The Craftsman - 1902 - 08 - August

7/27/2019 The Craftsman - 1902 - 08 - August

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THE CRAFTSMANVol. 11. No. 5

CONTENTS FOR AUGUST, MDCCCCII.I. Private Simplicity as a Promoter of Public Art

I rene SargentI I . Simplicity, A Law of Nature - Rabbijoseph Lkser

III. The Higher Education of the Breadwinners_ _ _ _ l7ioma.s W. DavidsonIV. A House and Home - - - I kenc SargentIV. Possibilities of Craftsmanship for the Artist

- Samuel HoweVI . The Simple Life, by Charles Wagner.

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PUBLISHED BY THE UNITED CRAFTSEASTWOOD. N. Y.

Copyright. 1902 bu Gustave StiohlerEntered at the Postoffice Eastwood. N. Y.. as Second Class Mail Matter.



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FOREWORDT HE CRAFTSMAN offers for the current montha series of papers advocating simplicity in privatelife ; for it is felt by all persons of good-will that plainliving for the individual makes for citizen virtue, for theeducation of youth, for the beauty and refinement of publicworks and amusements : in a word, that it is the keystoneof national life, The first article discusses pri-vate simplicity as a promoter of public art, and is intended,in a certain sense, as a sequence and complement to the The Beautifying of our Cities, which was~iZcK?The Craftsman i; July. Simplicity, a Law ofNature, the Rabbi Joseph Leiser shows that aptitude forscientific thought which is a modern Hebrew character-istic. And here and there in his writing there will alsobe detected a note of sarcasm such as issued from Heines mattress grave, or mingled with the philosophy ofSpinoza, the lens-maker. Later, Mr. Leiser will presenta study of Th e J ew as a Craftsman, which will be ofgreat interest as a story of restriction and persecution, andas a record of the sorrows of the Ghetto.The paper of Professor ThomasW, Davidson, The Higher Education of the Bread-winners, was read some two or three years since, beforean educational body. It is printed in The Craftsman as a proposal of excellent means for increasing the in-telligence and well-being of the laboring classes, on linesparallel to those which have been followed in France withsuch marked success by the pastors Wagner and Allierand their provincial disciples.Mr. Samuel Howe, who willbe remembered from his enthusiastic and original writingsupon metals and enamels, offers a practical suggestion tounsuccessful painters ; bidding them turn to some form ofindustrlal art ; since in the possession of technical trainin ,manual dexterity and refined taste, they hold the essentia Ysof good craftsmanship.



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iv THE CRAFTSMAN

An illustrated article, A Houseand Home, purposes to convey an idea of the workingprinciples of the United Crafts, as they seek to further ahousehold art which shall substitute the luxury of tastefor the luxury of cost, and unite beauty with utility andsimplicity, Finally, a review of CharlesWagners collection of essays, The Simple Life isadded, in the hope to spread yet more widely among thepeople the beautiful thought of a rare and exalted mindid

In the September issue of TheCraftsman, articles will be presented upon color, con-sidered as to its effects upon the eye and the mind; alsoa paper upon a New England village industry, andanother of antiquarian interest upon Chests, Chairs andSettles, In addition to these ori inal articles there willbe a reprint of an interesting Englis a illustrated monographupon The Ruskin Cross at Coniston, which was erectedin 190 I, to mark theDoctrine of Work. %rave of the great apostle of thehe article will be reproducedin grateful memory of Ruskins generous contribution, ofgenius and energy to the Arts and Crafts Movement,Beginning with the Octoberand first anniversary issue, The Craftsman will beenlarged, and on that occasion contributions of deep in-terest will be offered by both foreign and Americanwriters, The best known resources of typography andillustration will also be employed to further the productionof a memorable and beautiful book.



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PRIVATE SIMPLICITY AS A PROMO-;;I?JX~;N;UBLIC ART Q BY IRENEm @ Q Q &T HE modern city is ever changing, loose in organiza-tion, casual in form. In the newer countries, likeour own, it rows up within a generation, sometimeswithin a sing e decade.i Its inhabitants come and go,pass on, and are wholly renewed every few years, thuscontrastin with the citizens of ancient or mediaeval towns,in which amilies dwelt in the same city for twenty gen-erations, Ideas of patriotism, art, culture, social organiza-tion, as identified with the city, as arising from it andstimulated by it, are beyond the conception of the self-centered individual for whom the place of his actual resi-dence is but a convenient workshop or market-place.Civic patriotism and municipal life, once so vigorous, soproductive of beauty, so rich in sources of real and elevatedpleasure, have suffered, declined, nay, almost died out inan age of industrialism; leaving in the old world certainsurvivals to witness their educative effect, as in Paris, theItalian towns, Hamburg and Berne ; and in the new worldvitalizing perhaps a single city-Boston,Four or five millions of souls donot of necessity make a body of fellow-citizens; an unstablepopulation can have no interest in one anothers lives, noimpulse toward concerted action, no common sympathies,enjoyments and pride. A city, in order to be an effectiveagent of civilization and culture, must have the conscious-ness of organic life. Such was the power of Londontown,- that limited but famous area extending betweenthe Tower and Temple Bar; such the force of old Pariswhose coat-of-arms picturing a tempest-tossed galley iscommented upon by the significant inscription: It rocksbut it does not sink ; such, also, was the strength of theCommune of Florence, whose gilds of Arts and Craftsruled for a not inconsiderable period the finances and eventhe politics of the world. The organic city has every-where left its marks upon the pages of history. But notso mere aggregations of individuals, like the great indus-



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210 THE CRAFTSMAN

trial towns of England and the United States, which haveno corporate consciousness. In them beau %ulture and society are left largely to care for t , dignity,emselves,while the masses are almost cut off from physical comfortand means of moral elevation. There, the factory sys-tem, the clouding soot, the pollution of air and water re-duce Iife to a mere enforced, dismaI, and hopeless existence.How far behind and above these towns lies the City,which was, so to speak, the germ-celI, the xpe and themeasure, of antique civilization I How muc freer andhigher the life of the ancient slave than that of the mod-ern operative, even though the first was bound to thebody of his master and dependent upon the wiIl of hissuperior! What needs and lack oppress the inhabitantof our strongholds of industrialism, in which everythingis made by machinery, except beauty and happiness.Not that it would be well, evenwere it possible, to recall any obsolete type of so& life.But as each organic age has its ownis instructive to compare the civic qu culiar strength, ita!? ties which have intimes past-ancient and mediaeval-produced durablebeneficent results, in that they have developed society bysuccessive and ascending stages.. Among these fertile ualitiesone stands prominent and alone ; that is : simp city inprivate life. The citizens of Athens who lived amongsupreme works of art, listened habituaIIy to lofty tragedies,and mingled in the most impressive ceremonies ever de-vised, were men whose food, garments and dwellingswere plain even to the verge of rudeness. The bur hersof the Middle Ages, who created the Iabyrinthine ric a nessand vastness of the Gothic cathedrals, passed their livescribbed, cabined and confined in narrow, darkenedstreets, while their brain and hands were set to willing,fruitful labor, and their souls satisfied with the religion ofbeauty. Indeed, it may be asserted,-since it is provenby history-that simplicity in private Iife is at once the



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PRIVATE SIMPLICITY AND PUBLIC ART 211

first essential and the source of public strength, moralityand art ; that the ostentatious extravagance and displayof the individual are the agents of rapid degeneration anddecay in all that stands for good overnment and civiliza-tion. To that simplicity, which a as differed in form butnot in nature, as it has animated the lives of all sorts andconditions of men, society must return, if it is to developa new and higher type of life for the ages to follow. Theeffects of the moral earthquake l wrought by modernindustrialism must be obliterated, the gulfs separatingcapitalist from laborer must be closed through the oper-ation of the civic spirit, of good-will, of culture and of art.And in order that this work may be accomplished, lessonsmust be taken from the past and the present,-from theancient, the mediaevaf and the modern city. Then, bysuch process of selection, assimilation and development,the Ideal City may become a fact accomplished and a liv-ing actuality. For our instruction and profit,let us study, one by one, the three types : the first twoaccording to the records of them preserved from the past,the third according to our own knowledge.The ancient city, in its veryconception and constitution, necessitated the subordinationof the individual. It was the object of a cult, a religion.It stood for Country, Church, school, university, gild andclub. The very legends which told the story of its originbespoke the awe and reverence in which it was held bythe people. Its founder was supposedly a god or a hero,himself an ideal of some admirable human quality, someform of culture, useful craft or commerce, or of somedivine art. The city was then the permanent home ofthe citizen, and not, as now, a chance place of residencefixed by business affairs of which the center of operationsmay change with every decade or twelve-month, ..Theancient city bestowed upon the citizen legal rights andreligious privileges which were lost outside its limits,



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212 THE CRAFTSMANwhile it granted to the foreigner and sojourner only anundesirable status, something between the condition of acitizen and that of a slave, Banishment from the citywas a kind of civil death, a moral and spiritual degrada-tion comparable with what in a later a e was known asexcommunication from the Church, + he ancient city, itcan not be too often repeated, was the cherished Country,Church and home of the citizen. The private hearth wassecondary to that ideal public altar of sacrifice whereonwere offered the most precious sentiments and the loftiestaspirations. For the Greek or the Roman, the idea of theCity was inseparably connected with the worship of thegods, since the ritual consisted in a constant succession ofpublic ceremonies which combined artistic display withcivic festival. Thereby the love of splendor, innate inevery human being, was satisfied, and did not seek super-fluous expression in private life with those disastrous ef.fects upon individual simplicity and modesty which,+it ex-erts throughout modern society. These ceremonies werepublic in the broadest sense. They were free like the artprivileges of modern Paris, and they combined divine ser-vice with patriotic function, AII forms of art were repre-sented in the open squares and colonnades, where statues,pictures and processions were displayed with quasi-sacra-mental intent and effect. Piety and public spirit filledeach market-place with a shrine, the image of a god, afountain, or a portico, And thus the emulative and imi-tative luxury of rich nobles and commoners educatedpublic taste and increased public pleasure and comfort, in-stead of declining to the lower level today manifest in ill-advised private expenditure. It was indeed a c iv i l obli a-tion of the rich and well-born Greeks and Romans to o ferto their fellow-citizens these artistic displays and thesemeans of worship ; it was even a part of the inheritancewhich they derived from their ancestors, or, to say better,it was a tribute which they paid to the State, to the patrongods of their family, and to the souls of their forefathers.



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And being thus intent upon a public service suited to thetype and point of the existing civilization and to the racialtemperament of their fellow-citizens, they dignified theirown existence. For themselves they Maintained a fixedpurpose, which is the source of individual simplicity andausterity. By their wealth and culture, they created pub-Iic splendor and brightened public life, And whateverbrightens life tends toward happiness and virtue. In theancient cities, intercourse among the citizens was free anduninterrupted, since the temples, colonnades and g&densconstituted a kind of open-air clubs at which politicalaffairs and questions of art and literature were discussedfrom varied, individual points of view. Thus, all thehigher pleasures being pursued in common, the idea ofpersonal possession was subordinate in the minds of theopulent, and not intense among the poor. Oftentimes, pri-vate estates, mansions, villas or pleasure-grounds werebequeathed by their owners to the citizens, as we remem-ber JuIius Caesar to have done. And by this commonownership, beauty, splendor and wealth were assignedtheir proper parts and functions in civilized life. Anotherconsideration most important in the government of ancientcities was that of public health, Indeed, it was a matterof religion ; while cleanliness and sanitary discipIine weresacred duties, as weII as affairs of personal pride. Andsince every open place was consecrated to some god orhero, every fountain to some triton or nymph, it was sac-rile e to defile the earth with litter or to poIIute the waterait refuse. A Greek or Roman who should have submitted to live in the midst of conditions as uncIeanIy andunsanitary as those to which we now condemn themasses of our laboring people, would have felt himself arebel to the gods and an outcast from the society of reputa-ble citizens. Summing up now the charac-teristics of the ancient city, we find it to have been a closecivic aristocracy, which, within its own order, gave fine



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examples of quality, simplicity~ sociability and public de-votion. It would be neither possible nor desirable torestore it, since Christian ideals have substituted for itsveneration and worship a broader patriotism and a deepersense of human duty. But the contrasts which it offerswith the present form of society and in which it holds theadvantage are : the profusion of art to which our indus-trial age prefers material production; a common systemof education and culture which we have replaced by aspecialization dividing interests and acting as a barrier tocongeniality ; lastly, a public splendor satisfying, civilizingand refining, which finds its opposite in modern privateluxuriousness, exclusive and selfish,In the decay of the first organicform of society-that of the ancient city-republics-inthe development, by means of Teutonic individualism, ofthe mediaeval fortress-town, patriotism, culture and theideal of companionship suffered no diminution or essentialchange, Th ey were simply subjected to the laws ofevolution. Necessarily too, as their resultant and adjunct,simplicity prevailed in the private life of the bur hers. Itbecame, as it had been in the ancient city, tae prolificsource of beauty, culture and high standards of life, Kingsand nobles were made to acknowledge the superior force-intellectual and material-of the plain people, until atthe end of the Middle Ages, the greatest sovereignstrembled before the commoners who were craftsmen andmerchants, exercising constantly and simultaneously theirbrains and their hands, finding extreme pleasure in theirwork and pursuits, and buikling up by their zeal and in-dustry the body politic which was attacked in its vitalparts by the corruption, the idleness and the selfishness ofthe high-born, Before this civic power generated byprivate simplicity, Francis First of France dared not flauntthe extravagance of his vicious court, lest the honest,laborious burghers of Paris would not suffer the resenceamong them of the white-handed, frivolous cava iers and



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PRIVATE SIMPLICITY AND PUBLIC ART 215ladies, for whose occupation and pleasure were afterwardcreated the unique castles of the Loire region. Nor didQueen Elizabeth acknowledge to a less degree the burgherspirit of her own capital, when she issued her mandatethat no houses be built b the citizens of London to thewestward, within three mJ es of the Tudor palace. It wasthe same steadfast, whole-hearted simplicity of life thatcreated the might of the Commune of Florence, and madeits citizens the trustees of the peace of Europe.The burgher of the MiddleAges, as full as the citizen of antiquity, possessed thelove of splen Bor, and, like his predecessor, exerted it un-selfishly, in a corporate spirit, and to the furtherance ofthe power and the beauty of his tit .in Hans Sachs, Adam Kraft, His type is foundan J the Italian, French,Flemish or English contemporaries and similars of theseforthright craftsmen, who sat at their benches or loomssinging from the very joy of their work, and absorbed inrealizing with their hands the perfection which their brainshad conceived. They adorned their cathedrals and theirtown-halls with the richest and most varied works of art;making these edifices, not only the citadels of faith andi;ood government, but adding to them as well the attri-utes of the school, the art-museum and the workshop.The burgher condition was, in all points, adapted to promote simplicity of life. Every mediaeval town was firsta fortress, and secondarily a place of residence. S acewas too valuable to permit of extensive ground pE ns,Homes were narrow and dark, rel ing for area uponsuperposed storeys, and for light an J air upon windowscut in the roof, as in the German Hanse towns, or uponthe open log ia, as in the Italian cities. From thesedwellings, w ch were, as we have before seen, alsostudios and workshops, superfluous objects were excluded.These did not, as with us, dispute with the inmates forroom and gain the master .none of those useless There were then practicallyartic es from the acquisition and dis-



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play of which the middle classes of to-day seek to acquirethe reputation for refinement and good taste, But, aswith the modern Japanese who offer excellent examplesof the simple, artistic life, the objects of daily use werethings of beauty. They were the respected and belovedcompanions of human life; not, as now, chance posses-sions chosen in obedience to the caprice of an hour, andwith the reservation that they should be discarded withthe establishment of new standards of taste, or upon thepossession of ampler means. The chair, the chest, thetankard, the table-knife, were adorned in obedience to thelaws of design and often with the most minute elabora-tion, yet never to the detriment of their qualities of useand service, Their value both material and aesthetic-since they represented honest material, skilled labor, andoften genius,- made them precious in the sight of theirowners, as did their permanent occupancy of the home,and their association with the domestic dramas to whichthey served as background and accessories.In summing up the conditionswhich made for simple citizen-life during the MiddleAgi Bes, first place must be given to the existence of theds which diffused throughout Europe a strong corporatespirit. And since the common enjoyment of objects andpleasures weakens equally the love and the envy of posses-sion, it is plain that the influence of the gilds was to main-tain private simplicity and to further public art. Thecelebrations which formed so large a part of the outwardmanifestations of the life of these companies, satisfied thelove of splendor which advances with civilization. Thebeauty produced by large numbers of artists and crafts-men working toward a sin le end, was in itself an inspi-ration and incentive to yet gher accomplishment. Imi-tative luxury was not, as now, an issue rudely joinedbetween man and man, but a strife involvin the creationof beauty, ceaselessly maintained among ta e gilds andbetween city and city. If we consider for a moment what



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intellectual force and what artistic skill were required forthe building of a cathedral, an important church, or atown hall-and every mediaeval town contained a finespecimens of one or the other of these edifices-we shallfind that all classes of the towns-people were concernedtherein, either as donors, builders, sculptors, or decorativeartists, Therefore, the minds of all being fixed upon animportant porpose to which were attached most desirableresults, slight occasion arose for the private strife whichwe see to-day manifesting itself among the middle classesin the display of those articles of extreme IuxurJ whosepossession should be reserved for the richest one, Insuch communities, the portion of the burghers who weredevoted to the arts and crafts were met by grave difficul-ties, since science had not come among them with herrapid means and her accurate processes. Long calcula-tions, vigorous effort, remarkable patience were the costof those miracles of art whose creators wrought with nointent to exalt or even preserve their individual names,but simply to make their gild famous and their city beauti-ful above its rivals. The careless tourist of our own timewho admires because he must, little values the study, thedeep understanding of natural laws, the genius, the citizen-spirit which created the great Gothic structures. Themathematics involved in the vaulting of the nave ofAmiens cathedral, the knowledge of chemistry and min-eralogy possessed by the mediaeval artists in stained lassand mosaic, the craftsmanship displayed in the text es ofthe Florentines and Flemings all speak eloquently of longsuccessions of lives devoted to a single master principle :the devotion to some science or art. In the days whenart was still religion, paintings, frescoes, statues, goldand silver vessels, bronzes, ivories, embroideries, beautifulbooks, rare musical instruments-all lovely and delight-ful things-were not, as now, the jealously guardedtreasures of the few, or the transplanted, exotic orna-ments of museums, They were the sincere spontaneous



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expression of an art created by the people, for the people,as a reciprocal joy for the artist and the layman.of the Middle Ages lie The art and social organizationfar behind us. We cannot gal-vanize the one into a semblance of life without affectationor falsity. We can not revert to a form of political exist-ence preceding our own in natural development. Forall growth proceeds by fixed laws, and what at first seemsdegeneration may in truth be progression. Nay, even, toquote the words of Robert Browning, Decay is richerlife. The principles of the French Revolution, the greatinventions of the late eighteenth andof the entire ninteenthcenturies, industrialism, the problems of labor and capitalstand between the mediaeval and the modern world, con-stituting impassable barriers as inexorable as time itself.It matters not that a portion of these events, facts, prin-ciples and issues are negations: destructive, rather thanupbuilding agents and forces. They are a11 integral partsof a scheme which humanity, society, civilization mustfollow, and to which each successive age and generationmust yield, without hopelessly deploring what of valueappears to be lost, and without excessive pride in whatwould seem to be unqualified good. The strongly organizedcity or town of the Middle Ages exists no more. TheBilds with their lusty fife and vigorous corporate spirit areorms too primitive to exist under the complex conditionsof modern finance, industry, commerce, transit and com-munication. The sentiment of the infinite, felt to anoverpowering degree, which engendered mediaeval art, hasgiven place to a spirit which battles with the invisiblep wers of nature and makes man their master. Bothoss and ain are attached to the modern system of life ascompare f with the two phases which have preceded it.But the increased ease of all accomplishment, whethermental or material, should outweigh existing disadvan-taf8 es and make for such progress as to render the age nexto owing our own incontestably superior in all points to



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any earlier form of social organization. And in certainessentials we have already attained the most signal advan-tages over the civilization of the Middle Ages. In thematter of physical culture and sanitation we have revertedto Greek ideals, if we have not put in practice Greekmethods.liness. We prize the value, if not the beauty of clean-In spite of steam, smoke, factories and the otheraccompaniments of our industrial existence, many of ourmodern cities by zealous sanitary science and by thepassion for combating disease which marks our age, havereduced the death-rate to one-half the figures achieved inmediaeval and Oriental towns; London, with allowancebeing made for special conditions, standing as the city ofthe world least noxious to human life. Such care forcleanliness and sanitation is in itself a step toward thesimple life. For the demands made in these interests forfree space and the consequent employment of few articlesof daily use lead toward plain living, and this, in its turn,advances the cause of the religion of beauty. Instancesof these successive steps, or it may be, of the inversion ofthese stetp s, frequently occur in the experience of Univer-sit Set ement visitors to the tenements of the cityTie gift of a plant, the loan of a picture, often ac Kevrewhat years of teaching and preaching fail to accomplish.Beauty brings its own blessing, and the need of prepar-ing for it a fit home is apparent even to those confinedin the meanest and most sordid surroundin P s. The doc-trines of the simple life should be no more orceful amongthe rich than among the poor. To eliminate from thelaboring classes, above all, from the poor of the large cen-ters, that same imitative luxury differing in de ree, notin kind, from the infectious poison which saps a e sociallife of the rich, is a present and pressin duty of the mod-ern philanthropist. And with the two sBa rply defined divi-sions of the people similar means must be employed.Beauty must be substituted for ugliness in public placesby means of a national art, Education, or rather culture,



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220 THE CRAFTSMANmust be made general, that the poor may be led throughthe promise of real enjoyment away from the tavern andthe gaming-table, just as, by the same means, the richmust be deflected from an excessive indulgence in modishsports, The simple, the free life, as opposed to a complex,slave-like existence, is necessary to the happiness and sal-vation of both high and low. Practical results towardthe advancement of health, morali Kthe elements of the simple life- , culture and pleasureave already been at-tained among the unfortunate classes in London, and thelarger American cities by trained students and lovers oftheir kind. And there is no less a movement among thefavored classes toward the use of their wealth for thehighest good of the peo le.civic life and energy, tK We indeed lack the spirit ofe ever-present love for art, thezeal for good work and the deep sense of social dutywhich characterized the Middle Ages : a state of affairswhich constituted what has been called a pafriofism ofduty the highest form of secular life-in ideal, althoughnot in practice-that society has yet reached. This senseof obligation in industry was recognized between masterand man, rich and poor, wise and ignorant. It was lostin the age of negation known as the Renascence, and torestore it the world is now seeking with eagerness andpersistence. In the City of the Future thisbond will be renewed, and the sense of mutual obligationwill become keener and more delicate than ever before.The workshop, as the Russian Kropotkin advocates, willbe elevated to a place beside the school, or rather, thetraining of the hand and the brain will be carried onwithin the same walls. The power to produce materialand serviceable objects,-which we know under the nameof industry,-the power to market those objects with thegreatest reciprocal advantage to the maker and theuser, -which we call commerce :-these two powerswill be equally honored with the human faculties brought



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into play in the exercise of those means of livelihoodwhich, with an echo of mediaevalism, we name thelearned professions. The segregation of classes will bedone away with, when the simple life shall have provenits value to all citizens; to the poor by the removal ofthe tawdry from their dwellings and persons, and theintroduction of high aims and honest purposes into theirlives; to the rich by the elimination of imitative, com-petitive luxury from the corn lexence. The ancient rule to ve in simple lodgings, toproblem of their exist-have ever in view beautiful and stately public buildingswill prevail in the City of the Future. The people willrejoice in the common possession of objects to enjoby which to be educated and elevated. The mo cr andels ofParis and Berne, Munich and Berlin will be surpassed inbeauty, civic organization, fresh air, pure water supplies,and whatever best that each of these municipalities con-tributes to the cause of civilization. The City of theFuture will realize the prophecies and conceptions of theGolden Age, which have allured and encouraged hu-manity throughout the course of history, and which havewitnessed their essential truth by their persistence and bytheir varied form suited to successive periods and differingcivilizations. As we look about us and readthe signs of the times, we see provision everywhere makingfor the founding and upbuilding of the Ideal City, for the liv-ing of the Simple Life. These signs and provisions residein the love of nature which increases among the peopleyear by year; in the world-wide interest in physical de-velopment ; in the revival of the long disused handi-crafts; in the work of municipal art societies ; in thebestowal of great gifts for the maintenance of libraries andmuseums ; all of which manifestations merge into onemigh P impulse toward the corporate life, to be lived morebroad y and grandly than in its former period of activity,



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EDWARD HOWARD GRIGGS IN THEETHICS of SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION*46w ITH a cordial welcome and assistance forthose movements in which we believe, weshould recognize the limitations in the greatest reform.The sober lesson of history is that there can be no suddendawning of the golden age, Fanatical support has donemore harm to great movements than bitter opposition, Itis true, the world could not spare its fanatics, but it mightwell spare their fanaticism. Their greatness was thegreatness of their positive belief, not of its narrownessand limitations. Had they believed, not less in their par-

ticular reform, but more in other and compensating truths,their service to the world might have been even greater,and a vast waste of destructive reaction might have beensaved. Noble narrowness has often given priceless ser-vice to the world, but because it was noble, not becauseit was narrow; and its results include deplorable tenden-cies beside those which are helpful, Evolution is morequiet and less startling than revolution, and narrow, de-structive tendencies catch the eye more quickly thanbroad constructive ones. But the narrow movements areas negatively wasteful as they are definite and clear intheir positive value ; and broad constructive movementsare as unhampered in their helpfulness, as they are freefrom striking and costly reactions.

Were we to attain a sanerview of life, how inevitable would be a change in oursocial conditions Were a higher value placed upon suchlearning as was feverishly sought in the Renascence, orupon the negative spiritual life after which the mediaevalworld aspired, how widely different would inevitably bethe external conditions of society, Without returnin tosuch standards, a change in our ideal which would 7ead



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QUOTATIONS 223

us to desire more earnestly to realize the highest possibil-ities of our lives, would result in the most helpful changesin our social conditions. The struggle for mere wealthwould grow less intense. Culture and science wouldseek smaller places, as we came to appreciate the value ofa life of peace, and of close relation to nature, The over-crowding of the cities would be lessened. A greatersocial justice would be attained in our human relations,

I What has been accomplishedby past schemes and reforms throws Iishould expect from those most ht upon what wewide y heralded in thepresent. Of the reforms advocated today, probably noother has the measure of significance which belongs tothose athered together under the general head of socialism.Whet a er one be in favor of these reforms or opposed tothem, no one can read the literature of socialism withoutbeing impressed with the nobility of the ideals held by theleaders of this movement. Yet when we are told bysocialists that with certain institutional changes, such asplacing the control of industries in the hands of the State,we shall have at once the golden age, that poverty andidleness will disappear, and all those who are now greedyand selfish will then be earnest and generous seekers ofthe public welfare, we may answer that history uponevery page tells distinctly the contrary. However muchor little might be the social amelioration resulting fromthese institutional changes, it would be but a slight step inthe wide area that must be traversed by the human spirit~~z.f~~,~ttains more than a dream of the kingdom of

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SIMPLICITY: A LAW OF NATUREBY THE RABBI JOSEPH LEISER & mE. VOLUTION is a law of elimination: the eIimin-ation of the useless. Nature tends to rid itself ofthe things which it does not need. What survives isthe fittest, and being the fittest, it is also the simplest,Cumbersome languages, such as the Chinese and the olderSemitic tongues, are no longer spoken. Rites and ccre-monies, elaborate and involved, are becoming obsolete.Nature seeks the Iine of least resistance, and man tries tofind the easiest and simplest way to do a thing. Thetrend of evolution is toward simplicity,

This fact I recently saw illus-trated in a street pageant, which was headed by a droveof elephants, a herd of cameIs following in the middlesection, and the procession ending with a Iine of fleet andsplendid horses. This succession of animal speciesshowed the Iaw of elimination in the evolutionary process.EIephants precede both the camel and the horse increation. At one time, they and their bulky kin, themastodon and the mammoth, infested tro cal jungles ; buttheir very strength made them unwie dy and, like theGreat Eastern, they were too big to manage; hence theywere eliminated, The camel is useful, more useful byfar than the elephant, but not so useful as the horse.The camel is not fIeet footed, He is evolved for onepurpose-to traverse the sandy wastes ; while the horse isuniversal, and bein the most useful, he is the simplest inform, structure, an 8 organism. The horse has no need-less flesh. He is self-sufficient, containing in himself allnecessary functions. The point of the contention isobvious-nature seeks the fittest way to do a thing, andso does man. Social institutions illustrate this reat law.The caste system of ancient Egypt, mediaeval eudalism,aristocracy, were the precursors of modern democracy.Members of a caste are not so useful as members of a democ-racy. They are not independent, and hence the systemthat curtaiIs mans freedom gives way to liberty, wider



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SIMPLICITY, A LAW OF NATURE 225

liberty. In other words, we are always seeking thesimplest way to do a thing ; be it in relior commerce. Civilization is itself the a li ion, in politics,aptation of thesimple, and when religions are ridding themselves oftheir priests and ministers andthe divine forces, one can we 3 utting man in touch withunderstand the truth andforce of this law of elimination. It is written in our ownlife and we are under its dominion, We are ever tryingto seek the simplest way, in language, in action, inthought, and conduct. The simple remains. Like art,it is the everlasting truth and hence it fives.It is not only a cosmic law butwe are becoming more conscious of it in our daily life.The trend of thought in our day is toward simplicity.The cry for simplicity has gone forth from many quartersof the globe, We are weary of our burdens, our luxuries,our indulgences, and our amusements. All these super-fluities are stale, and now we know better than ever, thatthe things which we once craved, are un rofitable. Weare demanding something more rationa. Are we notlivin H more rationally, eating simpler foods, wearingsimper clothes, going back to the eternalities, to thosethings that are most excellent? Read the tendency asyou will, it is none the less evident that our demand forhealthy bodies, freedom from ailments, mastery of mindover body, the insistence on the part of all intelligentpeople for light and more sunshine and fresh air, is all apart of a great wave of modern thought : the demand forsimplicity.

It is yet a far off divine event,a great ideal as yet glowing on the horizon, where manshopes rise and fall; but the ideal is there, and earnestpeople are seeking it. Men are grappling with themselves,retiring to some retreat, and there making an inventoryof their necessities.sary in life? They are asking, What is neces-At one time, this was readily



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answered. Save thy soul I In substance it is the answerwe return even unto this day, but we have put a newcontent into the soul of man. Saving the soul for somefuture world does not appeal to modern man as it con-soled his forefathers.nal question, it is this : If we have any answer to the eter- We want to live our life and wewant to live it in our way. Our inalienable rights ashuman beings are the right to live and the right to ex-press ourselves. We are sent into the world that wemay live our life.

No one can live his life unlesshe be free, economically free, politically free, religiously free.He can not be dependent. He must be independent. Noone can be free who is anothers slave, or dependent onanother for his bread, and the most desirable state is thatin which every one is master of his means of livelihood,Dependency is parasitical. The law of elimination is theabolishment of dependency. Simplicity demands freedom,and when we earn a was e by serving another, we areneither livin6 our own e, nor are we expressing ourown self. e are the hireling and the underling of an-other. Our soul is the most vital thing in the world tous, and to save our souls we must be free. Dependencybreeds luxuries and luxuries, are the canker worms of civ-ilization. I fear not wealth nor its corruption. I fear theidleness of the wealthy, Idleness must be pampered andamused. It rears the helots, the parasites of modernsociety. The simple life is a working life. The troubleis, not every one can work as he wishes. He workswhen some one tells him to work. He is not free, andthere can be no simplicity in life until we are free men.Were we to pause and askourselves what we need in order to live, we might arriveat some universal truths. We should certainly find thefundamentals, the minimums, and these are again thesimplest things in the world. But even the simplest



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than is needed. In our day, with all our machinery,with intensive farming, with all our boasted processesand methods, there is no need for men to be naked, Tolearn what to wear is as essentialas to know what to eat,with this exception: we do not know what to eat orwhat to wear. We do not eat, nor do we wear what werequire. We eat what some one tells us to eat, and wear,what some enterprising merchant bef uiles us to wear.We are not free. We are slaves, anslaves, we are dependent. as long as we areSilks and satins, and all thefrills and laces of fashion are hindrances to simplicity, asthey are obstacles in the waThe simplicity that is essentiar of clothing the masses.for sane people will soonselect some sensible garb that shall meet all requirements.As it is, we wear today our clothes as a badge. Silksmean that we have somewhere a few thousand dollarsand that we belong to a certain set. Our social aspir-ations are so strong that we bend every muscle, waste ourlife, destroy nerve fibre and good blood to reach a circleof people who wear silks on state occasions, and wearthese silks, remember, not so much for comfort as forshow. Every oneknows it, but the jest is so good that it isperpetuated indefinitely lest the mockery and sham of itall lose its relish. It is really a good jest-yes, indeed,and every time I see a shiverinthe street, I think of the jest an f creature asking alms inlaugh.Society can be divided intothree great classes : wash goods society, whose garmentsare always fitting ; silk society, in which silks are worn onstate occasions, and, lastly, the noble order of the satin,who wear their garments once and then throw themaway. When men row sane, they will demolish thisperversity and adopt t1 e simple, As long as we are notfree, we shall fret our life away in shams.To know where to live is asimportant as knowing how to live, We do not livewhere we choose, but where fashion directs; usually



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among the rich. With the purpose of entering what isknown as Society, we encroach on the preserve of themoneyed classes, fancying that such an encroachment en-hances our own standing. But this is folly. There is onlyone kind of society-that of kindred spirits-and those weare seeking are seekin 5 us. The summons we send forth isanswered by those wthink and feel alike. o hear us, and they are those whoThere is no other society, and themembers of that society are not qualified by the dollarswhich they make, or which their fathers gave them.There is only one class of people whose company weought to seek, and they are the men and women who aresoul of our soul and heart of our heart; who go hand inhand, throu f h the world.clothes, an That society is not based onbank accounts ; it is the simplest in theworld, requiring no dues except the offerin of fellow-ship-the society of the free, the brotherh J of kindredgenerous spirits. Our house ought to offer usshelter and the means of cleanliness, and when we buildit for ourselves and our uses, when we are free and notdependent, it will become a home, and being our ownhome, it will express ourselves and our thoughts. Andit will be built in a simple way, possessing essentials only.The free need no fashionable appurtenances, huge, bulky,ugly structures of brick and stone. The home that weshall build will be simple, because it will answer ourneeds. As yet, we do not know whatto put into a home, We do not choose a few usefulthings. But we have needless bric-a-brac, and the dustand germs gather on objects which are supposed to bepretty, when in fact they are most detestable. Whenwe shall live the simple life, we shall provide thatthose things which we are to have constantly about usbe useful and also pretty. We love the pleasing face,the low tender voice so sweet in woman. We shall de-



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mand that our home equipments be useful and beautiful,substantial and good. We are coming to see that thesimple is the best, and that the end of life is not only toraise our Maker, but so to live that our life shall notLave been erased as we walk through earth.know how to live. We hardlyWe know something of microscopicIants, of cellular pathology and of the psychic life.K Wenow how to feed a horse and a dog, but we, paragonsof wisdom, do not know how to live!

There is withal a hopeful si n,Too manymany peop e realize that a few good things are moref ople have seen the folly of their way. 5j oodesirable than many needless ones. We are going backto a simpler method of living and of earning our living.We have worshiped machines so long that we are tiredof the iron gods, and begin to respect the work of ourhands. We have the machines, we have our hands, wehave the vast, overwhelming knowledge of nature andour mastery of it. We can with ease adopt the simple,because our simplest things contain in themselves all thetoil and travail of thea f es. This is our heritage : to goback now, aye, to go orward indeed, to the things thatare most excellent, to re ain our soul, to live our life, tobe again simple, happy c El Idren of God who is our Father.



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LUXURY AND SIMPLICITY l* FROMAN ONLOOKERS NOTE-BOOK 006 DO not propose to consider luxury in its economicI bearings, nor to inquire whether the consumption ofchampagne and the purchase of diamonds increase ordiminish our national wealth, I leave all such problemsto those bold bad men who haunt the Political Econo-my Club-to the sophisters, economists and calcu-lators whom Burke so rightly abhorred. I rangemyself with my uninstructed neighbors-the tradesmen ofPiccadilly and the lodging-house keepers of Pin&co-andI rest assured that the presence of a court at BuckinghamPalace, with its gilt coaches and scarlet footmen, will insome undefined way increase our material prosperity.Just now I am thinking of luxury merely in its moralbearings. Let us hold by, or get back to some regardfor simplicity of life was said by Mr. Gladstone. If simplicity of life means spending less on ourselves andmore on our neighbors, we can not have too much of it.But if it is only to be a plausible excuse for parsimony,away with it to the limbo of detected hypocrisies! Thelove of splendor, even when we can not share it, seems tobe an instinct of our nature. To quote only the salientillustrations of the moment, it is manifested each time thatthe King and Queen appear in public. William IV. oncethreatened to o down to the House of Lords in a hack-ney-coach, if ta e state-carriage could not be gotten readyin time ; but it would not have been a popular move.King Edward VII. might have validly and constitution-ally opened Parliament in a billycock hat and a pea-jacket,with his Queen in the waterproof-cloak of a district visitor;but they would have been hissed in the streets. We lovebarbaric pearl and gold, plumes and diamonds, richcolor and martial music. A judges scarlet gown and alife-guardsmans cuirass give us real though transientpleasure. We are already beginning to anticipate the joyof a truly magnificent coronation, and a political econo-mist who should venture, as in I83 1, to su gest that theaugust rite was a waste of money would fa a victim toi



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232 THE CRAFTSMANthe fury of the populace. No ; if simplicity of life meansthe abolition of public splendor, we will have none of it. But there is a simplicity of an-other kind-the simplicity that maintains great pomps forpublic uses and recognizes the quasi-sacramental value ofspectacular effect-but is personally frugal, personallytemperate, personally unostentatious. It was the disclosureof this spirit that made Queen Victorias books of Journalsand Leaves so extraordinarily popular. Things alwaystaste so much better in small houses was the PrinceConsorts wisest saying. It is this idea of simplicity con-cealed by splendor which creates all the eternally popularfables about kings who sleep in iron bedsteads, and queenswho knit stockings, and emperors who dine off a singledish. The national instinct feels that simplicity of life isan essentially private virtue. Like the austerity of poetry,though real it should be concealed.

A robe of sackcloth next the smooth white skin,Radiant, adornd outside; a hidden groundOf thought and of austerity within.



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THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF THEBREADWINNERS D BY THOMAS W.DAVIDSON 0 Q & D Q Q QI cannot be said of our people that they are backwardor miserly in the matter of education. In no countryis so much money expended upon schools and colleges asin the United States. And yet our people are very farfrom being educated as they ought to be. Ignorance isstill wide-spread, and not only the ignorant, but the wholenation suffers in consequence. In spite of our magnificentsystem of public schools, and our numerous colleges anduniversities-over five hundred in all-the great body ofour citizens lack the education necessary to ive dignityand meaning to their individual lives, and to f it them forthe worthy performance of their duties as members of theinstitutions under which they live. Our public schoolsstop short too soon, while our colleges do not reach morethan one in a thousand of our population. Moreover,neither school nor college imparts that education whichour citizens, as such, require-domestic, social and civicculture. What is imparted, is defective both in kind andin extent, There are three kinds of educa-tion, which ought to be distinguished, but which at pres-ent we do not distinguish with sufficient care. ( 1) Culture,that is, the education necessary for every human being,in order that he may be able worthily to fulfil duties as amember of social institutions; (2) Professional Training,necessary for the earning of a livelihood ; (3) Erudition,demanded by those who would advance science, or giveinstruction in it, It is regrettable that both in our schoolsand in our colleges, these are hopelessly confused, andthat the first receives but scanty attention.Even more regrettable is the factthat our schools and colleges for the most part, confinetheir attention to persons who have nothing to do butstudy, who are not enga ed in any kind of useful or pro-ductive labor. This resu ts in two evils : (I) Education,for the great body of the people, must stop at an early



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age, since the children of all but wealthy families must go to work as soon as possible, few of them reachingthe High School, fewer yet the University, or ProfessionalTraining School ; (2) education is withheld just from thosewho are in the best position to profit by it; for everyteacher with sufficient experience knows that people whohave a knowledge of practical life and its duties are farbetter and more encouraging pupils than those who havenot, It thus appears that social andcivic culture is, for the most part, neglected in our educa-tional institutions, and that it altogether fails to reachthose who are best fitted to profit by it. In a word, theculture calculated to make the wise and good citizen isalmost not-existent. We have good merchants, ooddoctors, good lawyers, etc. in abundance, but we a avefew Rrsons of liberal culture, and still fewer who canwort iIy fill important offices in society and state, or evencast an intelligent vote for such. Fewest of all thosewho understand how their lives affect the general welfare,whence the money they earn comes, and whether or notit is an equivalent for benefits conferred upon society.Thus it comes to pass that thelives of the great mass of our citizens are unintelligent,narrow, sordid, envious, and unhappy, and that we areconstantly threatened with popular uprisings and theoverthrow of our free institutions. Thus too it comes thatour politics are base, and our politicians venal and selfish.The laboring classes are, through want of education,easily cozened or bribed to vote in opposition to their ownbest interests, and so to condemn themselves to continuedslavish toil and poverty, which means exclusion from allshare in the spiritual wealth of the race.There is, at the present time,perhaps no individual problem in our country so pressingas that of the higher education-the intellectual, moral andsocial culture-of that great body of men and women,



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EDUCATION OF THE BREADWINNERS 235

who, from a an early age, have to spend the larger portionof their time in earning a livelihood. These include notonI the working classes so-called-the skilled and the un-sk ed laborers-but also the great majority of the wage-earners of every sort, and not a few of the wage-givers.All these need a larger world, a more ideal outlook, suchas education alone can give, not only to impart meaningand dignity to their life of toil, but also to enable them tocontribute their share to the well-being of society, andprevent it from falling back into violence and barbarism.

It is true that, in the last fewyears, considerable efforts have been made to provide thebreadwinners with opportunities both for professionaltraining and higher culture. In our larger cities, uni-versity extension has been introduced, training schoolshave been opened, and eveninlarge scale, established. schools and lectures, on aOf ta ese efforts there is nothingbut good to say. They are, however, a promise ratherthan a fulfilment, a beginnin and little more. Theymust be greatly extended an dg systematized before theycan meet the needs of the breadwinners. The trainin -schools are, of course, an unmixed good, and we o3 yrequire more of them; but the university extension, to alarge extent, immanded, and faH arts a sort of education that is not de-to give much that is demanded, whileboth it and the evening classes and lectures are deficientin system and unity of plan. Neither has a distinct aim,and neither sufficiently controls the work of the pupils.Worst of all, both exclude from their programmes someof the very subjects which it is most essential for thebreadwinners to be acquainted with-economics, sociol-ogy, politics, religion, etc. Of the three kinds of education,the breadwinners need only two, (I) technical training,(2) intellectual and moral, or social training. The bread-winner, if his work is to be effective, and equivalent to adecent livelihood, earnable with a moderate expenditure of



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time and energy, must have skill, otherwise he will haveneither time nor energy left for any other sort of educa-tion. Spare time and energy are prime elements in thewhole question. In any just order of society, each mem-ber will receive from society a just e uivalent for what hecontributes to it. If he is so unski 9 ed that his work isnot equivalent to a livelihood, he has no right to com-plain, when he suffers want. It must therefore, be theaim of every one who would humanize and elevate thebreadwinners,. to see that they have skill enough to earntheir daily bread without depriving themselves of free timeand energy to devote to living and spiritual culture.Supposing now, that all thebreadwinners were in the condition that, being able toearn a living in, say, eight hours a day, they had consid-erable free time ; they might still remain uncultured andsordid, their tastes vulgar or depraved. They might stillhave little rest and joy in life, little inspiring outlook.They might still not be valuable members of society,We have not done our whole duty by the breadwinners ;when we have made them comfortable, we must go fur-ther and make them cultured and wise.Now, what must be the nature of such culture andwisdom ? We may answer: such as shall enable theirrecipients to play worthy and generous part in all therelations of life and to enjoy those high satisfactions thatcome of such worthiness. We may express this other-wise, by saying that they must be such as to enable aman to know and understand his environment; to takean intelligent interest in all that goes on, or has gone onin the world ; to enter into lofty personal relations, and tolive clean, tasteful, useful, self-respecting lives, The re-lations for which culture should prepare are, (1) personal,(2) domestic, (3) socialcal. It would be Iincluding economic), (4) politi-possib e to arrange a system of educa-tion on the basis of this classification; but it is not neces-sary to do so. The different relations, however, ought



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EDUCATION OF THE BREADWINNERS 237

to be kept in view in arranging any course of culture-studies.lum, extending over Perhaps the following curricu-three or four years, might meet theneeds of the breadwinners in the present condition.1. Evolution, its Theory and History.2. History of Civilization.3. The System of the Sciences.4, Sociolo5. Politica Vy heory and History.

6, History of Industry and Commerce.7. History of Education (Psychology).8, History of Science and Philosophy.9, History of Ethical Theory,IO. Comparative Religion.11. Comparative Literature.12. History and Theory of the Fine Arts.In following out this curriculum,the greatest care should be taken to avoid any imposingof any special theory or doctrine, religious, political, eco-nomical, etc., upon the pupils. All theories should befreely discussed without bias, party-spirit, or passion, andevery effort made to elicit the truth from the pupils them-selves. The important thing is that they should learn tothink for themselves, and thus become morally free.With a view to this, the work of the teacher should con-sist mostly in direction and encouragement. The less hedoes himself, and the more he makes his pupils do, thebetter, Lecturing should be resorted to on1 b way ofintroduction, then the seminary-method s ou d be fol-rlowed, As a rule, some handy, compact, epoch-makingbook should be made the basis of work,-for example, Aristotles Politics for Political Theo and History-then a list of books should be given or the pupils toanalyze, epitomize and criticize, in written essays, to be readand discussed before the class, Then, when difficult pointscome up, or deeper researches have to be made, these



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should be assigned as subjects for special essays. In thisway, a wide knowledge of each subject and of its litera-ture will be gained, and a deep interest aroused.The curriculum, as a whole,will impart just the unitary views of the world, and itsagencies, which will give meaning and zest to the indi-vidual life and make the good citizen.At the close of each study, thepupils should be asked to sum up, in a brief essay, of notmore than five hundred words, what they have learnedfrom it. This will take the place of examination.Having settled what kind ofculture is necessary for the breadwinners, we must nextconsider how it may be best brought within their reach.For this, two things, above all, are necessary. ( 1) Thatthey should know what is proposed, and recognize itsvalue; (2) that they should have spare time, energy andconvenience for continued study.The former of these aims maybe reached through the public press,-newspapers, ma a-zines, etc.- and throu h lectures, which are here in orH f er.It is needless to dwe on the efficiency of the press inbringing things before the public; but a few words maybe said about lectures. It would be of the utmost momentto arrange for a course of ten lectures, covering as manyweeks, and given on some convenient evening whenmost of the breadwinners of the neighborhood could at-tend. Th e o owingll are suggested as titles for suchlectures :-

(S) The Present State of Education among theBreadwinners, and their Opportunities for obtainingHigher Education. What they should do,(2) The Education needed by the Breadwinners,and how it must differ from School and College Edu-cation,(3) The Education needed by the Individual, inorder to lift him above narrow, sordid ends.



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EDUCATION OF THE BREADWINNERS 239(4) The education needed for the Ends of the

Family.(5) The Education needed for the Ends of CivilSociety, for the Tradesman, the Merchant, etc.-l. Tech-nical Education. 2. Moral Training.6t1

The Education needed by the Citizen.7 The need of Unity, System and Aim in Edu-cation, The Defects of our Present Education in thisRespect.(;1

How can Education be carried into the Home?The States Duty in Regard to the Culture ofthe Breadwinners.(IO) A Scheme for a Breadwinners Culture Insti-tute, to be established in every Township, and in everyCity Ward, to supplement our Public Schools.I cannot but think that, if sucha course of lectures were given, at a convenient time, bycompetent persons, carefully reported in the daily news-papers, and afterwards printed in the form of a cheapbook, it would meet with a hearty response from thebreadwinners. It is necessary, not only thatBreadwinners should be brought to desire higher culture,but also that they should have the time, energy, and con-venience to acquire it. How this is to be done, is one ofthe great social questions of the day, and one that I donot propose to answer here, but of two things I am mor-ally certain : (I) that it cannot effectually be done by anylegislation in favor of an ei

rht-hour working day, or any-

thing of that sort; and 2) that, if the Breadwinnersmade it evident that they desired free time, in order todevote it to self-culture, from which they are debarred bylong hours of labor, public sentiment would soon insistthat such time shouId be accorded them, and provisionsmade for such culture. One main reason why the de-mand for shorter hours meets with comparatively littleresponse from the public is the prevalent belief that a very



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large number of breadwinners would make a bad use ofthe spare time, spending it in saloons and other coarseresorts. Labor, it is said, is better, or more profitable thanidleness and saloon life. And there is some reason inthis. Spare time demanded for culture would most cer-tainly be accorded, and it will, I think, hardly ever beobtained on any other plea. I need hardly add that sparetime would bring with it spare energy; for it i s the longhours that exhaust the energies.Along with time and energy,the breadwinners must have home conveniences for stud .Many, of course, have these, but many have not. kcrowded rooms or appartments in tenement houses, it ishard to find a quiet corner for study, and the publiclibraries and reading rooms offer conveniences for but asmall number. This state of things must be remedied,and, I think, would be remedied as soon as there wasany genuine desire for culture. Persons inspired by thiswould refuse to live where they could not have conven-ience to study, and would thus be brought to demand ahigher standard of living, a thing altogether desirable.At the same time, public reading rooms would doubtlessincrease, At the present time, we hear agreat deal about saloon-politics, and the corruption thatresults from them; and manifold efforts are being madeto start rivals to the saloon, which a very reverend bishophas told us, is the poor mans club room. It is sad tothink that the bishop is right, and that the poor man hasnot been able, thus far, to establish any other sort of club-room, It is my firm belief that the successful rival of thesaloon will not be the coffee-room, the reading-room, thepool-room, or the concert-room, but the lecture-room andthe school-room, with their various appurtenances andopportunities. I believe that we shall never be able toput a stop to the deleterious effects of the saloon upon in-dividual, social and political fife, untif we establish in



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EDUCATION OF THE BREADWINNERS 241ever city ward, and in every village, a culture institutefor tLe great body of the people, who are engaged in bus-iness during the day-an institute composed of threeparts: (I) a technical school, (2) a civic-culture school,and (3) a gymnasium. Such institutions must sooner orlater be established by the State, and supported by publicfunds, as a part of the system of public education; but atpresent, it is well that thevate effort, and their k should be undertaken by pri-uti ty, yea, their necessity clearlyshown. The Educational Alliance is in a position totake an important step in this direction, and it can do so,by establishing a system of evening classes with a programme such as I have sketched, and appealing to thebreadwinners by a course of lectures of the nature I haveindicated.

Only the other evenin I waslamenting that the sick poor are sent out of the Eospitalwhile convalescent, and, hopeless and helpless, are com-pelled to battle with the world, and I awoke the verynext morning to read in my paper that millions of dollarshad been given to establish homes for just such sufferers.It would seem as though the world had at last set outto work with God for his children. The great need ofthe times is for men and women of power and influence.Jacob Ri i s i n New York Tdbune ofj ul y I I , 1902.



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A HOUSE AND HOME Q BY IRENESARGENT Q D .e Q Q QA HOUSE designed to be at once simple, convenientand beautiful, is presented in a number of drawingsand plans from the workshops of The United Crafts,Everythin entering into the composition of this dwellinis admitte because it plays a constructive part, while ai fisuperfluous or applied ornament is excluded from thework. The exterior plainly indicates the character of theinterior, which is the first artistic essential of all buildingsfrom the simplest to the most elaborate and important.The setting of the house is first of all considered. Itssupposed environment is a lawn with trees. So, in sum-mer, as against a green background, or in winter in themidst of light reflected from snow, the Y ayness of itsmaterials will offer a pleasing contrast to t e eye, sugges-tive of rest and quiet, Plaster is to be used in the lowerstorey, and shingles in the upper, the roof-line projectingconsiderably over the sides; the gable end being closedwith a modeled plaster pediment, and the side windowsof the lower storey bein provided with short hoods,shingled like the roof: a evice employed constructivelyas a protection from storm, and decoratively to repeat theroof-line on a small scale, and to continue the use of theshingles; thus breaking what would be otherwise a tooabrupt and sharp line of division between the storeys,The quaintness of effect in the exterior is further accentedby broad, low mullioned windows of leaded glass. Atthe front, the two storey veranda or Zoggia is used withthe simplest form of columnar supports and balustrades.The ground plan is a long rect-angle, with the principal entrance at the extreme right ofthe front. This door leads into a vestibule, pavedwith red brick, thence into a la e living-room, andstands opposite a broad staircase, w ch originates in thelsame room. Fastened to the wall of the staircase is a mani-fold screen which may be extended at will for a considerabledistance across the width of the house, in order to form atemporary diningroom. At will, also, the screen may be



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A HOUSE AND HOME 243folded closely to the wall. Two notable seats are found inthe living room : one fixed, and extending from the vestibulewall, across the entire front ; the other set against the stair-case wall, lengthwise of the house, within the screened por-tion of the living room, and abutting upon a solidly builtchimney, This latter essential is so treated that whileconstructively its masonry serves for both living-roomand kitchen, it also becomes one of the strongest factorsin the interior decoration. Connected with the kitchenare pantries, lockers and sinks, devised according to themost modern and scientific idea of arrangement and sani-tation, The bedrooms, three in num-ber, are located in the upper story; the southern frontageof the house making the largest of the three especially de-lightful as a place in which to study or work during theautumn and winter months. The middle chamber islong, rather than wide, since the staircase and the hallare taken from one of its sides. The third chamber, withits full north-light, is equally as attractive as the first, andmight serve as a studio. The color-schemes in the vari-ous divisions of the house complete the union of beautywith comfort which should characterize every home, how-ever simple and humble it may be. Beginning againwith the living room, its colors, tints and shades are noless to be noted than are its skilfully adapted features ofconstruction. Here, the floor is laid in broadboards with wide joints filled with black cement. Thewood-work is chestnut of a deep, rich brown ; wall-panelsin dull blue burlap, or similar material, appearing abovethe wainscoting : a combination and harmony of colorwhich was used with great effect by the old masters ofpainting. Above the panels runs a plaster frieze inNaples fellow; while the ceilin between the open chest-nut beams shows a much lig ter and paler shade of



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244 THE CRAFTSMAN

yellow, creamy and soft. The chimney is built in Har-vard brick with raked-out joints in black. The fire-dogs are in hand-wrought iron ; the cabinet work is offumed oak: the rugs show designs traced in brown, blueand yellow; the draperies are in raw silks of yellowishtones, and the cushions of similar effects in washabletextiles. In the upper storey, a new colorscheme meets the eye in each room, lending itself to thecharacter of light admitted by the northern, southern, ormidway situation, Here, all the floors are stained green,with a strip of the same color extending upward threeinches from the floor-line and offering a curve slightlyconcave : a device used for the protection of the woodworkfrom stains and marring, and a preventive against thegathering of dust which can not be easily removed. Allthe woodwork is painted ivory white, with the portablepieces of cabinet-making differing in each room. Thelast named are few in number, as the fitments or im-movable receptacles here f&l the uses of our more usualwardrobes, armoires, dressing tables, cupboards and book-cases. For example, a triangle is taken from one cornerof the large chamber; double doors, each divided into twounequal sections, are fitted across the base of the figure ;the lower section being of wmd, the upper in leaded glass.Again, in the same room, a closet is built, utilizing a spaceabove the staircase; while a third immovable piece givesa large armoire with attached dressing-case, the wholeadvancing from the line of the rear wall, But the mostingenious perhaps of all these constructions is an armoirejoined to a chest of drawers with an inset mirror andupper cupboard, the two pieces making an even line withthe open fire-place. The portable pieces in the fur-nishings of the chambers differ in material as the wallsand textiles differ in color: the front chamber with itssouthern exposure containing a bed, table and chairs in



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A HOUSE AND HOME 245green ash, while its walls, draperies and ru s are heldcool and restrained in tone. In contrast wi tE this treat-ment, and to offset the situation, we find the third cham-ber showing strong yellow walls brilliant in the northlight: a color effect which is refined and softened by theuse of furnishings in a species of gray oak known underthe name of driftwood. Lastly, the middle chamberoffers a scheme of green and blue, the former color occur-ring in the beautiful Grueby tiling of the fire-place.From this somewhat detaileddescription it will be seen that, as it was at first asserted,our house is most simple in both construction and orna-ment; elementary principles only being involved in thebuilding, and three colors at the most composing thecolor-chord of a room. In such a home as this, the stormand stress of life would be under the rule of simplicity.Simplicity of effect would meetthe eye, and through the eye, work its soothing influenceupon the brain, which would be induced to a healthy andnormal action never to be attained in a complex, crowdedenvironment of fantastic forms and of intricate color com-binations. Simplicity of wants would be enforced by thearrangement of plan and by the small number of objectsadmitted into the service of the rooms. Simplicity anddefiniteness of occupation would be encouraged by whatmust be named the frankness of the appointments, sincehere no error can be made as to the function or use of agiven object; each being made by its maker to tell theplain story of its creation. In such a home as this, thequestion would be to work or not to work ;n for nolitter of things could confuse, distress or annoy the mindof its inmates, no compromise would be possible betweena productive activity and a restless state or mood, capti-vated by aggressive externals and obedient to no clearcause or direct aim. If then, simplicity is to give us peaceand quief in exchange for anxiety and wasted effort, wecan not welcome it too quickly, or too warmly.



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POSSIBILITIES OF CRAFTSMANSHIPFOR THE UNSUCCESSFUL ARTISTBY SAMUEL HOWE Q & D r~A PROBLEM before us is how to turn the thoughtsand hands of the great mass of American art stu-dents from the persistent manufacture of unsalable picturesand designs to some branch of craftsmanship which, froma financial standpoint, wiIl prove to be a paying venture.Painters make exceI.Ient crafts-men for the reason that they have mental endowment farabove the average, as weII as technical &II and the ad-vantages which come from technical training. But tobecome practicaIly efficient they must be transported fromthe country of dreams to the more invigorating atmosphereof the workshop. The belief prevails that thefuture belongs to the students of science. For these aredays of liquefied air and acetylene gas, of electric furnaces,of houses built of glass, of compressed air and storagebatteries, of the rescue of kerosene oiI from the despisedrefuse of rivers and harbors.

But science is not always tothe fore. Re-discoveries have been made in the old andlost arts of lass-making and enameling. Improvementshave been ei!ected in the arts of printing, book-illustrationand photography, And many of these discoveries aredirectly attributable to painters.Such successes justify us in ex-pressing the hope that means may be found to tempt thepainters of pictures and the designers of decorations whichrarely sell, to adopt some other work which shall pay :some work which is not foreign to the instincts of thecraftsman and which shall express his own personality. Artists are dreamers, engineers are workers, say some,and in proof of their assertion, they point to an illustrationins recent issue of a popular magazine, in which theoverall-clad sons of our industrial millionaires are seenastride a locomotive. Such engineers in embryo, notsatisfied with the solutions of problems on paper, spend



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CRAFTSMANSHIP FOR THE ARTIST 247three or four years of their lives amid the dirt, din, andturmoil of machine shops, working like Trojans to masterthe rudiments of their craft, It has been asserted that thegeneral practice of the engineer invites him to that modeof procedure ; that for him, unhampered by academic ruleor classic precedent, with no philosophy to live up to,-forscience is a measurement, while art is a power which isexpected to crystallize thought-success is assured. How-ever that may be, the engineer generally succeeds in se-curing financial assistance, while the artist only too fre-

uentiy joins the great throng of those who are known to%e world as failures, Is there no help for this ? Aremeans provided whereby our artists can acquire thepractical experience in craftsmanship which is given to theirbrothers in the engineering field ? Thousands of dollarshave been freely spent to found and uipplants for carry-in Klon the most obtuse and camp cated experiments,Iiw Ie on the other hand, the art-student is housed in in-different quarters, which are wholly inadequate to his re-quirements ; his only aid to the study of his art being me-diocre collections, if any, of books, photographs andmod&. Understanding these conditions,France, Germany, Austria and England have establishedtechnical schools and museums of industrial and decorat-ive arts, housing them after the most approved plans andcompletely equipping them with models and with bodies ofcompetent instructors, Germany has established suchschools in every capital; there are a number of them inAustria, France and England, but not one in America.True, there is something of the type of work known as manual training in the Pratt Institute of Brooklyn, theTeachers College of Columbia University, the art schoolsof St. Louis, Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore, PhiIadeI-phia and Boston ; but with the exception of one or twodepartments headed by energetic hard-working enthusiasts,



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248 THE CRAFTSMANthis work is but elementary. Broadly speaking, it servesto connect the hand with the eye in a sort of kindergarten,which we are glad to see, but about which much cannotbe said because it does not + o far enough for the purpose.urninsciences, we find that Columbia again to the practical& niversity has almostevery known type of engine for steam, electricity, hot air,gas : machines for gauging weights and bearings, and fortesting building materials. Pratt Institute, in addition tomost of these, has a blast furnace for smelting iron, aswell as furnaces for melting brass and other metals.The New York Trade schoofs have complete equipmentsfor the practical study of electricity, plumbing and plaster-ing, The universities of the entire country are amplysupplied with those manufacturing and testing stations soessential to the engineer for the understanding of his rudi-mentary problems. Art has been left to care foritself. The most active art organizations in this country,the Art Students League of New York and the Art In-stitution of Chicago, which send out far more paintersand sculptors than any other schools in America, areagain engaged in enlarging their premises. The ArtLeague has so far extended its work as to bring it face toface with the problem of adding crafts to art, while theChicago Institution is making additions to its building forthe housing of new classes,-possibly with the same endin view. The Art Students League wasestablished in 1875 by a handful of enthusiasts who de-sired greater facilities for the study of art than then existedin this country. It is a self-governing body, electing itsown lecturers and instructors, and directing its ownpolicy; having no resources other than the tuition fees ofits students, who come from all parts of the country. Atthe time the League was founded, there was a cryingneed for practical training in the art of illustrating, as un-



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CRAFTSMANSHIP FOR THE ARTIST 249derstood by a book-loving community. Authors wereable to write a graphic description of their scenes, but itrequired a strength of drawing which few possessed tointerpret those scenes in such a form as to be readilyassimilated by the average intellect. It was to qualifythe students for such work that the League made evetyeffort ; and the phenomenal success which has markedbook and magazine illustration is obvious to all. To-daystories are well, strongly, graphically illustrated. Thestory of the writer is given to the public by the illustratorin such vivid, pertinent, terse, and accurate form thatanyone who has eyes to see can readily grasp the situa-tion. The Art League is very largely responsible for thisimprovement, This work entailed the studyof the figure, both nude and draped, at rest and in move-ment, grotesque and natural, Life classes were formed,figures posed, costumes studied, libraries consulted forhistorical authorities, while classes were formed for thestudy of landscape and for trips to foreign countries. Thewide range of subject sometimes required the study of lifein the frozen North, among the icebergs, or in the farWest on the hunting trail, the ranch, or among theIndians; the illustrators often living in their tepees thatthey mi ht portray the life, thoughts, and movements oftheir su t jects by faithful rendering of actual observations.Passive and resigned, submit-ting without revolt to the essential changes of the evervarying conditions, the illustrator has enjoyed this searchfor material, in his efforts to serve an exacting and ficklepublic. Were this all that the League had accomplished,it would surely merit the dignified position assigned it byall who have intelligently studied its workings. But it isnot all. Two years ago, a class for the study of archi-tecture was formed under the able leadership of a graduateof the Ecole des Beaux Arts. This class was designedto give the students such principles of architecture as are



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essential to their correct use in pictures and sculpturerather than in buildings. On the 16th of A riI of thepresent year, the same brisk, liberal, far-sig ted policyprompted the directors of the League to make the boldeststep in their career, by adding to their curriculum indus-trial art as represented by the Evelyn Nordhoff Bindery.The students will now have an opportunity to acquireknowledge of the delicate art of sewing and colIatingbooks, designing and making book covers, and all thetechnical detail essential to the fascinating craft of binding.Craftsmen are much needed.We have now too many iuustrators, and far too manysocalIed decorators ; too many workers who dependsimply upon their abiIity to portray a thought, an idea, atheme on paper, but who wholly depend upon the work-man to carry out their scheme. By changing these con-ditions, the artist-student wilI be his own workman, carvehis own wood, form his own metal, weave his owntapestries and rugs. Sculptors are shrewd, clever,adaptable, uncomplaining workers, who are forever as-tonishing us by the facility with which they acquire prac-tical knowledge at every turn of their difficult work.Their success as craftsmen has been as decided as that ofGstrators. Basing our hopes u n these successes, welook for an improved condition, P en our young paintersand designers shall. join the crafts, and because of thegood that is in them, no chance should be neglected toenlist their interest. And yet, all the students in theLeague are not workers; for there are the fashionableyoung women of the school to whom time is a jest ; whogo carelessly through League life, with half their inter-est given to dancing lessons and society. Misguidedphilosophers are they, payers of fees, young, clever, witty,beautiful, to whom Art with a capital A is a wekome



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CRAFTSMANSHIP FOR THE ARTIST 251re-action from the whirl of fashion; who leave the schoolas soon as they recover their senses, saluting theirinstructors as erratic, although charming theorists. TheLeague with all that it stands for is regarded as a de-&&t. time-killing experience in the kingdom of, . The galleries, expositions andstudios of our young friends, the real students, are elo-quent witnesses to a deep knowledderlying the study of nature and He of the rinciples un-o art. TRe oil studieswater color sketches, and wash drawings there showdfrequently betray a broad, liberal handling of mass notdevoid of education. We often find crisp, suggestivesketches, sparkling with bits of direct, related detail;rhythm and harmony, as well as thoughtful considerationshowing the full understanding of values. The carefulnotes upon color relation and the truthful drawing showa quality dignified, restful, simple, at times remarkable,which justifies the conclusion given at the head of this paperthat painters make splendid craftsmen. At least, this isfound to be true in Europe. Why not in America ?

Through a too common illu-sion, simplicity and beauty are considered as rivals. Butsimple is not synonymous with ugly, any more thansumptuous, stylish and costly are synonymous with beau-tiful. Our contemporary art suffers as much from thewant of simplicity as does our literature-too much in itthat is irrelevant, over-wrought, falsely imagined. Rarelyis it iven us to contemplate in line form or color, thatsimp city allied toii lY rfection which commands the eyesas evidence does t e mind.

Charles Wagner, in The Simple Life.



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THE SIMPLE LIFE BY CHARLESWAGNER & A REVIEW D e o66THEpirit of simplicity is

The Craftsman - 1902 - 08 - August

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