The Arkansaw traveler. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1882-1???, 1889-06-15
Occupation a. a Moral Force.
baltimore Sun.


moral force is not always recognized
as il should be. Yet occupation that
brings no material reward, and is, by
comparison with work, the merest
trif ing, may be, ii innocent In itself,
moral force simply because II keeps
the irdividual out of temptations and
gives employment to his energies.
Idltness Is fruitful breeder of mis-
chief The mind, If not the body,
must be at work during idle hours.
1t is difficult to conceive Of a period
of inaction for the brain except during
sleep or insensibility. Thoughts come
unbidden; they may be mischievons
or merely idle, but occupation sup
plants them with other thoughts re-
lating TO the work or play in which
one is engaged or stirs the mind TO
speculation or planning. 1t is not
possible, even though 1t might appear
to be desirable, to keep men at work
during all their waking hours. They
must have rest and recreation, and Ii
is during this period that they need
some occupation, harmless in itself,
to keep them out of mischief. 1t is
for these otherwise idle hours that
good amusements should be provided
books or papers to be read, societies,
literary entertainments, concerts and
theatrical performances Of an improv-
ing kind to be attended. In great
city many of these needs of humanity
are furnished by business men to meet
q want as real as that for food and
clothing. But there are many who
have not the means to avail themselves
of such occupation as lie thus provided
for idle hours, and for such rs these
oharitable'people establish free hbrar-
les, schools and other places for self
Improvement. Some of the working
mems clubs and similar bodies go
further than this and furnish gymna-
Sums and rooms for various games,
recognizing that occupation for idle
hours is the main thing and that 1t
must be of q kind contrasting with
the daily labor of the individual to be
benefited. The clerk may find amuse-
ment in manual labor or in violent
exercise the mechanic, who has had
enough II both, Is better satisfied
with book or game that calls only
for mental exertion. A literary
society meeting in the school house or
church furnishes occupation for the
thoughts of members not merely dur
ing the few hours devoted to the
meetings, but for many hours in pre-
paration thereof. 1t may also furnish
the foundation for small circulating
library of books or papers that will
provide reading matter, giving useful
occupation for other spare hours.
From such beginnings in the course
of time may be developed q lecture
bureau, bringing to town or village
occasional speakers from abroad. All
such enterprises, undertaken In the
right spirit, have undoubted educa-
tional and moral value. In the smaller
cooperative bodies work on the part
of the members takes the part of
money capital. A lazy village may
be transformed by such an institution !;
the young men, instead of idling away
their hours of rest in useless or mis-
chievous gossip at the country store
or the wheelwright's, may have their
ambitions aroused, be encouraged to
read and study, and thus be given
occupation that will keep them out of
mischief and promote their mental
and moral welfare. Many Of the great
men of the country received their
earliest impulses to study in societies
of this kind. The educational value
of the exercises may have been limited,
but the readings, the debates and other
literary endeavors stimulated q desire
- -