Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1912-03-28

nnanlly, ano lns0eac or high living and
thinking commensurate with the mate
rial equipments, there will be only that
life to which the citizen can measure.
for riches never yet have made 4 state
Every step taken by q government
towards actually counting the little
babe that sends ost its first cry from
some poverty-stricken home on back
street, the well kept lad who whistles
on his way to school. and that neglected
boy who is waiting his chance to steal
his neighbor's spples-all government
property-to be guarded and protected
and given every possible help, is lead
ing towards a brighter day for that
country, for it can never get above the
men it mskes.
"As long as nations go to war no cost
Is counted too great 70 pay for the
trained soldier. The state builds schools,
pays for the boys training, equips vast
fleets and spends fortunes in guns, and
with lavish hand looks after the de-
mands of the army.
THE well balanced citizen who makes
the backbone Of . country,-the man
with the hoe and plow,-t the one who
handles the yard-stick or interprets the
lsw,-the woman who looks after the
little home instead of the palace,-the
one who lives by her needle, e,-these,
the mass and file Of the people, make
an army far more powerful than the
ranks that march TO war, and on them
our conquests really depend. II, as
nation, we write sreditable history, it
mist be done by the many and not by
the few who sit in high Places. Does
our government give the close attention
to the details that enter into the making
of one of these soldiers of the every day
ranks that it does where the man who
carries the gun is concerned? Some of US
dare believe that the latter will soon be
out of commission, but the fight that
must be made by your boy and your
servants boy is as certain as life and
death, and the vital question is: "Am
fitting him to do hr bestf"
''It is not enough to establish school
within the reach Of every child, or to
see that every child goes to school, for
there he gets only enc part of his edu-
cation. The influences that tell upon
his character and development must be
the very best the state can bring about,
or else that state ia not looking after its
future interests
''If it would have a race of broad
shouldered stalwart men, it must take
its mothers from the factories where
disease and death lurks,-it must turn
the army Of boys and girls from these
-sme factories into Fairgrounds where
it can watch over their sports, it must
foster school gardens, that are calling
the man back to the soil, and see that
little hands are taught to do what it
needs to have done. II the state would
guard its future ballot box it must grow
its boys into men fn such civic atmos-
phere a. will make fair play the only
play, and let Right govern Might. Every
dollar spent by state towards this end
is we'll invested, and the state that
turns down this investment is bartering
away its own future strength. In this
day of conservation, ths citisen-that
greatest asset of any country-must
not be forgotten, but must be made to
reach the heights towards which the
country looks.
I'VE recognize now, as normal and
right, the social instinct of man and
community, and we wonder why it was
so long left TO satisfy itself by chance
and mischsnce. The getting together
for discussion and thought expansion
the hour for smiles and laughter and
the occasional day far from the scene
of regular work-these are now con-
ceded to be wholesome, human needs,
which are being met, little by little, by
both state and community. AS play
grounds are being established for the
boys and girls, so are social centers for
the entire community, and the recrea-
ton department bids fair to take its
place in all large schools.
''The legislature of Wisconsin lately
passed bill granting the use of all
school houses for free discussion aud
recreation purposes, on application by
an organization Of citizens. Other
states will follow, and thus the citizens
viii! open the houses which they have
built, to minister to their social needs,
which are being counted now among the
vital needs. The University of Wis
consin has established g social center
department, and l have read that the
University of Virginia has taken tire
same step. Other universities have
afoot similar plans, end since it is their
province to make citizens, surely they
are wise in trying to meet the vital
need Of the normal man and woman.
''The bssis of society is the family,
and to the home we must go for all ideas
of successful goverHment, whether civic
or social. AS wise father studies the
different needs of the different child
rem, trying to enable each one to grow