The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-06-12
BILL ARp'S WEEKLY LETTER.
His Cpiaian rs 10 'ox Children Should Be
Brought Up.
A LITTLE WHIPPING is NECESSARY.
Unless Children A:e Made to Fear Pa
rents They Will Never Mako Good
Men and Women-Pun;. hment of
Boys at School.

Boys at School.
An esteemed friend requests that
write letter about how to raise q
family of children so that they will all
behave, the boys make good citizens,
good husbands, good fathers and the
girls make good wives and good moth
ers. els it possible to do ihis?" he
asks.
When the lawyers determine that a
thing cannot be legally done they say
it is "ultra vires," which means be-
yond strength. In the first place, it
is not possible to devise any plan or
method by which all children can be
raised or trained to do right and be-
have. It is ''ultra wires" and even if
it were possible, it is ultra wires"
with me to make it known. Ever since
the failure of Adam to raise Cain, this
thing of raising all the children to be
good has been an unsolved problem.
Whether the difference in children of
the same family is. due to the laws of
heredity or the doctrine of election or
| to different environments end associa-
tions or to the devil himself we can
not tell, but one or more of these
causes have been at work. My
wife and I were discoursing
about this last night and in all our ac-
quaintance of half century we could
not name single family of six or
more children of whom were good.
Anxiety and grief and trouble because
of childrensis the common lot. It be-
gan with Adam and came on down to
Noah and Jacob and David and Solo
mon, and yet these men had the spe-
cial favor of God and were blessed by
Him in every way except in the conduct
of some of their children. Poor old Eli,
the high priest and judge Of Israel. for
| forty years, was cursed with two bad
boys and God at the last cursed him
for not restraining them. "There
shall not be an old man in thy house
forever, and all the increase of thy
house shall die in the flower of their
age" Because his sons made them
selves vile and he restrained
them not What an awful curse
was thatl These sons of Belial!
/ This word means worthless, bad, naugh-
tY, vile, and fits many bad Boy in
our day. It is fact that reflects on
our sex that the. sons of Belial are
mentioned more than dozen times in
the scriptures, but there is no daugh-
ter of Belial. Gle restrained them
not" Well, the good old man did
talk to them and reprove them most
earnestly. "Why do We such things.
1t is no good report that hear. Ye
make the Lords people to transgress.
If one man sin against another the
Judge shall Judge him. but if a man
sin against the Lord who shall entreat
| for him?"
Iwonder what kind of restraint the
Lord expected or required of Eli. It
was not talking or pleading with
them, of course, for he did that. l
wonder if the old man dident expert
ment on the modern Atlanta plan OF
raising the boys on his love and their
honor, for fear of breaking their spir-
it's. 1t makes an old man very tired to
read the wise utterances of the mod
ern Solons against corporal punish
ment of bad boys in the public
schools. I had rather go and ask the
convicts in. the changing for an opin.
ion. Nine-tenths of them would say
began in disobedience and was notre
| strained. The lamentable fact is that at
least one-fourth of the boys at these
schools have no restraint at home and
if they are not punished at school they
| get it nowhere, and so these sons OF
| Belial go to the bad very early and
become victims to the rigor of the law
and the coui Is. There is many boy
| in these schools who is right now on
his way to the chaingang. These
| Solons say that corporal punishment
is brutal aud barbarous and MIDST give
away to the progress and refinement
of the age. About what time did the
Youths of this generation become better
i than those of half q century ago? Read
the daily papers and answes. How
| many houses in Atlanta arc in mourn
| Ing GecduSe VI tHC Dnse Sohu"S' "
their boys? What good results car
| come from expulsion of bad boy
from school? He is not wanted any
where by decent people, and so bs
associates with his kind and becomes
worse and soon comes to grief enc
and brings sorrow to his kindred.
| Obedience to law, to government, tt
parents is absolutely necessary for thu
peace and welware of society. Thi
obedience is enforced sm:ng had mel
by the.fcar OF the law. 1t carrot b.
enforced among bud boys except b.
fear of corporal punishment. Their
honor or their shame :stoo feeble fac
tor to be considered Obedience mus
begin early, even in infancy. My lit
tie two -year-oId grandchild loves +
play III the dirty coal boz. Caroline
you must not do that her ,uothe
says, aud enforces her command b
} slapping her little hands ard the
washing them, That is corporal pun
ishment, and is just as severe to th
little child as the rod is to the boy G
ten. and both are right and both effec
tual The enforcement Of obedienc
in early childhood saves all necessit