New-York tribune., 1907-02-24

IT IS customary in debating societies for the
6lsputants to begin by defining the terms used
IN the question 20 be discussed. Were to fol-
low this practice should fnd It easy to define
q city. but Impossible 70 define boy. the
word is undefnable. as the thing which 1t stands
for is fndescribabe. You know him when you
see him and no words add TO your fnoWl-
edge. And he refuses to be classified. In the
morning he may seem 70 have all the marks or
q civilized human being. Before noon he has
shown unnistakable signs of being brute or
a savage. and at night so affecuonate IS he that
his mother thinks he is an angel. The long proc
ess Of development by which the boy ulti-
rnately becomes useful includes on its physical
eide much that belongs to the lower animals
He is q whole menageTie. He runs like
hound, climbs like monkey, digs like wood
chuck dives like otter. swims Ike q fish,
fights like a bulldog, and in It all works like a
beaver and is as busy as a bee.
This varied. kaleidoscope activity, these
lightning changes, become a consistent and har-
Tnonious whole under q single fundamental law.
The boy finds himself under irresistible
impulse to measure himself against every ex-
ternal force TO test every limb, every organ,
every function to its limit, and 10 do this every
day. Although he bears no banner to advertise
his emotions Excelsior" IS stamped on his
every act. The warning cry Of his anxious
mother. TRY not the pass IS always sounding
IN his ears; but he tries II all the same. If not
to-day tomorrow.
By obeying this impulse he accomphshes
two things. He gains IN strength and agilitg'
IN power to handle himself-to direct his energy
in the most effective way.
Besides this he comes gradually 10 learn his
lirnitations-how far he can go in matching
himself against the forces Of nature, how
much IS worth while in his struggle for su-
premacy, what is the margin Of safety in the
risks be takes. All this IS essential element
IN successful manhood.
According TO the LamarcIan theory the neck
OF the giraffe grew by a long continued effort
10 reach q receding food supply. So, by doing
stunts, by perpetual effort to break his own
record. the body Of the boy grows into the body
Of q man and becomes the efficient servant Of
his mind. And the mind itself grows in per-
ception and judgment and generalization and
inductive reasoning.
FUNDAMENTAL LAW.
This fundamental law Of boy life explains
things which perplex many good people. 1t
explains his general attitude toward the
world. his contempt for the weak, his hero
worship. his early choice of a vocation-a pirate,
a cowboy policeman, fireman. a locomotive
engineer a diver. a balloon man-and latterly
he sees in the occupation Of a chauffeur a su-
preme opportunity TO kill and be killed. The
sea. with It's mysteries and its perils. has al
ways had an irresistible charm for boys
It explains. too. his choice in reading. He
wants to know about men who dare. When a
small boy had asked his mother TO read to him
in the papers about the prizefghts and had been
refused, Then read to me in the Bible about
Samson" was his reply.
In all this are not hearing faint echo
from that dim and far-on past where the an
cestor Of all boys. that creature which we call
primitive man." was feeling his way into the
mysteries Of his new found world, measuring
himself against its inhospitable forces? Was
It not by doing stunts that the primitive man
saved the race and set it going on its forward
and upward way? Has It not been the law Of
growth in the race as well as in the individual?
Does il not underlie all myths and legends, all
the giant lore Of all the ages? Who were Her
cules Thor and Sigurd, Lancelot and Roland
but prototypes Of all boys?
With this orderly, benefcent world process Of
development, a city interferes IN the most
ruthless way. All the natural impulses OF the
boys are thwarted and most aggravatingly
thwarted. There are trees, but he may not
climb them; flowers and fruit, but he may not
pick them; stones, but he may not throw them;
waters, but he may not swim II them; hills.
but he may not coast on themi animals, Dur
he may not hunt them. His vagrant Instincts
must be restrained. He must walk in beaten
paths. He has lost his freedom He Is q Gagged
animal
An this IS no fault Of the city. The city can
not help It. Steadily, as the town becomes
city and as the city grows populous, the happy
hunting grounds OF the boys grow fewer and
narrower. The woods. the fields, the gardens
the orchards, the houses with their enticng
sheds and attics disappear. Blocks and tene-
rnent houses cover and cumber the ground. and
the boys are turned into the streets. This
process IS called improving the property
We read in the paper that a piece Of property
has been sold 10 Mr.. A. and that Mr. A. buys
for Improvement. have recently watched this
process in TWO pieces of property in subUr-
ban city. On street a house shelterng
single family About II were trees and shrubs,
and back Of il garden and an orchard There
were p barn and sheds-an ideal place 10 grow
boys IN. Two or three years ago this property
was bought for Improvement. The old house
was torn down. and the land thir-
teen tenement houses, occupied by thirty-uine
families In these thirteen houses are about
fifty children. They play in the streets. An
other similar improvement has replaced two
single houses by twenty tenements. containing
many children They play in public square.
EXPOSED IN THE STREETS.
The spartans exposed their children on Mount
Taygetus; we expose ours in the city streets
Under such conditions inseparable from city
life one Of two things happens. The boy grad
ually learns to submit to the superior forces
about him. goes tamely in leading strings and
becomes good boy. comfort TO his mother and
lost something in fibre, he lacks initiative, has
no go in him. He likes to clothes and
own powers and Of his own limitations. He
doesn't know what to do in emergencies. He
wants 10 ride when he ought TO get out and
"a nB nFg s-----l--a2-,