The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-18
OUR BOYS-PAPER NO. 8.

The industrial problem Tor our boys is hv
means the only ore. "All work and no PLAY
makes Jack dull boys There is such thing
as working boy too hard. There are many In
stances of this in the country, and few III
towns and cities. Unless the mental and moral
faculties are developed. continued hard work
brutalzes boy or man. What man of learning
and culture who cannot recall some playmaie of
bis boyhood gifted in every way as web as hs.
but whose whole life has been that of drudge
one whose development has been wholly physi-
cal, and into whose life the light of mental aai
roral culture never shone. What mother, now
the angel of happy Preside, who cannot resa.l
the bright face of some little girl who in natural
gifts, excelled her associates, but whose fate,
like that Of Maud Muller, has been one If tie
lowest drudgery. Filled by nature TO shine as
an intellectual light, she is now the life cam-'
panion of some man whose development is mot
above that of the animal Such instances las-
press Us with the full meaning of the lil!es:
'0f all sad words of tongue or pen
The saddest are these 1t might have been
would not be understood as referring To the
millions of the honest yeomanry of our land
who toll, day after day, for their daily bread
and who find but little time for anything els.
look upon the contented laborer as model
citizen. But the American laburer should be IN
telligsnt. He should read books aid papers.
Like the ''village Blacksmith of Longfellow,
he should possess all the virtues that exalt mas-
hood. His home should be one where love AMI
oil the graces that adorn human character are
found The wage workers of our land are the
bone and sinew Of the government. They ara
1o1
help the weaker members up TO higher mode
of living Wherever they have expressed them-
selves they have favored compulsory education.
greater attention to home duties, temperance
and religion. The most eloquent appeal for
temperance ever read was that deliv-
cred by General Master Workman
Powdery, the present head OF the
Knights of Labor. / rejoice to see these
indications of general uplifting of the life Of
the men who toll. Who has not heard this ex-
cuse given for some neglect in duties to the chill
drenE Poor people have poor ways" This Is
not and should not be true Such doctrines
would soon reduce the working classes to tha
level of the peasantry OF France or the exserfs
OF Russia. The peculiar glory Of republic is
that its social institutions prevent this. QUE
grand system of common schools, without cost,
educate the children Of the rich and poor alike
The various public libraries are open TO ALL The
district school debating society develops latens
oratory and teaches the youth to assert and de-
fend their rights in public assemblies.
Never before was the white House" SO close
ly connected with the poor mans cottage as now.
So many are the avenues open to the humblest
child that political economists are beginning to
consider humble birth O good fortune IL wa
could but read the future, doubt not but that
the boys who are to be our future Presidents ara
to-day in humble circumstances. Give boy,
the son of poor but respectable parents, the cdu-
cational advantages to which he is entitled and
he is at no disadvantages
Boys need more home life less street life:
more home amusements, less street amusements,
more attractive home reading and home instruc-
ton, and less of the instruction derived from
street associations. To supply this to their chill
dren would have most sautary influence on
parents. 1t would keep the father away from
the grog-shops and gambling dens. His efforts
to brighten his home would react on his own ma
ture and fill it with sunshine. He should iay
aside the cares OF the day at the threshold, aud
give up the evening hours to the sweet compan-
ionship of his wife and his children The duty
of frightening her home would Danish the lines
of care from the face of the mother, and hl her
whole being with food of happiness The en-
tire family would then feel that
"Be it ever so humble,
There is no place like home.'
The children of neglect, as rule, become the
children OF crime. It was Daniel O'Connell who
said. '"rhe eye of the master fattens the horse"
Mankind gives the literal Interpretation Of this
has so much skill been applied as in the develop
mont of the modern horse. The speed attained
is simply prodig0us. The average parents will
go from twenty to hundred miles to witness q
horse-race, when they could not be induced to go
one square to attend school examination of the
class of which their own children were mem
bers. smuggling match between two prize
fighters will draw q larger audience than cha
State oratorical contest between the brightest
youths OF various colleges. We need to ex-
~ achievements
above those of brute force Let social science
keep pace with the strides of natural science
Let the greatest deeds of craftsmanship be those
that will improve the home-life of the people
For it is true that whatever would haya
prominent in nations life must be taught in the
homes of its people-homes where the injuctious
of parents are strictly obeyed; for we can never
hope that our children will respect and obey law
unless they taught obedience at home.
One of the most desirable things in life is that
each father be the owner of his own home This
can never be attained, but it might be approx
mated far more than at present Ii were able
/ would have each family own in fee simple q
home and | would make it impossible to seli.ik
unless to purchase another The glory Of land
is in the fact that its people own their awn
homes. In England there are but about 30,000
land owners, while in free America there are over
q. 600, 900 Let the labor unions strive for this
Let piilan;hropists advocate it. Let the foster
ing hand OF the government ever be extended tn
aid 1t. Then each man, when the tolls of the
day are DER, might sit under "his own vine and
he tree Let eities boast not so much in their
vast blocks of business houses, their elegant
streets where stand the palatial mansions Of tho
rich: their vast manufactures which are so de-
sirable, but rather in the long streets Of little
cottages, where the poor may have separate and
comfortable homes. Let the money which now
goes for drink be put into those best of all mod
ern organizations. the building associa-
tons, which are doing work that few
comprehend. They enable the laboring-
man TO secure home for his family Home
life, TO be productive of the greatest happiness
requires that there should be no moving days
Children who are moved each year from house
to house. never form the attachments for home
that they should form. The ballad, "Woodman
Spare that Tree" could never have been written
by man whose boyhood had been ION wheelsn
s'The Old Oaken Bucket "Do They Miss Ne
ar Home or aver, .srrha Cranou Eisrarn suouId