The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1902-04-18
JAMES ON MASTERS.
ny BARRY PAIN.

! well, he SAID, ut Is not what you
! think. In most cases when there's row
between boy and master believe that
it's the boy who is in the wrong"
81 am glad" said the interviewer, "that
you recognize that you are treated with
! justice, and that any punishments you may
have to suffer are but the proper and legit.
/ innate result of your own wrong doing"
"Going bit too fast, as usual" said
| James Robinson. That's rather fault
| of yours. L don't always mean what any
| body might at first suppose. What mean
| is that it's a question of business-it's
money matter. Why is a schoolmaster q
| schoolmaster!"
'Is that riddle?"
| "No; | just want plain answer"
''Then in all probability schoolmaster
follows that profession because he is fond
of boys, sympathizes with them and under
stands them
''Skittles," said James Robinson.
! "He may also be conscious that he has ed
ucatlonal abilities, that he knows how to
! train the young mind and how to hand on
his own knowledge"
Rats" said James Robinson.
"And, lastly, the profession may be
adopted as a means of livelihood"
! NOW you're getting warmer. Now you're
really talking. And that's think wnicn
! good many Doys never seem to think about
| that masters are paid for being what
| they are What they do may be all wrong,
and it very often is, but it done out of
sense of duty; it's what they re paid to do.
! Do you suppose a master really cares
! straw because certain boy comes into a
certain classroom few moments later than
| a certain time? Do you suppose he really
believes that the Greek irregular verbs are
! of tne utmost Importance? Of course not.
He's sticking it on, and is paid to stick it on.
| As long as you remember that it's all kid,
| and the master doesn't believe in it himself,
but is just doing it for living, you can
make allowances, and then you don't cheek
him and have row. I've met scnoolmas-
tiers in the holidays often, and they are quite
! different beggars then. They can be natu-
raj then; they aren't paid TO be anything
different It's mostly because boys don't
l. think about the money side that they have
rows with masters, and that's why | say
boys are mostly in the wrong. The other
day l had perfect acknowledgement to
fall over form and made bit of noise.
! The master behaved as if I'd committed
murder, and said some very rude things
to me. l was just on the point of answer
ing him back, and-though you mayn't
think i'll can be pretty cheeky when like.
But l checked myself. | said to myself: i
daresay you'd do the same for half the
money So let him off. Pm not like that
young beggar Sanders"
"And what did that young beggar San
ders do?"
"It was with the same master, and San
| ders was put on to construe when he'd got
his mouth full of chocolate. So he couldn't
| Nd pot hun drod 1ipoc ,f
And how do you prefer them, SIR said
Sanders. With accents or plain% With
accents said the master, .and do another
/ hundred for impertinence. Certainly
! said Sanders, and began to hold his breath
! until he was pretty near black in tie face.
What are you doing there? shouted the
master. WELL said Sanders, i was afraid
that if / breathed might get another hun,
( dred!' He got licking for that, and
shouldn't like to say that he didn't partly
deserve it."
I "In case of any lingering doubt" said the
interviewer, "let me reassure you. He ah-
solutely and entirely deserved it; and ] hope
it hurt him badly"
''Not so very But say he ought to have
seen that it was just business matter, and
the master couldn't help himself. What
would an ordinary man have done? IF he
had the misfortune to address boy whose
mouth was too full for him to be able to
reply easily, he would smile politely and
apologize; or perhaps he might say: When
| you've finished AS for the other rema, ks
| by Sanders, they would never have been
made in that case. But if they had been,
an ordinary man would have joined in the
| joke, and enjoyed it. But schoolmaster
/. can't act like that if he's honest He's paid
/ to be impolite and to make fuss, and not to
! join in jokes against himself. 1t can't be
pleasant for him, and, as rule, it. can't re
| natural for him, either. So, really, it's all
the more to his credit that he does it.
/ When you feel mad with master and think
about giving him good dressing down,
that's probably just the time when you
ought to be most sorry for him, and to ad.
mre him for his honesty. But then it's not
every boy who can be made to see things
like that; they don't think things out the
way do
''rhank goodness" said the interviewer.
"James Robinson, you're a concerted and
mean minded little bounder'
easy on" exclaimed James Robinson.
"What's wrong now? should have thought
it ought to have pleased you-here have
been sticking up for the masters as hard as
ever could go, and saying they earned
their money"
"And You think that schoolmasters and
doctors and c'e-'ovmen regard only the
money making side of their profession. As
a matter of fact, in most cases at any rate,
that is the last point that they regard at
all If you take to judging other people
by yourself. You'll do the other people a
good deal of injustice"
80, all right said James Robinson, re-
signedly "Then schoolmasters don't act in
the way they do because they're paid for
it. l suppose you see what the consequence
is of say ing that to me, for I'm bound to
believe it. And if it is so, then my reasons
for treating masters well and not being
hard on them are just no reasons at all,
and I may as well join in with other boys
and have a bit of fun. I'll go on that; and
a plucky nice report | shall get at the end
of this term. The least you can do will be
to write to the governor and say that it's
your fault, and that You urged me on Well,
I don't see why | should stop here to be
called lot Of abusive names"
And with the air of a Christian martyr
Jonoes Robinson deDarted Black and