The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1902-06-12

n EAR FATHER You may
have thought before this that
J I am dead, or in prison, or in
some other unpleasant place,
because l have not written to you for
so long time. But ! am not dead,
nor in prison. (ha-ha! it makes me smile
to think of being in prison. The ideaD
and the only excuse can offer for my
seeming neglect is that l am very
busy man. If the man who everlasting
ly keeps at thing is bound to succeed
in the end, then my success is assured.
And 1 am growing wiser. Young as I
am l already begin to see how big a
fool l have been. This, am told, is an
encouraging sign in one so young
And I am learning many things that
are entirely new to me. 1 have learned
more during the last year than I'll be
able to forget in lifetime. AS 1 have,
according to contract, two more years
in which to receive instruction from
the state, you will see, l shall either have
to live at least century and half or
else work overtime forgetting things"
all the days of life of ordinary length.
For what's the use Of acquiring knowl-
edge if we can't have the pleasure of
forgetting it before we shuttle off this
mortal GOLF"
Before 1 left home to pursue my
studies and travels in the west and
northwest you limited that it would be
good thing to keep my eyes open and
observe the condition of the hired man
in the various states that might at
different times obtain me as a resident.
have obeyed your instructions; in fact,
have been at odd times a hired man
myself and therefore consider myself
fully qualified to give you few pointers
on the hired man question.
Ifby giving your hired man ten cents
worth of whisky day you can get a
dollars worth of extra work out of him,
then it is your solemn duty to provide
the whisky. Many of the best farmers
OF this section work this scheme with
great and uninterrupted success. When
your hired man tells you little whisky
would put new vigor into his system
and drive away that tired feeling, you
tell him you don't believe in whisky as
a stimulant; which, of course, is true,
for you always drink hard cider. Then
ne will try to prove by argument that
whisky is>a good thing, and you will
try to prove by argument that whisky
is not good thing. After about a
week of arguing you call him aside
some morning, and, in manner as if
you had to communicate something
very mysterious to him, tell him that,
while you do not believe in drinking
whisky yourself, you are willing to
cOncede that it may be beneficial to
some persons, and that you mean to
give him dram three times day, and
watch the result. And what will be
the result2 Why, that fool of a hired
man will work himself half to death to
show that whisky is putting new life
5 into him, and that he was right and you
were wrong in the argument.
Take advantage of his weakness,
father; for that is the way to get rich.
At least, that is the way y-some men get
rich; and many towns and cities accept
presents from them, thereby tacitly
giving their approval of such conduct;
and many spiritual shepherds praise
them for giving donations to churches
and hold them up as noble examples
for the lambs of their flocks to emulate,
and, as ministers in Christ's stead thus
openly give their approval of the means
used by such men to amass great
wealth. You will see from this that to
make use of the weaknesses of others
as stepping-stones to wealth, power, or
honorable position is no sin; or if it is,
q trivial sin at the most, or else, do you
think so many of our self-appointed
teachers Of morality Would excusa r. ?