The Irish standard., 1889-04-13
WHO Is RESPONSIBLE?
An Attempt to Fix the Response.
bility for the American Dude.
A Student OF Social Topics Exoneratoa
Fathers and Mothers and Ventures to
Hurl a Terrible Accusation at the
Giddy Girls of the Period.

Giddy Girls of the Period.
In the whole galaxy of mortal perplexl-
ties there is none more perplexlng than
that of fixing the responsibility for the
dude. says Munsey's Weekly.
The creature exists in every land, with
the possible exception of England, where
those who would be dudes if they were per-
mitted to, go into the army. There is no
such leisure class in England as there is IN
this country To be sure, there are Dukes and
Marquises and Barons and Lords, but these
men are not dudes, because they have du-
ties to perform, which admit the Alneri-
can dude has not. They represent an idea,
which the American dude does not They
are part ola system-the American dude Is
a part Of a disorder, he represents chaos IN
It's completest form, he is q confused con-
glomeration of trousers, flesh, cravats,
blood, bone and shirt collar; purposeless,
incapable Of thought, his life one hopeless
round of tailors' bills, cocktails and Gig
arettes
Who is responsible for him?
have heard it said that his father IS re-
sponsible for him, but it has always seemed
to NE that this is not q just assertion. Fri
1narily responsible for him, no doubt, is the
father of the dude, yet in these days when
the struggle for existence is so fierce a
fight, when even death itself entails an ex-
pense 80 great that it deters the man of
moderate means from committing suicide,
when the cost of Twin g seems overwhelm-
ing, what opportunity is there for the
father to direct his sou in the proper path
toward the goal Of mediocrity which must
now be regarded as the limit of the dudes
capacity? How can the father in these
days, when decent poverty is the lot Of him
who but ten years ago would have been &C
counted wealthy, spare q moment of his
time to see that his boy is cast in the mold
of manhood Is it not too much for the
parent to devote time to the education Of
his son when time is SO valuable a COM
modity-does not the father, indeed, do all
that can be expected of him when he al
lows the boy $4,000 year on which to
bring himself up?
the dude. If he does not give his personal
attention, he gives him it's cash equivalent
and his conscience is clear.
Others say the mother is responsible Tor
the dude.
am loath to believe this.
The shoulders of the mother must not be
overburdened by sogreat a responsibility as
this. How can an observing person who
knows the ways of the mother OF tile dude
reach so absurd conclusion? Is it not clear
to sll men of experience that the dudes
mother IS quite as busy, and as hopelessly
busy, too, as the dudes father? When we
consider the ceaseless round Of social duties
that devolve upon this beautiful matron,
when we think of all the calls to be made,
f17 noc nd Of
teas, the cotillions, the theater parties to be
engineered, the parties of young people to
be chaperoned, the balls TO be patronized
the amateur theatricals TO be supervised,
the number of establishments, town house,
country house, mountain lodge, shooting
box, not to mention the yachts and house
boats to be looked after, how can we, say,
when we consider all these things, add to
the weight upon the maternal shoulders by
making her responsible for tine idiosyn-
crasies of her son? Her horses must be
exercised in the afternoon, her opera box
must be occupied at night, her dress-rnaker
must be seen IN the early morn-surely the
mother has not q moment to devote to the
adolescent dude, and how can she be held
responsible for him when she has nothing
to do with him?
Again the theorists are fallible. The
mother, no more than the father, is re-
sponsible for this curious freak of nature.
Tins leaves but two possibly responsible
persons to be considered-thed dudes nurse,
or the girl Of the period. The nurse is
quickly disposed of, because, after attaining
his majority, the, average dude has no use
for d nurse. He breaks away from her,
hires valet, on VIII ON no responsibility de-
wolves further than that of keeping the
dust out Of his masters wardrobe and see
lug that his shoes are removed when he
goes to bed in the early morning. The
nurse must be absolved of responsibility.
So we come to the proper solution Of the
problem. Tie girl of the period is respou-
sible for the dude. This conclusion may
not be disputed, for it can not be denied
that If the girl Of the period were to insist
upon something better than small talk,
were to discoupten ance the cigarette school
of philosophy upon which are based so
many of Mr.. Edgar Sd4tus' alleged studies
of society, were to insist upon higher idea
of life than that which holds as its aim the
running up of tailors' bills and the sucking
of cane handles in club windows, il indeed
the modern girl, whom we all love IN spite
of her faults, were to discourage tie dude
in his chaotic inanity and refuse to uphold
aim longer, deserving him for the man OF
true ideals, Of lofty ambition, OF brains, the
dude would no longer exist, for the instinct
of self preservation would Lead him to kill
himself off.
This is no doubt parado1ical
It is none the less true.
TOLD BY SENATORS.
Two Stories illustrating Prairie floral,