The leader., 1895-09-03
SAM JONES' LETTER.
Times of Stringency and Their
Effect on Moral Character.
The Unemployed Young Men In Our Cities
--ldleness, Had Company. Debauchery
nd Ruin Follow One Upon the
Other Very Rapidly.
COPYRIGHT. 1898.

laborers of all classes have been TUNED
out of employment, but there is not
phase of American life which has been
affected more hurtfully by the strin-
gency than the young manhood Of
America.
OF the thousands of young men in the
great cities and towns Of our country
some have lost their place on account
of shrinkage in business, and then
thousands of young men who have
come out of the schools and homes all
over the land in the past few years,
have not been able to find employment.
These have flooded the cities with un-
employed young men, and their very
idleness is proving their ruin. A man
may afford to be idle, but boy never.
Idleness, bad company, debauchcry and
ruin follow one upon the other as nat
urally as January, February, March,
April and May follow each other as
months of the year.
The shrinkage in values of lands, of
fortunes in money is not the worst eff
fects of these times of stringency, for
money is not the best thing in the
world.
A man may retrieve his fortune, but
1t is hard to pull young man back
from crime and debauchery to pure
manhood.
If all the idle young men in our
great cities and towns were marshalled
into line there would be an army inn
mense. Many of them have sought
employment in vain; many of them
choose to be idle, supported by their
parents and nometimes by the needle
| of the ovcrworked, patient, good
mother. ! have very little hope of the
young man who is idle from choice. l
have profound sympathies for the
thousands of young men who have
sought employment and who are un-
able to find it, and the forced idleness
is proving their ruin. No use talking
about a young man doing nGtAiag. He is
going to do something. If he can't go
up he will go down. If he can't serve
In the office or store he will serve the
devil in the saloon or gambling he'll
or shameless house.
1t is with pleasure that l look upon
the coming prosperity, because it will
bring employment TO the thousands of
young men throughout the country;
clerks, stenographers, civil engineers
and scores of other positions and occu-
pations will open up, and soon all our
boys who want work can get it. Then
know the good old mothers wiH
breathe easier and feel better about
the boy of their heart. The man who
looks upon the youth of our country
with no concern is not patriot. The
boys of to-day will be the men of to-
morrow. Their character as men will
be determined by their character as
boys. There ought to be more SER
mons preached, and more pens used in
the discussion of the question: What
to do With young American 1t may
be the bi syble will solve the problem
say what you please about the bicycle
with their Sunday rides and so on
the bicycle beats the saloon, and
gambling-hell or a bawdy house. The
boy had much better be riding a
bicy cle than lettering around in
groups and crowds smoking cigarettes
and joining in with the crowd whose
stock in trade consists of smutty jests
and indecent conversation.
would love to see the moral census
Of the young manhood of this country
taken, the age, the occupation, the life
and habits of each boy IN all lines. /
think by this means we could wake up
the country to the necessity of doing
something for the boys.
My heart is continually drawn out to
the boys because of their mothers.
have talked to thousands of mothers,
and they have talked to me about their
boys. Scarcely does mother ever en-
ter into conversation with me about her
boy but what tears soon come to her
eyes. If her boy is good she is crate
full, but she is uneasy about him be-
cause of hls surroundings. If he is
bad, she seeks by every means to obtain
information and help by which her boy
can be checked and brought back to
| purity and then to manhood.
Boys start to ruin much earlier than
we think. Boys six, seven, eight and
Ten years old in the great cities are
rnined before they get out of short
pants, frequently. 1t is thousand
times easier to guide boy rightly than
It is to recover boy when he is far
gone in vice and wiclsedncss. The hope
of the boys in this country is constant
| employment, and these coming times of
prosperity, whatever they may do for
| fortune and pocket, trust that they
shall bring employment to every young
man in America, and thereby secure for
him an immunity from the evils which
idleness and Incidence bring to every
| human life.
It is the duty of every railroad, every
manufactory, every corporation and
every business to employ the young
men of our land.
1t is a thousand times better that
three boys of home have employment
and their father, who has labored SO
long for them. be idle, than that the
father, who labored day after day and
year after year and by his labor con-
tinues to support the three idle boys.
and thereby furnishing them with the
sure meals Of destruction and ruin.
From millionaire to pauper, the boys OF
/ the home ought to be students in school
/ or laborers At something.
| Useful and rational employment Is
the very basis of manhood and the
surest protection against wreck and
| ruin.
The qnoItion of the employment OF
<s,u v.,..usS man calls forth <ba hnei