The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-02-23

TN OUR present day effort towards
social and political reform we look
too steadily into the future for the
day of deliverance. The term "a good
time coming" has long been, in effect.
the reformers' war cry. To this tune.
each generation in turn raises its
standard and marches away toward a
promised land, somewhere ahead OF
realized hopes and perfected condi-
tons. 1t Is this goodly heritage, re-
vcaied in days gone by to our expec-
tant forefathers, that we still seek.
To us, as to them, it's fufillment Is
illusive-always within sight, yet al
ways Just beyond reach. SO 1t is that
those who take most seriously the con-
ditions of life, hurry onward In their
chosen ways, seeming scarcely to ex-
pect success In their own day, yet
hoping ever that some other farther
reaching generation will come up with
the fulfillment of the promise.
This Is the weak side of idealism-to
look beyond or anywhere else than
here and now for the beginnings OF
the golden age.
And yet idealism Is the directing
force OF all successful accomplishment.
type. in his minds eye. of all he hopes
TO have wrought for the common good
the social regulator is steering without
a compass TO work in a slip-shod
way-aiming at nothing in particular
and expecting only hap-hazard re-
suits. is the surest road to no results.
The ideal is surely essential in the
worlds progress, but to be potent it
nf nd on
Enthusiastically mt work. and keep him
at work so long as there is work to be
done
Have We dreamed dreams of what
the conditions of our childhood ought
to he and have we still hope OF what
some day they will be? Then a pat
tern is ready to our hand, and we
have plainly marked path of duty
before us.
No generation has any call, nor any
time, to attempt chimerical or fan
tastical reforms. Much less shall we
give any thought whatever to inn
proving child conditions except by ra-
tional and natural methods. Our chill
dren are very real entities. The con-
diticns surrounding them are in un-
mistakable need of bctterment. For
the childs sake. and for the sake OF
future generations. this betterment
must he undertaken now and carried
on with zeal and persistence until
realization is accomplished.
In a preceding paper 1t was stated
on authority that where systematic
Improvement in conditions surround
ing our boys is attempted, the Club"
offers the least resistance. This Is
unquestionably true in principle. In
practice the results are not uniform
The mere herding of company OF
boys i'm a warm and pleasantly-ap-
pointed hall where social intercourse
s open and unrestrained. succeeds
easily in winning these boys from the
baneful influence of the street-coraer
gang. for the time being: but the
pleasant room and the warm fire are
not likely to have a sustained drawing
power. The industrial club, with its
varied trade classes and its disciplin-
ary methods. will hold the patronage
of those already amenable to disci-
pline, and with tastes formed for
manual pursuits; but the member OF
the street gang, who knows nothing
of order and system and who has no
love for labor of any sort. will. after
the novelty wears off, find this club
confining and irkSOme. The club, then,
becomes non-resisting only when so
planned as to become inviting to all
sorts and conditions of the noy kind.
IT should not be forgotten that the
child world is the same in its phases
as the adult world. Nothing less than
a re-dupication of these different
phases in the club will warrant any
measure of success. There must be
entertainment. There must be regula-
tion. There must be motive. The en-
tertainment should have quality. The
regulations be not too rigid, and under
lying and uniting both should be that
nameless something" which will make
attendance worth while, and pay the
directors for heavy expenditures in
time and nervous energy.
AS to the individual makeup of the
Ideal club. 1t will be a mistake to
open the club doors to any one class
exclusively. For the best good of all
the well-behaved and the ill-behaved,
the wise and the ignorant, the tidy and
the untidy, the slatepicker and the
grammar schoolboy need to have
places at the same work bench and at
the same game table Association is the
first of all teachers. And while there
may be real danger to the relatively
superior boy in this indiscrimnate con-
tact. the certain and lasting gain
which is made by the relatively bad
boy in thus brushing. night after night,
against the better manners, the better
morals, and the cleaner physical con-
dition of the other will, it would seem.
more than compensate for any risk
taken.
II is Biblical too, not to attempt a
separation of the sheep and the goats
until there is no longer any hope for
the goats. Is it not. moreover, possible
to have fewer in that group on the left
at the time of final reckoning. by being
less fearful of such comingling of So
clal and even moral grades especially
where careful oversight and restraint
are both obtainable? A protest can