1^ 



amBftfon fs high, if there is thre real ability lu hfur, he' wDI 

 he a better workman by reason of it. There is always 

 room at the top, it is said, and to seek the highest rounJ 

 of the ladder is commend'able hi every case. Bti-t a course 

 of industrial training given hi our public schools n-eed notJ 

 be of such a character as will trnSt a boy for manual labor 

 by inspiring visronary ideas. Its effect ought to be to- 

 make him understand that a trad-e is as honorable as a pro- 

 fession if pursued honestly and industriously. Tbe advan- 

 tage of an education is to improve his skill and train hi» 

 natural powers to- perform the best woi'k. 



And it must likewise be remembered that not every boy 

 will be found capible of [XFrsuing siKjh a course, that there 

 will always be drones and idlers in the human hive, and 

 that for unskilled labor there is no- immediate prospect of 

 a lack of workmen. What we must aim to do is to se- 

 lect the best material out of the mass which ia brought to 

 ns and endeavor to mould that into the proper shape and 

 condition. The 8tate ia not responsible for natural inca- 

 pacity or ingrained idleness in her citizens. Her duty i» 

 to provide the best and most varied preparation for the 

 duties of life, and for the exercise of the right of citizen- 

 ship to all her children. After that each man and each 

 woman must look out for themselves in the battle for exis- 

 tence. I am more and more convinced that the old Jewish 

 principle of giving every boy a trade, whether he works at 

 it or not, is the best principle for our day and generation. 



How this shall be done, whether at public or private 

 expense, is a question for statesmen and educators to de- 

 cide. The fact that some of the most successful and saga- 

 cious manufacturers and business men, as well as many able 

 educators continually recur to the idea of combining man- 

 ual labor with school instruction shows the increasing at- 

 tention paid to the subject, and is one of the signs of an ap- 

 proaching change in our system of public school instruction. 



