The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-03-02
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An Ideal Boys Club.

art of fully providing for them
selves and those dependent upon
them later on.
The political or governmental feat
ure of the ideal club has been hinted
at in "a previous paper. It's practical
operation will be somewhat as follows:
If the club is relatively small in num-
| ber-say less than one hundred-let IL
| take the form of borough or city. Di-
vide into wards, with any fixed num-
ber of boys in each. The wards will
select by ballot one of their number
to represent them in council. zone
councilmauic body will answer). The
council will choose a chief burgess,
or in case the city form is followed, a
mayor.
The executive officer may be chosen
from the councilmen, or from the
membership at large; and he will at
once proceed to fill by his own choice
the appointive officers. Aldermen or
| police or city court will, of course,
be one of the first necessities, but
for the best results offices should be
created only as the development of the
club requires them.
For q club of above one hundred
members state or national political
lines should be followed The national
form of government is preferred, be-
cause of the greater variety IL affords.
Suppose We have ready for organiza-
ton group of one hundred boys. with
fair prospect of steady growth to
| four or five hundred. As first step
| the director will constitute himself
president of the club republic. His
| need will then be a cabinet of secre-
taries: (a) a secretary of state to
make out membership tickets. keep a
record of new members, write busi-
ness letters pertaining to club inter-
| ests, in short, to serve as general club
secretary; (b) a secretary of the treas
| ury to receive and account for MEM
bership dues and initiation fees, pay
| bills against the club and have gen.
eral financial oversight; (c) a secretary
of the interior to preside over and
keep in order the game closet. and
| to serve as trustee OF all loose club
property: cd n secretary of public
works, for common service i'm bath
and gymnasium.
| Following the establishment of
| cabinet will come the division of the
| hundred boys into groups of ten each.
| These separate groups win b. nameI
| for states in the Union hcEiuG.nE
with the oldest state and coming down
as far as names are needed. one boy
| from each state will be selected, eth
er by ballot or appointment, to serve
| as governor. The governor viii az he
| earliest moment call the ten together
! for the purpose of choosing a senator.
| This choice will be made b. secret
| ballot. With ten states incorporated
| we shall now have ten senator's Wi;h
| which to open judicial congress. This
! body must meet once a week ia enact
| laws, to appropriate money for nun
| ming expenses. and to consider pr@a-
| DENTAL appointments. Until a vice
| president Is one of the officers OF the
club the senate will require to be in
J charge of a chairman selected by bal
| lot from the floor.
The clerk should be chosen b" civil
| service eXaminatiOn-opcn to all mem
bers in good standing in the cll3 --all
his term will be during good brhIv.nl.
| or until he tires of the Office and re
signs.
This branch of the government. WI
be the most difficult to handle unl will
require the leadership Of an Il MT o.
experience, who will see that TIE gen
eral usages of the United t.a, s sen.
ate are followed, and yet ~ .un u ,c
the youthful senators with D c p?e an
| adherence To parliament .m- a.i
practices.
| With laws ON the statute aDD'8 t,ia o
| must next be authority to EMO .cc
them. 1t is pity that this i.eal Of
| ours could not have risen above the
| consideration of law-breaking AMI
punishment therefore. Tndsr prescn
earthly conditions it would have been
an unworkable ideal had il done so.
Laws are as necessary to the govern
| ing of a hundred boys, to a definite
end. as they are to the governing Of
the millions who make up Il nation.
| Wherever there is law there will al
ways be breakers of the law. To pre-
vent anarchy. law-breakers must be
properly controlled. And thus 1t Is our
club courts of justice have need to be-
| The common court for the trial and
disposal of petty offences may consist
of justice of the peace for each state
each justice to try offenders i'm his
own state alone. For Offences of Il
| graver nature, and for the trial of Off