Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-30

dents. governors. heads of departments.
lawyers leaders in peace and war-all the
men l rely upon to make things go right
in American Certainly among the little fell
lows who are now in the schools. 1t seems
to me worth my while to get acquainted
with them, to find out what kind of metal
they are made of. and to get them thinking
OF what it means to be loyal Americans.
Perhaps / did not pay as much atten-
ton to children quarter or half CEN
fury ago as do now There was not quite
the same need then. I am thinking of our
country as it will be when come to
write 1925, and have a hundred million peo
pie. What shall l most need then Is good
citizens. When there is great piece of
business to be done. great man is gem
orally found to do 1t; and that Is well. But
more important is the STEADY growing of
things that are good for US all. Nearly
everything American can be improved. II
every American boy and girl will be Uncle
Sans boy and girl.
.sBy this l mean a boy who will obey
every law, and at the same time do what
he can to help make his corner of the world
a delightful place to live in. With mil
lion such there is scarcely any great work
that may not be accomplished
MIR. II. s. Earle, who has talked so much
about better highways, once had dream
about grand boulevard to reach from
PASSPORT, Maine, to San Francisco, Cal.
Suppose a million of Uncle Sans children
made up their minds that within twenty
five years this dream should come true;
WOulOn the IlHTS De uOne. suppose they
decided that there should be a beautiful
park 100 feet wide on each side of 1t; that
the streams should be SPAWNED by artistic
bridges. that there should be finely carved
statues along the way, with drinking foun-
tafnS for men and animals, and attra ctive
places for rest or shelter, not too far apart:
and that the road itself should be durable
as the roads of old which led to Rome. How
this dream would become a reality if the
children should resolve We will have a
great highway OF marvellous beauty for the
whole nation. the like OF which the world
never saw"
Then. there is the work OF improving
their own towns-civic Improvement, it is
called. That is the way to commence. How
much the boys and girls can do, and are
doing even now, by being thoughtful and
making up their minds to help a little! In
some village hundreds of children have
pledged themselves to help make the town
beautiful and healthful, and to keep it So
Those the boys and girls for me. |
want them on my side, and do not think tie
time lost that l spend talking with them
Il am not sure but 1t might be a good
idea to put an advertisement in thousand
newspapers, reading something like this:
Wanted, 600, 600 wide-a wake BOYS and
girls to go into partnership with Uncle
sam. They must walk with heads well ND
and shoulders back. They must hate a lie
as .hey DO rattlesnake, and flee from dis
honesty as they would from the plague
They must be willing to work; they must
learn as much as possible about their own
country; they must have courage in times
OF danger; they must love peace honor the
nag and obey all the laws
II, Il wonder how many applicants / would
have. Perhaps the number would depend
upoa the reward offered, though am very
sure that merely to be that kind of a young
american would be its own reward Mean
time am going to ask the children every
Where to help keep their part of the roads
and streets clean.