St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-08-30
AN ENEMY AT OUR GATES.

In a recent editorial article in the
priDgfeld Republican having refer
nee to the work of mischief makers
4 d that beautiful "city of homes" are
aggestiOns of practical nature that
III II apply to almost any large town or
ity fellow. The writer, speaking of a
ecently published sermon by DIR. Bar
ID of Boston upon these young barba-
ans, says =
4 This venerable preacher illustrated
rs subject by this personal expe-
zzence =
4 Being mostly humble pedestrian in
ny mode of daily exercise, and not
ted in a close carriage above the shot
s,f these Yankee and Irish Arabs, more
old and saucy than any Paris gamins,
have myself, for many reasons, been
spOted at, scOrned for my looks or
#ffess, called names, affrOnted for be-
Ag old in winter snOw-balled, and
ometimes, from a dark nook or CO.
4ert on the sidewalk, struck or kicked
~ one or another small coward, who
Gould instantly, for cOncealmeDt or
&AfOtectiOn, retreat into the intrench
tents of a dozen scamps of his own
Dior, Obdurate against the expOstula
ION, and who, if their victim said a
lord or made a motion at the injured
,hrty, were ready to renew and rub in
kAe affrOnt.
Let the reader ponder we'll this pict
zlre-this noble old man, whose lofty
ROW and piercing blue eyes and snow
7Fhite locks have all the dignity of an
shcient prophet, thus prosecuted in
he city of the Puritans, and under the
zShadOw of the state-house. Let that
=picture stand up for type of the mis-
thief we have to face and to subdue.
That mischief, in broad terms, is the
Reconciliation of a considerable part
|of our juvenile population. 1t is a
shlatter not for Outbursts of exaspera
<tion as against a cloud of active mos
.quitOes, but for very cOnsiderate atten-
lion and very resolute action. 1t is
not necessary to fall back on the doc
Brine of total depravity, or to take de-
Il pairing views. But we must recOg
hize that here is a most serious prob
lem. To trace all the causes of the
|evil would take us deep into the springs
of national life. There has been an in
lux of foreign elements, materialism
bred by the fierce competitive struggle
for subsistence and for advancement,
ia weakening of the old religious
|sanctiOns along with loss of faith in
the old creed. The principle of au
|thOrity has been weakened, in the state
and in the family. Obedience is not
|inculcated as it used to be. The tie of
the family is weaker. Or, to speak
Justly, while part of our society has
Progressed, and abOunds in the family
and individual life than which none
WAS ever sOunder or sweeter-these
benefcent influences have almost
wholly failed to reach other great
Glasses, in which freedom has run in
to license and lawlessness.
Matthew Arnold said that the weak
est spot in our national character was
want of reverence. 1t must be con-
sfessed that our newspapers and our
common talk abound in spirit which
tends to dissolve in the young all sober
regard and respect. What can be ex-
pected among people which delights
in such stuff as "Peck's Bad Boy"
Our very good nature lends itself to
abuse. "Let the boys have a good
time" is the apology for turning Fourth
of July into a pandemOnium.
However they came to be, here are
our young barbarians on our hands.
What is to be their future and our flu
ture which is bound up with theirs
What sort of voters are they going to
make, and what kind of government
will be built on such material What
sort of wOrkmen are they likely to be-
come, and what will be the issue of
"labOr troubles" in which they make
an element What kind of neighbOrs
will they be to our children7
We are speaking of evils which are
fully developed in only small ele
ment of our population, but which can
no more be confined there than small
pOx and diphtheria can be forbidden
to spread by cOntagion. And the reck
lessness, insOlence and mischief which
in their worst forms become open
crime, do already as an ineipient ten
dency pervade our juvenile class to an
alarming extent. We shall hereafter
suggest some special measures of treat
ment for the disease. But the first es-
sential is that every good citizen should
recognize the disease as a fact, and a
fact of the gravest Importance. 1t is
vastly more important than most of
the political questions on which we
spend so much sound and fury. Wheth
er the average rate of protective du-
ties shall be 40 or AZ per cent,-wheth-
er Mr.. Cleveland or Gen. Harrison
shall be president,-how deeply do
these questions really concern our well
fare, compared with the questions how
our rising generation is to be rid oil
the infection of barbarism