The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1913-09-04
MUST FIRST RE-
MOVE THE CAUSE
If You Want to Save the Boys and Keep
Them from a Life Of Crime; Look for
the Cause Of Crime and Endeavor to
Remove It.

Pendennis' slogan: Save the
boy" has struck chord in my
train of thought that wants express
ing. While he speaks of himself as
an old man, ''he is only old in years
of experience; but to our mind he
has struck the keynote of decreas-
ing, not de-populating, our prisons
and reformatories.
The greatest, and not far-fetched,
argument we have on the subject, is
the one that has been the one that
has been in vogue the past few
years by men who have overcome,
and are overcoming, the unsur-
mountable difficulties in the worlds
greatest projects, namely: Remove
the cause, not the obstacle"
The great scientists on mortal
diseases today are fighting to re-
move tie cause, knowing that but a
small percentage of those inflicted
can be saved by attacking the di-
sease itself.
The Panama Canal project is
centuries old, and millions of dol
lars had been spent on it before
Uncle Sam took hold. The OBJ
stacles encountered were many, but
the main one was the inability to
cope with the dying off of the
workmen employed. 1t rested with
Col. Goethals, U. S. A., to see a
way of completing it at minimum
of expense. He removed the cause.
Spent much money putting the zone
in a livable condition. by doing
away with the malaria ridden
swamps, and it was one of the best
investments the U. S. ever made,
as is now obvious to every one.
Crime is older than the Panama
Canal project; older than any di-
sease; it dates back to when the
world began-for did not Adam
steal? and is universal. Since pris-
ons were first built, people have
been trying to find way of de-
creasing their population, but until
lately have been unsuccessful. The
humanity via Golden Rule treat
ment, adopted by most prisons in
the u. S., has proved wonderful
success; even beyond the optomistic
hopes of the originators; and is rec
ognized as the best plan ever
adopted for removing crime itself.
But the people whose slogan is
Save the boy" and those who
have and are perpetuating ways
and means for removing the CAUSE,
have started the foundation of one
of the greatest worldwide move
ments ever introduced.
Longfellow says: A mans life
is governed to a large extent by his
home environment" That applies
also to boys. A girls natural in
stinct is self-preservation, but youth
curious, generous, sensitive, OPTIC
mistic youth-has no such word in
his vocabulary. Every one has
heard that immortal cry of 20,
skin-nay, c'mon over!" Every
neighborhood has a Skin-nay; and
when boy reaches the call" age,
he begins to observe and becomes
curious, and it is but short jump
to manhood; stage in his develop
ment that, as rule, he is untitled
for, and seldom becomes a man till
he is past the legal age.
The universal boy scout move
ment probably is in advance of all
other such work, and is gettin re-
suits. The men at the head of this
organization are capable, educated
and hard working, and know boys
and their ways, at all ages and
stages. The work and play devised
by these men, appeal to boys and
they are taught not only how to
build camp fire or tend to their
physical needs and wants under
every condition, but they are taught
that which goes to make them bet
ter men and citizens. Manly men"
is the by-word to the explanation,
which means physically, mentally