The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1910-06-10
DEMOCRATIC TICKET.
FOR CONGRESS.
Harvey Helm, OF Liacoin County.



One of the dominant traits Of the
American before the Civil War was
thrift. A majority of AL families
praci ed economy. and STUDIED Ii as
an art. Children were brought up t.
think about il. The sayings of PGol
Richard were dinned into their ears
Thrift was rot only everywhere il.
evidence, it was obtcuSive and Obtrud-
ed.
With thrift in money matters went
a controlling sense of the value OF
time and of the Importance Of self.
improvement. IdleneSs and loafing
even frivolous employment>, were
looked upon as serious vices which n(
respect able family could tolerate
Children were expected when not al
work TO read for Information rather
than for amusement. Books were
relatively few: but the few were uSu
ally OF a serious sort, and were reaC
thru many times. NOEL reading wa:
not encouraged, and often was firmly
discouraged. The theatre was rather
generally thought Objectionable.
This serious view of life was itsell
the product of hard struggle for ex.
istence. One of these days the econc
mic Interpretation of history will en-
able us to understand better than VIZ
have comprehended hitherto how The
Puritan creed was shaped by the cil
cumstances Of the six DAYS of toll, a,
by the seventh day of church going
Probably, in many instances, its pre-
ceptS were pushed too far in practica
application. Life was often NOR.
hard and barren than economic neces
sity or moral well-being demanded.
But reaction has gone too far. Tht
American people of today are thrift
less and extravagant in their econc
mic Affairs and, what is far worse
they are wasteful of time and energy
We haye become amusement mad, anl
as an entirely natural consequence
OF tmuSementS have to an increasir.
extent become SenseleSS and yulgaI
Our reading matter in larger ana
larger proportion has become a pan
dering to sensation. 1t appeals to ap
petiIes that get more and more jided
The publishers hesitate to accept
books of intellectual value. The the
alters are afraid of PLAYS that appeal t.
critical tastes and call for serious ar.
tistic effort. But vaudeville program.
''shows" and moving pictures multi
ply prodigiously and attract theiI
tens Of thousands. Multitudes OF
boys and men not only watch bal
games day after day, but stand idly
about the newspaper bulletins watch
ing the ''ScOre-" These are but ex.
amples. among hundreds. of the ways
in which the people get lid of time
that If devoted, even in some small
part. to Self-improvemenC would make
US nation of mental and moral DOW.
er.
Combined with this waste of time
and resources is tendency that enor.
mously impairs our effectiveness as q
democratic community. Education
is a ma ional fad. Never has educa.
tional machinery been SO elabt rate
and never has the "plant" been work.
ed at such high pressure: Yet every
teacher, from the primary to the uni
versity grades. complains of the amaz.
ing intellectual poverty of his pupils
They have nd fund of general infOr.
nation. Their mental efforts have
been concentrated upon prescribed
tasks with examination in view,
They have not read widely and con.
Secutively. Selections and fragments
constitute their acquaintance with Ii.
terature and science.
To great extent this tendency NAV
be accounted for by the intensity OF
the struggle to win a place in the
world where Income may be earned by
some kind If ''braIn work." To be-
come salaried teacher or public en-
ployee. to get ON the staff of a news
paper, to write for the magazines, or
TO obtain f00thold ia a profession, is
the ambition of most of the hundreds
OF Thousands Of young people who are
getting an education" So they cor
centrate their efforts upon the studies
that count" They are not in school
or college because they have a thirst
for knowledge. 1t is safe to say that
IS per cent. OF them are not even in
terested In knowledge except as
means to practical end,
The net result OF these two tenden-
cies ia combination. the tendency,
namely, to seek only specialized knowl-
edge. and the tendency to waste IN
icIeness and upon inane amusements
the time and strength that might be
emploved ia self Improvement, is that
fOnfshing supericialty OF view and
1ineGecttveness in public cooper