Evening journal., 1902-02-08
BilIParSOn'S Column


With promise Of the harvest yield.
The traffic moves upon the wing
The shuttles fly; the anvils ring
Ills fiashing eye can plainly see
The visions of things to be.
And nature to his heart hath sent
The blessings of accomplishment
lis Labor. fashioned from a clod.
me Great CreatOr-next to God.
IDLENESS.
} And here his idle brother stands.
NO dust of earth is on his hands
HIS eye Is dull, as eyes must be
When glutted to safety.
His form. a mere automaton
Just made to hang a garment on
Behind him are the years of ease
The wines so bitter in the lees.
The ghosts Of things that once were
fair.
That rise and, leer. and mock him
there
drone that whose form obstructs the
hive
AZ ease. while others toll and thrive.
Who lives. but only to impress.
That toll. alone. is happiness
Pass on. oh. Labor Why should We
Yet envy him his poverty?
His name is idleness and so
Just pity him, and let him go.
@ 9 8
sturdy looking individual accosted
me on the street the other day and
asked me for dime to get something
TO eat. and when he was refused. in
stead OF dropping his head and with
a sigh of resignation passing on. he
turned the walls of his wrath on me. I
expressing his opinion in the most
Iorcible language After these appeals
nave been made to one for a period of
Years he becomes callous and denies I
them with the half-conscious action \
with which he would brush away [
troublesome flies
But what was going on in that fell
lows mind? And towhat extent was he
entitled to my sympathy and considera-
tionY IL is safe to assume that he
didn't want work. since that commod-
ity is at hand for those desiring il i
And. therefore. we may decide that
work was distasteful to him. and re-
garded as a thing to be avoided.
In this he is entitled to our pity
Nature had certain plans when she
fashioned human beings and to each
evasion OF her rules she attaches a *
penalty. All the way from Holy Writ +,
to actual experience, we gather the i'm
preston that the normal life of a man .
requires industry. One who can't
get work is to be pitied, but the man
who is so constituted that he has an
aversion for labor Of any kind, is alb
normal and unnatural. and may he y
not also deserve, even a larger meas
ure of sympathy s
The highest delights of life come
from accomplishment, and either the
tramp or the millionaire who has moth {
ing to occupy his mind but the graft {
icatlon of his animal wants. has miss Is
ed something which is the essence of
living. Why doesn't Andrew Carnegie
take rest now that his enormous for
rune is secure, turn over his millions
to trustees and spend the remainder !
OF life in preparing for his exit?
Because the habit of work has grown |
with the years, and because he under ;
stands that life of inactivity would ,,
soon pail on him, and take away all
the happiness that may bless his de
Ginning years. Therefore, he will find
that as great labor is involved in
spending his fortune, as in amassing it.
Life consists in rewards and punish
ments; self-denial and qualification.
The person who can never crafty a
wish or a normal craving, is miserable: |
but perhaps not more so than one who
has every wish gratifed. Happiness
in labor to accomplish certain
results and in succeeding, in a meas
ure. in reaching our objective points.
The laborer enjoys the MONDAY re-
spite. the cooling draft from the well,
and the delicious rest in the shade. as
either the tramp or the man of unsoil-
ed hands. cannot.
o 9 o
Therefore our beggar friend is to be
Ditied because he has no inclination to !
work. Yet work. like most other valu-
able accomplishments, is an acquired
habit. Savages and children If left to
themselves viii only do that which
satisfies their immediate wants, and the
balance of the time and the residue Of
their strength is wasted in mischief
The savage hunts and fishes to get .
food and the necessary wearing APP
parel. Then for lack of something
better to do. he engages in the pleasant
pastime of discriminating his fellow
man. Children may reluctantly per
form the tasks imposed, and when
these are over. their natural exuber-
ance requires close watching.
There is something OF the savage,
and much of the child in each of us,
and many of us are saved from con-
duct which would be a revelation of
our possibilities. by having something
to do.
There is a formative period in life,
extending from the age of ten to that
.of twenty-five, and a persons future
career is determined by the way in
which he energies from it. This is one
great reason for the value of the public
schools. The children learn something
that is of use to them in after years.
but this is not of half the value as the |
acquisition of the habit of always
being engaged in doing something /
that counts.