The Nevada County picayune., 1908-10-01
Help Boy to Be g Mnn.

l and time is the stuff life Is made or. and to waste human life is harmful. So human activity is useful or harm
 ful. Activity is useful if it promotes l Wcll-bcing. To raise corn is useful, l 10 make wool into cloth k useful, 10 l convert wheat into flour is useful, to 1 dig q ditch or cellar, or to lay a 1 cellar wall is useful. To assist in the distribution of corn, woolen goods, flour, lime cement, eggs, butter or | cheese is useful
 It is useful to please pcople-to please them through the art of music or painting or sculpture or architec- | turc
 II is useful to add 10 the comfort in the country Ii is useful 10 do that which will increase the yield of corn and oats and wheat and clover which will conserve soil fertility and check the rayages Of insects
 Whatever promotes human happi- ness. human convenience, human health, human comfort human pro egess iH fight living and right think ing. or whatever diminisnes the mis- takes. the sins, the sorrow. the suf- toIng, the inconvenience any of the Ills of lifc-is useful.
 But the real utility of all art must be determined by it's effect not upon the individual himself but upon the race The useful act must affect fa- ,.ayal1,- tho I,rr,,a,, ,roHo
 Any activity whereby one gains what another loses is not useful ac- tiHity, Call it whatever name you please gambling, stealing. speeulat- ing. promoting-if the probable result of the transaction is that one shall get what another loses without giving an equivalent for it, the activity is not a useful one; it is harmful.
 This speculative spirit-the desire to get something for nothing some thing for less than t is worth, or to i sell something for more than it is Worth-this spirit is the root of more evil than strong drink It is more common than strong drink.
 Buy a horse that is worth $l00 and pay $l0 for him (why not?) So feed 1 him and groom him and train him that ne is worth $200; then sell him l for $200 (why not? Or. buy horses 1 in Illinois at $200 and sell them in l New York at $500 each, the difference being sufficient to pay for transporta- 1 ton and skill and risk in handling l Such transactions are not only legiti- mate but useful. Moreover. education 1 is necessary as preparation for deal 1 ing in horses, but il may not be exact l ly the kind of education needed for 1 preaching or teaching
 Help the boy to discover what things l are useful and help him to discover i himsolf-to find 10 what line of use l ful activity he is best adapted and 1 then encourage him to fiji himself iu
 the best possible manner for the ac
 tivity of his choice.
 II is tho recognition of the necessity of educating the young people in such i manner as will give them the desire l and power to do useful things that is | tue CduSt Rl IltiN OI ilit iNNtHl bilb
 proposed changes in our courses oi l study.
 It is this that is putting domestic
 science into so many of our schools
 IL is this that has almost forced com
 mercial work into so many of our high
 schools IL is this that has populariz
 cd manual training and it is the rec | ognition of this same necessity that is
 now forcing agriculture upon the at
 tention of educators.
 ! Having defined the meaning of use
 ful activity, am safe in taking ground that all education should relate itself
 to the doing of useful things
 Be not half men, be whole men. l Make some little corner of the world
 richer, wiser, better, happier or less
 miserable because you live and learn
 and eXpcnd wisely
 Activity in earning makes half a
 man, wisdom in expenditure makes
 the other half-Frank Hall.