The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1903-12-02
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE. |

SGflueS III any ulrecUlOu, uurluS Tue
last two decades than in the realm
of books, periodicals and newspa-
ders. It is not long since the aver
age reader was more or less famil-
lar with all the standard books of
poetry and fiction, and the promi-
nent magazines could be counted on
the fingers of one hand. To-day no
one could keep tab on the books as
fast as they are published if he did
nothing else, neither could he find
time to read half of the popular
magazines. Competition has les
sened the price, and at the same
time improved the quality of the
magazines, but the standard of
books of fiction, as a whole, has
been lowered.
Book writing to-day is something
of fad. If a person has a new idea
he writes a book in order to give
his idea to the world. If he has
made an overwhelming success in
his professional or business life he
writes book to tell how he did it.
taking care not to uncover any
questionable methods he may have
employed. If man, a politician,
for instance, has a grudge or a
grievance he writes a book to "get
even." This was largely the mo-
tive behind the books evolved by
John Sherman and Russell A. AL
ger. Again there are men who
publish book for the glory of link
ing their names with those of the
literary world. Many of such have
but little literary ability, but they
generally have the means to hire
some one with more brains than
themselves to do the writing.
Books have been written about
every industry, every science, eve
ry art, every emotion-in fact, eve
ry subject. AS we can not read
them all we generally select such as
best accord with our tastes or line
of thinking. This is natural and
probably a safe plan for adults to
follow, but it is questionable if it is
safe to allow children whose minds
are in the formative period to have
unlimited scope in the selection of
their reading. And it is this ques-
ton of the proper kind of threading for
children which it is proposed here
to discuss.
The first question is: what is the
right kind of reading for children
in the beginning of their teens;
and the second: what furnishes
that kind? Reading is good or bad,
according to its influence. and
should be judged much as we judge
individuals. Particularly is this
true in the case of children. The
youthful mind is susceptible and re-
tentive beyond our realization. The
things we learned first, or early in
life, are the things we remember
the longest and most clearly. AT
this critical age bad book is as
harmful as a bad companion. Again,
children are more credulous than
adults are. They innocently as.
sumo that nothing is ever printed
that is not true, and that nothing is
printed that is harmful to read
They quite naturally suppose thai
the printing of d thing puts the
stamp OF truth upon it.
The first book | ever read, which
was written in narrative form, was
Robinson Crusoe, and the next, I'm
Gle Tom s Cabin I read them sey
eral times, and the latter created ar
impression about slavery and thu
south which has never been eradi
Gated. Since then I have travelled
in the once slave states and talked
with ex-slaves, their masters ant
mistresses. I have seen the oil
plantations, much as they appeared
in anue-bellum days, with their ne
gro quarters and negro cabins, AM
witnessed the gathering of the rice
cotton and cane. [ have seen ever,
| type of negro character, white arts
tocracy, land so-called" white trash.