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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 1901)
8 he Conservative * " Self-trust is the SELF RELIANCE first secret of suc- ESSENTIAL TO cess. " And with- USEFUL SUCCESS , out this self-trust no permanent suc cess can come in this contentious world to any human being. Parents invariably teach little chil dren to rely upon themselves when they first begin to walk. Small tots are placed on their little feet and told to stand up straight and to come to us , all alone on their own small legs. Thus begins the first education for a child. Muscles unskilled in stepping are taught to rely upon themselves and not to depend upon the support ing hand of parents. Up to the age of three or four years most American children are taught rndimentiary re liance upon themselves. But after they have been sufficiently educated to demand and secure the food and comforts of a merely animal existence the training in self-helpfulness , as a rule , ceases. One would suppose that , naturally enough , every think ing parent would parallel instruction in physical self-reliance with instruc tion as to intellectual self-reliance. But observation teaches that this is not the case and that the great lesson is , as a rule , inculcated only as to the animal man and that it too generally ceases before it reaches and improves the man intellectual. Self-reliance trust in one's own physical abilities even can hardly be evolved out of one's own inner in dividuality. If you wish your child to show confidence in his own physi cal or intellectual capacity , you must demonstrate to him that you yourself repose confidence in that undeveloped force of capability. Parental confi dence in the ability , aptitude and in tegrity of a child is an inexorable con dition precedent to self-reliance on the part of that child. There is no incentive or stimulant so efficacious in developing the better phases of hu manity , intellectually and morally , as the candid confidence of a father or mother or teacher bestowed without limitation or reservation. Even the Indians whom we have succeeded on these plains were flat tered by being Indians Flattered , treated in a man ner indicating that we believed them to bo an honest , de cent and generous people. During the winter of 1854 and ' 55 the entire Omaha tribe was encamped on the Missouri river bottom , at Bellevue , just a little distance to the southeast of the present site of the B. & M. de pot. They numbered 1,200 people. They were mostly barbarians who had seldom or never come into contact with civilization. They then had no Blankets. They dressed entirely in buckskin and buffalo robes. They lived in"tepees made of parflesh. The white settlers numbered less than fifty in all of what is now Sarpy and was then the south half of Douglas coun ty. Most pioneers wore afraid of Indians and regarded them as certainly thieves , and possibly murderers. Nearly every day the settlers indicat ed by their actions , and oven by their talk , through interpreters , that they very much suspected the Omaha and all other Indians to be thieves. This suspicion and treatment begot thiev ery. Small articles were taken nearly every day from the cabins of the squatters. But some had different relations with the Omahas. From the begin ning they gave Omaha Fidelity , them all to under stand that they believed in them and thought them friendly , faithful , and honest. There fore , whenever they desired to borrow a gun , or a saddle horse or any other loanable thing , with great alacrity and expressed satisfaction the loan was granted. In a very short time this sort of cordial neighborliness bore logical and satisfactory fruit. No In dian ever took any property away from those confiding in them. Every In dian became to them a friend because of confidence shown in his capability for honorable friendship and neighbor ly kindnesses. At that time there was no postoffice on this side of the Missouri river in the state of Nebras ka. Our mail came to Iowa post- offices. But there is no letter-carrier today in the uniform of the United Staes postal service more expeditious , more faithful in the discharge of dut ies , than wore those aboriginal letter- carriers who would go from Bellevue to Council Bluffs and return , or to St. Marys ( in Mills county ) and return , taking letters to mail and bringing back those from the old homes in the east. The result , therefore , of having placed confidence in those rude , unlet tered savages , was the development in them of a self-reliance to do and perform innumerable services entire ly unknown to them in a state of sav agery. More than this , from the'con fidence thus reposed , there grew up , in addition to the sturdy self-reliance , the beautiful flower of Fidelity. Faithfulness is only readily evolved out of natures fertilized by bestowed confidence. The unfortunates in hu man life those whom we call crim inals and paupers have , as a rule , never experienced generously re posed . confidence. How can any hu man nature improve itself , be stimul ated to endeavor to attain a higher place in the social and political fab ric , without being trusted by his fel lows ? If any youth feels that ho or she is distrusted by parents and friends , how can that youth "have courage to seize opportunity for ad vancement , or have the determined dependence upon himself or herself to attempt high and honorable achievements ? 4 Of course , there will bo isolated cases of intense individuality which obstacles and op- Exceptions. position render all the more strenu ous and strong in their efforts for success. But these combative charac ters are not in the majority. They are only a small percent of the'un counted myriads of humanity. It is consequently incumbent upon parents and grandparents and teachers to in struct children and youth as to the best methods of commanding the con fidence , esteem and encouragement of those by whom they are surrounded. Nothing is so facile and1 expert in making friends as frankness , openheartedness - heartedness and frequent acts which indicate a desire to be generally useful. Constant consideration , ex pressed in deeds , for the comfort and happiness of those with whom you are associated will give you pro found pleasure ; it will also secure to you the esteem and good will of your acquaintances. They will place trust in you. That makes you self-reliant. The more you help others the better you understand how able you are to help yourself. In these modern times it is the mis fortune of children born into opulence. and all the circum- Wealth a Misfor- stances of wealth tune. and luxury which a c c o m p a uy it , that they are generally brought up and trained in helplessness. The child who is constantly waited upon by servants , whose meat and bread are prepared for it at the table , whose shoes and stockings are put on and off , and whose raiment is adjusted by serving people , is in imminent peril of entering upon maturer years an utterly helpless and therefore worthless member of society. Under the customs and fashions of these modern days of showy extrava gance it is a disaster to any human being , having only ordinary intellec tual and moral tendencies , to be born into wealth and its surroundings. It- is vulgarly considered by many of the newly-rich quite improper and dis graceful for their children to be use ful or even to wait upon themselves. There is an idiotic contest among the incompetent , ignorant and silly wealthy of the United States to see in what extreme and accentuated idle ness they can bring up their children. In the estimation of this near sighted snobbery absolute helplessness on the part of Near-Sighted either a boy or a Snobbery. girl is a harming accomplish m e n t. Children of such parentage and en-
