Evening star., 1935-06-05
Waste Held
Product of
Ignorance
Loss Of Own Wealth
Involved in Child's
Reckless Acts.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

NEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: People
are judged by what they do be-
cause actions are always fathered by
thoughts. What kind Of thought are
you holding when you break windows
in schools, break globes on street
lights, smash bottles on highways,
burn bonfres on roadWays. mark
buildings with chalk? If you have no
thought of the answer by this time
here it is: You are thinking the
thoughts Of ignorance, irresponslbility
and waste.
When one Of these destroyerS was
in the park building he said: They
belong to the city. Nobody OWLS
them"
Can you imagine a boy Of high
school grade giving an answer as silly
as that? Nobody owns the park build
ing. 1t is all right to destroy things
that don't belong to you personally"
That is what 1 mean when I say such
a boy or girl is ignorant, irresponsible,
wasteful and stupid.
The city is you. King Louis was
right when he said: Il am the state.
He would have been a deal nearer the
full truth had he understood that not
he alone, but he and the rest Of the
French nation we're the state Every
CitlZen-and you are cltiZens-is in his
person, the city, the state and the
Nation.
When you destroy something that
belongs to the public you destroy your
own property. You decrease the value
Of your property by the cost Of what
you ruin. You pay for it again, and
again and again each time you destroy
it. If you pay for one thing you can
not pay for another with the same
money. If you pay over and over for
street lights, park benches, grass,
books fences. and the like, you deprive
yourself of the benefit of that money.
You might have had new book OF
your own. new hat. wheel, if YOU
had not made yourself pay for what
you already owned.
Children are taxed when their par
ents are taxed. Don't forget that
Every time the family pay taxes.
money goes out Of the family into the
service. When you ruin public prop
erty you tax your families again and
you tax yourselves again. If that is in
tellIgent. tell me Aside from the money
waste there is this even more serious
waste. Every time you commit a fool
lSh, irresponsible action you announce
yourself to the world as foolish. ire
sponsible and wasteful By practice
you become these things and cheat
yourself of the power Of the fine in
telLgence you might have. It is smart
TO be careful Of property. public and
private. II is stupid to waste money.
goods or time. Who wants to be
stupid?
I am not for boarding things. !
vote for using them to the full extent
as long as they last I think that
using things and taking care Of them
While using them indicates intelligence.
like to see boys play. I like to see
boys and girls in the library reading
the books. There is no sense in hav-
ing toys or game equipment locked
away. no more sense than there is III
destroying them. But 1 like to see
the readers go to the basin and wash
their hands before touching the books.
And like to see the same children in
the binderv with the teacher mending
and cleaning those books. Intelligent
people are known by their respect for
the things they use as we'll as by what
they do with them. Destruction is
characteristic Of ignorance. a low level
of intelligence. You ought not to be
in that class.
Cordially. A.P.
,Copyright 1850