The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-30
CONSIDER TIE noY.

In Chicago, the other day, Rev Mr..
Pfanstlehl declared before a convention
of Christian workers that thousands of
boys were being ruined annually by the
treatment they receive from their elders.
His talk was vigorous and straight from
the shoulder, and he managed to COM
plete his subject without saying a word
about cigarettes whisky or CINE novels.
To his mind those evils are not a cause
but an effect; therefore he ignored them
entirely and confined himself to what he
considered the cause of the, average boy $
undoing Among other things, Mr.. Plan
stiebl said:
I'VE must drop that old phrase Hes
that he is somebody. We must admit
that he has rights, and not force him to
DO in a sneaking way what he should De
allowed TO do openly. We must not treat
his sister as one close to the angels and
him as one far removed. The boy Should
be given more opportunity for healthy
sport. At present in cur large cities boys
playing baseball football Tor any out
lot must be constantly on the watch for
the policeman, and be0feady to run. IT S
a shame, a wicked Shame, that oar big
cities don't provide = boys with play
grounds. .f@ 'sii2 ~
Here isesemething fRFofitable for par
ents, to. think over neFl4ea. Subject might be
treated in a book sand not receive. more
attention than lhla it deserves The character
of the boy is so vital Ito society and so
important as Affecting the comfort and
happiness of parents that a false note
in its formation should cause regret and
lead to earnest efforts toward correction.
The need of better, and wiser methods is
even more emphatic when a great deal
more than a9false note is involved
When it is stated that boys are being
ruined by the treatment. they get, it
is not necessarily meant that they are
/ being sent to the gutter, but if they fail
TO reach a standard of manhood which
would be theirs but for lack of proper
guidance at a time when character is
forming, it is needless to say that more
or less ruin of prospects is involved.
The truthful and manly boy has an ad-
vantage which should be only one of his
commenest rights, yet so many OF them
are suppressed in the wrong way and at
the wrong time that they inevitably
form habits of thought and action fatal
to the maintenance of right principles
later in life. bTe be truthful and manly
as a boy means volumes: it covers a
| hundred channels of boyish action, and
s Nfs
draws favorable orr adverse influence
swift and sure from every Introduction
of the youthful impulse. His sense of
what he Is given credit for possessing
In that direction, and his inclination
toward a course of conduct at once
harmless and beneficial to mind and body
is unsoiled by artifice. and unprompted
by the fictitious appetite that later on
sapplants the simple demands Of nature
denied If he is suppressed when he
should be given liberty and assistance
he will know 1t. It is an unfortunate
day for the boy, for his fond parents and
for society when the impulse to sneak
and lie Is first experienced From that
moment the discount on possible man
hood commences. and the horizon of the
boys career begins to contract
A thousand additional manly and
truthful boys today In any community
would insure ten years hence standard
of citizenship vastly better than the
present If we need the best citizenship,
then better standard is not only worth
striving for, but is essential. The way
to attain it Is to cast aside the haphazard
and careless way Of dealing with the
boys If the boy is made to feel that lie
is somebody, he viii more likely be some
body as man.