The Wilmington morning star., 1940-04-08

the central nerve Of much OF the moral anu
spiritual restitution of individuals, families and
even whole communities.
Chanaing the environment is one Of the
major factors in changing the whole tone and
outlook upon life of those who happen to be
badly circumstanced by the contacts OF their
immediate neighborhoods.
This is no argumentative treatise upon the
factors Of heredity or environment as the
greater Of character.
1t is, on the contrary, a mere practical OBJ
servation upon much Of the social work tnat
is being done in this community by agencies
and organizations designed to uplft and re-
claim and recast individuals, notably the young
er generation, to decent and wholesome living
through a publication Of their surroundings.
This influence Of outside factors upon In
ternal life Of people is as definitely and scien.
tifically known and recognized as the influence
of soil, atmosphere and climate upon animal
and plant life.
Change these and you change the fiber,
color and often the dimension Of the object.
Many animals take their color from their sur
roundings.
The stripes Of the Bengal tiger harmonic
| with the reed.jungle in which it lives.
The Polar bear, living in eternal snow. is
white; the brown and black bears are like the
forests in which they roam; the bright plu-
mayed birds of tropical countries match the
| brilliant colored flowers and foliage by which
they are surrounded.
AS plants and animals are affected by their
| surroundings, so are people. The latent sus-
capabilities with which they are born respond
to the elements which make up their physical
and moral environment.
Character is builded by choosing between
good and evil. A good, not in the environment,
cannot be chosen; an evil, not in the environ.
ment, cannot be refused.
Charles Dudley Warner said, people hardly
| ever know where to be born until 1t is too
late.'
A communist in the French Revolution, when
asked why he was fighting with that class,
replied, IT was born on this side of the barri'
cade." A crooked tree is one that was twisted
when little.
The late King Edward and the ex.kaiser
each had a German father and an English
mother, yet the one was a typical Englishman
and the other a pronounced German.
Rear a Chinese babe in an American home
and it will be, in its manner of thought and
mode Of life, a. Chinaman, though a progress.
sive one.
Some Of our representative Americans came
to this country from Europe when they were
children, When they visit their native lands
they find a vast gulf between them, their kith
and kin.
LIS eulplI0 pu1IOc SSCA nIOOCSs q ILLS
principle in mind when he founded the Rhodes
scholarships at Oxford. He intended them to
draw promising young men from all English
speaking countries to be trained in the at
mosphere of that great university.
There was deep philosophy in the old Saxon
law which fined every citizen in the commu.
nifty in which a crime was committed.
David Hume visited the home of Fenelon.
He shortened his visit, saying, If I stay here
much longer, I shall become 4 Christian in
spite Of myself"
The child reared in a rough, goddess neigh.
borhood, has not a fair chance beside one
reared in . home Of culture and Christian
spirit.
In the letter to the Christians at Pergamos,
they were commended because in spite of their
wicked environments they were true to the
good.
Carlyle, in his essay on Burns, wrote, Grant.
ed the ship comes into the harbor, with sails
and tackle damaged, is the pilot blame.worthy?
To know, tell us first whether its journey has
been around the globe or only to Rams Gate or
the Isle of Dogs"