The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1896-12-31
WORK THE BASIS OF ETHICS.

WORK THE BASIS OF ETHICS.
Some one has said Happy is he who
has found his work. 1t is sentiment
with which the average man has little
sympathy. He regards work as his
natural enemy, and works hardest to
evade work.
Notwithstanding its general unpopu-
larity, work is the great friend and the
great benefactor of mankind. Nature
was all good and all-wise when she i'm
planted in the world the necessity of
labor. 1t has been to man as tender
mother, who brings only good gifts to
her children.
The idea of the value and Importance
of work in the evolution of society is
gaining ground. Philosophers havelong
been pointing out this truth, and the
world is at length beginning to recog-
niZe it.
The current number of the 'Forum"
contains an article by William FerrerO
on the subject of work and morality.
The writer takes, and ably defends, the
position that ''the habit of methodical
work is the basis of all ethics He
maintains that violent impulsiveness is
a characteristic of primitive and savage
people, and that serenity and equanlm-
ity are characteristics OF civilized
peoples. This process of civilization,
the tanning of man, he believes to have
been brought about through the whole
some influences of methOdical work.
The explanation of the theory is that
violent impulsiveness is the effect of
all excess of unemployed mental energy,
and that methodical work gradually
discharges this excess exactly as a
lightning conductor gradually dis
charges the electric energy of cloud.
In proof of his argument he cites that
familiar phenomenon of atavism, the
incapacity for work noted in criminals.
He believes their criminal instincts to
he a direct result of the lack of regular
employment.
Capacity for work he regards as the
only means of saving a man from de-
spair and suicide at critical moments,
because it is the only thing that will
lessen the insistence of painful
thoughts which weaken the will-power.
Does the experience of the individual
and of society justify this view? 1t
seems to enforce it. Every worker
knows that he is healthier and happier
at work than otherwise, and that a
holiday brings ennui and dissatisfac-
ton. This is naturally so, for several
reasons. Work conduces to health be-
cause it strengthens the tissues, quick
ems the vivifying current of the blood,
and keeps the machinery of life in good
conditions. 1t is conducive to happi-
ness because it counteracts morbid
tendencies, and because, moreover, the
? normal use of any faculty is in itself
? pleasurable.
! Consciously or unconsciously society
: is progressing to this standpoint. Mod
Q ern penal institutions are based upoI
J. methodical work, and the object is mo-
: only, and primarily, punishment, but
Y rather, reform. Wholesome, activ'
9 employment is the essential in tn
:. modern treatment of the insane. Worl
O is also the fundamental principle o
the new education. The child is edu
e Gated, as the race has. been educated
y by the actual use of his senses an
It faculties, and the habit of right-doln
It takes the place of the appeals to fea1
q love and conscience which formerl
u constituted moral education.
ID Mrs. Browning says in Aurora Leigh
is sect work; be sure tits better than wha
1t you work to get" The subjective il
IN fiuence of wholesome occupation
h. better than the lures of fame or To-
m tune which incite us to effort. "Blesse
~ be drudgeryv' It is the safeguard
or society.-Minneapolis Times.