The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1911-12-07

fit thereby.
Coupled with the development Of
the body should be the training and
development of the mind. In this
age of public schools and free libra
ries this is within the grasp Of any
who may desire it, as has been prov-l
en- time and time again by the chill
dren of the poor who have risen to
prominence through their own eff !!
forts by the help of the free public
educational institutions to be found
in every state of our country.
TO be a perfect man one must be
useful citizen and do all that he
can for the public good. He must
be interested in good works and the |
moral uplift of society in general;
to this end a man should devote his
time as far as possible to the study
of ethical questions, and train him
self to so live day by day that he may
be credit to himself and help to
others. To accomplish all of this
one must acquire such habits as will
in the end accomplish the desired
results. / quoted DR.. Denotes
statements a few moments ago for
the express purpose of bringing out
| the scientific importance of habit,
1 for it has everything to do with the
making of a man. If good habits
are formed nearly youth and strict
ly followed through life the result is
a good man; contrarywise bad habits
will result in producing an evil man.
i Now in order to make thissubject
4 applicable to the men in this institu-
| ton it will be admitted by most of
you that you have been the victims
| of bad habits. This / know to be
true by the admissions made to me
in personal conversation with many
of you regarding your own habits be-
fore being brought here. and l want
to add that the same habits INDUCED
in upon your release, will be the
means of returning you to this or
some similar institution in short or
, der. The fact that You have. not
made good in the process of making
of yourself man, does not pre-
clude the possibility Of your doing
SO in the future, and / want to offer
| a few suggestions that may help you
to turn about face and redeem the
; past, and the time to begin is today.
DIR. DeMotte's illustration of the
; main line tracks and switches is
most excellent, and cannot do bet
ter than apply it here today. l
have talked with number of men
just previous to their release, and
pointed out to them the necessity of
breaking off the old habits and form
ing new ones. if they expected to
make good when on the outside.
That my advice would not be needed
: knew to be certain in some in
stances as / could plainly see during
the interview that the man to whom
l was talking had no intention OF
trying to break away from the old
life and habits. and this was proven
by their getting into trouble within
J twenty four hours after their dis
charge.
You are your own free moral
agents and consequently if You have
no desire to make good no one can
help you. On the other hand if you
: have even the slightest desire to
make man of yourself, it can be
e accomplished in time through your
e own efforts and the assistance Of
Z others who are willing to help you
It But some man may say what OPP
/ portunity does man have to make
d1 good in a place ike this?" Ny an
e swer is. every chance in the world
d) In the first place the opportunit.
q for forming new habits is better her