The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1859-02-23


,onse ,uence of The improt err restraint .
which has been attempted t. be thrown /
apou them. M;su,king the cffeci for the I,
.ause. YOU have o1iv famed the flame you !
fam would have exiinguisbed. If they
baye been held Till late hours, itds o1lv !
The legitimate cfHct Of he unwholsone
restraint With VII Gu you have exempted
to check them. Aud let US assure you.
t'lai this is. ever has been, and
ever will be he res Ut Of improper and
misguided rc-ti;lint upon youth, and not
u Don youth only, but unon The whole hu-
man RI e. ''it is es 'dent tbaicoeIced ed
or;s age ,fn cessi Y, futile"
Bot GU 2oci2l system is 10y no means
perfect, aad i; these practices l;lve been
indulged in excessively, they ere notan
exception. they aie doi he onlv soci:d
parties th:t hive broken ',;n upon hours
that Nature iu.'i ;.ies rs their proper sea-
son :or rcpose." J'here is scarcely a soc.;l
paaty osa1y kind which is rot )iable 10 the
same i'm ouiatioi; AID, even the religious
meetings in HuG Oh, It ihe preSen. time,
nse someii,nes held ''iiI L.e hour*-mid-
NIGHT. OF iuto morning hours.' Aifiend,
whom we my not have seen for q long
ime, calls upon. End VIC spend ;he night
~ q sociHl ci,it with bin We might
m,hiply in~a,f e., I'll OF whic', have just
a. much bearing upon the real question
Ut issue, Fad would Show just as eonolu-
si,eIs f'r.i i;,o:c VII ela: &c iii them are
;t,acIled 20 ihcm Unfortunately, aud ind ulGe
in t,,cn e&cea ,i>clN ;aed- we Nigh, with
! cqa;l proprie;y inquire uI,e, her ouf Dung
people here :'b:'ve aaeii,ing peculiar III
/ heir physical, nei,;tl or ihoi.: consilu-
ton, or their q cun*t;;nt e. 10 guard them
so..;.l-t ,ho i.le'' Gus na,lfe OF these pI.ie-
tee. ~
"Tbat some OF our young pei pc have
expressed their att: chinent 10 Il es pFac-
toes. by sacriiit permrsnelC HON com
1oris 10 tbe pleasures o. The d; nee, d'c.
1'i;, st: tcmeut we BEG leave 10 say
like may ., ilc.. i: incorrect. We snppo~c
we understand pc iectv we'll 10 Whit cir
cl,n,;aaccs VOC rciu', and we believe flat
had you becn better n'ru.inied vii,
chem, YOU world ne, er hive arravcd
,il:in before The public. Tai, then, puat
be counted with other hvpolhe<e%, and
your conclusion Inc e;rom, v;'ni-hes.
:'lf these aWuScmenis III future, are rs
common rs ,hey h.,,e been for Il few
months past, I'll or ch'ii'fco mus, DC e>
DO ed 10 thei. Influence; -,'hc e., is nei-
Cher aI:rmiog nor "ppalIing 10 US. We
have seen their c6ecjs, boib be- c and ell, :
where. We know ;hnt children and
youth are, III all parts OF TIC county, e.
posed to their influence. We know tha;;,
not outstanding the excc'a,ion upon these
practices in stern S, minare Acnde
mics and G ,lle"es, and notwithstanding
their laws and rules goa Il them, card
playing IS i'focticed by ,heir students,
and that too, by the most brilliant OF
them, taking lhe te%;'monv of aeir Teach
ers on the later poin,. Bu', Oil account
of The execution, they practice under COW
er OF NIGHT, at Iate hours, aud in inp'op-
er places. We kuow these facts from
personal observation.
You think lhat those Of us WHO are
parents, cannot be ind ide. ent 10 ihe~e re-
suits. By 10 means. Our position i'm
poses upon us n dorble re pon~ibiIitv,
first as parents, second rs e,,nc;to,,. ofodr
children; yours. with yors so,en'pora'ies
as educators on Y.
il seems % rs hat most Of yorr as>e,-
lions, Ike y onr >rppo~itiollS. IRE sefy ex-
i,aeacant-wide OF tbs mark We had
supposed that our exper;euce il I'll these
matters, VS. commensurate with
yours; and, we had i:r.het supposed hat
our knowledge OF hese or.'ctices here. ~ rs
cnd rs co-ex;eaaive with your own. But
you have either drawn hugely apou The
imag.n lion, or el'e you a'e far mo t:-
miIar with these p'@c;ices than we are.
You say hat, s'ln this pllce, these
practices commence When they should end
if indul9ed i'll at ell. The dav previous
is usually Ole f hurry aud anSiet,, h
day a;te', of b' ueai stupidity and yawnihg
peil,iance." The sane might be said of
our Fou Ii of july celebrations, or OF
some OF out religious meetings, or any
! social eeiheii,gS. But il his instance.
IS not lie pictu'o gre2.lv oveidrawn? We
aver hat it IS.
''EN pe'ience for oenei~;ionS hes Shown
that there con be no sound scholarship,
no correct habits Of thought, no ;aIbs.an-
rial aitainmen,s, while The mind is preoc-
cup'ed w;th ehese exciting aud dissipating
practices. -
| = Why NOT insert after these
''or anS other?" You really seem 10
su2ao>e bat tae.e ate I'll he e';ciiieg end
disspatng p,vc.r" hit ever exist among
students. We should DC h.?pv 10 learn
the f"ci, but hive some Ie..-oh 10 doubt
il. No advancement can be made
lin anvthing Will The mi,d Is pre-
occupied w,h something el,e. But PEI
haps you would have Us infer that the
lc;'ding business OFT youne people Of
This place, IS dancing aud card-plat,ng.
ls so, we repel The in>nuaion.
You attempt 10 leirii'v us.bv an array
OF au hor;iy, i. e., distinguished edac.l-
tors." We do not suppose they ere ans
better au.horiiy than you are-pot IS
good. even. We doubt not ,heir superb
or wisdom, nei,hef do we yours. But
we doubt your erpo.ieace in these mat
ters. We do not suppose any of you. or
any of the gentlemen to whom you refer,
either dance OF plav oa,d> or ever did.
Ii you had. we srarelv believe YOU would
have made such exiravagant statements
about these practices; and it i upon this
supposition that we pardon what we
might otherwise condemn.
Va,, low orraot g. ross r,,.or. h, C., ~ hot