The Green Forest tribune., 1908-10-02
Heln Boy to Be I Man.

Human actlNlly IS uSetui, uSeiesi UT harmful Indeed. if it is useless, it is harmful. for it is waste of time.
 and time is the stuff life is made of, | and to waste human life is harmful. So human activity is useful or harm ful. Activity is useful if it promotes well-being. To raise corn is useful, 10 make wool into cloth is useful, to | convert wheat into flour is useful, to ! dig a ditch or a cellar, or to lay
 cellar wall is useful To assist in l the distribution of corn, woolen goods,
 flour, lime, cement, eggs, butter or
 cheese is useful.
 1 It is useful to please people--to please them through the art of music or painting or sculpture or architec- | ture.
 | It is useful to add to the comfort ill the country. It is useful to do that which will increase the yield of corn l and oats and wheat and clover, which will conserve soil fertility and check the ravages of insects.
 Whatever promotes human happi-
 ness, human convenience, human health human comfort, human pro gress in right living and right think ing, or whatever diminishes the mis- takes, the sins, the sorrow, the suf- l fcring, the inconvenience-any of the ] ills of life-is useful
 But the real utility of an art must be determined by it's effect not upon he individual himself, but upon the race The useful act must affect fa- yorably the human race.
 Any activity whereby one gains what another loses is not useful ac- tivity. Call it whatever name you please- gambling, stealing. speculat- ing, promoting-if the probable result get what another loses without giving an equivalent for it, the activity is not useful one; it is harmful. This speculative spirit--the desire to get something for nothing some thing for less than it is worth. CT to 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 horse that is worth S100 and pay $l0 for him (why not?) So feed him and groom him and train him that he is worth $200; then sell him for $200 (why not?) Or, buy horses in Illinois at S200 and sell them in New York at $500 each the difference being sufficient to pay for transporta ton and skill and risk in handling. Such transactions are not only legiti. mate, but useful. Moreover, education is necessary as a preparation for deal ing in horses, but it may not be exact ly the kind of education needed for preaching or teaching.
 Help the boy to discover what things are useful and help him to discover himself-to find to what line of use ful activity he is best adapted and then encourage him to fit himself ill the best possible manner for the ac- tiVity of his choice.
 It is the recognition of the necessity of educating the young people in such manner as will give them the desire and power to do useful things that is the cause of many of the recent and proposed changes in our courses of study.
 IL is this that is putting domestic science into so many of our schools. 1t is this that has almost forced com mercial work into so many of our high schools. It is this that has populariz- ed 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 full activity, I am safe in taking ground that all education should relate itself to the doing of useful things.
 Be not half men, be whole men. Make some little corner of the world richer. wiser, better, happier or less miserable because you live and learn and eXpend wisely.
 Activity in earning makes half man; wisdom in expenditure makes the other half.-Frank Hall.