New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-08-01
"THE NAN WITH THE HOE
QUESTION OF HIS RESPONSIBILITY FOR
HIS CONDITION


HIS CONDITION.
To the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir Would 1t be possible through your paper
10 gain an expression Of the opinion nelo oy
women in general on that topic so widely ais
cussed Of late, The Man with the Hoe
Interest in the subject is not confined to those
able To make literary artistic criucisrn'
women who are students Of the most elementary
psychological and sociological questions are seek
ing to know how much OF the blame for The
Man's' condition ought really to be thrown
upon the man himself There seems to be in
Mr. Markhar's verse no recognition Of an ooi-
CATION on the part OF each individual to assume
share Of the responsibility of his own Intellect
uaI Advancement Regard, II you will. the man
with the hoe" as a type of his class. ana mat
class Of the lowest social order he surely can
not be Invested Of some responsibility for his
own condition. Then is society wholly 70 Diane
for the existence Of such as he?
Certainly no thoughtful person can have seen
Millet's picture or a reproduction OF IT, without
receiving profound impression, in part sooer-
ing II not saddenng. Yet there are those VINO
have gazed upon the painting and have tound
there portrayed a certain peace. To me, at least
there is no hopeessness in the mans pictured
figure: rather It speaks Of thankfully taken
rest found sweet because earned by strenuous
effort l claim that Mlets peasant Is not the
oppressed creature represented by the poet
deny the oppression To say that this laoorer Is
oppressed because he works at a task that COM
pels him to look more often at the earth than AT
the sky Is as unreasonable as TO declare that the
millionaire is oppressed when he Is taxed TO the
full value Of his property and Is required 10 Keep
up repairs.
Mr. Markham calls upon the world to answer
for the mans "dued brain" He leads US 10
forget for time that in the beginning all were
dull ~ brain; that men must raise themselves
and that they can only do so through unceasins
effort It is unfair to charge the world with ef-
fects Swinging from the free will acts of the in
dividual. Such free acts wrongly directed have
brought THE Man" to his present state. He
should. hold be regarded as the result or the
practice OF Sinking mental exertion
No one can question however. the responsible
itv OF the world 10 lend needful aid or 10 even
urge II upon any who are striving for personal
development: vet II the mans "dulled brain
will not rouse him 10 response impel him to &C
ton he must abide the consequences. To make
the world answerable for the result would be
monstrous wrong What made him dead TO
RAPTURE and despair but his own unheedlng OF
the first faint impulse to reach beyond? Mental
slothfulness chez Sed desire will 10 overcome was
not put forth ana SO II is sadly true that
Down all the stretch Of hell to its last gulf
There is no shape more terrible than TINS.
Nor. traught with menace 70 the universe.
Thus The Man" now. He is here, the result OF
ages Of self-neglect. In the far dim past the
choice was made; some remained brothers TO
the OK" and some elected 10 know
Plato and the swing OF Pleiades.
. the long reaches Of the peaks OF song.
But even yet, II this man will cast aside the
Incidence Of mind which has cursed his race he,
too. may see
The rift OF dawn the reddening Of the rose.
as they were seen by the first venturers in the
field Of thought And though 1t is eternaly true
that man himself must make himself. 1t does not
follow that no responsibility rests upon the see
ing TO help the blind. Woman. whose work 1t is
10 uplift into light and beauty the lives OF the
lower classes. feels this and is striving TO over
come wherever 1t is possible the effects OF ages
OF mental Incidence.
The slothfulness OF the adult is almost incura-
Bile yet free self-activity must be stimulated,
and they who believe the child to be father TO
the man" look TO the little ones whose youthful
training will help them TO battle against some OF
the evil brought into the world by the great
Army Of the Unthinking Can we not believe
that the kindergarten fodder OF to-day Is able
10 grasp as deep a thought as that which dawned
on the comprehension Of the first man who did
not shirk mental eXertion in those long past ages
when Reflection began 10 challenge Humanity
to a struggle? And this child. though he may
become a man with hoe. veritabe toiler, need
he be as a brother TO the OK? F. S.
New-York. July H. 1899