The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1913-10-23
Auburn. Maine. ~. ,h

would show good results must have intel
ligent pupils who are not corrupted by
vicious Influences If you have child
who has been taught for generations
that his nobleness of character depends
upon being as uncomfortable as wild
broncho, you have an inbred defect to
contend with which may be grown over
Xix a spot on tree where the bark has
been knocked off. These blemishes,
whether Inherited or produced by wrong
doing, may be grown over, but will leave
black spot within.
If tree is barked on different side
every year the black spot will extend SO
far around the tree that it will be unable
to stand against the fury Of the WIND.
The same is true of the child 1t can
outgrow few small errors, but when
child has become so affected by vicious
influences as to cuss and damn loving
and kind parent who has done every
thing reasonable for him, he is in the
same critical condition as the apple tree
which has had the bark knocked Oft
more than half way around.
When boys are cultivating an orchard,
if they are surrounded by pack of igno-
rant old women who tell them that an
apple tree will bear all the sooner for
being barked, they are liable to hit
nearly half the trees with the harrow.
On the other hand if they know that
their reputation and self respect are at
stake every time they hit tree they
will be exceedingly careful. The same
good or bad influences are brought to
bear in forming all habits, whether good
or bad. Happy the man or child who
has the judgment to distinguish between
right and wrong and the will to act for
the right, thus forming good character
by right acts or habits.
There is little use in our reading histo-
nv unless we learn therefrom the effect
of different courses of conduct. There
is little use in possessing knowledge un-
less we take warning from their failures.
Precious golden sands are going to waste
all about u.s. 1t may be time which
could be utilized in earning money or
gaining knowledge. 1t might be merely
chicken feed going down through the
cracks in the floor 1t might be an I'M
reasonably high rent paid. Any rent is
unreasonable which uses up persons
whole income 1t might be time spent
on work which yields no adequate COM
pensation. A thrifty person may form
the habit of saving everything. Mar
den tells of wealthy business men who
have continued this habit until they re-
quire high priced help to save every
thing. A person might spend his time
picking up nails that had dropped to the
ground, when the value of the nails
would be but a small part of the value of
the time spent in securing them,
While have been Willing away my
time on these random thoughts Miss
Williams, one of our students from the
east, has been marshaling an array of
facts and arguments which she presents
to the students of this State Normal
School at the hour when the waters of
the Atlantic and Pacific roll to meet
each other in the Panama Canal. Her
ambition seems to be to arouse every
student to the Importance of being pres
ent at the Panama Exposition in 1915.
Great as is the benefit to be derived
from floating our commerce across the
isthmus of Panama instead around South
America we may derive still greater
benefit from improvements now going on
in our schools The city of Portland,
Oregon, proposes to save $780, 900 annu-
ally by having thoroughly qualified
teachers who can do all the work with
cut employing special teachers for music,
drawing, domestic science and manual
training. Under present methods the
regular teacher is idle while the special
teacher takes the class. This would
mean snug little bunch of money for
the nation.
An even greater movement is that for
making the moral sentiment more prom
inent in the Course of Study. Under
present methods the more knowledge
and training a child gets the more noto-
rious a criminal he may become. The
classical monopoly is broken and educa-
ton has become more practical. When
the moral worth of all our history and
literature is as firmly stamped upon the
youthful mind as our practical knowl-
edge is now being impaired in some of
our leading schools, there will be
thinning out of the ranks among our
hoard of convicts now being confined in
our States prisons and other penal insti-
tutions No one can read the statistics