The Worth of a Boy

The Worth of a Boy. BY DAVID D. RUST. [In the October namber of the Improvement Era, $20 was offered for the best answer to some questions propounded by Bishop Roscoe W. Eardley, of the Liberty Stake of Zion, on "What is a Boy Worth?" Thirty-one papers were received, and a competent committee has awarded the prize to the author of the one herewith presented, who is not unknown to our readers* having heretofore contributed several descriptive articles for the Era. As it was understood that the Era was to own all the manuscripts, a number of the best remaining ones will later appear in our magazine. We take this occasion to thank our contributors for their meritorious and really inspiring responses to our request, and to express regret that we cannot award a prize to each of them. — Editors.] It is difficult indeed to attempt to mark the value of any boy. There is no crucible test, no system of weights or measures, no process of chemistry, no touchstone or mystic readings of astrology, by which we may arrive at the intrinsic worth of a boy. Select a couple of examples— say Jackson and Lincoln. Would you judge them exceptional values, at fourteen? Boys tagged "inferior," frequently turn out to be of the best material; while those marked away up are often mere imitations. We cannot tell, any more than McKinley's mother could tell, which will make good governors or presidents. In his Care and Culture of Men, David Starr Jordan says that you cannot tack a thousand dollar education on a fifty cent boy. It is evident that the hypothesis of this assertion is that boys range in value anywhere from fifty cents to a thousand dollars. As a matter of relative worth, I suppose that expresses enough difference between the cheapest and choicest, so that we may think of it as a premise in the following discussion. The boy we are considering here — and it seems a perfectly scientific arrangement — is between fourteen and eighteen years of

age. Before this period he is usually designated as a child; subsequently he is — or at least ought to be — a man. Certain characteristics accompany the thousand dollar boy. He carries a share of the home responsibilities, uses spare time wisely, is a student, and is learning the proper use of coal-oil. "When he plays, he plays hard; and when he works he doesn't play at all." He is willing to pay value received — does not expect something for nothing, does not follow that pickpocket creed which claims that the world owes every man a living. He would rather deserve to win, than to win. He has more concern for his honesty than for the result of a school examination. The fiftv cent variety is the occasion of a good deal of superfluous legislation. It is for him that we have to employ a special police force on Christmas Eve and Hallowe'en. The anxiety of a widowed mother, the trial of the ward authorities, the nuisance cf the town officials, he drifts recklessly down through juvenile courts and reform schools to the penitentiary. A pretty expensive proposition! A curious rule: the less they are worth, the more they cost. When we notice the percentage of young men who go pell-mell down the road of broken hearts, we are almost justified in skepticism. Does it pay to raise them? And we are logical in the conclusion that it is not more men that the country needs, but a better brand. "Boys will be boys," they say. It is entirely proper that they be boys, so long as they do not become that kind which bars them from becoming men. Shoddy boys make shoddy grownups, "hoodoos" become "hobos." You cannot tell the high-priced boy by the color of his eyes, the cut of his nose, or his height or his heft. He may be tall or short, frail or husky, light or heavy — avoirdupois does not count. Someone asked Lincoln how long the legs of an ideal soldier should be. He replied at once, "Just long enough to reach from hiships to the ground." The physique, of course, is of importance, but in searching for the things worth while we must look into the character. Boys are the raw material. What can we do to make the most of their possibilities? Since there is no such thing as man-

THE WORTH OF A BOY. 265 hood-mills, that will take them in and turn them out men, it must be accomplished by painstaking development, chiefly under their own direction. Every boy has the choosing of what he shall be; we can only help him to help himself. We may coax, persuade and reason; we may preach and scold and threaten ; we may pet or lead or drive ; we may cuff or kick or censure — most of which are likely to be ineffective in bringing out the most precious values of a boy. The surest general rule, perhaps, that can be put down is: so shape his opportunities and environments that he may develop into his afterself , the man he might become, the best there is in him. Put him next to good schools and good associates; help him to select wholesome, tasteful literature — for, as Dr. J. M. Tanner puts it, "Good literature in the home will solve the 'hoodlum' problem." Teach him to keep his birthright, show him the strengh there is in cleanliness, and fix everlastingly among his working principles Owen Wister's terrible maxim, "Death is cleaner than vice." Confide in him. Make him partner in affairs, and if you give him a piece of land or a horse, do not forget about it and confiscate it again for your own use. Let him do the things he likes to do, but teach him to like the best. Let him soar on the biplanes of fancy, and curtail your ridicule if he tells stories to himself. If his home is in the country, let him visit the city; if he lives in the city, give him a taste of the country — try to give him a surfeit of neither. Teach him to live unselfishly; he cannot live this life alone, it is somebody's business what he does. "We all of us tend to rise or fall together. If any set of us goes down, the whole nation sags a little." Show him the necessity of a righteous life. Pray with'him, pray for him, teach him to pray, and that in deepest reverence. Sincerity will cover a multitude of imperfections. That boy of mine! What is he worth to me? What hopes I have for him! What would I not do to make the most of his future! In him I shall live again. To the teacher or neighbor who will assist me in keeping his face towards the light, I shall have eternal gratitude Kanab Utah.