Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-11-08
PIE'rRO.
A Lesson for the Boys.
BY LUTHER BROWN.

Boys, when you shall have grown
to be men, you ought to be great
deal wiser than your fathers have
been, for two reasons first, because
most of you have had more care and
experience laid out on you than they
had, and, second, because you have
had q chance to see all the blunders
and mistakes they have made, which
are many and of course you ought
to be able to avoid them. You
should exercise your reasoning pow
ers more. You know that way over
10 China, they bind the feet of female
children SO they cannot grow, and
thus make cripples of them for no
better reason than that they always
did it /! Now, | am afraid your faith
ers have been doing some things
for no better reason than that they
had been done that way for long
time F; and this shows the power of
custom, or habit. Now, boys, you
know that difficulties often arise be.
tween men, and that here the people
have the power to choose their wis.
est men for judges, and give them
power TO hear and decide these diff
culties but as the Chinese have
bound the fee. of their children, so
have your fathers bound their Judges
with laws and customs, till it is as
impossible for them Gin many cases)
TO do Justice as it is for the infant
Chinese foot to grow to what it
ought to be. Now, boys, when you
shalt have grown TO be men, which
will you do-will you bind your
judges, or allow them to go back aud
search the records of former genera
tions to find how they shall decide
difficulty b-tween you; or will you
give them q few plain rules for their
guidance, and then require them to
exercise their reason and do Justice
between you?
This is an important question, for
on its decision hang the destinies of
untold thousands If you decide to
go on as your fathers have done,
thousands will be reduced to beggary
in the future, Gas they have been in
the past) by being run through ono
court after another, till they are as
effeotually stripped of their earthly
substance as ever a poor goose was
of her feathers. Now, boys, | will
ask you one question What would |
you think of man if you should |
find him trying TO haul load from
here to Lancaster with fettered |
horse ? The old horse would pull |
through in time, with moderate |
load, if well trained, but at an enor-
nous expenee for oats and waste of |
time-just as our judges will take o
case through all the courts, if they |
are hampered, but at an enormous I
waste OF time and money. And,
boys, suppose you inquire of the man
why he fettered the horse; and be
should tell You he was afraid (if he
was not hampered in some way) he
might uot keep the track, but would
be in danger of getting the wagon
out OF the old ruts. Now, this is
substantially the reason your fathers
give for hampering their judges.
They profess to believe that if they |
were left free to exercise their own
judgment and do justice. they might
stray from the old beaten track and |
upset the case. Now, boys, want
you to examine this subject well, and |
tell me which you think was the
wiser plan lettering the horse, or
hampering the judges and compelling
thom to 60 in the old ruts? 1t seems
they both got through with their
tasks all right but, in ono case, at
an enormous expense for oats and,
in the other, at q great waste of time
and money while the reasons given
for lettering the horse and hamper
ing the judges appear to be the
same.