection, with its far-reaching interdependence, giving way, but the 

 immediate family is also losing its binding power because the eco- 

 nomic basis upon which it rests is disappearing owing to labor away 

 from home, night work, and the labor of children and women who 

 no longer find satisfactory employment at home. The early employ- 

 ment of children and youth makes them independent at an early age, 

 and thus is weakened the discipline over children by parents. To 

 this must be added the sordidness of the dwelling-houses in cities, 

 for this narrows even more the basis of family life. 



We must note, also, the decay of trade-associations built up by 

 the medieval handicrafts, by which membership in a definite craft 

 provided the individual ample internal and external status. Mem- 

 bership in a trade, however, is losing its hold as a result of the frequent 

 change of occupation. For an individual passes with greater ease 

 than formerly from one occupation to another, while the array of 

 labor arrangements mobilized for a united productive activity has 

 to be constantly remarshaled owing to the influence of the modern 

 revolutionizing technique. The mechanical arrangement of indi- 

 vidual operations which constitute an industry leads to a constant 

 change, just as surely as a personal classification leads to the stereo- 

 typing of the industry. 



Another cause of the decay of the trade fellowship is the disso- 

 lution of the intimate relation of the worker and his work. Activity 

 is no longer the expression of a lively human interest, it is only 

 the mechanical turning-off of some one simple process. The empir- 

 ical technique of the olden time rested upon personal skill; the 

 modern technique rests upon objective science. The organization of 

 industry upon the principle of the division of labor separates the 

 laborer from his work and makes him a mere soulless piece-worker 





