The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1866-12-29
THE DEGENERACY OF YOUNG
MEN,

A CITY exchange asks, "Why is it that
the proportion of young men in this
country who turn out badly is so much
larger than it used to be? and finds q
solution of its question in the answer
that "a spirit of false pride induces pa
rents to put their boys into stores and
offices rather than apprentice them to
good trades.n "Mcchanics and laboring
men," the writer adds, "have too gem
orally imbibed the idea that they ought
to place their boys peg above the
drudgery of manual labor, which, how
ever, is a great mistake" This eXpla-
nation fails to explain satisfactorily o
state of things the reality of which cam
not but be admitted. The ambition Of
parents in the lower walks of life to
place their sons in more elevated po-
sitiOn is certainly most laudable. In
deed, it has always been the boast Of
| America that her institutions favored
the advancement of all classes to the
most eligible positions. 1T Is doubtless
true that many mistake their vocation,
and make their lives failures simply
because they attempted to be that which
their mental calibre positively forbade.
Numbers who would have eXcelled in
mechanical trade, fail utterly in at-
tempting To De clergymen, lawyers, or
doctors. But this is no reason why an
uneducatcd laboring man should not, if
he can afford it, give his children the
education of which he was himself de-
prived in early life. The error lies to
some extent in the parent failing to dis
cover the bent of the child's mind, and
placing him in the position which he
can fill most creditably and with most
advantage to himself. One child may
have natural taste for mechanics, an
other for letters. Each is equally useful
to the community. But if the former
is compelled to pore over Latin and
Greek, and the latter is apprenticed to
/ wheelwright's or a machine shop, there
| will probably be another wretched me-
chanic, and another weak professional
man, added to the poor ones that already
t exist.
l The true cause for the degeneracy of
A the morals of the youth of the present
S day is infinitely broader than in the fact
t that laboring men wish to place their
sons "a peg higher" than themselves.
@ 1t is to be found in the general lowering
G of the moral standard of the community
G which has been painfully perceptible
c during the last few years. Whatever
k may be the fact as to the good which
g has been accomplished by the war, 1t il
II to be feared that it has been largely
if countcrbalanced by the flood of vice ant
immortality with which it has deluget
" our land. Distinctions between righ
# and wrong seem, in the minds of many
os to be completely obliterated. The mora
r miasma of war, which, during the con
TO test. was visible in the immediate vicin
r. tiles of the camp, and in localities espe
IF cially liable to be affected, has been cal
ut ried by the most natural causes int
e, nearly every village in the land, cor
10 Eliminating thousands who have hitl
ee erto been pure.
be The political and financial conditio
of the country has also helped on tn
ad ruin of hundreds Of young men. None
- easily obtained is easily spent, and te
he dollars now changes hands with less d
it. liberation than one dollar three yea
Ter since. Hence has arisen a careless an
;ed free expenditure on the part of clerl
.ht and young men, which has been the rui
We of hundreds. Nothing is more true tina
ks that the surest way to ruin a young ma
is to allow him free use of money belo
10, his principles are fixed. Alluremen
at in q thousand enticing forms meet hi
ow at every step, and too often prove su
ng cessfIl in accomplishing their obje(
he Nor are these baneful influences conf
ed to any particular class. All depaI
led ments of business and professional Ii
me feel them sensibly, and it will be lol
before they cease to exert their PERI
'ew cious effects on society.
uff- Itis true we are not so bad rs we mig
lok be, and il is also true that we might
q; much better than we are. If the inti
owe ence of the pulpit, the press, and t
examples Of leading men we've as fave
ed, able to high moral character rs iormerl
we might hope for Improvement. Il
his when notoriously immoral men /
placed in high Office by all politi