Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 March 1887 — THE OUTLOOK FOR THE BOY. [ARTICLE]

THE OUTLOOK FOR THE BOY.

THE OPTIMISTIC VIEW. This is a good age to be born in; the infant of to-day whose life iB prolonged to the allotted time will see more wonders than any of liis predecessors have seen, and, if the world continues to progress as fast as it has been progressing during the past seventy years, the opportunities Will lie before him of a fortunate career. He will be in a larger sphere and under greater responsibilities, but the more that is required of him the stronger will be his power of achievement. Men always rise to the occasion. If any work is to be accomplished somebody is sure to come forward and take! it in hand. No matter how arduous the undertaking, if it is within the scopo of human prowess, its completion will not be suffered to fail. It may be hindered, thwarted, misdirected, but in the end it wilt be successful. Rivalry is the powerful motor by which the great enterprises are impelled, and the # zeal with which men are competing with othors for the foremost places in the domain of industry and of art makes the contest for superiority intensely exciting. Everybody wants to be in it; to stay out is to .be lost sight of. And so year by year multitudes of new aspirants are entering the list; the strife for position is increasing, and the results of the honorable emulation are exceedingly beneficial. —Shoe atul Leather Riport r. THE PESSIMISTIC VIEW. Taking all in all, tho lot of a boy thrown entirely upon his own in this city is little loss than hopeless. Even if permitted to live at home, the boy who is forced to go upon the streets or into the factories before he has strength or education to do good work, is probably doomed to remain an unskilled workman all his life. Every year manufacturing is carried on upon a larger and larger scale, and the division of labor is becoming greater and greater. As a result of this not only does the gulf between capitalist and laborer widen, but there widens with it a gulf between skilled labor and unskilled. 'the boy who goes into the factory does not learn the business, can not lay up capital. The time was when the boy who went in at the bottom could come out at the top, Is this possible in New York City to-day ? Charleston Union.