Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-03-26

and finally agreed TO compromise,
/ which must have been favorable to
the liberals, because several changes
in their favor have already been
made.
| FATHER AND SON.
They Have More In Common Now Than
In Generations Past.
The best friend boy can have Is his
own father. Many years ago boy
thought Of his father as figure OF
Mosaic or at least Of Aaronic author
lity, and the father encouraged the
sons notion of the paternal character
It never would have occurred to either
that affectionate and intimate comrade-
ship was possible. The father did not
condescend to any interest In the sons
diversions; the son never thought OF
asking his father to join him in his
sports. In his letters the son subscrib-
ed himself as "dutifur or "obedient,'
rarely as loving" or "affectionate." 1t
was not that the boy was not fond OF
his father; 1t was because 1t was not
the custom in that day to be demon
strative in the paternal and filial rela-
| tionship.
Nowadays It is different. While there
is perhaps less sense Of a community
of interest in business, owing to the
fact that the son frequently follows a
different vocation, there are more
points Of intimate social and personal
fcontact between father and son than
there used to be. The boy Is no long
er overawed and overwhelmed by the
man; the man no longer considers 1t
condescension on his part to take an
interest in the things that interest his
son. Has familiarity bred disres-
pect? Does the boy think less Of the
father, because the latter is more like
an elder brother than a parent? Un-
doubtedly there are cases Of lack OF
proper respect, because the father Is
no longer the awful and forbidding fig
ure he used to be. But on the whole
the sons respect for his father Is in
creased rather than lessened when ne
finds that "the old man" Is still suf-
ficiently young at heart to enter with
zest into the employments and enjoy
ments of boy.
There Is no pleasanter sight than to
see a father on good terms, as friend
and playmate, with his children. 1t is
not quite so easy for him to become
as a little child again." for his mo-
| ments in the nursery, because Of his
business preoccupations, are fieeting
and occasional. Some men rarely cross
the threshold Of 1t, and only see their
children when they have on their good
clothes and their company manners.
man cannot understand his children
unless he becomes to some extent their
playmate, and completely their conf
dant. He will always be a good deal
of an "Olympian" as 1t Is, for 1t is
hard for the grown man to get and to
keep the childs point Of view. He
must be very humble and willing to
learn, and he must never ridicule or
frighten a child, or fail to keep his
promise to a child. For these three
things a child finds unforgivable.
The man who has grown up along
side of his own children will not have
much difficulty controlling his sons as
they grow older 1t Is the father who
has never really known his boy, has
never been the best friend of his boy,
who has all kinds of trouble as the son
approaches or attains his majority.
The son feels that his father has never
taken the trouble to understand him.
He has not thought it worth while to
concern himself in the sons problems
Consequently when the son has be-
come man and has put away childish
things, father and son find themselves
totally estranged and out Of sympathy
when there might have been cordial
community of interest.
Many a father longs for opportunities
of making his sons acquaintance
Business cares and preoccupations
seem to leave no room for the close
comradeship. The son has circle OF
friends and acquaintance of whom the
father knows nothing, and sometimes
the son Is even a little ashamed Of the
"old man" for certain homely, uncouth
rustic ways, 1t may be, or failure to
keep up with the fashions, or a certain
lack of sympathy with the fads and
foibles Of the present generation. Many
boy is more than willing to accept
the bounty of his fathers house, and
at the same time will not brook the
least firmness Of paternal authority In
the direction Of his scheme for the con-
duct Of life. He wants to be free to
spend his fathers money. and he does
not want the interference even Of a
suggestion.
| There are fathers who are successful
in the conduct Of business who do not
know how to manage son. They are
all tact and diplomacy in the negotia-
| ton Of an intricate commercial trans
action, into which the personal equa-
ton enters and which involves know
| ing how to handle men, but where their
own sons are concerned they are all at
sea. They are perhaps unreasonably
stern where leniency would be the
wiser policy; 1t may be, on the other
hand, that they display a pitiable ir-
resolution where they should be firm
and uncompromising. After all, how
ever, 1t is the business Of the older man
to go more than half way in the en-
deavor to arrive at a mutual under
standing. He must remember that
boy has not the dubious blessings Of
mans experience; that boy has not
the means of knowing what is best to
do, that comes with age; and II man
will but remember what he was like at
the boys time Of life, he will think
better of the boy When fifty years OF
experience undertakes to reprove fif-
teen, it would be we'll for the man to