The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1878-01-24
What Shall We Do with the Boys!

NE qutStlOH Is dShcu anu pOliutIcu
over in thousands of homes to-day,
"What shall we do with these boys of
ours?' 1t is a question of grave i'm
portance to the individual and to the
people, The individual is interested
in the prospect of employment con-
genial to his taste, and the people at
large interested that whatever that may
be he shall fill the position well. 1t
would be particularly fortunate if the
parents of every boy were sufficient
judges of his character as to correctly
prognose his future success in the field
selected. But very often the parental
eyes are blinded by ambitious desires
for their sons not in keeping with their
own lives and beyond the reach of the
boys. The mother has an ambition to
see her son in the minister's desk; and
the father, that he may be an eloquent
advocate or eminent in medicine-all
well enough if the tastes, habits and
the weight of brain will make the ex-
pertinent certain success. But the
fact is patent to every one that the
world is full of poor preachers and
poorer doctors and seedier lawyers. So
full that we groan with bad laws,
HE THEOLOGY. The chances are about
ono in a bnndrad that vonr con will find
eminence and usefulness in either of
the learned professions. There are a
great variety Of trades and if he has
mechanical genius and an inclination
in that direction, there can be no mis-
take in selecting one as a means
dreds of GOOD mechanics have
been snoiled bv ATTEMPTS to make
them professional men: and as
many good farmers have been made
into bunpling mechanics. The d;sposi-
ton of parents to hunt some easy occu-
patton. and the disposition of the bows
to select clerksbips and crowd into
cities. and throw themselves into the
excitements of trade. is a neculiaritv of
the times and To he denrecated as a
great evil Every advertisement for a
bookkeeper or salesman has hundred
applicants. They come. eager and
anxious. Young men. strong and yipor-
Gus, willing to sit at the desk for ten to
fifteen hours, and old men with gray
hairs, who have been all these years
driving through the dreary round of
the counting-room, with merely enough
to support life, their manhood often
crushed out by overbearing and I'M
scrupulous employers. 1t IS the ex-
perience of thousands that it is next
thing to an impossibility in great city
for man to lay by money upon the
salary of an ordinary clerk. Then for
uOr,nnr ~, ~, tho v;oas ood +a,,,,+ot;onc
are such that before he is aware they
have fastened upon him and crushed
out every noble impulse. Not a season
that our State and National capitals
are not besieged with active, energetic,
strong young men, anxious for clerk
ships in the departments, and who seem
to think their happiness will be COM
plete winning such prize. The fine
dress, and white hands, and toy canes,
theaters, and amusements have a
glamour and a fascination for them,
but every stool and desk at Washington
has skeleton grinning sorrowfully at
its occupant.
Among this number seeking official
position are hundreds raised in the
country, used to labor, and had they re-
NAMED and taken the slow but sure
methods, would have acquired a COM
petence and been men of influence, and, |
what is far more to be valued, would |
have acquired such habits of life and
thought as to make life full of blessing |
here and full of hope hereafter. The |
last thing on earth a good man should |
wish for his son is clerkship in pub
liz of4soa ord - 20 81, oct nc koJ 70 oonJ |