TRADE v. PROFESSION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2677, 5 July 1905, Page 76

TRADE v. PROFESSION.

Being two papers read before the D.L.F. Literary and Debating Club. (By C. C. M.) The debate this evening is, "Which is the better for a man to follow— a trade or a profession?" T maintain that a trade is the better. .Piofesskms such as doctors, solicitors, schoolmasters, and ministers, require a great amount of education before one is qualified to obtain such. Education is never wasted on anyone, but some people's circumstances do not allow them to spend years on studying to en-able them to fill professions such as I have mentioned. _ The money spent on a profession is great in comparison with what it costs to learn a trade; and then after one has finally adopted a profession, he has to keep up a much more expensive mode of living than a tradesman, and although their incomes may be handsome, as in the case of doctors, solicitors, etc., th;r expenses are enormous. Doctors, sotiei'-)rs, etc., have to keep a large house and a number of servants, while doctors have grooms and horses and vehicles. These all take money to keep going. A tradesman has not so manj of these kinds of expenditure — at least not compulsorily. A trade can be learnt in a few years when but a boy, and by hard work a good position and name are attainable. I think carpentering and engineering two of ;lic best of trades. A tradesman can save ci d bank money wheare a man in a profession has no chance to do so. Tradesmen, such as grocers, warehotisemen, etc., are ahv-u/s increasing their trade.

Then see the number of employees a tradesman can keep going. Whereas a profession gives work perhaps only to one man, and perhaps a few servants or assistants, a trade such as foundry or carpentery business gives employment to hundreds of men and boys. The drapery trade keeps hundreds of girls employed, as also do wooilen mills and other factories, so that a trade is preferable in the light of keeping the public in work. Again, a profession costs a great deal of money to learn, whereas a trade costs next to nothing, so that even if one had the ability to learn a profession he might be debarred acquiring it. A boy who learns a trade can always get work at his trade. Though professions such as solicitors, schoolmasters, doctors, etc., are indispensable, yet trades are even more so, for if the latter were closed down hundreds c.f people would be thrown out of employment, ' whereas if the former were closed, the efffut on the general public would not be> quite so serious. The tradesman is often better cJI in his day wages than a professional man. Fjs woik may be harder and dirtier, but haul work is no disgrace. Some people think •', is terrible to have to take off one's coat, but Nature meant man to work by the sweat of his brow. For the reasons above stated, then, I certainly give preference to a trade. (By George.) o Where can the line be drawn ? I have heard it said that a barber's or hairdresser's busi1 ness is a- profession, because his is solely "head work." Without going so far as to agree with this, I may admit that it is hard to state definitely where a tradesman ends and a professional man begins. Who is there here who does not look upon the work dene by the doctors and ministers as the noblest work to be accomplished in this world? It is, I suppose, the desire of most of ".s to obtain a position in society where no aio respected and regarded as useful and ci.<A citizens. While admitting that it is a, god thing to have a good tiade at one's fingertips, how much better is it to spend the ytars which our apprenticeship would extend if we were learning a trade ia the development of our mental facilities, and thereby storing no a fund of knowledge for future requirem 'lit. Look upon it from any standpoint you -.hooss, you cannot fail to be impressed" with ;his fact, that the profession is a nobler i.alhng than the trade. Look at the minister of the church. Whore can we find a nob'.er example of self-sacrifice than in this sphere. His is a life given to promoting the good cf otbe~s. Look at a doctor's life : what is it that prompts a man to go out in the snow and rain in the late hours of the night to attend a patient suddenly taken ill ? It is a splendid instance of a, man obscuring self for the sake of his fellow creatures It is not merely for filthy lucre that we work for; at least it shou.d not be. But even from this aspect, that of t'.ie piofession is the hotter. A professional man will receive, as a doctor or surgeon for instance, perhaps £50 to £100, oi even more for an operation taking only a few minutes to accomplish. A minister might receive a large sum for ppTtoiming the marriage seivice , a consulting engineer will sometimes obtain a l-.irge fee, limning mto hundreds of guineas for his advice. At the best in a tiadc a man cannot make more than 10s to 15s per day, which is really no moro than a living. Which of us young men and boys ia there but would prefer to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or minister to being a bootmaker, butcher, or blacksmith '—all neccssaiy too m this world, — and which of you young ladies would like to mairy a baker, grocer, or tailor m pieference ■fe> being the wife of a member of one of the previously-mentioned professions? I venture to say that there are many at the present time following a trade like those mentioned who could, had. the opportunity been theirs, have become quite a<3 good lawyers or doctors as the majority of those at present in that line ; and it was not lack of ability that prevented them, it was lack of opportunity. It is not zivsji to ail of us to obtain a

university education, but we can all aspire to higher and nobler ideals, and with theee ideals ever before us we can go forward into whichever sphere we are called to, and_ do our work in any one of the numerous callings or professions just as well in the humblest as in the loftiest.