The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-12-29
GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO DO.

Labor is rest from the sorrows that greet us;
Rest from all petty vexations that meet us;
Rest from sin-promptings that ever entreat US;
Rest from world sirens that lead us to i'll"
Truer words than these were never
penned. Let any one use his eyes and
understanding and see if two-thirds of
the ills which young people are betrayed
or decoyed into are not directly the re-
suit of idleness, of having no fixed pur-
pose, no regular employment. The boy
to whom honorable employment gives
continued activity of brain or body, or
both, finds neither time nor inclination
to perfect himself in the arts of the
street Arabs who infest alleys and loiter
about questionable places, daily grow
iog wiser in the lore of vice. The young
and secure in the self-respect which ac-
companies active endeavor, is compare
lively proof against the mean snares
that so readily entrap the listless lounger
or the pampered pensioner on a mis-
taken fathers bounty. He knows moth
ing of the sneaking subterfuges that
lack of pocket change forces the idler to
practice, and a feeling of security and
respect that comes with pecuniary indie
pendence is visible in every action.
First on the downward grade in NOR
ais is idleness, next viciousness, then
closely following in its fearful wake
dishonor, crime, and its penalties. But
it is not only necessary for boys and
young men to have employment in Or
der to develop the inherent good and
keep down the bad equally inherent in
the general organization of humanity,
but girls and young women also should
be thus placed above present temptation
and future distress, dishOnor or want,
by giving them some steady occupation.
We read in an up country paper but
last week of girl Is years of age who
committed suicide by taking strychnine
because, forsooth, she aOds tired Of LiUi1lg.
Is it not clear that the sickly sentimen-
tality that would induce this state of
feeling in one so young, to whom life's
trials and cares were all unknown could
and should have been corrected by di-
recting the mind into active and health
full channels, and giving the hands, and
mind as well, steady employment that
promised happiness to self and others2
"Tired of living" Sentimental and
Ia, To
ergetic workers in the worlds broad
vineyard, there are hundreds of persons
who are in such fearful, pitiable strait.
Tired of living because life to them is
but an endless routine of "eat and sleep,
and wake, and eat and sleep again." If
life presents nothing better for them,
present or prospective, it is little won
der that few years gives them a sur
felt But grand and certain panacea
for this surfeit on nothingness is active,
earnest labor. The remuneration, if
not in dollars and cents, is none the
less sure and efficacious, for it comes to
every one in the consciousness of duty
performed, of minds enlarged, ofenergies
called out, of charities quickened, of
health and happiness assured.
Therefore to weary idlers who beat
and beat the beaten track, only "to sur
felt on the same and yawn their joys"
we say go to work, work with stout
heart and resolute will, and be sure that
the scripture which says, "In due time
ye shall reap if ye faint not" will be
fulfilled. Throw aside your "yellow-
backed" literature, girls, face life's re-
alities, first of all by being earnest in
your desire and efforts to be helpful tC
those around you, and at a proper time
to help yourselves pecuniarily and SEE
if its unreal phantoms will not cease tc
haunt you.