himself
unfitted for doing all the kinds of hard work required from a settler.
The poor peasant from Norway or Sweden, who seems at first sight a less
intelligent man, is able to build his own house, till the ground, tend
his horse, and in a rough way, make his own carts, implements, and
household furniture. Even the Red Indian is much better able to take
care of himself in a new country than the educated mechanic. The only
thing to be said is that the skilled shoemaker, or mechanic of whatever
sort, must endeavour to keep to the trade which he has learnt so well.
It is a misfortune both for himself and for other people if he is
obliged to undertake work which he cannot do so well.

A second disadvantage of the division of labour is that #trade becomes
very complicated, and when deranged the results are ruinous to some
people#. Each person learns to supply only a particular kind of goods,
and if change of fashion or any other cause leads to a falling off in
the demand for that kind of goods, the producer is left in poverty,
until he can learn another trade. At one time the making of crinoline
skirts for ladies was a large and profitable trade; now it has ceased
almost entirely, and those who learnt the business have had to seek
other employments. But each trade is generally well supplied with hands
perfectly trained to the work, and it is very difficult for fresh
workmen, especially when old, to learn the new work, and compete with
those who have long practised it. In some cases this has been
successfully done; thus the Cornish miners, when the mines in Cornwall
were no longer profitable, went into the collieries, where more hewers
of coal were much wanted. But, generally speaking, it is very difficult
to find a new employment in England, and this is a strong reason why
trades-unions should make no objection to new men entering a trade to
which they have not been brought up.

The colliers tried to keep the Cornish miners out of the coal pits. In
order to keep their own wages as high as possible they would let other
men starve. But this is a very selfish and hurtful way of acting. If
every trade were thus to try and keep all other people away, as if the
trade were their own property, there would constantly be a number of
unfortunate people brought to the workhouse through no fault of their
own. It is most important, therefore, to maintain a man's right to do
whatever kind of work he can get. It is one of the first and m