Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-04-20
CONTROL OF THOUGHT.

tana Press association the retiring presi-
dent spoke briefly on the control of
thought as applied to newspaper work.
By request his remarks We're reduced to
writing for filing among the papers of the
society. AS a number of newspaper men.
have written for copies of the article, it is
reproduced herewith:
The safety of civilization and the prog
ress of the world depend largely upon
the ability of each member of society to
produce the best there is in him. Whether
his intellectually be great or small,
whether he scars in the gilded heaven of
a gifted genius or plods the pathway of
mediocrity-it is clearly his duty to. HIM
self and to his felloWmen to do the best
he can with the mental faculties with
which he has been endowed. This end
can be accomplished to a degree consist
ent with the best work of which the mind
Is capable, and with the peace, comfort
and happiness of the individual constant
ly in view, only through the proper man.
agement and control of the powers of
thought.
Fol more thar a quarter of a century I
have been interested in the study of the
mind from all points of view-from the
| dissection of it's organ, the brain, to the
| lofty heights of speculative metaphysics
which often take a man so far above this
material earth as to leave his arguments
no grounds to stand upon-yet never did
l encounter a. practical system of
thought control until | evolved one of my
own, and demonstrated it's utility in the
| every day experiences of my own life.
Volumes nave been written on mental
| culture, on how to strengthen The mind,
and numerous plans for aiding the mem
DRY have been devised, but the great
metaphysical scholars have signally fail
ed to ormulate a system that will enable
a man to control his voluntary thoughts
as effectively as he controls his voluntary
muscles. 1t occurred to me years age
that if the brain is the organ of the mind,
and thought requires a physical medium
through. which to express itself, a man
ought to be able to harness his ideas and
make servants of his thoughts.
If a mans arms We're swinging wildly
in all directions, and he was kicking at
every degree, of latitude and longitude, he
would he unable to perform his daily
labors with satisfaction to himself and
others. His inability to control his vol
untary muscles would prevent him from
accomplishing in life what would be
otherwise within the purview of his, nat
| ural powers. Yet the brain of the aver
age man is relatively in this condition.
L L poN = - III ololIlo y u ~ -
voluntarily exercised. He attempts to
think of one thing and a thousand
thoughts on a thousand different topics.
crowd. into his mind, fit hastily through
the corridors of the brain, mock, at, his
attempts to impress them on his memory
and then hasten on to the realms, of OBJ
livion. Scholars have recognized this as
the condition of the average mind. and
to correct it have elaborated systems OF
mental concentration which fail to, ,ac-
| complish the end in view.
To learn to concentrate his mind, the
student is given Greek and Latin and the
higher mathematics, on the theory that
the harder the work the greater the
necessity for concentrating the mind on
the problems to be mastered. Will power
is depended upon to force the mind into
the work before it.. But the theory is
wrong in conception and injurious in
practice. Our institutions of learning
make a mistake when they apply it. One
might as well teach the poetry of motion
to a delicate young lady by giving her a
sandbag to pound, as to teach the con-
troll of thought by giving the mind a bur-
den to carry.
The physical grace and elegance grow
ing out of the practice of the exercises of
the Delsarte system Of culture do not re-
suit from feats of strength or difficult ac-
robatic performances, but from securing
LIN ltldolCLS v tiS oi'iiN" y ~
of the body and making them the ser
wants of the mind. What is true of the
physical system in this respect is also
true of the mental. To conquer the mind
a sle~dge-hammer is not required. Within
the range of my observations the man
who can control his thoughts only by APP
plying himself intensely to some deep
problem, is utterly unable to control them
when out from under the strain that can
not, in the nature of things, be
emily maintained.
The ability to concentrate the thoughts
is of small comfort to the individual if
control is lost whenever the lash of an
iron will is not applied to the mind. To
be of practical utility a system of
thought control must enable the individ-
ual to lay down one set of thoughts and
take up another whenever he desires to
do so, without involving intense applica-
ton or mental friction. To do this means
that the worrimentS of life can be put
out of the mind at will, when brooding
over the mistakes of the past or the i'm
possibilities of the future does no good.
1t means that within the limits of a
mans natural mental powers he can
make the most of life both as to work
performed and happiness enjoyed, for
aside from actual physical suffering all
there is of joy and sorrow rests in the
mind of man. He is happy or miserable
in proportion to his ability to
date his thoughts to his environment.
A system of thought control, therefore,
that will not only ena BILE a man to utilize
whatever of ability he may possess to the
fullest extent, by regulating his mental
work as he would his physical, but will
also add UNNECESSARILY to his personal
happiness by banishing unpleasant re-
Elections at will, is, as the poet would
express it, "a contamination d~evoutly to
be wished for"
Having looked in vain for something
within the range of metaphysical inves-
t;,rn ton thnt II,nllld indicntn thn AIDA