Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, December 4, 1906, Page 4

=y new growth of the very abuses which were In part responsible for the orlg- inal outbreak. The one hope for suc- cess for our people lies in a vesolute and fearless but sane and cool headed advance along the path marvked out last year by this very congress. There must be a stern refusal to be misled Into following either that base vreature who appeals and panders to the low- est instinets and passions in order to arouse one set of Americans against their fellows or that other creature, equally base, but no baser, who in a spirit of greed or to accumulate or add to an already huge fortune seeks to exploit 1 fellow Americans with callous disregard to their welfare of soul and body. The man bauches others in orvder to obtain a high office stands on an evil equality of corruption with the man who de- bauches others for financial profit, and when hatred is sown the crop which springs up can only be evil. Demagogue and Corruptionist. The plain people who think—the me- chanics, farmers, merchants, workers with head or hand, the men to whom American traditions are dear, who love their country and try to act decently by their neighbors—owe it to them- selves to vemember that the most damaging blow that can be given popu- . lar government is to elect an unworthy and sinister agitator on a platform of violence and hypocerisy. Whenever such an ue is raised in this country nothing can Dbe gained by flinching from it. for in such case democracy is ; itself ou trial, popular self government f under republican forms is itself on trial. The triumph of the mob is just as evil a thing as the triumph of the plutocracy, and to have escaped one danger avails nothing whatever if we succumb to the other. In the end the honest man, whether rich or poor, who earns his own living and tries to deal Justly by his fellows, has as much to fear from the insincere and unworthy demagogue, promising much and per- forming nothing or else performing nothing but evil, who would set on the mob to plunder the rich, as from the crafty corruptionist who for his own ends would permit the common people to be exploited by the very wealthy. If we ever let this govern- ment fall into the hands of men of either of these two classes we shall show ourselves false to America’s past. Moreover, the demagogue and the cor- ruptionist often work hand in hand. There are at this moment wealthy re- actionaries of such obtuse morality that they regard the public servant who prosecutes them when they vio- late the law or who seeks to make them bear their proper share of the public burdens as being even more objection- able than the violent agitator who hounds on the mob to plunder the rich, There is nothing to choose between such a reactionary and such an agita- tor. Fundamentally they are alike in their selfish cisregard of the rights of others, and should join in opposition to any move- ment of which the aim is fearlessly to do exact and even justice to all. Railroad Employees’ Hours and Eight Hour Law. I call your attention to the need of passing the bill limiting the number of hours of employment of railroad em- ployees. The measure is a very mod- erate one, and I can conceive of no se- rious objection to it. as it is in our power, it should be our aim steadily to reduce the number of hours of labor. with as a goal the gen- eral introduction of an eight hour day. There are Industries in which it is not possible that the hours of labor should be reduced, just as there are communities not far enough advanced for such a movement to be for their good or, if in the tropics, so situated that there is no analogy between their needs and ours in this matter. On the isthmus of Panama, for instance, the conditions are in every way so differ- ent from what they are here that an eight hour day would be absurd. Just as it is absurd, so far as the isthmus is concerned. where white labor can- not be employed, to bother as to wheth- er the necessary work iIs done by alien black nien or by alien yellow men. But the wazeworkers of the United States are of so high a grade that alike from the merely industrial standpoint and from the civie standpoint it should be our object to do what we can in the direction of securing the general ob- servance of an eight hour day. Until recently the eight hour law on our federal 'statute books has been very scantily observed. Now, however, largely through the instrumentality of the bureau of labor, it is being rigidly enforced, and I shall speedily be able to say whether or not there is need of further iegislation In reference there- to. for our purpose is to see it obeyed in spirit no less than in letter. Half holidays during summer should be es- tablished for government employees. It is as desirable for wageworkers who toil with their hands as for salaried officials whose labor is mental that there should be a reasonable amount of holiday. Labor of Women and Children. The congress at its last session wise- ly provided for a truant court for the District of Columbia, a marked step in advance on the path of properly caring for the children. Let me again urge hat the congress provide for a thor- ough investigation of the conditions of child labor and of the labor of wom- en in the United States. More and more our people are growing to recog- nize the fact that the questions which are not merely of Industrial but of so- clal importance outweigh all others, and these two questions most emphat- ically come In the category of those which affect In the most far reaching way the home life of the nation, who de- | it is natural that they | Indeed, so far | tion, It Is true that each state must ultimately settle the question in its own way, but a thorough official in- vestigationsof the matter, with the re- sults published broadcast, would great- ly help toward arousing the public con- science and securing unity of state action in the matter. There is, how- ever, one law on the subject which should be enacted immediately, be- cause there is no need for an investiga- ton in reference thereto, and the fail- ure to enact it is discreditable to the national government. A drastic and thoroughgoing child labor law should be enacted for the District of Colum- bia and the territories. Employers’ Liability. Among the excellent laws which the congress passed at the last session was an employers’ lability law. It was a marked step in advance to get the recognition of employers’ liability on ; the statute books, but the law did not [ go far enough. In spite of all precau- | tions exercised by employers, there are ! unavoidable accidents and even deaths involved in nearly every line of busi- i ness connected with the mechanic arts, This inevitable sacrifice of life may be reduced to a minimum, but it can- ' not be completely eliminated. It-is a great social injustice to compel the employee, or, rather, the family of the i killed or disabled vietim, to bear the entire burden of such an inevitable sacrifice. In other words, society shirks its duty by laying the whole cost on the victim, whereas the injury comes from what may be cclled the legitimate risks of the tra’e. Com- pensation for accidents or deaths due lin any line of industry to the actual }conditions under which that industry is carried on should be paid by that | _ portion of the community for the ben- i efit of which the industry is carried ' on—that is, by those who profit by the industry. If the entire trade risk Is placed upon the employer he will promptly and properly add it to the legitimate cost of production and as- sess it proportionately upon the con- sumers of his commodity. It is there- fore clear to my mind that the law should place this entire “risk of a trade” upon the employer. Neither the i federal law nor, as far as I am in- formed, the state laws dealing with the question of employers’ liability are sufficiently thoroughgoing. The fed- eral law should of course include em- ployees in navy yards, arsenals and the like. AS TO LABOR DISPUTES. Federal Commission of Conciliation and Arbitration Needed. The commission appointed by the president Oct. 16, 1902, at the request of both the anthracite coal operators and miners, to inquire into, consider and pass upon the questions in con- troversy in connection with the strike in the anthracite regions of Pennsyl- vania and the causes out of which the controversy arose, in their report, find- ings and award expressed the belief “that the state and federal govern- ments should provide the machinery for what may be called the compul- sory investigation of controversies be- tween employers and employees when they arise.” This expression of belief is deserving of the favorable considera- tion of the congress and the enactment of its provisions into law. A bill has already been introduced to this end. Records show that during the twen- ty years from Jan, 1, 1881, to Dec. 31, 1900, there were strikes affecting 117,- 509 establishments and 6,105,694 em- ployees were thrown out of employ- ment. During the same period there were 1,005 lockouts, involving nearly 10,000 establishments, throwing over a million people out of employment. These strikes and lockouts involved an estimated loss to employees of $307.- 000,000 and to employers of $143,000,- : 000, a total of $450,000,000. The public ! suffered directly and indirectly prob- | ably as great additional loss. But the money loss, great as it was, did not measure the anguish and suffering en- dured by the wives and children of | employees whose pay stopped when their work stopped, or the disastrous : effect of the strike or lockout upon the ! ! business of employers, or the increase ! 1 in the cost of products and the incon- ! venience and loss to the public. | Many of these strikes and lockouts ' { would not have occurred had the par- - | tles to the dispute been required to ap- ' pear before an unprejudiced body rep- : resenting the nation and. face to face, | state the reasons for their contention. LIn most instances the dispute would ! doubtless Dbe found to be due to a | misunderstanding by each of the . other’s rights, aggravated by an un- ! ¢ willingness of either party to accept as i true the statements of the other as to | the justice or Injustice of the matters ' in dispute. The exercise of a judicial spirit by a disinterested body repre- | senting the federal government, such | as would be provided by a commission on conciliation and arbitration, would tend to create an atmosphere of friend- i liness and conciliation between con- i tending parties, and the giving each side an equal opportunity to present fully its case in the presence of the ' other would prevent many disputes from developing into serious strikes or ' lockouts and in other cases would ! enable the commission to persuade the opposing parties to come to terms. In this age of great corporate and la- bor combinations neither employers nor | employees should be left completely at be considered. In all legislation of this kind it is well to advance cautiously, testing each step by the actual results. The step proposed can surely be safely taken, for the declslons of the commis- sion would not bind the parties in legal fashion and yet would give a chance for public opinion to crystallize and | , thus to exert its full force for the right. Withdrawal of Coal Lands. It is not wise that the nation should alienate its remaining coal lands, 1 have temporarily withdrawn from set- tlement all the lands which the geolog- ical survey has indicated as containing or in all probability containing coal. The question, however, can be proper- ly settled only by legislation, which, in my judgment, should provide for the withdrawal of these lands from sale or from entry save in certain especial circumstances. The ownership would then remain In the United States, which should not, however, attempt to work them, but permit them to be worked by private individuals under a royalty system, the government keep- ing such control as to permit it to see that no excessive price was charged consumers. It would of course be as necessary to supervise the rates charg- ed by the common carriers to transport the product as the rates charged by those who mine it, and the supervision must extend to the conduct of the com- mon carriers, so that they shall in no way favor one competitor at the ex- pense of another. The withdrawal of these coal lands would constitute a policy analogous to that which has been followed in withdrawing the for- est lands from ordinary settlement. The coal, like the forests, should be treated as the property of the public, and its disposal should be under condi- tions which would inure to the benefit of the public as a whole. CORPORATION CONTROL Far More Complete Supervision at Early Date Required, The present congress has taken long strides in the direction of securing proper supervision and control by the national government over corporations engaged in interstate business, and the enormous majority of corporations of any size are engaged in interstate busi- ness. The passage of the railway rate bill and only to a less degree the pas- sage of the pure food bill and the pro- vision for increasing and rendering more effective national control over the beef packing industry mark an impor- tant advance in the proper direction. In the short session it will perhaps be difficult to do much further along this line, and it may be best to wait until the laws have been in operation for a number of months before endeavoring to increase their scope, because only op- eration will show with exactness their merits and their shortcomings and thus give opportunity to definé what fur- ther remedial legislation is needed. Yet, in my judgment, it will in the end be advisable in connection with the packing house inspection law to pro- vide for putting a date on the label and for charging the cost of inspection to the packers. All these laws have already justified their enactment. The interstate commerce law, for instance, has rather amusingly falsified the pre- dictions both of those who asserted that it would ruin the railroads and of those who asserted that it did not go far enough and would accomplish nothing. During the last five months the railroads have shown increased earnings and some of them unusual dividends, while during the same pe- riod the mere taking effect of the law has produced an unprecedented, a hitherto unheard of, number of volun- tary reductions in freights and fares by the railroads. Since the founding of the commission there has never been a’ time of equal length In which any- thing like so many reduced tariffs have been put into effect. On Aug. 27, for instance, two days béfore the new law went into effect, the commission re- ceived notices of over 5,000 separate tariffs which represented reductions from previous rates. It must not be supposed, however, that with the passage of these laws it will be possible to stop progress along the line of increasing the power of the national goternment over the use of capital in interstate commerce. Ior { example, there will ultimately be neced of enlarging the powers of the inter- state commerce commission along sev- " eral different lines, so as to give it a larger and more efficient control over ; the railroads. Leg ion the Proper Antidote. It cannot too often be repeated that ' experience has conclusively shown the impossibility of securing by the actions of nearly half a hundred different state legislatures anything but Ineffective | chaos in the way of dealing with the great corporations which do not op- ; erate exclusively within the limits of . any one state. In some method, wheth- i er by a national license law or in other fashion, we must exercise, and that at an early date, a far more complete control than at present over these great corporations—a control that will, .among other things, prevent the evils of excessive overcapitalization and that will compel the disclosure by each big corporation of its stockholders and of its properties and business, whether owned directly or through subsidiary or affiliated corporations. This will tend to put a stop to the securing of inordinate profits by favored individu- als at the expense whether of the gen- eral public, the stockholders or the': tives who are themselves most potent in Increasing socialistic feeling. One | of the most efficlent methods of avert- llng the consequences of a dangerous | aglitation which Is 80 per cent wrong .18 to remedy the 20 per cent of evil | &8 to which the agitation Is well found- ed. The best way to avert the very { undesirable move for the governmental { ownership of railways is to secure by the government, on behalf of the peo- ple as a whole, such adequate control | and regulation of the great interstate common carriers as will do away with the evils which give rise to the agita- tidote to the dangerous and wicked agitation against the men of wealth as such is to secure by proper legislation and executive action the abolition of the grave abuses which actually do obtain in connection with the business use of wealth under our present system, or, rather, no system, of failure to exer- cise any adequate control at all, Some persons speak as if the exercise of such governmental control would do away with the freedom of individual initia- tive and dwarf individual effort. This is not a fact. It would be a veritable calamity to fail to put a premium upon indlvidual initiative, individual capaci- ty and effort, upon the energy, char- acter and foresight which it is so im- portant to encourage in the individual. But, as a matter of fact, the deadening and degrading effect of pure soclalism, communism, and the destruction of in- dividual character which they would bring about are in part achieved by the wholly unregulated competition which results in a single individual or corporation rising at the expense of all others until his or its rise effectunlly checks all competition and reduces former competitors to a position of ut- ter inferiority and subordination. In enacting and enforcing such leg- islation as this congress already has to its credit we are working on a coherent plan, with the steady endeavor to se- cure the needed reform by the joint action of the moderate men, the plain men who do not wish anything hys- terical or dangerous, but who do in- tend to deal in resolute common sense fashion with the real and great evils of the present system. The resction- aries and the violent extremists show symptoms of joining hands against us. Both assert, for instance, that, if log- ical, we should go to government own- ership of railroads and the like, the re- actionaries because on such an issue they think the people would stand with them, while the extremists care rather to preach discontent and agitation than to achieve solid results. As a matter of fact, our position is as remote from that of the Bourbon reactionary as from that of the impracticable or sin- ister visionary. We bhold that the gov- ernment should not conduct the busi- ness of the nation, but that it should exercise such supervision as will in- sure its being conducted in the inter- est of the nation. Our aim is, so far as may be, to secure for all decent, hardworking men equality of oppor- tunity and equality of bu_rden. Necessity of Combinations. The actual working of our laws has shown that the effort to prohibit all combination. good or bad, is noxious where it i3 not ineffective. Combina- tion of capital, like combination of la- bor, Is a necessary element of our pres- ent industrial system. It is not possi- ble completely to prevent it, and If it were possible such complete preven- tion would do damage to the body pol- itic. What we need is not vainly to try to prevent all combination, but to secure such rigorous and adequate con- trol and supervision of the combina- tions as to prevent their injuring the public or existing in such form as in- evitably to threaten injury, for the mere fact that a combination has se- cured practically complete control of a necessary of life would under any circumstances show that such combi- nation was to be presumed to be ad- verse to the public interest. It is un- fortunate that our present laws should forbid all combinations instead of sharply discriminating between those combinations which do good and those combinations which do evil. Rebates, for instance, are as often due to the pressure of big shippers (as was shown in the investigation of the Standard Oil company and as has been shown since by the investigation of the tobacco and sugar trusts) as to the { Initiative of big railroads. Often rail- roads would like to combine for the purpose of preventing a big shipper from maintaining improper advantages at the expense of small shippers and of the general public.. Such a combina- { tion, instead of being forbidden by it should be permitted to railroads to make agreements, provided these agree- ments were sanctioned by the inter- state commerce commission and were published. With these two conditions { complied with, it is impossible to see what harm such a combination could | do to the public at large. It is a public evil to have on the statute books a law incapable of full enforcement, because both judges and juries realize that its full enforcement would destroy the business of the country, for the result is to make decent railroad men viola- 1tors of the law against their will and {to put a premium on the behavior of ' the willful wrongdoers. Such a result in turn tends to throw the decent man and the willful wrongdoer into close as- sociation and in the end to drag down : the former to the latter's level, for the man who becomes a lawbreaker in one A the mercy of the stronger party to a | wageworkers, Our éffort should be not ' way unhappily tends to lose all respect dispute regardless of the righteous- ' | ness of their respective clalms. The ' | broposed measure would be in the line ; of securing recognition of the fact that | In many strikes the public has itself an , 8o much to prevent consolidation as such, but so to supervise and control it as to see that it results in no harm to the people. The reactionary or ultra conservative apologists for the The | interest which cannot wisely be disre- | misuse of wealth assail the effort to horrors incident to the employment of | 8arded—an interest not merely of gen- | secure such control as a step toward ‘young children in factorles or at work . eral convenience, for the question of a soclalism, anywhere are a blot on our clviliza- iluut and proper public policy must also As a matter of fact, it Is these reactionaries and ultra conserva- i for law and to be willing to break it in i many ways. No more scathing condem- | nation could be visited upon a law |than is contained in the words of the | Interstate commerce commission when, ;In commenting upon the fact that the , numerous _joint traffic assoclations do , technically violate the law, they. say: l"'.l'he decision of the United States su- tion against them. 8o the proper an- ; and especially of its extreme form, | ‘law, should be favored. In other words, | Ipl'eme court in tise transmissourl caso and the Joint Traffic association case _has produced no practical effect upon ,the railway operations of the country. "Such assoclations, in fact, exist now as they did before these decisions and with the same general effect. In jus- (tice to all parties we ought probably ! to add that it is difficult to see how our interstate railways could be operated with due regard to the interest of the ! shipper and the railway without con- certed action of the kind afforded , through these associations.” This means that the law as construed by the supreme court is such that the business of the country cannot be con- ducted without breaking it. I recom- { mend that you give careful and early consideration to this subject and, if | commerce commission justified, that ! you amend the law so as to obviate the evil disclosed. INCONE TAX DISCUSSED. Advocated. in any country, but it is especially dif- ficult in ours with its federal system of government. Some taxes should on ev- ery ground be levied in a small dis- trict for use in that district. Thus the taxation of real estate is peculiarly one for the immediate locality in which the real estate is found. Again, there is no more legitimate tax for any state than a tax on the franchises conferred by that state upon street railroads and similar corporations which operate wholly trithin the state boundaries, Sometimes in one and sometimes in several municipalities or other minor divisions of the state. But there are many kinds of taxes which can on'y be levied by the general government so as to produce the best results, hacause, among other reasons, the attempt to impose them in one particular state too often results merely in driving the corporation or individual affected to some other locality or other state. The national government has long derived its chief revenue from a tariff on im- ports and from an internal or excise tax. In addition to these. there is ev- ery reason why, when next our sys- tem of taxation is revised. the national government should impose a graduated inheritance tax and, if possible, a grad- uated income tax. The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the state because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government. Not only should he recog- nize this obligation in the way he leads his daily life and in the way he earns and spends his money, but it should also be recognized by the way in which he pays for the protection the state gives him. On the one hand, it Is desirable that he should assume his full and proper share of the burden of taxation; on the other hang, it is quite as necessary that in this kind of taxa- tion, where the men who vote the tax pay but little of it, there should be clear recognition of the danger of in- augurating any such system save in a spirit of entire justice and moderation. ‘Whenever we as a people undertake to remodel our taxation system along the lines suggested we must make it clear beyond peradventure that our aim is to distribute the burden of supporting the government more equitably than at present, that we intend to treat rich man and poor man on a basis of abso- lute equality and that we regard it as equally fatal to true democracy to do ‘or permit injustice to the one as to do or permit injustice to the other. I am well aware that such a subject as this needs long and careful study in order that the people may become fa- millar with what is proposed to be done, may clearly see the necessity of proceeding with wisdom and self re- straint and may make up their minds Just. how far they are willing to go in the matter, while only trained legis- lators can work out the project in necessary detail. But I feel that in the near future our national legislators should enact a law providing for a graduated inheritance tax by which a steadily increasing rate of duty should be put upon all moneys or other val- uables coming by gift, bequest or de- vise to any individual or corporation. It may be well to make the tax heavy in proportion as the individual bene- fited is remote of kin. In any event, in my judgment, the pro rata of the tax should increase very heavily with the increase of the amount left to any one individual after a certain point has been reached. - It is most desirable to encourage thrift and ambition, and a ! potent source of thrift and ambition is the desire on the part of the bread- winner to leave his children well off. This object can be attained by making the tax very small on moderate amounts of property left, because the prime ob- ject should be to put a constantly in- creasing burden on the inheritance of those swollen fortunes which it is cer- tainly of no benefit to this country to ! perpetuate, Ethical Propriety Unquestioned. There can be no question of the eth- i ical propriety of the government thus determining the conditions upon which any gift or inheritance should be re- | ;ceive,i. Exactly how far the inher- i itance tax would, as an incident, have ! the effect of limiting the transmission; i by devise or gift of the enormous for- ! tunes in question it is not necessary at’ :present to discuss. It is wise that progress in this direction should be; gradual. At first a permanent na- tional inheritance tax, while it might| ! be more substantial than any such tax: has hitherto been, need not approxi- mate, either in amount or in the ex-] tetit of the Increase by graduation, to | what such a tax should ultimately be. : This specles of tax has again and‘ again been Imposed, although only temporarily, by the national govern- you find the opinion of the intérstate ! Both This and Inheritance Tax Strongly | The question of taxation is difficult ' ment. It was first imposed by the act of July 6, 1797, when the makers of the constitution were alive and at the head of affairs. It was a graduated tax. , Though small in amount, the rate was _Increased with the amount left to any i individual, exceptions being made in the case of certain close kin. A sim- ,ilar tax was again imposed by the act iof July 1, 1862, a minimum sum of ! $1,000 in personal property being ex- %cepted from taxation, the tax then be- coming progressive according to the remoteness of kin. The war revenue iact of June 13, 1898, provided for an 'lnheritance tax on any sum exceeding the value of $10,000, the rate of the . tax increasing both in accordance with {the amounts left' and in accordance | with the legatee’s remoteness of Kkin. | The supreme court has held that the | succession tax imposed at the time of, the civil war was not a direct tax, but an impost or excise which was both constitutional and valid. More recent- ly the court, in an opinion delivered by Mr. Justice White, which contained an exceedingly able and elaborate discus- sion of the powers of the congress to impose death duties, sustained the constitutionality of the inheritance tax feature of the war revenue act of 1898. - Earlier Legislation Reviewed. In its incidents and apart from the main purpose of raising revenue an in- come tax stands on an entirely differ- i ent footing from an inheritance tax, because it involves no question of the Dperpetuation of fortunes swollen to an unhealthy size. The question is in its justment of burdens to benefits. As i the law now stands it is undoubtedly difficult to devise a national income tax which shall be constitutional. But whether it is absolutely impossible is another question, and if possible it i~ most certainly desirable. The firsc purely income tax law was passed by the congress in 1861, but the most im- portant law dealing with the subject was that of 1894. This the court held to be unconstitutional. The question is undoubtedly very in- tricate, delicate and troublesome. The | decision of the court was only reached | by one majority. It is the law of the { land and of course is accepted as such | and loyally’ obeyed by all good citizens. Nevertheless the hesitation evidently | felt by the court as a whole in com- L ing to a conclusion when considered to- gether with the previous decisions on , the subject may perhaps indicate the " possibility of devising a constitutional 'income tax law which shall substan- tially accomplish the results aimed at. The difficulty of amending the consti- | tution is so great that only real neces- , ity can justify a resort thereto. Every effort should be made in dealing with , this subject, as with the subject of the proper control by the national govern- ment over the use of corporate wealth in interstate business, to devise legis- lation which without such action shall attain the desired end, but if this fails | there will ultimately be no alterna- tive to a constitutional amendment. Technical and Industrial Training. It would be impossible to overstate, . though it is of course difficult quantita- ; tively to measure, the effect upon a na- | tion’s growth to greatness of what may i be called organized patriotism, which necessarily includes the substitution of a unational feeling for mere local pride, | with as a resultant a high ambition for ; the whole country. No country can de- i velop its full strength so long as the parts which make up the whole each put a feeling of loyalty to the part above the feeling of loyalty to the . whole. This is true of sections, and it is just as true of classes. The indus- trial and agricultural classes must t work together, capitalists and wage- workers - must work together, if the best work of which the country is ca- pable is to be done. It is probable that a thoroughly efficient system of education comes next to the influence of patriotism in bringing about nation- al success of this kind. Our federal form of government, so fruitful of ad- * vantage to our people in certain ways. in other ways undoubtedly limits our national -effectiveness. It is not possible, for instance, for the national government to take the lead in technical industrial education, to see that the public school system of this country develops on all its tech- nical, industrial, scientific and com- .mercial sides. This must be left pri- marily to the several states. Never- theless’ the national government has control of the schools of the District of Columbia, and it should see that these schools promote and encourage the fullest development of the scholars in ° both commercial and industrial train- ing. The commercial training should in one of its branches deal with foreign trade. The industrial training is even ! more important. It should be one of | our prime objects as a nation, so far as feasible, constantly to work toward | putting the mechanic, the wagework- 'er who'works with his hands, on a : higher plane of efficlency and reward, 180 as to increase his effectiveness in | the economic world and the dignity, the remuneration and the power of his iposit!on in the social world. Unfor- tunately, at present the effect of some i [ the exactly opposite direction. If boys and girls are trained merely in literary accomplishments to the total exclusion. of industrial, manual and technical { training the tendency is to unfit them ! for industrial work and to make them ! reluctant to go Into it or unfitted to do. ! well if they 'do go into it. This i3 a |fiemlem:y which should be strenuously icombabed Our industrial develop- ment depends largely upon technical: education, including in this term all industrial education, from that which: fltaamsnto\boagoodmachanlc,l | which fita a man to do the greatest en- _glneerlng feat. The skilled mechanie,. ‘tho skilled workman, can best become essence a question of the proper ad- of the work in the public schools is in 800d. carpenter or blacksmith, to that.