The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-06-10

For even when we were with you this
we commanded you, that if any would not
work, neither should he eat. II Thessa-
lonians III:10.
This is one of the reproofs uttered
by st. Paul against idIeness. If it
were only a part of the laws of all
nations and enforced to the letter,
there would be much less bitterness
and misery in the world. No habit
prevails with humans which is quite
SO vicious as idleness. 1t Is the great
troublemaker.N 1t breeds nothing but
mischief of all kinds and crimes of
every degree. To the idle there is only
one avenue of progress. And that is
in the wrong direction.
Idleness would not be SO bad if it
merely affected those who are cursed
with it's practice. But it does not. Its
baneful influence is felt by all those
with whom the idle come in contact.
Take it in a family for instance. If
one or more of its members lie around
with idle hands, it makes the real work
of caring for and maintaining the
household all the more burdensome
for those who have it to do. The
harvest of idleness is certain to be
II O0OAC III OAC AOA "a c1IOtACAs IL -
generally trouble of an evil sort. The
disgrace that follows it rests even more
heavily on the members of a family
other than the one who is guilty of It.
But perhaps they are getting some
thing of their just deserts because they
are the cnes who tolerated the idleness
and condoned it.
Perhaps those who are most prone
to idleness are many Of the people
most beautifully favored with this
worlds goods. There is no necessity
that they should work for a living. It
is not long before the ordinary pleas
ures of life begin to pail on them. They
must find new means of excitement to
satisfy their cravings, to occupy their
time which is being so ruthlessly vast
ed. Every one knows the result. The
newspapers are filed with them every
day. And the scandals of society
which do not find their way into print
are more numerous that those which
do.
There is plenty of work for idle folk
to do, not necessarily for a living
where labor is not actually needed for
one, but in countless other fields of
endeavor Work is the greatest solace
of humanity. Under it's wings the
weak become strong and the strong
stronger. 1t might almost be termed
the great panacea for all ills, certainly
for the ills of the mind, and for those
of the body as well, if proper work is
selected. 1t is the gigantic promoter
of peace and contentmert. 1t is the
natural outlet for all human energies.
And every person should indulge in it
in one form or another.
Those who actually need work to
make a living for themselves, and
those dependent upon them, and who
will not work are in another class-a
large one, too, unfortunately, and an
equally undesirable one. The persons
who have to bear their burdens are to
be pitied. For the idlers themselves,
there can be nothing except contempt.
They really deserve no better fate than
the miserable one which Il assuredly
in store for them. It is affection or
distress of some character. But it is
nothing moro than is coming to them.
If those who will not work were not
permitted to eat, they would speedily
become enlightened as to the duties
and the responsibilities of life.