The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1877-07-24
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'pi P,spfort the Boy =. Z.
The boy isab Tense ID u b nself' Hss.
must have soastl e q q hing so q. ant s IIs
hands are idle the prosexkis pr0pidc
81 occupatioh Fcf ale. bands Is sl@ays
ready with instructions for him. A boy
noise in-utter -uf-tifr-
laws OF acoustics. Shoe him in velvet,
and carpet yotrshoaseas y6d 'wililt ltyoar7s
hoy shall make such hubbub with his
heels as no watchman' rattle ever gave
forth. Doors in his hands always shut
with a violence which Jars the Whole !
house. and he is certain 10 acquire each
day the art Of Screaming '6f wfistling ID
some wholly new and excrnciating way.
Loving his mother so violently that his
caresses dcrange her attire and serious.
ly endanger her bones, ,,ready to die Vils
her defence if need be, he nevertheless
torments her from morning to- night and
allows her no possible,pesce until slum-
Der closeshis throat and eyelids, and
deprives his hands and feet of their de.
moniac- cunning
D In public your boy is equally nuis-
snce, Collectively Defi lindiyidsslly. her
'ofends the public in the streets. What
ever be does il sure to ,be. wrong. ,He
monopolizes space ;and takes 10 himself
all the air there is fof accusiica1 epufpo.
ses. Your personal peculiarities inter-.
est him. andlwith all The Hrankaessrs6f
his soul he comments upon your ap-
pearance, addressing his. femaiks to his
fellow on the next block aLah
Nevertheless the boy has his uses -
He is the material out Of which men are
70 he made for the next generation. He
is not bad fellowNrhattis to say, he is
not Intentionally 0f consciously bad
There are springs in his limbs which
keep him in perpetgal ypetiop, land the
devil of uproar Of which he Is possessed
dtters the earptefeihg :soundsIRhich an
nov his elders, GdS ihs dttafAhces Of
which he can no more. restrain than be
can keepdlisF bqotsrpr trousers from
wearing out In a ten acre lot, well
away from the house, the boy is pic.
turesque and Agreeable person; 1t is
lonly when one must, come into closer
contact with him thatsliis, presence caus-
|es suffering and suggests a statue to
King Herod. It is il cities that the boy
makes himself felt most aissgreeably,
and we fancy that the fault is not alto.
gether his. Z As,the steam vhieht bursts
boilers would be a perfectly harmless
yapor- -but-fer-the- sAati,- restraint that ia
put upon it, 80 the etfervescent boy be-
comes dangerous to social, order only
when be il. confined, when an effort Is
made, TO, compress him into smaller
space than the law Of his expansive be-
ing absolutely requires Webscnd him
upon the war-path by encroaehing upon
his hunting grounds; ;siwe drive him into
hostility by treating him as apublic en-
emy In'most of our. dealings with him
lin cities our effort is to suppress him,
land it is an unwise system. If his BALI
lplaying in the streets becomes an annoyl
ance, we simply forbid balI-playing in
the streets, and it is an inevitable con-
sequence that, deprived Of his ball, he
will throw stones at street lamps cor at
I,polieemerN What else is he to do 2.i; q
/ In.E Brooklyn, for example, whose
streets are long and wide, there was
thought to be room enough for boys,
and the inspiring rumble Of the -yeloci.
pede- was heard there until somebody
Eohjected, when astraightway the police
men were directed to arrest all ;machines
of that tcharacteI. whether with, two.
three or four, wheels found upon side.
walks. Now thls order we hold was not
only cruel, but it was i1nwise Ms Well
Without doubt the velociEedes were
source Of serious annoyance in 'ero wded
theroughfares, but they are not 80 In
streetsin which pedestrians are few, as
they are in fully one,half Of, Brooklyn's
thoroughfares Velocipede riding might
have been forbidden in the maih 'tfo!'
rouehfares and permitted in iessJ frer
| quented ones, aud the boy would have
1 been content; to forbid it. where ITS of-
tends nobody-merely for the sake of
preventing it where it, does offend--is
illogical and unjust, and, worse still, it
lis unwise. Tie boy car not be banisli.
ed or confined, and lacking lis yelocl.
pcde he will resort to Something more
annoying STILL, What it will be we do
not pretend to guess,sbut for its capac.
Iity to annoy we may safely trustTto the
4 boys ingenuity r-, -.
Speaking in all seriousness, it is not
well TO suppress the sports Of boys from
which they derive strengths and eheaIth
and manlyEigor of body We may,and
must regulate these things; but mere
suppression is. a, crude and tyrannical
method OF dealing with them Ih Bos..
ton, city Of notions, whose notions
are sometimes surprisingly wise and
good, care is taken to give the boys
4 room A sport which becomes annoy.
I ing is not suppressed, butts given ample
room in places where twill annoy least;
and when, for example, certain streets
are publicly, set apart, for coasting, as
they are in Boston every winter, the po-
! lice have no difficulty in preventing
coasting elsewhere The boy who NAV
ride his9sled or his velocipedea TO Ibis
hearts content in one street will not
care TO intrude uponsanother. We need
to adopt a likessystem in our larger cit.
les. The boys must have room, in which
Ito. exercise and grow II we do not
give it to them in one place they viii
, take 1t in another, to our sore inconye-
nience --Ne,U Tok Euening Post.