Many of the large, and even some small, plants in our community conduct their own employment bureaus. Go directly to these places. If you are not successful at one office, go to another. Do not become discouraged. “If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.”

The Industrial Centers.-In the large towns and cities of the eastern part of the United States the main business is some kind of manufacturing. There is great need for workmen who can do work in all kinds of mills and factories and shops.

At first the beginner must not expect to earn large wages because he has to learn the business, but as soon as he has learned to do good work, he can earn good wages. A man must learn to be a skilled workman if

he would get the best positions.

Unskilled workmen

usually learn this and want their children to be educated and trained to do skilled work.

In the Southern and Western States farming and mining are now making a great demand for laborers. In South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, in fact all over the Southern States, the farmers are inviting immigrants from Europe to come and settle.

They have millions and millions of acres of good land that cannot now be cultivated because there are not laborers enough. Here, too, the immigrants can find more healthful and pleasant homes for themselves and their families than in the great cities like New York, Chicago, or Boston, where they often have to live closely crowded in unhealthful tenements. In the towns and small cities of these Southern States there are good opportunities for shopkeepers and all kinds of laborers.

In the coal mines of Texas and Oklahoma and in the mining centers of Arizona, Montana, and other states of the West good workmen are much needed. The South and the West are but thinly settled. This is why they now need so many laborers.

For many years a number of departments of the United States Government have been busy finding out where

laborers are needed in all parts of the country. They do this in order to help foreigners who come to this country to find work. Any immigrant who wants to find work can inquire of the Bureau of Immigration, Division of Information. The officers will help thousands of laborers to go where their work is needed and where they can find good homes and learn to be good American citizens. These people must then learn to live and to

act as good Americans do in order to get the most good out of life in America.

It is well for all to remember that there is always "room at the top." This means that those who educate themselves to do the best work in every business, trade, or occupation will "rise in the world" and find that they can be successful. There is no other country in the world that offers so many opportunities for the advancement of the right kind of workman. If you work faithfully and intelligently, you will succeed and advance.

1. What did Ruskin say about work?

2. What are the opportunities for work in this country? 3. What are "hard times''?

4. What happens during such a period?

5. Tell different ways of finding work.

6. Where is the nearest public employment bureau?

7. Why is this better than a private agency?

8. If you go to a private agency, what kind should it be?

9. What should you do before you sign any contract?

10. What is the main business in the eastern United States?

11. What kind of workmen get the best positions?

12. Where is there a great demand for laborers? Why?

13. What kind of homes can immigrants find there?

14. What bureau of the National Government helps immigrants find work?

15. What is meant by "room at the top"?

16. How must one work to succeed and advance?

CHAPTER XIV

BUSINESS METHODS

Making Contracts. In doing business we must make a great many bargains and agreements with others. Often a long time must pass after an agreement is made before it is all carried out. Sometimes people forget their agreements. Sometimes they are unwilling to carry them out. For this reason the law makes certain rules that should be followed in making bargains and contracts. If these rules are followed, the courts will make the parties keep their agreements.

Signing Papers.-We should be very careful about signing any papers. Never sign anything unless you know what it says. If you cannot read or understand the contents of a paper, get someone who can to read it and explain it to you. This may save you some money and a great deal of trouble.

Nature of a Contract.-When two persons make an agreement in which one says that he will do something for the other in return for something which he is to receive from the other, such an agreement is called a contract.

If the agreement is an ordinary bargain, such as when one person sells another a certain article for which the other agrees to pay a certain price in a short time, the agreement does not have to be in writing. A verbal contract is good in law, and the courts will enforce it if they have proof that it was made and understood by both parties. Verbal contracts, however, are never as safe as written ones, because if there is a dispute, it is hard to