The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1868-12-25
THE MORAL EFFECT OF Boots.

The influence of boots upon the mind
is very different from that of any other
garment. A man may have shocking
bad hat, but he forgets it; his coat may
be threadbare, but his mind is not di-
rected to it ; but we defy a man to stand
upright in pair of butchers with worn
down heels, and we believe that it is
just as difficult to feel morally upright
in them. A sense of meanness possess
ses him; he feels that everybody is no.
ticing them. He cannot took people
straight III the face and feel upon the
square with them. He feels the weak
ness of his foundation, and he mistrusts
the character of the superstructure that
they support, however imposing in
other respects. A man shabby in the
boots sometimes flatters himself that he
carries of attention from them by the
nse of applendid necktie; but this is a
key of the position, and we feel sure
that no man ought to undertake any
serious matter unless he stands up in a
good sound pair of boots.
A celebrated Psychologist has said
that II human actions could be searched
into, it would be found that the intest-
ines of one man often influence the
destlnles of another. Doubtless this is
a profound remark, but it applies to
upper and neither soIes as well as to
digestion. BY way of argument, imag-
inc the final charge of the Guards at
Waterloo made in bad boots. 1t would
have been all very well for the great
Duke to have said, Cup Guards, and at
'em > but could they have got at them !?
And if they had failed, and we had lost
Waterloo, what next and next? But,
badinage apart, no one will feel inclined,
we suppose, to deny the influence of
the mind upon the body, and cice cerso.
When boots are hopelessly gone shame
seems to have departed also. What
terribly bad boots we see crossing
sweepers following their profession in.
We feel this, and The effect is lost upon
US. But is there more piteous sight
than poor beggar with a boot on one
foot and a shoe on the other? A man
brought to this point of degradation
must be demOralized beyond the hope
of recovery. With women the moral
influence of boots is not SO great as with
men, for the reason they contrive not to
show them: but the physical influence
is far more serious. The writer, speak
ing from a long experience in the
practice of a dispensary, where the poor
mainly apply, can safely say that not
1.-THE of this class possess sound boots.
Hidden under the peLticoats, they are
allowed to wear sometimes until the
feet are just upon the ground, and the
wearer's stockings are from morning
till night, in wet weather, in state of
sop.
This may seem minor evil, but it is
just the one that causes half the disease
among poor women, whose constitu-
tons render them far less able to bear
exposure of this kind than the other sex.
There are clubs, and benefit socities of
all kinds, but we cannot fancy an insti-
tuition that would do more immediate
and lasting good than a "Good Boots
Club," for the benefit of women. We
may ascend in the social scale, aud find
the saTne evil prevailing. Many poor
governesses and servants are shockingly
shod. 1t is just the weak points in their
dress which they can hide, and they
invariably do it, whereas it lies at the
foundation of their health and that of
their children, and it should claim their
first attention. We laugh at the clat-
tering wooden sabots of the French and
German working classes, but in COM
parison with the fiimsy, ill-made foot
coverings our own poor indulge in they
are more healthy and lasting; but fash
ion, even with the very poor, is far more
we fear, than considerations
of health or service.
We have said enough to show that
bad boots may be considered one of
those social evils of the day worthy of
recognition. 1t was the wish of one of
the best French kings that every poor
man should have a fowl in his pot. If
wishes had the power of fulfilling them
selves it would be a good wish that
every poor woman had sound pair of
boots to her feet. If that were the case
there would be far less disease, and half
the dispensary doors in the town would
be closed.
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