Evening journal., 1913-01-10
NO MOLLYCODDLES WANTED
IN AMERICA, SAYS DAN BEARD

Daniel Carter Beard. one Of the
leaders of the Boy Scouts OF America, |
has sent the following greeting TO the /
Boy Scouts of America:
Happy New Yearl Boy Scouts Of
America and all other boys OF Amer
lea | want TO say a few words on
New Years Day l am no preacher
Of the old-fashioned type; I have no
patience with a goody-goody boy nor
the Little Lord Fauntleroy' boy, you
see | look upon boys as so much ma
terial with which to build men. In
the first place, little Lord Faunteroy
was an exotic; do you know what an
exotic is? II is transplanted thing;
e is an English sparrow; it's a lord
in a republic, with this great differ
ence: Some exotics are very useful,
but there is no place in a republic for
a lord except when he comes as a
gentleman and a visitor The reason
for this is that his whole scheme of
life is opposed to American ideas. be-
sides which, little Lord Fauntleroy
was a 'sissy-sissy' sort OF 2 chap,
and no self-respecting American boy
would have ever allowed his parents
to dress him up in those pretty girl
ish clothes little Lord Fauntleroy
wore. The Huck Firms and Tom Saw
yers make better material for men i'm
a Republic than the Lord Fauntle-
roys.
The first thing essential, boys, is
a sturdy idea of manhood when you
have got that, then you want q sturdy
physical body, that is, healthy body.
When you have those two combined,
you have the material ready TO make
great men; then you can be good
without being girlish. and you can be
courteous without being menial, you
can be useful without being servilc. 7
want every boy in America to be able
to stand up with his head thrown
back and his chest out, so that he can
look anybody square in the eye with
out finching. and, If necessary, and Il
sometimes is, tell anybody to go to
thunder. Don't misunderstood me;
we must obey our superior officers,
but in doing that we are obeying our
selves. 1t is only when a superior
officer orders us to do something
which conflicts with our self-respect
and our manhood that We have a
right to disObey Boys, / believe in
obedience, but I believe I'm intelligent
obedience, in thinking obedience; l do
not believe in human machines which,
like Percy the Mechanism Man,
chops when you touch the chopping
button, shovels when you touch the
shoyeling button, marches When you
touch the marching button. because,
YOU know the main characteristic OF
Percy the Mechanism Man is
Brains he has nix
Remember that courtesy with q
boy in this country is true politeness,
Is true chivalry. because in this coun-
try We do not have TO be polite, VIC
are polite from choice.
Up to the time that our ancestors
threw the tea overheard in Boston
Harbor everybody was compelled TO
he polite 10 the ones above them IN
the social scale. everybody We treat
ed as a slave by the one occupying
the position above them: consequent
ly. everybody was servile. For com
mon man to be manly I'm those days
was to be sent to the pillory, for him
to be ambitions was to be arrested
for treason. Now for a boy not Ia
be manly and for a boy to be am
bitoius is a lasting disgrace.
81 want to call this particularly %
the attention of the foreign-horn
hoys. IN this country remember. lads
to be polite because you are a gentle
man at heart; not because you have
TO-; because if you want to you can
be as surely and mean as you please