himself. While the obligation of service in some form
is not to be evaded, voluntary election, subject only to necessary
regulation, is depended on to determine the particular sort of service
every man is to render. As an individual's satisfaction during his term
of service depends on his having an occupation to his taste, parents
and teachers watch from early years for indications of special
aptitudes in children. A thorough study of the National industrial
system, with the history and rudiments of all the great trades, is an
essential part of our educational system. While manual training is not
allowed to encroach on the general intellectual culture to which our
schools are devoted, it is carried far enough to give our youth, in
addition to their theoretical knowledge of the national industries,
mechanical and agricultural, a certain familiarity with their tools and
methods. Our schools are constantly visiting our workshops, and often
are taken on long excursions to inspect particular industrial
enterprises. In your day a man was not ashamed to be grossly ignorant
of all trades except his own, but such ignorance would not be
consistent with our idea of placing every one in a position to select
intelligently the occupation for which he has most taste. Usually long
before he is mustered into service a young man has found out the
pursuit he wants to follow, has acquired a great deal of knowledge
about it, and is waiting impatiently the time when he can enlist in its
ranks."

"Surely," I said, "it can hardly be that the number of volunteers for
any trade is exactly the number needed in that trade. It must be
generally either under or over the demand."

"The supply of volunteers is always expected to fully equal the
demand," replied Dr. Leete. "It is the business of the administration
to see that this is the case. The rate of volunteering for each trade
is closely watched. If there be a noticeably greater excess of
volunteers over men needed in any trade, it is inferred that the trade
offers greater attractions than others. On the other hand, if the
number of volunteers for a trade tends to drop below the demand, it is
inferred that it is thought more arduous. It is the business of the
administration to seek constantly to equalize the attractions of the
trades, so far as the conditions of labor in them are concerned, so
that all trades shall be equally attractive to persons having natural
tastes for them. This is done by