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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 1899)
10 Conservative. CMI'S AND COMMENT. Each man or woman seeks what pleases him or her , but in all they should have a thought for the children ; for the young children whose futures will bo largely determined by the education re ceived before they are 5 years of age. Train up a child in the way it should go. A little child is born. Out of eternity into time has come this essence of innocence. Symbolic of purity , a sinless soul. Into a casket of mortality is placed the immortal. The heart , love ; the mind , reason ; the soul , faith. And upon this white sheet will bo written the story of a human life. In this tripartite crucible is to bo as sayed from all creeds and philosophies , as gold from dross , the true , the beauti ful and the good. Then dissolution and again immortality. -t * \ That is the idealistic conception of lite. Is it the real ? The heart of a little child , bud of love , rich iu promise of blossoming beauty and fragrance. The mind of a little child , a virgin page , laid , yet damp with celestial dew , upon the letter press of human experi ence. The soul of a little child , a sensitive plate of consciousness whereon time must photograph impressions of eternity iu the adjustable camera of events. A little child's nature who shall write life's lessons upon its white pages of innocence with careless hand and be blameless for the blot left there ? Who shall cast , through ignorance or indiffer ence , false pictures upon the purity of this sensitive plate and hold himself guiltless of the ruin wrought ? Who shall with impunity Jt'oul the fountain of love , contuse the well of knowledge , turn faith into doubt ? But who shall know the heart of a child ? Who may read the mind of a child ? Who sound the crystal depths of the fountain of faith iu the soul of a child ? Is this trinity iu ouo and one iu trinity but a blank to bo filled out like a diary by the pencilings of people who pass in and out of the life of a child ? Or are there not invisible upon this 1 spotless surface , traced in sympathetic ink by God's hand , certain writings that will develop , legibly or blurred , to the eye of introspection according as the heat and light of associations , environ ment and enlightenment may fall upon these unfolding pages ? In its development is the ego victim of circumstances or the accident of op portunity ? Would it bo what it will be anyhow without regard to outside influ ences ? Is the ego in reality a free moral agent or is it the puppet of parentalism , the creature of conditions or the inevit able development of inherent dispo sition ? None of these questions is new. All are , in fact , old as the ages and in ouo form or another have haunted the heart and head of mankind since infinity bo- game finite. And until finis is written at the foot of the tablet of time the prob lem will not have been solved to the satisfying of the children of men. Afterward ? Well , afterward is more mystery. But to borrow from Kipling , and many before him , that's another story. Rut what has all this to do with the admonition. "Train up a child in the way it should go ? " What bearing has all this upon whether that training shall bo by cor poreal punishment , the self government plan of personal responsibility from in fane } ' , the kindergarten system of work ing at play , the rule by love , the rule by force or the rule by reason ? Well , somebody's responsible to soci ety and to God for helpfulness or hind rance to the maturing growth of every slip in the flower bed of infancy. Else there is no dependent responsibility. If the child is going to be just so anyhow it would be a great convenience to know it that one might take things with an easy conscience and let the youngster run loose. But custom is against the conviction and the habit of interference with the general bent of infantile incli nation and juvenile practises has so grown upon humanity that angelic as surance of universal unaccountability would have no appreciable effect in cur tailing domestic coinage of the negative verb to "don't. " There is no getting away from it. The parent is sponsor for the child. This responsibility is often passed on tea a proxy a nurse , a governess , a tutor , the Sunday school teacher , the public school teacher , the mothers' congress of estimable elderly maiden ladies , the kin dergarten association of excellent young girls or ouy one whom circumstances and the conveniences throw in the way. So that while the training of children is the first duty of citizenship , yet the least comparative duty is not more poorly performed except by proxy. A POP LAW. , . ; Fh ° , bill framed ( , as will be seen , in the official language of state ) , has been introduced iu the North Dakota legislature , according to the daily press , by Representative Yonson , though it is not stated whether the in troducer is Ole or You : ' Suxshun 1. Dar ban hereby kreated a bord of relrod passes. "Sexshun 2. Do bord skal consist on fivn mambers , en hao skal hold haes ollicot just so long es hae kan do do bis- ness , if hae don't di. "Sexshun a. Efry mamber skal ho tusen dollar salary ofry yar , vich skal be paid by relrod kompany en kash , glide panger efry veek. "Sexshun 4. Efry poplcst faller ho got offies eon state of Nort Dakota skal ho rolrod pass ; en ofry poplest mambor on legislatoor skal ho two pass. "Sexshun 5. Ven fallar loose pass , hao skal rado yust do sain prowided hao kan prov hao ban gudo poplest ; on pro- wide furder , of hao gob two jeer's visit ors et skal bo primy fashy exklusivo evidens dot hao ban poplest and gndo stand oop. "Soxshun 6. Ef relrod refoos to let fallar rado on pass or visitors , hao skal go on yail bay Bosmark ot hard labor for tra yar , en dao relrod skal bo confis cate. ' Sexshun 7. Do bord skal isoo pass right avay , on do virst job of the state prenter hkal ba to prent do pass. Pro- wide , det do state prenter may hire all do help hao vauts so ho kan do do bis- nofcS qvick. "Sexshun 8. D s ack skal tack effect yust so soon es ct pass one house , on skal nafc bo subjeck to woto bay do govner. "Sexshun 9. Des ack skal bo approve bay do mamber entrodoos de bill. "Sexshun 10. Des law skal bo en af- i'eck yust so long es do poplest got ma- yority eeii legiblatoor ; eny taymo von republikan get rnayority do law ban re peal right away. "Vareas , En offul submergencies oxibt vareby plauty poplest faller have to putet oop gudo panger to koin bay kapi- tel an relrod ; now , darefore , des ack skal tack effeck from en sense do last elexshun eon November , en efry faller's money skal bay paid back right avay qvick on demand bay de relrod kompany or go to yail. " The spirit of the above is so eminently fair and its intention so excellent that it is impossible not to burn with indigna tion against the tyranny of the United States supreme court , whose ruthless in terpretation of the constitution ( as iu the Michigan mileage case ) would make the above law unconstitutional. Rail way Age. THANKS. Some anonymous friend sends THE CONSEKVATIVE a number of a bran new periodical published at Omaha. It con tains an elegant eulogy upon Troubadour Thurston and his rise as a poet. The pith and bpirit of this pensive pathos is hardly appreciated by a wicked pubic which does not know that its author has been pierced with a fierce desire for a federal ( .appointment , and has impor tuned the troubadour to play a soft mel odious lay under the bedroom window of McKinley in behalf of its gratifica tion. Every maggot praises the cheese in which it riots. All the fleas on a dog praise dogs. Parasites , from the aphis down to sycophants , laud the organisms whence they draw their sustenance. Wo thank our anonymous friend for sending us this tribute to the tearful Thurston combined with such great and real compliments to THE CONSEKVATIVE.
