The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1910-04-29
Are Men Generally Lazy?

speech made by prominent man
in which he made the statement that
men only worked because they were
compelled to by necessity. +
He is mistaken. There are men
who work just because they are
compelled to, bit that kind of
man is never a real success. If
man doesn't enjoy his work, he is
failure either in whole or in part.
| also want right here to say
word for the boy.
As general rule people, that is
growu-up people, believe that all
boys are lazy. My observation is
that the boy, as rule, is more
industrious than the man. Nine
boys out of ten will work like
Trojans if they can see reasonable
reward ahead. But boys who have
to work are often put at great
disadvantage.
Maybe it is different on the farm
now from what it used to be, but in
the Old days the boy was apt to be
put to work with the poorest toels
there were on the place. If the job
was chopping wood the boy was
Igiven the poorest ak on the theory
that he was careless and likely to
spoil good ak if he were gwen one.
If it was hoeing corn he was given
the Oldest and dullest hoe. If the
work was IN the harvest field the
men seemed to figure that the boy
never got weary. When the resi-
spell came the men sat in the shade
and calmly directed the boy to g.
to the house and bring a jug Of
fresh water.
Naturally, the boy grew more or
less warm under the band of his
hickory shirt, but then he had to 60
or get the worst of it and be called
a lazy, good-tor-nothing scamp.
Often he had to walk through the
sharp stubbe and rake wheat bare
footed. Maybe you never walked
barefooted through the sharp stub
BILE. If not, there is one of the sad
things in life that you have missed.
The average boy is full of energy
and ambition and loves appreciation.
Praise him and he will nearly work
himself to desth. Give him the
promise of a reasonable reward and
then direct him how to work and
you will get your moneys worth out
of the boy. But just neglect the
boy; give him the poorest tools to
work with; put him at something
that he does not understand; make
him wait for the second table; treat
him as if he had no pride of spirit,
no care as to how he is dressed and
in a general way humlllate him, and
you will have lazy, worthless boy
Just as you have worthless man if
you humiliate him and treat him as
if he didn't amount to anything.
l have heard the old story about
the boy being entirely satisfied to
wear any kind of old clothes, con.
tented to run around with the tail
Of his shirt floating to the rear and
futtering in the breeze. The indi
vidual who says the boy enjoys that
sort of thing is liar and the truth
is not In him or else he doesn't
know boys. The fact is that the
boy likes good clothes more than
man. He is filled with a harmless
vanity and really likes to present
what he imagines is swell appear
ance.
If he has to go around with worn
out trousers he may stand for 1t,
but secretly it frets his spirit.
know, because many time IN my
boyhood 1 have gone about with
rent in the basement of my pants
through which hu!tered the flag of
distress. And it was Aag of dis
tress all right. l was humiliated,
grieved in spirit and prejudiced
against life on the farm.