The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-01-27

Il a a
ouiiulns. @nd one projected at cloDurns
anu another at San Antonio.
VIII not 20 into details here. as I
| WIN DC followed by gentlemen VINO ARC
lwcrk. u ehe
IN commenting upon the work Of Tho
raliroad branch OF the Young Mems
,nrlstian Association, | am led 10 con.
sluer very pertinent question, one ths,
- OF great Importance in relation TO the
organization, and which. 10 the con,pan,es
! serve and am associated with, is 81
paramount issue, inasmuch os IL AFFECTS
me bodv polite and the great interests
winch are INCORPORATED in the railroads
generally. | mean by this the won,erful
ini'lence the Young Mems Christian Assu-
cEtlon must have, in fact. has already
eXerted upon the personnel OF The great
mass OF workers who are empioyea o.,
the various lines throughout the country.
Education Is a principle, which. next
TO religion. underlics tho entire struc-
ture upon which is built the fabric of
society and government Every man Is
born with a mind and upon the WORK a
CT that mind depends. not alone tne
progress of the Individual, but the pro-
gress Of the world Man individually Is
but an item--a cog in the ever turning
wheels which make up the wonderful
machine which rests upon ngtIre's base
itself. Let the mind become aborted
let 1t npply itself to things which are
not In touch with human interest. hui
mainly brotherly love, and it becomes a
hlackened SPOT up.n THE escutcheop OF
mankind. 1T tends by association to con-
taminate other minds and Is focus OF
Infection In a community OF III directed
minds. social tenets and Institutions are
threatened and criminal institutions ara
aided.
do not believe that man Is evil when
born. Moral degeneracy may be. In GER
tain cases. hereditary, but in the main
1t IS a result of irrational conditions
which may be controlled. Perverted in
stlncts follow as a result OF association
with evil and, following the old adage,
"As the twig is bent, the tree inclines,"
man and mind become infected with
canker that either education or death
can only remove. The eduoatlon of the
masses has followed closely upon the
footsteps of progress in the Tlneteenth
century and the present Gentry shall as
suredly witness the complete escape of
the masses from the thraldom OF gnor-
ance and Of crime In its many phases.
The railroad has become of necessity
a potent factor in the progress OF the
VOL d, in no other por ion Of the world
10 NHlo Luult uliuliGoN ludu III Tue OuiNtu
States, with It's immense rea and les
BILE distances The capital en-
ployed In the railroads equals tina OF
nearly al other intere S combined. The
employ an army of nearly $50 600 work
els, upon which is dependent possibly
100000 $ us A nation in itself all
W sc earners and contributing flc;ors
10 the prosperity Of every other inter-
est existan, They have revolutionized
10. H. u-FN.
and individual wealth. have changed the
aspect of the earths surface, belted the
s.obe with prosperity and created homes
for the worlds surplus population. They
have not kept p ce with progress, but
progress has kept pace with them and fed
upon what they have made possible. Civ
ilizat.on, re E. on and material welfare
are alike bound UP IN the steel raj 5 and
their accompan. ments and yet in the face
of all these things, 100000 carqng in
dy.dulls will be found eager to assai.
their integrity and condemn them all as
grlsplng, selfish and elements antag
ons5lc to good morals and good govern
ment. Even the very men WAC are
ccmporent part OF the whole, at times
revlle and destroy, failing TO realize
what they are attacking and determ ned
to injure fabric upon which their for
tunes and sustenance of their Camlies Is
dependent.
1t is in his connection that the Y. NJ.
c. 4. and its railroad branches Is exert
ing a beneficial influence and will con.
tinus to augment his teneht in educat-
ing the army or railroad workers to the
duties they ca owe the Institutions they
serve and 10 the other &C ors Ct govern.
mert and progress. Education, not tho
mere wording Of a problem in arjhmo
C. the analy2.ng of a sentence or the
statement of fact in hlstory-taese arc
Of great import lnce-5ut in forming the
mind and citing in the light upon dark
ness. 1t is the man W III the clear mind
that forgas 20 success; The man with a
mind not warped by error or scared by
evil influences or thought broad in It's
conception OF everyday problems and liz
eral in its regard to the IDEAS and duties
CT others, In the cultivation OF the mind
man beg MS to think for himself and to
act for himself and in proportion 10 this
cultivation does his value increase 70 the
Interest he serves and does his value In
crease TO his social organizations and
10 humanity generally. As his mind i'm.
proves so does he lift himself from tine
an inanimate ficaor n progress ceases
to be an unthinSing atom, wnoden cog
and becomes what God intended-a shin
ing light which viii. attract instead of r.
polling those with whom he is brcugn,
in contact
believe that every man sh1ufd hayo
an ideal, let hat ideal he wat 1t may
so that It tends to elevation Il body and
soul Not an id1l that in his blindness
he worsl!ps without reason, but an ideal /
set hilh In The heavens OF Thought, high |
in the plane CT human civilization and
progress, one that ne can speak OF with
pride aud which wi Justly his effort (
also believe that the Y. VI. c. \, teaches (
this ideal exempliied In several ways !
but ways for good. | do not I
believe that man can bend a knee in |
prayer or give his reason 1 me to dwell (
upon the works OF the Almighty but that (
ne becomes a better man each tins he 4
does so, and IS a man realizes the ON
impotence o, bis NJ ker and Of His Won |
derfu goddess he becomes in proportion |
a better m moer OF society, a better |
workman, better and mere jealous |
server OF his employer ana thus helps 10 /
fulfill a destiny glorious and everlasting /
II is too en- a fact that the ranks OF
the workmen are filed with crooked /
sticks, men who do not conserve good 1
manners or the interests for which they /
impart labor. They believe that the
strength of their arm or the knowledge |
lhey have acquired ansny repays the I
fer their wage and they have no
other interest In the institution when the
day Is over: no thought of the next day,
zatie6ad u4th what they are getting and /