The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-04-10

-AaNE-S IN ADCN A4AONhL WI AAODS'
In making few remarks the
other day, suggested by some speci
meus Of haudiwork from the Kane
hameha schools. we alluded briefly
to the very general tendency Of
young men to avoid occupations in
volying manual labor or any consid-
cradle amount Of physical exertion,
and to get their living by means Of
their wits. Bodily exercise Of a
severe, and even sometimes of an
exhausting kind, is considered all
right, provided it comes in the way
OF what is called "spOrt," and is not
done for pay The young man who
would despise walking a mile on a
good street to save fifty cents in
hack hire, Will tramp all day over
hills and through thickets, and carry
a gun to boot, for the chance of kill
ing a few birds. In many ways it is
constantly shown that it is not SO
much mere laziness and the fear Of
work which is responsible for the
tendency referred to, as it is a false
pride, fostered by the prevalence Of
certain unwhOlesome social cOndi-
tons, and a consequent desire to
avoid all occupations, which are not
''genteel"
In the complex organization of
modern society, industrial and COM
mercial, there must be, of necessity,
a considerable number of persons
who live by their wits, that is, in the
sense Of working with their heads
rather than with their hands. With
out such, the worlds business can
not be carried on. This kind of
work is quite as necessary as any
other, and somebody has got to do
it. Trying to 1--we by ones wits is
all right, therefore, provided the
wits are enough above the average
of others around us to Justify us in
so doing. The trouble has been,
that too many young people Of no
originality, no unusual force of char
acter, no intellectual gifts beyond
the unR75 ORDINARY and commonplace,
and no especial talent in any one
/ direction, have, upon the very mod
crate capital of a fairly good educa-
ton, neat penmanship, and pre-
sentable personal appearance, struck
out for such callings in life as
would minister to their social ambi-
ton, rather than for those for which
nature has designed them.
This tendency has seemed to be
quite as strong among the better
educated young Hawaiians, as
among the boys in America and
A. elsewhere, and with results quite as
unfortunate, if not more so. In a
large proportion of cases, those of
this class who have come upon the
stage Of active life within the last
/ dozen or more years, have shown a
contempt for such positions as they
could have easily obtained, and
which they were we'll qualified to fill,
and sought to make a living at
/ something moro intellectual > law
and politics for instance. Some of
these, who happened to possess a
natural aptitude for their chosen
avocations, have succeeded fairly
| well, and made creditable records
for themselves. In too many in
stances, however, the lawyer has de
generated into the tricky petit
logger, or what is known in some
places as a "shyster," and the would
be " statesman " turned out to be
only a more or less successful dema-
gogue, ready, at any time, to barter
his influence or his vote for place or
profit.
So general is the recognition of
this fact, that it has come to be
very common remark among those
foreigners who have lived here the
longest, and who know the country
and its people best, that the best
natiyes-the steadiest, the most in
dustrious, honest, and in every way
reliable-are the old natives men
and women of forty years of age and
upwards who were brought up under
the influences of a generation ago.
We have heard such remarks scores,
If not hundreds, Of times, and from
people OF different nationaIities and
of widely differing ideas in religion,
politics, and almost everything else.
In fact, there are not wanting those
who, looking only at certain unsatis-
factory results, and not stopping to
inquire if these are not largely due