The herald., 1896-08-23
5 THE BOYS REPUBLIC !
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~ AhaSt VIC dPPuA Cit " ctGIy tuOuSAt-
ful and right-minded man or woman
that something must be done to save the
young. or our nation is doomed. In the
last decade Industrial and reform
schools have multiplied. While they
met great want and have accomplish
ed much Of good, they are yet made
quate to cope with the growing needs of
the hour. A constantly increasing pop
ulation. together with the financial
stringency Of the country. has left
them. as it has many other philanthrop-
ic institutions. unable to satisfactorily
meet and solve the problem.
Our Whittier school is full. our army
OF young candidates steadily increasing,
until we stand face to face with the mo-
mentous question, What shall we do
with our boys?" What shall we do?
Everything that tends to elevate and
ennoble, that will develop the young
into life of usefulness; our duty to seek
to help humanity to higher plane.
The question, what shall we do with
our boys and girls, must be squarely
met and answered. Immediate steps
must be taken to stay this almost daily
growth in the number of our street
Arabs. Unless wise and judicious
measures are adopted to turn this
stream into purer channels the waters
will have become thoroughly polluted,
and, too late. we will find vice, immo-
rality and crime have eaten out like a
cancer the life of the nation.
Thirty years ago the tramps of today,
deny it as we may, We're the JOY and
pride of many home; their innocent
prattle and boyish glee made glad the
household and lightened the labor of
love-whether from the homes of wealth
or the great middle and industrial class
es. Today these boys are the driftwood
of society; not by their own volition,
but by the. force of circumstances in
this enlightened (?) age. by this era of
inventive genius, force and power. The
wealth producing classes have been by
the usurpation Of their rights driven
to poverty and an almost industrial
servitude, with a pittance for their por-
ton. These toilers have been compelled
to keep body and soul together to place
their children at an early age at work to
earn their own livelihood, thereby de-
frauding them of lifes young days of
happiness and joy. Now the boys and
girls of the middle classes are being
forced from the schoolroom, not to
trades. but anything to do that will keep
the wolf from the door. AS the years
pass even the boys are forced out of en-
ployment by improved machinery (both
a blessing and curse). by the hordes of
foreign laborers shipped into the coun-
try to force down the wage of the toiler,
and our boys left to the streets tempta-
tions, to starvation and crime.
The whole industrial prospect resolves
itself into this: The tramps of the fu-
ture are the boys of the present" What
shall we do with them? Can, does
Whittier or any like institution meet the
real need? Some time ago I heard a
number of the Whittier graduates
whose term had expired. met in San
Francisco, many homeless, all of them
out of work, adding to the vast army OF
unemployed; work In sore demand by
the thousands Of capable and willing
workers throughout the states. yet
here were these boys. God help them!
In our city hundreds of these boys.
from to 16 years old. are wandering
the streets some with homes, but how
different, many orphaned, few vicious,
them any only mischievous, with an
abundance of surplus steam that must
find an escape valve, too often that
lands them at Whittier. These boys are
very much like the littele girl jaunting
with her parents in the San Bernardino
mountains this summer; realizing that
she was alone with nature she said:
Mama, may I scream? Oh, want to"
The mother, wisely giving her full per-
mission, asked why the request. How
sadly true came the little ones answer:
Because I wanted to know if you would
say l must not disturb the neighbors.
or like the little boy when his mama
begged him to be quiet while suffering
from a severe headache, sagely asked:
Mama, why is all that noise inside
me?" So all children long for that free
dom, that pent up longing within, to
give it full expression in glad shouts of
happy joy and laughter. thus expanding
the lungs which nature demands. what
these fun-loving, mischievous boys
need is a home-a home close to nature.
among the eternal hills, removed from
the city allurements and temptations.
A home in the broadest, fullest sense,
guided by kind. yet wise and judicious
management, and yet where they will
feel their own responsibility in building
that home establish their own republic,
enact their laws and instinctively, nat
urally, without compulsory law, become
law abiding citizens. There must be a
natural freedom for thought, voice and
limbs, where each can have full play,
yet so taught that others have rights
with themselves, demanding respect.
We believe that the restricting of the
natural life of child for an artificial
one is dangerous, and tends to destroy
the latent germs of true manhood and
womanhood duls the intellect, burns
out the fires of patriotism and leaves
him crushed in spirit. drwafed in intel
lect and blighted in life.
Into the hearts of few has come an
earnest longing, a strong desire to lift
these waits of our city to freer truer
and more natural impulse in life, to give
them the opportunity to round out their
own lives to build their own homes, es-
tablish their own republic and learn the
duties of citizenship by actual expert
ence. A republic built by their own
hands, reared by their own hopes and
aspirations will give them new incen-
tive to life and make grander and nobler
men and women.
The first step towards the accomplish
ment of our boys republic is land. Our
plan is not wholly an isolated one, for at
Freeville, N. Y, the George, Junior, re-
public, with its six years of experience,
it's 200 citizens from 12.to II years of age.
has become an established fact 1t has.
to us. the originators of the boys repub-
lie many grave and Objectionable fea-
lures; we say originators because our
plans were thought out years ago. have
been slowly shaping themselves and
reached the present stage before we ever
heard of the young republic in New
York.
As we have said, the first thing to be
secured in building our republic is land.
That is already in sight, and only waits
the helping hand of those whose means
make it possible to start this grand
scheme in our own county. We have
in view, about so miles from Los Ange-
les, a ranch of 100 acres, on a beautiful
mountain slope, overlooking a lovely