The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1914-09-26
MANUFACTURING sELFIsHNess

Some are born selfish some
achieve se.nshness, and some nave
selllshness thrust upon them" para.
phrased woman the ether day, as
she watched the tactics of a mother
with her small daughter. That lGo-
Their is generating selfshness in that
little child at the rate OF forty horse
power a minute.
Not quite so strong as that,
laughed the group about the woman,
knowing the forceful way in which
she was given to expressing herself.
1T viii seem that strong in the
years to come when the mother tries
10 oppose it or escape from it's eN
actions.
The group watched the little scene
The child wanted something from her
mother. She wheedled and coaNed
aud grew angry and finally howled.
The mothers objections grew weak
er. Finally with an indulgent smile,
she yielded, and the child ran off
triumphant.
THE mother told me the other
day." went on the woman who had
first spoken, that she had been quite
hurt at the way her daughter had
acted the day before. The mother
was quite sick it seems. Yet the
child came to the couch where sne
was lying clambered all over her, and
coaxed and cried for her mother to
do something until the mother got
up and did it. She said she was quite
wounded by the child's lack of con-
sideration. she thought, it seems,
that because she always gave the
child everything it wanted, that in
turn the youngster ought to be equal
ly thoughtful OF her.
With child of that age and that
temperament, that is scarcely the
way to bring about that result" com
mented one of the party.
No. replied the first speaker.
The mother is really making that
child selfish The child of course
does not realize it now. She simply
knows she gets her own way by Ger.
tain processes. And as she wants her
own way she adopts the methods
best calculated to obtain it.
She would be a pretty child" OBJ
served another, IF her expression
were not so sly and self seeking and
petulant.
What these women said was all
true. And this is not the only small
child who is being made selfish ana
unattractiye by those entrusted with
its training. And like this mother,
many OF them are doing it unconsci-
ously. They really love the child
most devotedly-oT so they think.
They would give and are giving their
all to make the youngster happy. But
as far as actual results go, they are
obtaining just the reverse of what
they wish.
For after all, it is the results tina;
tell the story, is it not.
The mother who finds her little one
headstrong, selfish, bad tempered, is
not pursuing the right course in train
ing her, or has unusual difficult ma
terial to work with, or perhaps both.
If the child has by nature these tie
fects, surely it is only a matter of
justice to the child to root them out;
and If the little one is acquiring them
by reason of her mothers indulgence
this is likewise terrible piece Of
injustice to the child. For we will all
admit that the man or woman who
arrives at mature years lacking self
control or with a fiendish teuper are
thinking only OF self is heavily handi
capped in the race for sucusss or
happiness.
Seliishness is a weed easy to grow.
1t needs no cultivation. Rather, it
needs repression. The mother who
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