Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1883-08-30
A Plea. for the Idle Man

ldleneSs, we admit. in its general and
commonly accepted sense, is sin and
disgrace, to any man who can be just
| ly accused of it. But it is not in its
general and commonly accepted sense
that we are considering it. The idler
| with whom we wish to deal is he who
can afford to be idle, and who in being
SO is neither a tax nor burden of any
sort upon his fellow men; in fine, the
nan who has the heart to allow himself
leisure and cares more for the pleasure
il can give than for that obtainable in
the continuous acquisition OF money. We
contend that there are oilers and
ldlers; in short, the class of dO-noth-
ings who do nothing, and another class
OF do-nothings (whO are such from
business point of view, who do good
deal that is useful and beneficial in
their own way whose existence is as
necessary for the well being of u COM
munity and the encouragement and adj
yancement of art, science, literature,
and social refinement in its midst, as is
the existence of the brain-racked labor
ious energetic business men, for its ex-
tension of commerce, conversation of
mercantile greatness and accumulation
of wealth. We ask this: Is not q man
with fair faculties and the power to be
idle without drifting into slothfulness,
intemperance and vice, equal in his own
way, mentally, to a man in business who
possesses the same faculties? Now, let
US consider the question fairly and
squarely, and see what there is in it.
First of all, he who is able to do exactly
as he likes, pleases himself, and in do
ing so, having no selfish ambitions to
crafty, or Earring jealousies of business
success to cramp his good will, he stays
good tempered and generous, and is
pleasant and agreeable to others. If he
has pretty wife he takes time to look
at her, and to notice the bloom on her
cheek, the light in her eye, and the wave
of her hair. His time is not so engross-
ed with the piling up of dollars and
cents that he must needs leave her to
the admiration of other and less busy
men. He comes down to the breakfast
rather late it may be, but smiling, neat
and well-dressed, and clearly, too, for
he has had time to indulge in a bath.
He reads his paper slowly, as careful
" prepared newspaper is entitled to be
read; he halls with delight the announce
ment of q new book, and talks of it to
his wife. He is the first to notice the
budding green leaves of joyous spring,
and to welcome the first carols of the
returning birds; he has time to admire
the beauties and workings of nature,
and profit by their. lessons; he has time
to look at the last painting which a
promising young artist has on exhibit
ton in his studio, and to say few COM
mandatory or advisory words to him to
encourage him in his upward struggle
to fame; for idler though he be he has
had time to study art and car talk
knowingly about it; he has time to read
the last poem, to examine the last dis
covery in science, or the last invention
in mechanics, though there be appar-
emily no money in either; to consider
the political questions of the day in all
their aspects and bearings, and to vote
intelligently upon them when required;
he has time to find out where his words
can cheer, his hand uphold and his
purse relieve; he has time to eat, to di-
gest, to sleep, to live, to be a man and
a good citizen, and he can do all with
out the dread of its interfering with his
business. The man who can vary his
pursuits, anu Has IIIle IOI efcI IuIHS
for himself, his home, his wife, his
children, his friends-alone knows what
it is to live, and to feel that the genuine
pursuit of happiness does not lie in mon
ey getting. His happiness is not de-
pendent upon a boom in stocks, nor
does .'a break all along the line'' mean
torture and misery for him. He cares
not if there be a corner in wheat, or q
shrinkage in the wool crop, for what
matters either to him, individually? The
one may add few cents to his monthly
barrel of flour, or the other cut him one
suit short from his tailor, but what OF
it? He can stand it and be able to
laugh besides. His hair is not gray
with care, nor his brow furrowed with
anxiety. He has no ships at sea, nor
mortgages to foreclose, no notes to meet,