Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-03-18

dr. g. Stanley Han believes that
boys need To- know something about
bad boys as well as about good ones
The substance of his argument Is
that anyone must know what evil is
as % safeguard against the doing Of &c.
and not as miscouccivcd by some OF
the critics that this is advocating per-
soual experience in doing evil That
we must know the enemy in order
more effectively TO rrsist or attack
him. just as we study disease in order
to- avoid it and escape its eyils-this is
what the great psychologist means
and his position seems 20 be a sound
one
The learned doctor ably argues that
"a universe OF light with NO shadows
in IL, would be as mouotonous and
vacuous as one Of darkness; we can see
as much BOO one as in the other Thus.
au artist must know and use black and
dark shades TO bring out. white and
light ones by contrast; and many
young people go wrong because not
adequately instructed about the evil
iu the world. Tho very essence Of NOR
al education, he declares, consists In
part Of warnings and example
10 rs undoubtedly true as the Doe
tor claims. that the best medicine f.
preventive and that this is true also Of
moral diseases The object lesson is
very effective as when Plato pointed
out drunkard to tho Athenian youth,
in order 20 warn them against the sim
and folly Of intemperance. such les
sons save from error and serve 10 give
TO the inexperienced enough knowledge
by proxy 90 avoid the result.
"rhus. ne continues. eve utilize the
plumbers and mistakes OF others In or
der 90 prevent their intrusion into our
own lives. The most interesting and
most useful chapter in logic is that
which deals with fallacies. as I have
found by long experience in teaching IL;
and tho more common and insidious
they seem TO b.. the greater immunity
against their habitual use the student
acquires The very first thing a re-
former must know and know thorough
ly. II he would be effective. is all the
details and qualifications Of the evil he
would correct"
The faults of the great majority 90
boys IN the early teens are found by
DR.. Hall to be petty and transient. and
ho thinks that such boys have often
been too sheltered, and when they
break away a little and meet with
half-bad associates, they are far more
liable TO be infected by badness than
II they had been little more exposed
to it earlier.
he concludes his rather startling
long argument with these unusual pro-
positions:
There is no escaping the fact unin-
telligible though n usually is TO moth
ers. that just as incubation gives inn
munlty against a grave by giving a
mild form OF the disease. so there Is
class OF minor ohenses and peccadil-
los some personal experience
which gives boys immunity against
grayer sins. II does so by bringing
into play regrets and higher powers OF
control and rectihcatiou, otherwise dor
mant In the soul. and which like ev-
erything else need occasional exercise
In order 20 come 10 their full matur-
ity and strength.
For those who may think that this
learned Investigator OF the problems
OF childhood is carrying his argument
20 am extreme ln which 1t may fail
altogether. we may cite discourse OF
the Prophet Lehi III Nephi 10. ga
which it is plainly set forth that 1T
must needs be that there IS an oppo-
sition On am things. II not 80 .
righteousness could not he brought TO
pass. neither wickedness. neither holi-
ness nor misery
The meaning is that some sort OF ex-
perioncc of eva ls necessary ln order to
appreciate ana know the good. not
that temptation should be placed before
anyone. or that one must actually
have the smallpox. for example. IN or
der Co have strong body Boy after
wards avoiding a.
THE argument touches one OF the
deepest problems of philosophy and
theology existence OF cvu and tho
reason for it-and we cannot say that
the Doctors stgemeut rightly un-
dcrato1d. De- NOT "a very close approx
innate 90 tho truth