The Winslow mail., 1920-06-18
A MISTAKEN IDEA

Down through the ages children
have been trained to respect their
elders. The homage Of youth to age
has been traditional in the annals Of
culture. The wisdom which comes
with ripening years has, since the be-
ginning of time. commanded the vene-
ration, admiration and respect of ig-
norant. untutored youth. Far back in
the long ago, when the world was
young, the youth was taught to pay
Difference to the aged. The term
"grey beard" was one of honor and re-
verence. The head crowned with the
snowy locks telling of years Of sor-
row, Joy and experience has COM
manded the veneration of all men for
more generations than one could
count. The Hindus have an express
sion as old as time itself: Respect
the aged" In ancient China the We
neration in which age is held extends
to the worship Of ancestral bones. In
every land, in every cline, among the
peoples of the earth. respect for the
age is a cardinal virtue. actively
practiced
And yet in our own day and time,
in this fair land of liberty and free
dom we apparently are forgetting the
tribute due to superior years, with
their attendant knowledge and wis
dom. Straws shows which way the
wind blows. and here is a straw. In
the public schools Of many states, in
Guiding Arizona, children are being
taught to address their elders without
the prefis or affix "Sir" or "M'am.'
They are instructed to say "yes" and
mo-" not ''yes sir" or ''no SIR
To the ears of one accustomed OF
hearing children answer their elders
respectfully, the omission Of the pre-
fix comes with a disagreeable shock.
1t smacks Of impertinence, disrespect
and downright uncouthness.
Teachers tell children that in say
ing "Sir" and "Ma' am" they are being
servile, and are recognizing their own
inferiority and unworthiness as COM
pared with the person addressed.
Could anything be more absured;
What sort of reasoning can evolve the
conclusion upon which such asser-
tions are based? Are we to suppose
that such great men as George wash
ington. Henry Clay. Daniel Webster,
Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jeffer-
son, or host of others whose high
courage and lofty strength of charac-
ter helped to upbuild this great nation
would have been stronger men il they
had not accorded their elders the re-
spects their parents and instructors
of those days taught them Proper
submission and humility are neces-
sary to greatness. TIL soldier who
has not learned to take orders is in
competent to give them.
When we of demo cratic, America
address man as ".Sir" we merely
pay him the complim ent of acknow-
ledging his equality The idea Of
anything servile being connected with
it is as ridiculous as it is preposter-
GUS.
1t would be in deed poor sort Of
character which relied upon incivility
and surly churf ishness to bolster its
strength. The child who cannot say
"Sir" or "Ma'ar n" to an elder person.
and still retair self-respect is indeed
a weakling of the poorest sort.
We are livil lg fast life these days
and good ma nners, courtesy and po-
liteness, rap IDLY are; being forgotten.
But let us b ope that the proper re-
spect and W sneration which the young
should feel for the aged shall not be
relegated t the storehouse where so
many of Il le things once regarded as
necessary virtues have been lost in
oblivion Arizona Gazette.