The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1882-08-24
a Theory on Spanking.

by Bill Nye.
An eastern exchange, edited by an
old maid, says:
"Never whip children just before they
retire to rest. Let the fathers caress,
the mothers kiss, be the last link be-
tween days pain or pleasure, and the
nights sleep. Send the children to bed
happy. If there is sorrow, punishment,
disgrace, let them meet it in the day.
time, and have hours Of play and thought
in which to recover happiness. Let the
weary feet, the busy brain, rest in bed
happy" : !
E'That's all right, of course, to some
extent We used to talk that way before
we were a parent. We knew good
deal more about children anyhow before
we had to grapple with them than we do
now. We used to be a greater stick
Ter for. moral srasion and, love
and parental gush than, we are now,
Our theory now in relation to children
is changed from what it was formerly.
We maintain now, after several years.
study of the primary biped, that there is
Il style Of child that cannot 60 to sleep at
night unless spanked.
We have in our mind child ofmascu-
line style of architecture, who will lie
and sob. kick the clothes oHand be mean
aud restless for two hours@if you forget
about him, but if you 60 and turn down
the coverhd and fan his person with an
ovcrshoe he will quiet down and be
asleep in five minutes.
He is not to blame for being the victim
to this habit, but he is that way, and he
can't help it. He is tied to his spank
just as you, gentle reader, are tied to
your maturer habits.
Strange freaks do often rowinto' con-
tirmed habits that are almost impossible
to shake off. Children are often the
victims of strange and unnatural customs
like older people.
This child, for instance, did not at
first apparently care whether he had his
spanking at p. m. or earlier, but later
he was SO regular in bis demand for COR
poreai punishment that you could set
your watch by him. He was also at
..tached to certain, style of arctic over
shoe that you couldn't accomplish any,
thing by padding him with any other
style of clastisement. Love is good
thing, and we often wish that more of it
had been lavished on us during our past
life, but after all. there are no children
who do not yearn for affection half as
much as they do for armed aggression.
OF course your conscience smites you at
intervals when you 60 past the little bed
after the conflict is over and peace and
slumber are the victors. Something
may come UP in your throat when YOU
sec the little rebel lying with his feet on
the pillow and his head down at the foot
of the cot, and a little tear on his eye
lashes. J, You feel, perhaps, as though it
looked like taxing ali Undue advantage
for 200-pound man to catch six-year-
old boy; when he is unprepared and
paddle him with all over-shoe, and yet
sometimes it has to be done.
We know that in our own case corpo-
real punishment was resorted to while
all the other members of the family es-
capped with anbr;l ,suasion. The re-
SUIT is just What might have been ex-
Ipected: We are the only one of all the
promising collection of boys whose
.promssory notes have gained q world
wide, cTcukttion to:day.s While thesoth-
er boys were content to plod along and
run up little petty accounts at the stores