BJ 1661 .S74 1923 
 Stearns, Alfred Ernest, 
 
 The challenge of youth 
 
 187 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
The pure, the bright, the beautiful, 
 
 That stirr’d our hearts in youth, 
 
 The impulse to a wordless prayer, 
 
 The dreams of love and truth, 
 
 The longings after something lost, 
 
 The spirit’s yearning cry, 
 
 The strivings after better hopes,— 
 
 These things can never die. 
 
 —All the Year Bound —“ Imperishable. 
 
The Challenge of 
 Youth 
 
 B yj 
 
 ALFRED E. STEARNS 
 
 Principal of Phillips-Andover Academy 
 
 W. A. WILDE COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
Copyrighted, 1923, 
 
 By W. A. Wilde Company 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 The Challenge of Youth 
 
 Made in the U. S. A. 
 
To the Old Boys,— My 
 Constant Teachers 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2019 with funding from 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 https://archive.org/details/challengeofyouthOOstea 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Y OUTH is always interesting. No subject, 
 commonly discussed, commands wider or 
 keener attention. And this is natural; and for 
 several reasons. 
 
 We have all of us been young ourselves and, 
 however much we may strive to conceal it, the 
 pictures that memory paints of the days of our 
 boyhood and girlhood are gripping and alluring, 
 and generally the happiest we know. To enter 
 fully into the spirit of youth, to grapple once 
 more with its problems, to share in its hopes, its 
 aspirations, and even its disappointments,—all 
 this brings a thrill of its own and lays hold on 
 our hearts. The feeling is hard to define. But 
 it is there and it is very real. 
 
 Again; most of us of an older generation have 
 children of our own or, at least, a deep interest in 
 
 the children of our friends. Their problems are 
 
 5 
 
6 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 constantly in our thoughts. Their future is very 
 vital to us. In the new and somewhat changed 
 conditions under which youth is forced to fight 
 its upward way we are a bit perplexed as to the 
 part which we should play. The old standards 
 do not seem to fit. The old rules will not always 
 hold. Many of the most helpful agencies of 
 former days have been swept away. We need 
 help; and we turn eagerly to any who by experi¬ 
 ence or position seem likely to offer any helpful 
 clue to the solution of our baffling problem. 
 
 And finally, we have heavy stakes in this 
 younger generation so soon to take our places on 
 life’s great stage. We are all building for the 
 future. Our tasks will never be completed as 
 we would wish to have them. Others must carry 
 on our work and carry it to the higher levels our 
 vision has pictured for it. And these others are 
 the youth of the present day. No wonder then 
 that these boys and girls are of such tremendous 
 interest to us all. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 7 
 
 If youth has always been interesting to its 
 elders it is doubly so to-day. Youth has been 
 acting of late in ways that are strange and hard 
 for us to comprehend. These actions have dis¬ 
 tressed and annoyed; and we have been free with 
 our criticisms and complaints. But our criticisms 
 have seldom been constructive and our com¬ 
 plaints have not always been fair. And youth, 
 responding normally to the conditions with which 
 it finds itself surrounded, as youth has always 
 done, has sensed the injustice of our self-right¬ 
 eous attitude, has resented our interference, and 
 has left us more helpless than before. For youth 
 did not create these conditions. Youth found 
 them ready-made. The responsibility for their 
 existence rests squarely upon us of older and 
 supposedly wiser years. 
 
 The seeming blindness of the older generation 
 to this responsibility is hard to understand. Yet 
 that responsibility is clear and grave and easily 
 sensed by those who will pause and ponder. 
 
8 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The excitement and selfishness of a materialistic 
 age have rendered us indifferent to the needs of 
 and our duties to others. The awakening must 
 come soon or it will come too late. Conditions 
 which threaten the welfare of society and the 
 stability of the nation will not be altered by our 
 petulant protests; they can and must be changed 
 bv earnest and unselfish effort. For the sake of 
 the fathers, the mothers, and the citizens of to¬ 
 morrow the obligation which is plainly ours must 
 be assumed, and now. 
 
 A fairly long and intimate contact with youth 
 
 is my excuse for attempting to point out in this 
 
 volume wherein we have erred in our dealings 
 
 with our boys and girls and the course we are 
 
 bound to pursue if we are sincere in our desire 
 
 to aid them in attaining manhood and womanhood 
 
 that shall be strong and self-controlled and that 
 
 shall enable them in the years just ahead to carry 
 
 on successfullv our unfinished tasks. Youth has 
 
 «/ 
 
 far more at stake than we have; and youth will 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 9 
 
 not knowingly hurl itself to destruction. Youth 
 asks for a fair field and a fair chance. That 
 much, at least, it is our duty and our privilege to 
 supply. 
 

CONTENTS 
 PAET ONE 
 
 The Dual Nature of Youth 13 
 
 PAET TWO 
 
 The Home in Civilization 29 
 
 PAET THEEE 
 
 Eeligion in Civilization 65 
 
 PAET FOUE 
 
 Modern Substitutes—The Movies, The 
 
 Stage, and Literature 91 
 
 PAET FIVE 
 
 Modern Substitutes—Social Conditions - 103 
 
 PAET SIX 
 
 Discipline Versus Selfishness - - 125 
 
 PAET SEVEN 
 
 Conclusion ------- 153 
 
 11 
 

 
 
PART ONE 
 
 THE DUAL NATURE OF YOUTH 
 
* ‘ This truth within thy mind rehearse, 
 
 That in a boundless universe 
 Is boundless better, boundless worse.’’ 
 
 —Tennyson “The Two Voices.” 
 
PART ONE 
 
 THE DUAL NATURE OF YOUTH 
 
 I T is impossible for any one to understand or 
 to deal intelligently with the problems of 
 our boys and girls without holding clearly in 
 mind the dual nature of youth. Those of us of 
 an older generation are apt to forget the conflicts 
 of our younger days, the warring elements within 
 that waged ceaseless and strenuous battle for 
 mastery. The schoolmaster and the teacher, how¬ 
 ever, who deal year after year with the younger 
 generation, cannot possibly forget. Day by day 
 and hour by hour they witness in the lives and 
 actions of those about them the scenes and strug¬ 
 gles of their own childhood. Reminded con¬ 
 stantly in this way of the problems of their own 
 youth, they are enabled to enter with keener ap¬ 
 preciation into the problems of those with whom 
 
 15 
 
16 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 they deal. With the memory of their own ex¬ 
 periences ever vividly before them, the advice and 
 suggestions which they are able to offer have at 
 least the merit of being based on intelligence 
 rather than theory. 
 
 Youth is definitely the period of vision. The 
 old Hebrew prophet who wrote, “ Your young 
 men shall see visions and your old men shall 
 dream dreams 55 uttered an eternal truth. And 
 the dreams of old age bring their satisfactions or 
 regrets just in so far as those spiritual visions of 
 vouth have been realized or not in the maturer 
 vears of manhood. 
 
 At the opening of a school year a father pre¬ 
 sented himself with his son. He was an excep¬ 
 tionally able and successful lawyer from a western 
 city, and at the time was serving as attorney for 
 one of the great transcontinental railway systems. 
 At the first morning chapel service of the term 
 he had taken a seat in the visitors’ gallery. As I 
 was leaving the pulpit at the close of the brief 
 
THE DUAL NATURE OF YOUTH 17 
 
 religious exercise I noticed the man making his 
 way up the aisle. He came forward and ex¬ 
 tended his hand. To my surprise I noted very 
 evident traces of tears on his face. Something 
 had clearly moved him deeply. He spoke with 
 very genuine emotion. “ Mr. Stearns,” he said, 
 “ you can see that I have been making something 
 of a fool of myself this morning. But I am not 
 sorry,” he added quickly. “ The fact is,” he con¬ 
 tinued, “ I have had one of the great experiences 
 of my life this morning, and I want to tell you 
 about it. I’m not much on this church business; 
 in fact, I don’t think I have been inside a church 
 for many years, though I was brought up in an 
 old-fashioned Christian New England home and 
 know better. But when I sat in the gallery this 
 morning, and saw those five hundred heads bow 
 as one man at the beginning of your prayer, 
 something gripped me inside and I cried like a 
 babv. And I’m not ashamed of it either,” he 
 went on; “ that experience has been a great lesson 
 
18 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 to me, and I am not going to forget it. Here¬ 
 after, while my boy remains in school, I mean to 
 get to every chapel exercise I can possibly at¬ 
 tend.” 
 
 He was true to his word, and for the next three 
 years it was no uncommon thing to find him in 
 the chapel gallery at the morning exercise. And 
 always he would greet me at its close with the 
 same warm expression of appreciation of what 
 that earlier experience had meant in his life. Oc¬ 
 casionally he would telegraph me from his west¬ 
 ern home, and in some such words as these: 
 “ Have an important law case in New York next 
 week; will be at chapel Saturday morning.” 
 And when Saturday morning came he would be 
 on hand as agreed. 
 
 Two graduates of the school had returned to 
 attend the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration 
 of their class. Both had attained positions of 
 unusual prominence in business and professional 
 life. One was known to be worth millions; the 
 
THE DUAL NATURE OF YOUTH 19 
 
 other had held important public offices. They 
 had devoted an afternoon to wandering about the 
 countryside and revisiting the old and cherished 
 scenes of schoolboy days. Towards evening they 
 returned to the campus and paused for a few 
 moments under the shadows of the familiar elms. 
 For some time neither spoke. At length the suc¬ 
 cessful business man broke the silence. “ Jim,” 
 he said with almost resentful impulsiveness, “ we 
 fellows in the big business world aren’t living . 
 We’re not really living; and those of us who have 
 had school days like ours know it.” 
 
 What was it that brought the tears to the eyes 
 of that successful lawyer at the mere sight of the 
 bowed heads of five hundred boys, and wrung 
 from a prosperous business man, as the memories 
 of school days crowded fast upon him, the frank 
 admission that in spite of material wealth life to 
 him had been in a very real sense a failure? A 
 schoolmaster living constantly with youth can 
 answer. It was the dreams of old age carrying 
 
20 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 memory back to the days of youth and vision, 
 and the consciousness that those high and spir¬ 
 itual visions had not been fully realized in the 
 later years. And such dreams, when once awak¬ 
 ened, bring always only bitter regrets. 
 
 “ Across the fields of yesterday 
 He sometimes comes to me, 
 
 A little lad just back from play— 
 
 The lad I used to be. 
 
 “ And yet he smiles so wistfully 
 Once he has crept within, 
 
 I wonder if he hopes to see 
 The man I might have been.” 
 
 Prompted by such visions to fight for the at¬ 
 tainment of a high goal, youth battles ever with 
 the physical temptations that spring from within 
 and the lure of a material and pleasure-loving 
 world without. Small wonder then that it so 
 often fails. All credit to it when it wins. 
 
 The Apostle Paul, always a boy at heart, has 
 expressed for all ages the eternal spirit of youth. 
 
THE DUAL NATURE OF YOUTH 21 
 
 His words are those which consciously or uncon- 
 sciouslv ever spring from youthful hearts: 
 “ When I would do good evil is present with me. 
 The good that I would, I do not, and the evil 
 which I would not, that I do. I delight in the 
 law of God after the inward man; but I see an¬ 
 other law in my members, warring against the 
 law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity 
 
 to the law of sin which is in mv members.” 
 
 «/ 
 
 This is youth,—struggling, aspiring, yielding, 
 overcoming,—succumbing one moment to the 
 ruthless attacks of physical temptation, answer¬ 
 ing the next the clear and compelling challenge 
 of spiritual vision; making a fool of himself one 
 day and a man of himself the next; stooping un¬ 
 expectedly to deeds that shame him and win our 
 pity and contempt, rising again to heights of 
 spiritual grandeur that the rest of us can never 
 hope to reach; reacting in startling and yet per- 
 
 fectlv normal wavs to the influences which for 
 » •/ 
 
 the moment surround him; Arresting from the 
 
22 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 stern and inescapable struggles of those early 
 years whatever character is later to be his. 
 
 All of us, in a measure, are potential “ Dr. 
 Jekylls ” and “ Mr. Hydes/’ but never more in¬ 
 tensely so than in the days of our youth. Almost 
 every day of a schoolmaster’s life supplies con¬ 
 vincing illustrations of this. Let me give a re¬ 
 cent one out of my own experience. 
 
 A moving-picture house, situated in close 
 proximity to the campus of Yale University, of¬ 
 fered as a special attraction a film based upon a 
 book of that modern variety which has gained 
 such wide popularity in recent years because of 
 its daring and its willingness to cater to the 
 weaker side of human nature by trampling on 
 the decencies of life and flaunting the base and 
 abnormal in human relationships. With a clear 
 understanding of the nature of youth and its 
 sensitiveness to the lower appeal, the manage¬ 
 ment had widely advertised among the student 
 body the film in question and its special features. 
 
THE DUAL NATURE OF YOUTH 23 
 
 Boy-like, the students had responded to this ap¬ 
 peal. They had flocked in large numbers to wit¬ 
 ness the film, just as you and I would have done 
 in the days of our youth had such films existed 
 and such questionable pastimes attained the de¬ 
 gree of respectability that they now enjoy. 
 
 Among the boys in the audience this Sunday 
 afternoon were two young fellows, well known to 
 me, for they had been members of my school. 
 They had slipped into gallery seats and were 
 quietly watching the picture. Suddenly smoke 
 was seen rising on the stage. The cry of “ Fire ” 
 rang through the theatre, and almost at the same 
 moment flames leaped through the flimsy scenery. 
 In sudden panic the crowd jumped to its feet 
 and rushed madlv for the exits. 
 
 At the first cry of “ Fire ” the two young fel¬ 
 lows in the gallery had made a hasty flight and 
 stood in safety on the landing of the fire escape 
 just outside the hall. Here for a moment they 
 paused. They glanced back, and their eyes gazed 
 
24 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 on a scene of indescribable confusion and horror. 
 The crowd, which only a moment before had 
 been quietly seated, enjoying to the full the pic¬ 
 ture as it was unfolded before their eyes, had 
 suddenly been transformed into a frantic, strug¬ 
 gling mob, seeking only safety and life. As the 
 boys gazed they saw helpless women borne down 
 before the onrushing mob, and young children 
 trampled under foot, in some cases, to their death. 
 For only a second those boys stood there, 
 
 stunned bv the scene which met their eyes. But 
 
 */ 
 
 in that scene came the challenge to their spiritual 
 natures, the real manhood within, and without a 
 moment’s further hesitation, those brave fellows, 
 who only a few minutes before had yielded to the 
 weaker impulse, turned and fought their way 
 back into the pit of death from which they had 
 just escaped. Once inside, they took their posi¬ 
 tions at the two sides of the fire-escape door. 
 With almost superhuman strength they forced 
 the struggling crowd to open an aisle through 
 
THE DUAL NATURE OF YOUTH 
 
 which women and children could pass to safety. 
 They reached down and picked helpless ones from 
 under trampling feet and passed them to waiting 
 hands outside. They lifted children over the 
 heads of those who surrounded them, and fairly 
 tossed them to other boys beyond the door. 
 
 Finally, some of those who had been denied 
 exit by these brave youths locked arms and rushed 
 them, determined to force their way out. One of 
 the boys was knocked out of the door and down 
 the fire escape, receiving serious injuries which 
 confined him for some time to the hospital. The 
 other managed to jump aside and still maintain 
 his position. As he fought on heroically, the 
 flames which had now engulfed the entire theatre, 
 set fire to his clothes and singed his face and 
 hands. At last, when nothing further could be 
 done, and the crowd which jammed the door¬ 
 way made escape through that exit impossible, 
 this brave lad made his way down through the 
 auditorium to the main doorway and stumbled 
 
26 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 out on to the street, still conscious but hardly 
 recognizable. Eager friends rushed him to the 
 college hospital where everything humanly pos¬ 
 sible was done to save his life. For three days he 
 lay there suffering but clear in mind. Knowing 
 that death hovered only a few hours away, he 
 would look into the face of his weeping mother 
 and say with a ring of triumph in his voice, 
 “ Don’t cry, Mother; I have no regrets.” And 
 then he would add with evident pride, “ Anyway, 
 Mother, I think I was the last to leave the theatre 
 alive.” 
 
 I believe it would be impossible to find an in¬ 
 cident illustrating so clearly as does this one the 
 dual nature of youth and its delicate sensitiveness 
 to the particular influences and conditions with 
 which, for the moment, it chances to be sur¬ 
 rounded. The baser appeal had had its innings, 
 but the spiritual appeal following so closely had 
 won. Those boys, in their superb heroism, had 
 proved the eternal truth of the saying of the 
 
THE DUAL NATURE OF YOUTH 27 
 
 Master Himself, “ He who loses his life shall 
 save it and Allen Keith, in those last moments 
 of heroic sacrifice, had met the highest test of 
 spiritual manhood and Christian discipleship. 
 And Allen Keith had “ no regrets.” 
 
 It is these constant and tremendous contrasts 
 that make youth so intensely interesting. And 
 it is the recognition of these that has prompted 
 Christian civilization to render freely its support 
 and encouragement to every worthy aim and 
 high endeavor, and to protect and restrain to the 
 full limit of its power when weaker and baser 
 impulses assail and temptations threaten to un¬ 
 dermine and destroy. It has framed laws to aid 
 in holding sinister temptation in check. It has 
 evolved customs and traditions that have sought 
 to make evil odious and virtue sublime. It has 
 thrown its protecting mantle about youth in the 
 days of instability when protection is needed. It 
 has pointed the way to the nobler and more satis¬ 
 fying life of self-control, when the challenging 
 
28 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 vision of that higher life was clear but the 
 strength to attain it insufficient. 
 
 Through the passing centuries civilization has 
 built up these safeguards and supports. Indeed, 
 this is one of the distinctive characteristics of that 
 civilization we call Christian. If we are losing or 
 weakening these to-day, we must needs face the 
 future with apprehension. 
 
 Remembering always, then, this dual nature of 
 youth, let us examine the agencies which civiliza¬ 
 tion has developed to aid in this eternal fight for 
 virile and self-controlled manhood and woman¬ 
 hood. Let us note, too, honestly and without 
 prejudice, the extent to which these agencies have 
 been weakened or swept aside during recent 
 years, and the character of such influences as 
 have supplanted them. 
 
PART TWO 
 
 THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
‘ ‘ Humanity, at present, in this nation, is deteriorating. 
 It has a long way to go, but once really under way it 
 will make the journey at a speed as high as that of some 
 of the details of the modern life which have been re¬ 
 sponsible for the downhill tendency. 
 
 “Roomier houses, better discipline for children in them 
 and the schools, custodial care for those who may 
 through parenthood increase the number of unfit. The 
 world should have great conferences on these matters. 
 They are more important than the subjects wrangled 
 over at Versailles.’’ 
 
 — Dr. Max G. Schlapp, Criminologist. 
 
PART TWO 
 
 THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 O F all the agencies that have contributed 
 to the upbuilding of western civilization 
 none has exercised a greater or more steadying 
 influence than has the home. The extent of that 
 influence, especially in our American life, cannot 
 be exaggerated. The home is the foundation of 
 it all. On it rests whatever is of value or per¬ 
 manent in civic and economic life. 
 
 The changes that have come over the Ameri¬ 
 can home in recent years are plain enough. To 
 one who recognizes their true significance they 
 are startling. But it is not easy to discuss them 
 and to make their meaning clear; for, after all, 
 the home is not merely a building with roof and 
 walls in which the family resides, but rather an 
 atmosphere, an influence, intangible but sacred 
 and very real. 
 
 81 
 
32 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 The breakdown of our American home life has 
 been a popular theme of discussion everywhere. 
 But I doubt whether any one better than a 
 schoolmaster can appreciate the extent of that 
 breakdown or its sinister influence on the plastic 
 lives of to-morrow’s citizens. Yesterday’s home 
 was a home of moral standards and spiritual 
 ideals, professed at least, and in the main sup¬ 
 ported. Parents ruled supreme, and their will, 
 based on the experience of the passing years, was 
 law to their fortunate children. Service was 
 gladly rendered and sacrifices willingly made, 
 that the younger generation might profit in the 
 days to come. Discipline, without which vigor¬ 
 ous manhood and womanhood are impossible, was 
 freely administered when the occasion required. 
 Mindful always of the future welfare of the 
 younger generation, parents did not hesitate to 
 face the momentary frown and tear and to esti¬ 
 mate them at their true worth. 
 
 The home so prominent to-day is of a different 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 33 
 
 type. City life, with its hotels, apartments, and 
 hats, has exerted a deadening influence upon it; 
 but it has been even more dangerously under¬ 
 mined by the pronounced change in the attitude 
 of parents themselves. Parents sometimes re¬ 
 side in the modern home on their way to and from 
 the pressing duties of business and professional 
 life and the alluring appeals of club and society; 
 but the old atmosphere is lacking; the service 
 rendered by the older generation is largely for 
 self, and real sacrifice is hard to find. Whatever 
 atmosphere exists is chiefly the creation of the 
 younger generation, which rules pretty much as 
 it wills. We must search altogether too far for 
 that type of home and its accompanying environ¬ 
 ment which, through the passing years, has built 
 up all that is best and finest in our American 
 life. 
 
 Of course, the home has always been and must 
 always be what parents make it; and if the 
 younger generation is now in control, it is only 
 
34 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 because parents have refused to accept the di¬ 
 vinely appointed trust that is properly theirs. 
 
 The schoolmaster who deals constantly with 
 modern parents of varying types is more and 
 more impressed with the inherent values that ex¬ 
 ist in youth. The wonder is that youth has done 
 so well, facing so often a heavy handicap. 
 
 Even before they have been seen parents will 
 pretty clearly identify and classify themselves 
 through the attitude and reactions of their off¬ 
 spring. Careless or earnest, ignorant or intelli¬ 
 gent, selfish or high-minded, superficial or sane, 
 erratic or balanced, they are generally revealed 
 by a study of their children. Never, perhaps, is 
 that revelation clearer or more sudden than when 
 trouble arises and merited discipline threatens. 
 Under such conditions they will regularly be 
 found to belong to one of three groups. 
 
 First, there is the parent who unhesitatingly, 
 and with every force at command, seeks to avert 
 the threatened blow. These are the most com- 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 35 
 
 mon. The extremes to which resort is made un¬ 
 der such conditions would be only ludicrous if 
 they were not so tragic. Anything to save the 
 family from what is felt to be disgrace. Any¬ 
 thing to protect from temporary discomfort the 
 erring child. Parents have a way of appearing 
 at headquarters on such occasions, though, until 
 the blow threatens, the schoolmaster might be¬ 
 lieve that they did not even exist. If they lack 
 an intellectual and cultural background, and 
 have obtained unusual and perhaps quick success 
 in the acquiring of material wealth, they will 
 sometimes produce a lawyer, whose duty it evi¬ 
 dently is to create an impression and stage an 
 effect. What they are really seeking to do is to 
 prevent that one thing which unstable youth 
 needs more than anything else in the world, and 
 at just this time, if weaknesses are to be over¬ 
 come and self-reliant manhood achieved. Herein 
 lies the tragedy of it all. 
 
 Any schoolmaster can relate countless incidents 
 
36 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 in support of my contention. There are several 
 which always stand out vividly in my memory, 
 and that will serve to illustrate my point. 
 
 A few years ago a boy was dismissed from 
 school for a flagrant offence. He had presented 
 a telegram signed by his mother, in which it was 
 clearly stated that his father, who was ill, had 
 been ordered South by his doctor for his health, 
 that he must see the boy on immediate business 
 before leaving home, and that an excuse should 
 consequently be secured from me in order to 
 make the visit and the interview possible. The 
 request was promptly granted, and the boy left 
 for his home. He returned at the proper time, 
 made known his presence, and the matter was 
 dismissed from my thoughts. It was revived 
 only by accident a month or two later, when I 
 had occasion to write the father, calling attention 
 to the boy’s delinquencies in his studies. My let' 
 ter brought a reply from Florida, in which it was 
 stated that the writer had been in Florida since 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 37 
 
 October, and hence had had no chance to see or 
 discuss matters with his boy, but that he would 
 return in the early spring. He promised to write 
 and use his influence in supporting our contention 
 that the young man should exert himself more 
 earnestly in the performance of his school duties, 
 and he begged us to use our best influences in the 
 meantime to prevent disaster. As the visit home 
 had occurred in January, it was evident that 
 there was something wrong. An interview with 
 the boy promptly brought out the facts. The 
 telegram had actually been sent by the mother, 
 —it had even been carried to the telegraph office 
 by the sister,—but, instead of an interview with 
 a disabled father, the real purpose of the visit was 
 a coming-out party of a young lady in whom the 
 bov and his familv were exceptionallv interested. 
 The boy’s dismissal naturally followed. 
 
 No acknowledgment even was received of my 
 letter stating what had occurred, and the grounds 
 for the school’s action. Late in the following 
 
38 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 summer, however, the indulgent mother suddenly 
 awoke to a realization of the fact that her boy 
 would not be able to gain admission to his chosen 
 college without a letter of honorable dismissal 
 from his last school. Not daring to trust her 
 precious errand to the medium of a letter, and 
 deeming it inadvisable to notify me in advance of 
 the intent of her visit, the mother made three 
 trips to Andover before she was successful in 
 finding me at home at the close of my summer 
 vacation. I shall never forget the interview. 
 She was a prominent and wealthy society woman 
 in one of our large eastern cities. She swept into 
 my house one evening just as I had finished my 
 dinner. One glance convinced me that she had 
 prepared herself with care, both outwardly and 
 inwardly, for an important occasion. That she 
 was a wonderful actress was early apparent. 
 Her first greeting, however, as I entered the room 
 was enough to put me on my guard. 
 
 Gazing rather dramatically into my eyes, she 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 39 
 
 exclaimed with fervor, “ Now that I have looked 
 into your eyes, I know that my prayers are to be 
 answered/’ Being somewhat unaware of the na¬ 
 ture of those prayers, I was placed in an em¬ 
 barrassing position; but I was not long kept in 
 ignorance. 
 
 In the course of a three-hour interview she 
 proved her wonderful dramatic ability. In turn 
 she was gushing, friendly, pious, threatening, and 
 abusive. She had only one purpose, and that 
 was to secure from me the letter which would 
 enable her son to enter college. With mingled 
 feelings of amusement, apprehension, and sur¬ 
 prise, I watched and listened, interjecting as I 
 could such sentiments as I thought the occasion 
 required. Finally, I felt it necessary to bring 
 matters to a head. 
 
 “ Madam,” I said with feeling, “ please don’t 
 let me misunderstand you or misinterpret your 
 position. Do you really mean that you wish me 
 to go to the desk yonder and write a letter which 
 
40 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 will enable your boy to enter college when you 
 know and I know and he knows that every word 
 of that letter is a deliberate lie? ” 
 
 She drew herself up with great dignity, and 
 with scathing sarcasm replied, “ I suppose then 
 that I stand in the presence of the only perfect 
 man.” 
 
 I assured her promptly and with vigor that I 
 made no claims to that distinction, that my record 
 was full of flaws, but that she was asking of me 
 the impossible, and that it was useless for us to 
 argue the point further. 
 
 With a still greater and more tragic show of 
 injured dignity, she rose from her seat, and, with 
 sweeping irony, launched her last attack. (It 
 should be noted that the incident occurred at the 
 time a former occupant of the White House was 
 somewhat in the lime-light.) 
 
 “ Do you know,” she said with chilling em¬ 
 phasis, “ the first time I ever saw you was out 
 on the football field last fall. My son pointed 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 41 
 
 you out to me as you crossed the field. I re¬ 
 marked to him then that you reminded me of 
 President Wilson.” She paused a moment to 
 allow this thrust to sink home. “ But,” she added 
 with biting sarcasm, “ I never supposed I should 
 live to see the day when I would discover that 
 
 you were like Mr. Wilson.” 
 
 •/ 
 
 To this day I am wondering whether the good 
 lady was a Republican or a Democrat. 
 
 Needless to say, the boy involved, facing in 
 life’s struggle such an unfair handicap as this, 
 had not a fighting chance for manhood, save by 
 the interference of Providence. A boy under 
 these conditions can scarcely hope for anything 
 better than the life of a human derelict. 
 
 I recall another and very similar experience. 
 An irate father whose son had been dismissed for 
 misusing an excuse granted him to visit a sup¬ 
 posedly dying grandmother, and who had taken 
 advantage of the unexpected postponement of 
 this event to attend an intercollegiate football 
 
42 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 match, stood in my office attended by a support¬ 
 ing lawyer. At the close of a strenuous and 
 stormy interview, he leaned over my desk, shook 
 his fist in my face, and fairly hissed, “ G— 
 d—n you, I’ll get you yet.” 
 
 This incident has always had a peculiar interest 
 for me because of later developments. It was 
 not many months after this that the erring boy, 
 who possessed qualities which would unquestion¬ 
 ably have made a worth-while man of him had 
 they been given reasonable chances for develop¬ 
 ment, was asked by his own mates in college to 
 withdraw for violation of regulations established 
 by the undergraduates themselves. 
 
 Parents will even go to further extremes than 
 those mentioned above in their blind desire to 
 ignore patent facts and conceal truths which are 
 unpleasant to them. 
 
 A student was dismissed from school for leav¬ 
 ing his room without permission during the late 
 evening hours. He had heard that his house- 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 43 
 
 master had been called out of town, and he had 
 decided to make a night of it himself. An excuse 
 to visit the library from eight to ten in the even¬ 
 ing had regularly been granted him earlier in the 
 day. Returning to his room before the time had 
 expired, he had made his plans and taken his 
 departure. The instructor, coming in a little 
 later, noticed a paper on the boy’s door and ex¬ 
 amined it. It was a note signed by the occupant 
 of the room and read as follows: 44 Returned at 
 9:55; have gone to bed.” The instructor pulled 
 out his watch. It was then 9:30. The discrep¬ 
 ancy was a bit surprising and disconcerting. 
 Further examination revealed the absence of the 
 boy, and the presence in his bed of a hastily con¬ 
 structed dummy. The house-master’s long vigil 
 was rewarded in the early morning hours when 
 he saw the figure of the boy emerging from the 
 shadows and watched it disappear through the 
 window of a ground-floor room. The boy was 
 promptly dismissed. The letter relating the facts 
 
44 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 to the father brought forth a somewhat unusual 
 and instructive reply. Here it is: 
 
 “ In regard to his leaving his room during the study 
 hours, it was a minor offence, but, of course, deserving 
 of punishment; but on the note on his door is where 
 you make your mistake. You, like all professors, judge 
 boys by outward appearances, without knowing any¬ 
 thing of the inner boy himself. He is undoubtedly 
 heedless, careless, and thoughtless, and it never entered 
 his head that he was writing a lie until you told him of 
 it.” 
 
 And then adds the father rather naively: 
 
 “ He has never told me a lie in his sixteen years of 
 life.” 
 
 How could he? 
 
 The unfortunate element in situations like 
 these is the impression that they leave on youth¬ 
 ful minds. But the essential thing after all is the 
 attempt to ward off just punishment when pun¬ 
 ishment is the only possible thing that can cor¬ 
 rect. Not only is the value of merited discipline, 
 so often the deciding factor in moulding waver- 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 45 
 
 ing youth into stable manhood, denied, but the 
 real evils of wrongdoing are forever concealed, 
 and the youngster faces life with no clear sense of 
 values and too many times handicapped beyond 
 redemption. 
 
 Then there are the parents who cannot agree. 
 Differences in opinions, methods, and policies 
 have ever prevailed; peace and concord have 
 never shown their heads, and the development of 
 rugged character is impossible. Such conditions 
 breed restlessness and deceit, for in nature’s own 
 wav from the da vs of infancy the child seems to 
 sense the character of the atmosphere about him, 
 and, with almost devilish instinct, plays these par¬ 
 ents one against the other; and sad to say he 
 a 1 wavs wins. 
 
 In one year of my experience three boys de¬ 
 liberately ran away from school. The incidents 
 were unusual. They set me thinking. It hap- 
 pended that one of the offenders was a son of an 
 extremely wealthy man. The father claimed 
 
 V %■ 
 
46 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 with a good deal of feeling that the boy would 
 
 never have done this foolish thing if it had not 
 
 been for the father’s prominence in the financial 
 
 and social world, the craving for notoriety which 
 
 would be thus satisfied, and the conviction that 
 
 the father in the end would assuredlv interfere 
 
 •/ 
 
 and restore the old connection. In this case I 
 happened to know the facts, and I knew that the 
 father was wrong. Indeed, my sympathy was all 
 with the boy, as it has been ever since. 
 
 This knowledge prompted an investigation of 
 the home conditions involved in the other two 
 cases. The results were illuminating. In all three 
 cases parental disagreement was manifiest. In the 
 first case mentioned there had been recent and 
 open divorce; in the other two, separations. In 
 all cases the boys had been denied what every 
 child born in a Christian civilization has a right 
 to demand—a home and all that a home in its 
 truest sense signifies. Between warring parents 
 these youngsters had been mere shuttlecocks, 
 
THE HOME IX CIVILIZATION 
 
 47 
 
 human playthings as it were, shunted first to the 
 influence of one, then to the other, according to 
 the dictates of the law and the whims of their 
 parents. It was interesting to note also that 
 they represented all classes of the social scale; 
 for, in addition to the boy whose family boasted 
 untold wealth and social position, there was the 
 boy from the family of moderate means, and the 
 boy who, without any help from home, was at the 
 time working his way through school. 
 
 These cases may seem a bit extreme, but they 
 only serve to emphasize the unchanging truth 
 that where discord between parents prevails, the 
 greater the disagreements the smaller the chance 
 for the innocent victims of parental war. 
 
 Sometimes the tragedy of such situations is for 
 the moment concealed bv the comic element which 
 is almost always present. The schoolmaster who 
 deals with parents is bound to develop, if he did 
 not possess it originally, a sense of humor. If 
 this were not so, the strain would perhaps be too 
 
48 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 great for human nature to bear, for where the 
 average individual deals intimately with a score 
 or less of parents the schoolmaster deals with 
 hundreds. 
 
 A schoolmaster friend of mine relates an inci¬ 
 dent which illustrates my point. Here again a 
 boy had failed to meet his school responsibilities, 
 and had been asked to withdraw. As usual the 
 parents appeared and the customary battle be¬ 
 gan. As not infrequently happens, the mother 
 was the aggressor, but the father, who sat quietly 
 by, apparently accustomed to preserve his silence 
 when his wife had once taken the floor, gave clear 
 evidence of his determination to support his 
 spouse in her claims, and at any cost. The head¬ 
 master, long accustomed to conflicts of this kind, 
 had decided that he could deal with the mother, 
 but he was a bit puzzled and troubled as he noted 
 the threatening silence of her husband. He 
 watched him out of the corner of his eye as the 
 battle progressed, and with increasing feelings of 
 
THE HOHE IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 49 
 
 apprehension. That he would enter the struggle 
 in time seemed apparent, but how and when was 
 the puzzling question. 
 
 The facts in the case were carefully reviewed, 
 the headmaster insisting that there was nothing 
 really vicious about the boy, and that only his 
 failure to conform to the regular school require¬ 
 ments, to catch the spirit of the place and to do 
 the work assigned him, had led to his failure and 
 downfall. 
 
 But the mother was unconvinced. “ I know,” 
 she said emphatically, “ that there is something 
 more back of this, and what that is I demand to 
 be told.” The father nodded approval, and the 
 headmaster watched. 
 
 “ I assure you, madam,” he replied, “ there is 
 nothing more involved than that which I have 
 already told you.” But the woman was stub¬ 
 born. Finally she launched a telling blow. 
 
 “If that is the case,” she said imperiously, 
 “ why was my boy denied admission to another 
 
50 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 school?” She mentioned the school by name. 
 “ The headmaster,” she added, “ assured me that 
 he couldn’t accept my boy because of something 
 that you had written him.” 
 
 This was something of a poser, but the head¬ 
 master did not propose to yield. “ I don’t recall 
 just what I wrote,” he said smilingly, “ but I can 
 assure you that I said nothing more than I have 
 said to-day. Indeed, I am perfectly willing that 
 you should see a copy of the letter itself.” 
 
 “ I demand to see it,” she exclaimed with some 
 heat. 
 
 The headmaster started for his files, gazing ap¬ 
 prehensively at the silent partner near by. He 
 drew forth the letter and began to read it. It 
 started smoothly and his spirits were rising, but, 
 as he drew near the close, his eye caught sight of 
 a short paragraph at the very end and his heart 
 sank. To omit this paragraph now would in¬ 
 volve him in trouble, for the letter did not end 
 just right without it. There was nothing to do 
 
THE HOME IX CIVILIZATIOX 
 
 51 
 
 but finish the task and face the storm. With one 
 more glance at the silent father, he plunged 
 bravely in. And this is what he read: “ The boy, 
 as I have told you, is not bad, but the real trouble 
 is that he has been badly spoiled by his mother.” 
 
 The expected explosion immediately followed. 
 It came from the father, but it was not of the 
 kind anticipated. Almost leaping from his chair, 
 he brought his hand down on his knee with a 
 whack and fairly bellowed: “ God, I’m glad I 
 came! And that isn’t the worst of it,” he added. 
 “ I have two daughters at home, and she has 
 ruined them too.” For the rest of the visit the 
 father, who had apparently for the first time in 
 years found a supporting friend, almost had his 
 arms around the headmaster’s neck. They parted 
 with affectionate terms of friendship and esteem. 
 
 In strong contrast to the types of parents 
 which have been mentioned, it is refreshing to 
 turn to those of another kind, and it is good to 
 know that such still exist, even though they are 
 
52 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 so sadly outnumbered by their more noisy and 
 belligerent friends. Nothing is more stimulating 
 and refreshing to a headmaster’s soul than to 
 meet in the course of his work, and especially 
 where discipline is involved, the quiet, sane, and 
 supporting parents who have not forgotten the 
 days of their own youth; who realize that their 
 children will make mistakes and stumble and 
 yield; who are aware that they themselves were 
 guilty of such lapses; but who know, too, that 
 whatever strength and self-control they have se¬ 
 cured for the later and maturer years have been 
 gained through the just punishment and stern 
 discipline which their offences brought upon 
 them. Facing parents of this type, the school¬ 
 master has little concern for the nature of the 
 offence of the erring son. He knows that just 
 as sure as the sun rises and sets that boy will in 
 the end make good; the seriousness of his offence 
 will be brought home to him, the justice of the 
 punishment will be emphasized, and faith and 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 53 
 
 sanity will bring their ultimate and deserved re¬ 
 ward. 
 
 Years of experience have driven home to me 
 the truth of this contention more strongly than 
 perhaps anything else in my experience. Less 
 and less do I care for the immediate offence and 
 its nature; more and more do I watch with ap¬ 
 prehension and concern the reaction of the boy 
 and his parents to the punishment imposed. 
 
 After not quite thirty years of intimate deal¬ 
 ings with boys, I have reached the point where, 
 among the thousands of boys I have been privi¬ 
 leged to meet, it is possible to test the truth or 
 falsitv of many of my theories; for manv of these 
 boys are men now, and the effects of those earlier 
 experiences are indelibly stamped on their lives 
 and characters. Among those whom I am glad¬ 
 dest to meet, and who most frequently welcome 
 me with sincerest expressions of friendship and 
 good-will, are the boys whom, in the days of their 
 youth, it was my duty to discipline. Always I 
 
54 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 hear the same story: “ I couldn’t see it straight 
 at the time and I didn’t realize what it meant; 
 but the best thing that ever happened to me was 
 the time when I received the punishment that was 
 due me for my offences, and learned not only the 
 presence of weaknesses within but the necessity 
 of overcoming them if I was to be a man. . . . 
 
 I owe more to the discipline which the school ad¬ 
 ministered to me than to any other influence in 
 mv life.” It is a remark which, in substance at 
 least, I have heard again and again from the lips 
 of old bo vs. 
 
 This does not mean that discipline should be 
 administered to those who do not deserve it, but 
 it does mean that, when deserved, it is generally 
 the one remedy that will correct and strengthen. 
 Incidents to prove this could be supplied in 
 abundance. Let me give only one or two. 
 
 An outburst of youthful enthusiasm had once 
 reached rather dangerous proportions and had 
 developed suddenly a symptom of mob spirit 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 55 
 
 which boded ill. It was necessary to resort to 
 somewhat drastic measures to convince an excited 
 student body that law and order still prevailed. 
 Several boys were summarily dismissed. For the 
 moment the excitement only increased and rest¬ 
 lessness was everywhere apparent. Fancied 
 grievances prompted a few hot-heads to start for 
 home as an expression of sympathy with their 
 mates who had been dismissed. Some thought it 
 wise to advise their parents in advance. One who 
 did so received this prompt and disconcerting 
 telegram in reply: “ Come home; go to the back 
 door; let the cook feed you; then go to work.” 
 I learned afterwards that the substance of this 
 message, which the troubled youth had rashly 
 conveyed to his friends, speedily became known 
 among the hot-heads of the group, and did more 
 to restore sanity and quiet than all the efforts of 
 the faculty combined. 
 
 On this same occasion two bovs whose older 
 brother had been dismissed, made up their minds 
 
56 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 to leave. They had gone only a short distance 
 from the school when it was discovered that there 
 were not funds enough available to complete the 
 home journey. A telegram was sent to the fa¬ 
 ther, stating the facts and asking for money. 
 The father replied that he would meet them in 
 person and bring them all the money required. 
 In due season he arrived, giving no evidence of 
 his real attitude in the matter. Quietly he said 
 to his impetuous sons: “ I suppose you left rather 
 hurriedly and there must be some cleaning-up to 
 do. Suppose we go back to Andover and 
 straighten things out.” Arriving in Andover, he 
 asked, “ Have you said anything to the principal 
 about your plans?” “No,” was the reply. 
 “ Don’t you think we had better call on him and 
 explain matters before you go? ” “ Yes,” came 
 the brief but enthusiastic response. 
 
 A little later the trio appeared at my office. I 
 looked the father over and I confess to appre¬ 
 hensions. He was a splendid type of American 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 57 
 
 citizen, well over six feet in height and of mag¬ 
 nificent physical proportions. I knew that he 
 had always taken special pride in maintaining his 
 youthful spirits and interests with his boys, and 
 that when the ice left the Hudson River near 
 their home each spring he was accustomed to 
 swim across and back, with the boys tagging at 
 his heels, to show that he was still young in spirit 
 and vigor. I regretted the possibility of losing 
 his esteem and good-will. 
 
 He closed the door and then turned to his boys. 
 “ I understand,” he said quietly, “ that you boys 
 think you ought to leave school because your 
 brother has been expelled.” Two nodding heads 
 gave their unqualified assent to this declaration. 
 “ Well,” added the father with a smile, “ you are 
 not going to leave school. You are going to stay 
 here and redeem the family name, that is, if my 
 money holds out and the faculty are willing. 
 And,” he added with some feeling, 44 1 want to 
 tell you this, and I want to say it in the presence 
 
58 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 of Mr. Stearns, if Bill had not been expelled for 
 what he has done, you would not have had to 
 call on me for money to get you home. I would 
 have come up here myself and taken you home. 
 You would never have been permitted to stay in 
 a school that would overlook an offence of that 
 kind and extend leniency to a boy who had proved 
 himself so ungrateful for what he has secured 
 here. Now go back to your work, and remember 
 that you are to reestablish the good name of your 
 family in this old school.” He stepped forward 
 to the desk and extended his hand in a warm and 
 friendly grip, leaving the office with two disil¬ 
 lusioned and downcast boys following at his heels. 
 
 The boys remained in the school and completed 
 their courses with credit. They left, carrying 
 with them the good-will and esteem of students 
 and faculty alike. But the most interesting de¬ 
 velopment in the situation was the final effect on 
 the boy who had been subjected to punishment 
 and forced to sever the school connections. In 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 59 
 
 his case the reaction came much sooner than it 
 does with most. Among all the boys of my ac¬ 
 quaintance, I know of none who developed a 
 more loyal and enthusiastic interest in the school 
 than did he. His enthusiasm indeed became so 
 unbounded that he was made secretary of the 
 Academy’s largest Alumni Association. During 
 his brief term of office he more than doubled its 
 enrollment. When he came back to the school, 
 as he sometimes did, he did not hesitate to bring 
 his bag to my door and make mv home his head- 
 quarters,—a rather unusual occurrence when a 
 boy has only recently left the school halls, and 
 when some of his friends at least are still there. 
 Again and again before bis untimely death that 
 boy would tell me with deepest feeling of what 
 that deserved discipline had meant in his life. 
 “ It set me thinking,” he said; “ showed me that 
 I was drifting and didn’t know it. It gave me 
 the clue vffiich turned me right-about-face. 
 Whatever progress I have made, or whatever sue- 
 
60 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 cess I attain, will date from that time. Had the 
 offence been overlooked, I might have become a 
 worthless good-for-nothing.” 
 
 I mentioned this incident at one of our 
 alumni dinners recently. At the close of the ban¬ 
 quet, and after most of the group had left, a 
 young fellow called me aside. “ What you said 
 to-night,” he began, “ gave me just the courage 
 I needed to say something to you that has been 
 on my mind for the last six years.” He spoke 
 with evident feeling. 
 
 “ Do you remember the conditions under which 
 I had to leave school? ” he asked 
 
 I had to admit that my memory on that point 
 was a bit hazv. 
 
 “ Well,” he continued with commendable 
 frankness, “ I was fired for stealing. How I hap¬ 
 pened to do it I don’t know. But I did; and I 
 was caught, thank God! When I left, you told 
 me that my future would all hinge on the way I 
 took my medicine; that if I admitted to myself 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 61 
 
 that I deserved all that came to me in the way of 
 punishment, and perhaps more, I would have a 
 basis on which to make a fresh and clean start; 
 but that if I didn’t, I would probably end in jail. 
 I never forgot that,” he added with a smile, “ and 
 here’s the record I have been wanting to show 
 you. I slipped it in my pocket when I left home 
 to-night, thinking that I might be able to screw 
 up my courage to show it to you. But I would 
 not have had the nerve to produce it if it had 
 not been for that storv you told. That hit me 
 
 •/ %j 
 
 square.” 
 
 He drew from his pocket a package of papers. 
 I looked at them with keen interest. First there 
 were reports from a well-known college, covering 
 the full four-vear course. The marks were all 
 A’s and B’s; and the misdemeanor column was 
 absolutely clean. Several comments indicated 
 work and aptitude of an exceptionally high or¬ 
 der. A couple of letters from business firms for 
 whom he had worked since leaving college tes- 
 
62 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 tified in terms of unqualified praise to his relia-* 
 bility and faithfulness. 
 
 “ I learned my lesson, and I’ve made good,” 
 he said with a show of pride, “ and I wanted you 
 to know it. But,” he added quietly and in a 
 serious tone, “ if I had not been caught and re¬ 
 ceived the jolt that dismissal from school gave me, 
 heaven only knows what might have become of 
 me.” 
 
 Why it is that parents are so seldom able to 
 appreciate this truth, so plainly evident to those 
 who deal constantly with youth, is a puzzle which 
 I have never been able to solve. Parents who 
 refuse to allow deserved punishment to fall are 
 evidently prompted to take their untenable posi¬ 
 tion through the fear of losing the good-will and 
 affection of their children. The passing frown 
 or trembling lip inspired by the fear of pain 
 carry more weight and exert a more deadening 
 influence than all the possibilities or certainties 
 of the more serious troubles that are still in store, 
 
THE HOME IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 63 
 
 and that could generally be avoided if deserved 
 discipline were allowed to play its proper part. 
 And the very thing that these misguided parents 
 fail so completely to understand is that their 
 doubtful attitude is inviting that very loss of 
 affection and esteem, for the years to come at 
 least, which they so deeply dread. It is easy 
 enough to distinguish, even in school days, be¬ 
 tween those boys who have been pampered and 
 favored at home and those who have been blessed 
 with parents of sanity and courage; between 
 those whose parents value more highly the smile 
 of the passing moment than the stable character 
 of later years, and those who face bravely the 
 discomfort of the moment in the assurance that 
 maturity at least will bring to those unsteady 
 youths the appreciation of real values and, in the 
 end, their undying affection and esteem. 
 
 The very attitude of boys towards their fathers 
 and mothers, the terms in which they speak of 
 them, will regularly tell the tale. “ The old 
 
64 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 man ” and “ the old woman ” are terms always 
 used by the former group; “father” and 
 “ mother ” belong to the latter. And when those 
 unequaled words—“ father ” and “ mother ”— 
 are spoken with reverence and respect, one can 
 rest assured that that fortunate boy has not 
 missed in his home the stern hand of discipline 
 when discipline was needed for his own upbuild¬ 
 ing. 
 
 The subject of discipline is one of such vital 
 significance to our modern life in general that I 
 cannot confine my discussion of it to the realms 
 of the home alone. It deserves and will receive 
 special consideration later. 
 
PART THREE 
 
 RELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
‘ ‘ The man who cannot wonder, who does not habitually 
 wonder and worship, were he President of innumerable* 
 Royal Societies, and carried the ‘Mechanique Celeste’ 
 and ‘Hegel’s Philosophy,’ and the Epitome of all 
 Laboratories and Observatories with their results, in his 
 single head—is but a Pair of Spectacles behind which 
 there is no Eye.” 
 
 —Thomas Carlyle. 
 
PART THREE 
 
 RELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 I T is difficult to disassociate the home from 
 religion. The true home is based on re¬ 
 ligion. Its very atmosphere must of necessity 
 be spiritual. It is created and sustained by those 
 unseen but immensely real qualities of the hu¬ 
 man soul that exist only in the realms of the 
 spirit,—love, honor, reverence, service, sacrifice. 
 And it is on these abstract realities that religion 
 rests. 
 
 In the development of civilization religion has 
 played a commanding part. Without its influ¬ 
 ence the human race could never have attained 
 all that to-day, through the benefits of civiliza¬ 
 tion, it counts most precious and most satisfying. 
 For centuries religion has exercised its potent 
 
 influence on youth, checking the baser impulse, 
 
 67 
 
68 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 restraining from the evil and unworthy deed, 
 strengthening in the moment of temptation, and 
 always calling into expression and fuller control 
 the best and noblest in human character. 
 
 It is common to speak of youth as irreligious. 
 Nothing could be further from the truth. But 
 youth has not cast its religion into cold dogma 
 and forbidding creed. To dogma youth is utterly 
 impervious. Creeds to it are meaningless. For¬ 
 mal religion not only makes scant appeal but 
 frequently repels. But the fundamentals of re¬ 
 ligion revealed by Christ and lived by Him 
 awaken always in the heart of a youth, even 
 though he may be unconscious of their true sig¬ 
 nificance, a definite and often compelling re¬ 
 sponse. In the ordinary interpretation of the 
 term religion probably played little part in the 
 appeal to which those Yale boys so bravely re¬ 
 sponded ; yet it was the spiritual appeal alone, as 
 it spoke in the voice of duty, that called them back 
 from safety and asked them to give their all; 
 
RELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 69 
 
 and, without exception, every boy in that uni¬ 
 versity, and every boy who later heard the story, 
 acclaimed the deed and bowed his head in rever¬ 
 ence before those who had climbed and attained 
 the pinnacle of spiritual grandeur. 
 
 If my daily contacts with boys did not convince 
 me that youth is at heart religious, an experience 
 of my own college days would do so. It was my 
 rare privilege during those impressionable years 
 to sit in the classroom of one of the greatest teach¬ 
 ers who has ever filled a college chair, Charles E. 
 Garman, professor of philosophy in Amherst 
 College. Mr. Garman combined a wonderfully 
 keen intellect with a deep and genuine spiritual 
 nature; and he had besides an unusual power to 
 interest and inspire his pupils. His class in 
 philosophy, covering the last two years of the 
 college course, was known as the hardest course 
 in the entire curriculum; yet it was elected by all 
 but two or three of the class of which I was a 
 member. 
 
70 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 It was Mr. Garman’s custom to lead his class 
 through the various systems of philosophy as 
 they had developed during the passing centuries, 
 forcing us to imbibe their spirit and, so far as 
 possible, to believe with all our hearts in the truth 
 of the doctrines on which they rested, until, after 
 constant debate, argument, and thought, we were 
 forced to recognize their fallacies and were pre¬ 
 pared to take the next forward step. 
 
 Nothing could equal the deep and intense in¬ 
 terest of that group of college boys. Discussion 
 never stopped with the classroom. It went on 
 everywhere. Mr. Garman’s study, a mile from 
 the campus, gathered within its walls every night 
 a group of eager students, and the battle was con¬ 
 tinued till the late hour called us back to our 
 rooms. Frequently small groups would slip 
 from their fraternity houses in the early morning 
 hours, and, stretched under shady trees or roam¬ 
 ing the countryside, would renew the struggle to 
 understand the great and eternal problems of 
 
BELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 71 
 
 Human life and the human soul that we had come 
 to feel were the most important and the only real 
 things in the world. 
 
 The class met during the last hour of the morn¬ 
 ing session, and it was our program to go from 
 it direct to dinner. The closing bell would ring, 
 but no one would stir. With a smile on his face, 
 Mr. Garman, to whom this was no new experi¬ 
 ence, would say quietly: “ Gentlemen, the bell 
 has rung. I am willing to go on if you desire, but 
 I wish no one to stay under compulsion.” And 
 none left. The class would go on, fifteen min¬ 
 utes, a half hour, sometimes three-quarters of an 
 hour beyond the closing bell. Far from protest¬ 
 ing, those boys welcomed as a rare privilege this 
 added opportunity to wrestle, under the leader¬ 
 ship of a master-mind, with the great problems 
 that concern the human soul. Dinners grew cold 
 and often were swept from tables by irate board¬ 
 ing-house keepers; but no one cared. Under¬ 
 classmen dubbed us crazy and shook their heads 
 
72 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 in amused contempt at our seeming inability to 
 place the customary emphasis on the common¬ 
 place topics of student discussion. 
 
 If we were deemed crazy during the early 
 months of this unusual course, we must have 
 seemed hopeless lunatics to our mates as we 
 neared its end. For the philosophical peak we 
 had been so laboriously ascending during all those 
 months we found to be crowned with the Atone¬ 
 ment of Christ Himself. During those never-to- 
 be-forgotten days the atmosphere became 
 charged with a veritable spiritual electricity. 
 We seemed to move in a new world in which the 
 ordinary interests of student life became wholly 
 inconsequential. The fact that the most impor¬ 
 tant ball game of the year was scheduled for the 
 afternoon would be almost forgotten; and the 
 noon meal, if we were fortunate enough to find 
 one waiting for us, furnished only a further op¬ 
 portunity to continue the discussions begun in 
 the morning’s recitation hour. Several of us 
 
RELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 73 
 
 were members of the college ball-nine that spring, 
 and I shall never forget the feelings akin to re¬ 
 sentment with which we faced the necessity of 
 missing occasional classes in order to play 
 scheduled games away from home with rival col- 
 
 O 
 
 lege teams. Under the leadership and inspira¬ 
 tion of a master-teacher we were dealing at first 
 hand with the great facts of religion and the 
 spiritual world, and in terms that had meaning to 
 the minds of youth. And that experience was the 
 most exhilarating and satisfying we had ever 
 known. 
 
 The more modern teacher of philosophy, revel¬ 
 ing in the cold abstractions of agnosticism, has 
 never been able to evoke an enthusiasm of this 
 kind. 
 
 Bv a curious coincidence the administration of 
 the college at just this time was in the hands of 
 one who was inclined somewhat to excesses in his 
 outward and formal religious life. With sincere 
 apprehension he noted the falling off in the at- 
 
74 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 tendance at college prayer-meetings of those who 
 he believed were coming under dangerous influ¬ 
 ences and were seemingly losing their religion. 
 We were clearly under suspicion. But remon¬ 
 strances proved of no avail. The college prayer¬ 
 meeting never seemed less attractive. Even the 
 regular church service seemed to lack something 
 vital and real. Probably we were a bit conceited 
 and unduly critical. Yet we were clearly con¬ 
 scious that in that classroom in philosophy we 
 were dealing at closer range with the great truths 
 of life, as the minds and hearts of youth are given 
 to interpret those truths, than could ever have 
 been possible in the prayer-meeting and the 
 church. And yet, of that class of only seventy- 
 odd men, seventeen, if I remember correctly, 
 elected the ministry as their life calling, while the 
 rest, whatever their choice of profession, faced the 
 world with a new and compelling consciousness 
 of the sacredness of human life, of the proximity 
 and reality of the spiritual world, and of man’s 
 
RELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 75 
 
 duty and privilege through a life of service to aid 
 his Creator in the carrying-out of the divine plan. 
 
 No, youth at heart is anything but irreligious. 
 But as youth approaches manhood its religious 
 interest will wane or grow just in so far as the 
 influences and surroundings to which it is sub¬ 
 jected are benumbing or stimulating. To-day 
 they are chiefly of the former kind. Mr. Gar- 
 man himself, during the last years of his work, 
 admitted that he had found it necessary to re¬ 
 shape somewhat the character of his course, and 
 to emphasize the sociological and economic rather 
 than the spiritual elements in human life, in order 
 to meet the changed attitude of the student mind. 
 In other words, the deadening influences of an 
 increasingly irreligious age had already checked 
 the natural growth of that religious interest 
 which is found always in the heart of youth. 
 
 But what has in part disappeared from the 
 lives of the maturer youth of college years is still 
 found among those a bit younger. Preachers 
 
76 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 regularly accustomed to fill college and school 
 pulpits unite in testifying to the fact that the 
 schoolboy audience is far the more responsive of 
 the two. Any one who has looked into the faces 
 of five or six hundred boys, when some preacher 
 who has a real message is addressing them, and 
 has seen those faces merge into one solid phalanx 
 of an eager and responsive whole when some deep 
 and vital religious truth is eloquently touched 
 upon, needs no further assurance that youth is 
 at heart religious. 
 
 All the more, then, must we deplore the loss 
 from our modern life of those vital and stimu¬ 
 lating influences that lie at the basis of human 
 character, and that, through the passing years, 
 have so strongly aided youth in carrying out its 
 noblest impulses and realizing its highest aspira¬ 
 tions. 
 
 We cannot easily estimate the real values of 
 
 %/ 
 
 religious ideals and influences in our own lives, 
 yet those influences have always been at work. 
 
RELIGION IN CIVILIZATIOISr 
 
 77 
 
 The Church has played its part, incompletely and 
 hesitatingly no doubt, and yet offering us the re¬ 
 straint of fear and condemnation for wrongdo¬ 
 ing, and the appeal to nobler thinking and cleaner 
 living. The old-time home, cooperating to the 
 full, has seen to it that the recognition of God as 
 a present and potent force in human life should 
 be definitely acknowledged, and the fear of God 
 instilled in youthful hearts. Whatever the 
 broader and more tolerant thought of later years 
 may have brought in the way of gain, only a fool 
 can be blind enough to ignore the constant and 
 powerful influence that religion has exerted on 
 western Christian civilization. 
 
 To-day that influence has been sadly under¬ 
 mined. In the lives of many of our youth it has 
 ceased almost wholly to exist. It is the constant 
 complaint of the Church that youth no longer 
 responds to its attractions and appeal. In the 
 home the outward manifestations of religion, at 
 least, have largely disappeared. To most of our 
 
78 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 boys and girls to-day the Bible has become prac¬ 
 tically a closed book. Family prayers, so com¬ 
 mon in times past, and even the simple request 
 for God’s blessing on the daily meal, are almost 
 unknown. Under the requirements of law the 
 teaching of religion, and frequently even the sim¬ 
 plest religious exercises, are debarred from our 
 public schools. Religion, at least in its outward 
 manifestations, has been steadily relegated to the 
 scrap-heaps of the past. 
 
 With this almost complete disappearance of 
 the outward manifestations of religious belief it 
 is not to be wondered at that youth should find 
 little in the Church and other formal religious 
 activities to appeal to its inner spiritual nature. 
 Youth does not even fully understand what the 
 Church stands for, or just what it means. To 
 youth the Church seems to be chiefly concerned 
 with the trivial and inconsequential, and to ignore 
 the great and fundamental spiritual verities of 
 which youth is dimly conscious, and to the chal- 
 
RELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 79 
 
 lenges of which in great emergencies youth in¬ 
 variably responds. 
 
 A father, himself a minister, has voiced to me 
 the common feeling of pessimism over the seem¬ 
 ing lack of religious interest among the youth 
 of the present day. 
 
 “ Everything,” he writes, 44 is there except one 
 thing. These boys have deep feeling and a 
 strong loyalty. But organized religion leaves 
 them cold. It doesn’t represent their vital inter¬ 
 ests or express their most sacred emotions. Yet 
 I should say they were religious-minded. From 
 the Church point of view they are wasted. They 
 have been reading a book I am soon to publish— 
 with sympathy and agreement, but somehow the 
 Church doesn’t interpret them. It’s a great ques¬ 
 tion.” 
 
 Yes, it is a great question, indeed,—a question 
 so great as to demand our keenest and most un¬ 
 biased thought. 
 
 Major-General Leonard Wood expressed to 
 
80 THE CHxlLLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 me not long ago his strong conviction that if, as 
 he had often been told, the American youth of 
 to-day, as contrasted with the youth of former 
 years, were losing their religious interest, the fact 
 must be accepted as evidence of the beginning of 
 our national decay. 
 
 This is strong language, but, I think, not too 
 strong. 
 
 We must bear in mind, however, that there is 
 a distinct difference between active religious 
 interest and being still at heart religious. The 
 latter is the natural endowment with which we 
 are all blessed by our Creator. For the former 
 we ourselves are chiefly responsible; and if the 
 youth of the present day has lost its religious in¬ 
 terest, it is because of the conditions and influ¬ 
 ences with which it has been surrounded, and for 
 these we of an older generation must bear the 
 blame. 
 
 What has caused the loss of this vital element 
 in our American life? And why is it that the 
 
RELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 81 
 
 American people as a whole are so indifferent to 
 a loss of such sinister significance? 
 
 A complete answer to these very natural ques¬ 
 tions cannot easily be given. But it can be fairlv 
 stated that the materialistic spirit of the age in 
 which we live has exerted its deadening influence 
 on all that is not purely practical and utilitarian. 
 Spiritual values find no place in such a scheme 
 of thought, and spiritual interests have been 
 largely supplanted by interests of a more ma¬ 
 terial kind. Men of calibre and vision, be they 
 statesmen or leaders in the business world, are 
 not blind to the truth. But for men of smaller 
 mould the pace of the material world has been a 
 bit too fast of late. The wine of material suc¬ 
 cess has befuddled their senses. The wonderful 
 advances in the realms of applied science which 
 have ministered to their physical comfort and 
 ease have undermined their sanity and sadly 
 warped their judgments. For the moment, at 
 least, they have lost their bearings. 
 
82 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 The standard by which success is measured is 
 no longer the standard of character and moral 
 worth, but that of financial standing and material 
 achievement. 
 
 Material prosperity invariably breeds a spirit 
 of selfishness and of iconoclasm, and it is this 
 spirit, so rampant to-day, that leads men to look 
 with contempt on all that is associated with the 
 past. Puffed with conceit, they seem prone to 
 believe that for them alone, a type of superman 
 almost, a generous Fate has reserved these so 
 recently discovered secrets of science by which 
 the material wealth of the world has been so sud¬ 
 denly and so enormously increased, and by which 
 their physical life has been made so much 
 smoother. This curious attitude of mind has 
 spread through all classes, and has created an 
 atmosphere in which the youth of to-day, still 
 seeing its visions and still eager to realize them, 
 finds scant encouragement or help. Especially in 
 the home this sinister atmosphere works on the 
 
RELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 83 
 
 mind and heart of youth similar to a numbing 
 poison. 
 
 This strange mental attitude of the successful 
 man of affairs is constantly reflected in letters 
 written by fathers about their 
 school work. Let me quote briefly from two. 
 
 “ I cannot afford at my time of life,” writes 
 this visionless materialist, “ to have my boy waste 
 any time in studying the Bible, because it is my 
 intention that he shall adopt some useful occu¬ 
 pation.” 
 
 The “ useful occupation,” so commonly meas¬ 
 ured in the American mind bv the standard of the 
 dollar, cannot include in the minds of men of this 
 type anything which deals with the higher and 
 spiritual values in human nature and that is not 
 thoroughly and entirely practical. 
 
 Writing about his boy’s course of study, an¬ 
 other father says: 
 
 “ I do not want any Latin, history, or gram¬ 
 mar. The boy might, if he has time, take Eng- 
 
 boys and their 
 
84 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 lish literature. ... I must have him de¬ 
 velop along the lines I have indicated, not a lot 
 of instruction that will do him no good in after 
 life. We cannot afford to waste our time in that 
 way in these days.” 
 
 “ In these days.” These wonderful days in 
 which we poor humans have suddenly been thrust 
 to such heights that we can learn nothing from 
 the teachings of history, when the correct use of 
 the mother tongue can be safely dispensed with, 
 and when for limited recreation, if time can be 
 found in our mechanical life, we may just glimpse 
 the struggles, the hopes, the aspirations of the 
 human mind and soul as they have found expres¬ 
 sion through the passing centuries in literature. 
 
 If these sentiments represented only the opin¬ 
 ions of the individuals who uttered them, we 
 might well afford to smile. Unfortunately they 
 represent the character and scope of the limited 
 thinking of a great mass of our American people 
 to-day. No better proof of this fact can be found 
 
RELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 85 
 
 than in the recent election to the senatorship of 
 a great state and the threatened candidacy for 
 the high office of President of the United States 
 of two successful materialists who have publicly 
 and blatantly announced their contempt for edu¬ 
 cation and sound learning. Not all are equally 
 frank in voicing their views, but their lives and 
 actions and votes place them in one and the 
 same class. And this is far from humorous,—it 
 is tragic. We are reminded of the famous saying 
 of Bishop Berkeley uttered many years ago: 
 “ Whatever the world thinks, he who has not 
 much meditated upon God, the human mind, and 
 the Summum Bonum, may possibly make a thriv¬ 
 ing earthworm, but will certainly make a sorry 
 patriot and a sorry statesman.” 
 
 Fortunatelv the race has never been dependent 
 
 upon human earthworms for constructive 
 
 thought and leadership. Real leaders have first 
 
 risen above the mud of materialism. And when 
 
 earthworms have rashly ventured to leave their 
 
 */ 
 
86 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 allotted home they have generally in the end 
 shriveled and died, or, at best, become food for 
 fishes that swim in the waters beneath and birds 
 that soar in the heavens above the earth. How¬ 
 ever sadly outnumbered, those who, in the 
 world’s history, have saved civilization from 
 threatened disaster and pointed it to the higher 
 levels of life, have always been made of tougher 
 and finer stuff. To-day, in our hour of need, 
 there are increasing evidences that such leader¬ 
 ship is again to be supplied. 
 
 The World War did not bring us the LHopia 
 that we desired and hoped for. It seemed only 
 to leave us chaos. But that chaos has set us think¬ 
 ing, and our thought is carrying us more and 
 more a wav from the material world and back to 
 the realms of the spirit and religion. Appeals 
 for the restoration of religion in our national life 
 are steadily increasing in volume and strength. 
 They are coming, too, chiefly from those in po¬ 
 sitions of real leadership in public, professional, 
 
RELIGION IX CIVILIZATION 
 
 87 
 
 and business life. Our late President Harding 
 in several of his public addresses pleaded ear¬ 
 nestly for a return of old-fashioned religion in 
 our national life. I quote from one of these: 
 
 “ In spite of our complete divorcement of Church and 
 State, quite in harmony with our religious freedom, there 
 is an important relationship between Church and Na¬ 
 tion, because no nation can prosper, no nation can sur¬ 
 vive, if it ever forgets Almighty God. I have believed 
 that religious reverence has played a very influential 
 and helpful part in the matchless American achieve¬ 
 ment, and I wish it ever to abide. If I were to utter a 
 prayer for the republic to-night, it would be to recon¬ 
 secrate us in religious devotion and make us abidingly a 
 God-fearing, God-loving people.” 
 
 President Coolidge has frequently sounded 
 the same note. The Secretary of War has verv 
 recently made a similar plea. A very unusual 
 and significant editorial article appeared only a 
 few weeks ago in the Manufacturers 3 Record 
 of Baltimore, Maryland. I venture to quote 
 from it at some length: 
 
 Judge Gary, at the annual meeting of the American 
 
88 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 Iron and Steel Institute, made an address which is prob¬ 
 ably one of the most remarkable ever delivered before a 
 business meeting of that kind in this or any other coun¬ 
 try. It was devoted almost wholly to the subject of 
 religion and to the Bible, urging the members of the 
 Institute to study the Bible and to follow its teachings. 
 
 Judge Gary had recently returned from a trip to 
 Palestine and other Eastern countries. Evidently the 
 spirit that hovers over Palestine, and the thoughts that 
 must flood the soul of every intelligent man who visits 
 that country, were still making their deep impress upon 
 him when, in his address, he stressed over and above 
 everything else the supreme importance of the Bible as 
 the guide for the individual man and for the nation. 
 
 One of the most remarkable movements ever known in 
 the history of this country, and perhaps in the history 
 of all countries, is the broadening interest in the study 
 of the Bible and in the preaching of Christianity in 
 offices, in shops, and from editorial chairs. Never in 
 our experience has there been such a universal discussion 
 and unceasing endorsement of Christianity in the news¬ 
 papers of the country as is seen to-day. Hundreds of 
 the leading daily papers of all sections are constantly 
 publishing editorials about Christianity, many of them 
 matching anything which is heard from the pulpit. A 
 number of daity papers are publishing the Bible as a 
 serial, giving a chapter day by day. Hundreds are 
 publishing one or two Bible texts every day. Business 
 men everywhere are, to a greater extent than we have 
 
RELIGION IN CIVILIZATION 
 
 89 
 
 ever seen before, emphasizing the supreme importance of 
 religion; and to-day one who reads widely would prob¬ 
 ably see references to the necessity of the Golden Rule 
 in business a hundred times more frequently than in 
 former years. 
 
 Judge Gary’s splendid address only serves to bring 
 out more clearly the fact that great business organiza¬ 
 tions composed of the foremost men of America are 
 recognizing that, over and above all else in this world, 
 the teachings of the Bible must be the supreme guide of 
 mankind, even in business matters, if the world is to be 
 saved from the turmoil and chaos of the hour. 
 
 These are truly hopeful signs. But they are 
 still only signs. If the need which these thought¬ 
 ful leaders so clearly recognize is to be met, and 
 the hopes which they voice are to be realized, the 
 responsibility rests squarely on every loyal 
 American citizen to scan his own record and to 
 contribute his individual share to the restoration 
 of the crumbling foundations of our national life. 
 
PART FOUR 
 
 MODERN SUBSTITUTES—THE 
 MOVIES, THE STAGE, 
 
 AND LITERATURE 
 
“Civilization surely is in danger. Men and women, 
 even children are thinking of their rights rather than of 
 their duties. They have gone mad at pleasure seeking. 
 They are crowding, crowding, crowding towards a goal— 
 which too often is the insane asylum, the prison, the 
 bankruptcy court (financial or moral) and despair. 
 
 “Within a day or two I have received the report of 
 the superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane 
 in Kansas City. This able expert blames for the in¬ 
 creased cost of his institution and others like it and the 
 increased cost of caring for defectives by the State, the 
 motion picture and the motor-car almost exclusively. I 
 would go further and blame it to the general jazz en¬ 
 vironment which surrounds the race.” 
 
 —Z>r. Max G. Schlapp, Criminologist. 
 
PART FOUR 
 
 MODERN SUBSTITUTES—THE 
 MOVIES, THE STAGE, 
 
 AND LITERATURE 
 
 W HAT are we offering our boys and girls 
 of this modern age in place of what has 
 been lost? What are the influences that are 
 moulding lives and shaping characters, and that 
 are to determine the quality of the manhood and 
 womanhood of to-morrow? 
 
 It is pretty commonly agreed, I think, that the 
 most wide-spread, if not the most potent, in¬ 
 fluence at work upon our young people to-day is 
 found in the movies and the stage. The movies, 
 at least, were unknown to earlier generations. 
 The stage had little contact with plastic youth, 
 subjected to the influence of old-fashioned homes 
 where there regularly existed an attitude of mis¬ 
 giving towards everything and every one con- 
 
 93 
 
94 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 nected with the theatre. But the boys and girls 
 of the present generation find here their greatest 
 and most constant source of amusement and re¬ 
 laxation. Daily the movies minister to the sup¬ 
 posed wants of hundreds of thousands of our chil¬ 
 dren, rich and poor, north, south, east, and west. 
 Surely we cannot wisely ignore the character of 
 such an influence making itself felt, as this does, 
 directly and constantly on the minds and souls 
 of impressionable youth. 
 
 With all its wonderful possibilities for good, 
 and in spite of the good it sometimes does ac¬ 
 complish, this recent addition to the life of the 
 world has yet to prove that its total effect has 
 been anything but harmful, and immensely harm¬ 
 ful at that. If parents were still in control, and 
 would exercise their discretion and judgment as 
 to the pictures and plays that their children might 
 see, we might view the situation more calmly. 
 But parents are not often in control, and, when 
 they are, they appear to have lost all sense of 
 
MODERN SUBSTITUTES 
 
 95 
 
 proportion and judgment. It is the youngsters 
 themselves who decide, and the decision is based 
 neither on experience nor judgment, but on im¬ 
 pulse—and an impulse most often resulting from 
 an appeal to the weakest in human nature. 
 
 There can be no doubt that one of the strong¬ 
 est appeals that the movies make, and with very 
 evident intent, relates to the irregularities of hu¬ 
 man life, the extravagances in human action, and 
 the unnatural in human relationships. The sex 
 appeal is almost always present and blatant. No 
 matter what the individual film may be or the in¬ 
 dividual program arranged, it is almost impossi¬ 
 ble to sit through a movie show without suddenly 
 and unexpectedly confronting this appeal either 
 in the announced film or in a special film added 
 to those advertised on the regular program. The 
 stage has followed much the same line, until one 
 has to search long to find a play which does not, 
 somewhere in its course, bring to one’s cheeks the 
 blush of shame. 
 
96 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 Not long ago I read in an issue of The Farm 
 Journal an article of timely and vigorous pro¬ 
 test. The writer, Mr. John B. Wallace, collected 
 at random a list of some of the films that were at 
 the time enjoying exceptional popularity on the 
 screen throughout the land. A glance at the 
 titles alone is enough. Here are a few: 
 
 Why Trust Your Husband?; The Fruits of 
 Desire; The Woman of Pleasure; His Tempo¬ 
 rary Wife; Playthings of Passion; My Hus¬ 
 band’s Other Wife; A Bachelor’s Children; Ex¬ 
 perimental Marriage; The Flame of Passion; My 
 Unmarried Wife; Sex Lure; Flames of the 
 Flesh; Lawless Love; When Men Desire; His 
 Bridal Night; The Evil Women Do; For Hus¬ 
 bands Only. 
 
 With commendable frankness and courage 
 Mr. Wallace truthfully savs: 
 
 Countless thousands of people can and do stay away 
 from the movies, going only when a particular picture 
 is shown that they know, by the reputation of the 
 
MODERN SUBSTITUTES 
 
 97 
 
 author or producer, will not insult either their intelli¬ 
 gence or their decency. Thousands more find such pic¬ 
 tures so rare that they never go. Yet there are other 
 countless thousands who will and do take their places; 
 and it is these pathetic audiences, helplessly swallowing 
 all the drivel and nasty sex stuff that is flung at them, 
 that support the motion-picture business to-day. 
 
 The comedy is in many ways more dangerous to 
 young people than the serious dramas, and especially 
 to small children. The theatres that cater to the pat¬ 
 ronage of children realize that their audiences are not 
 interested in dramatic productions, and therefore, for 
 their benefit, exhibit action pictures and comedies. 
 Children are naturally fun-loving and have a keen sense 
 of the ridiculous. Even little tots of four and five 
 years will get a laugh out of the antics of a screen 
 comedian. Consequently, the association of policemen 
 and clergymen in ridiculous roles early breeds a dis¬ 
 respect which it is almost impossible for parental teach¬ 
 ing and explanation to offset. 
 
 Furthermore, the comedies are the worst offenders 
 when it comes to appealing to sex instincts. Some of 
 the situations border very closely upon obscenity. Very 
 few comedies of the popular type lack a bedroom scene, 
 a disrobing act, or a bevy of young women who have 
 taken off all the clothes they dare. At least the sex 
 dramas of the serious picture plays attempt to prove 
 something, but the comedies drag in the sex thrill with¬ 
 out the shadow of an excuse, except the cash value of 
 
98 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 catering to the worst passions of the boys and men in 
 the audience. 
 
 The other day I picked up a copy of the Police 
 Gazette. I can distinctly recall the time when a grown 
 man would feel inclined to blush if caught glancing 
 through this periodical. But after a decade of motion- 
 picture comedies the Gazette seemed to me strangely 
 tame and innocuous. It is much the same with books. 
 Novels that are kept under lock and key in private 
 libraries lest the children get hold of them, and that can 
 only be obtained upon request by adults at the public li¬ 
 braries, are dramatized and thrown on the screen in all 
 their details. If any portion is expurgated it is only 
 in fear of state censors or police regulations. 
 
 When producers delve into the past for material, as 
 they are obliged to do more and more, the whole history 
 of mankind is open to them—the most stirring and 
 dramatic events, the most tender of love stories, the 
 most hair-raising adventures. And what do they select ? 
 Invariably the ugliest and most salacious episodes of 
 history, something that has 44 a little spice.” And 
 then they bear down with all possible weight on the 
 spicy portions. 
 
 But why go on? Can any sane person, not 
 unmindful of the days of his own youth, accept 
 for a moment the belief that plastic and impres¬ 
 sionable boys and girls, who have not yet fully 
 
MODERN SUBSTITUTES 
 
 99 
 
 gained their self-control, and whose hardest fights 
 in the days of youth must always be against 
 physical temptation, can remain uninfluenced by 
 the constant admission to their minds of such 
 vicious poison as this? If one were to accept as 
 true the teachings of the screen, it would be neces¬ 
 sary to believe that the home of ideals and purity 
 is practically non-existent, that virtue in man and 
 woman is altogether a novelty, that ministers and 
 those who profess religion are cowardly hypo¬ 
 crites, and that the real attractions of life are to 
 be found in the wanton violation of those old 
 standards of morality and long-tested human re¬ 
 lationships which have stood for centuries as the 
 secure foundations of western and Christian 
 civilization. 
 
 The tendencies of the teachings of the movies 
 
 have their counterpart in the literature of the 
 
 day. The best sellers among the novels are those 
 
 which deal with the same hackneved theme. The 
 
 % 
 
 more extravagant, the more blatant the portrayal 
 
100 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 of domestic infelicity and human irregularities, 
 the wider the market. Many of the best maga¬ 
 zines have in a measure yielded to this tendency, 
 while our news-stands are fairly flooded with 
 cheap magazines, the very titles of which make 
 clear their character, and which carry stories 
 many of which would not have been tolerated by 
 the public, even if they had been permitted by 
 law, only a few years ago. 
 
 A well-known monthly magazine, which boasts 
 of an impressive circulation, and which has never 
 been averse to catering to the weaker side of 
 human nature, not long ago published a serial 
 story of the familiar and extravagant modern 
 type. The first installment left little unsaid, and 
 the advertising it was given was widespread and 
 noisy. 
 
 A mother chanced to be visiting her son at the 
 time, and picked up a copy of the magazine in 
 her boy’s room. She glanced through the open¬ 
 ing chapters of the story with increasing appre- 
 
MODERN SUBSTITUTES 
 
 101 
 
 hension, noted the suggestiveness of the pictures 
 adorning the pages, and then in unfeigned dis¬ 
 tress brought the magazine to me. 
 
 “ How dare they publish such stuff? ” she said 
 excitedly. “ It’s enough to corrupt any boy.” 
 
 And it was. 
 
 A month later the proprietor of a local news¬ 
 stand sent for me. The monthly issue of the 
 magazine in question had just appeared, carry¬ 
 ing the second installment of the offensive storv. 
 With it had come three hundred roughly printed 
 sheets containing a reprint of the opening chap¬ 
 ters. A note of explanation from the publishers 
 stated frankly, and with evident pride, that there 
 had been an overwhelming demand for the pre¬ 
 vious issue, a demand prompted by the wide¬ 
 spread interest the story had aroused, and which 
 they had not been able to supplv. Thev added 
 that it had seemed to them wise to reprint the 
 opening chapters for distribution among the pur¬ 
 chasers of the later issue of the magazine, in order 
 
102 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 that they might thus be enabled to follow the 
 complete story; and they ventured the guess that 
 three hundred copies would probably be sufficient 
 for local needs. 
 
 The significance of this incident should be at 
 once apparent. And yet I have frequently seen 
 copies of this same magazine in the homes of peo¬ 
 ple supposed to be eminently respectable and en¬ 
 joying the esteem and confidence of the public. 
 The fact is that the restraints ordinarily imposed 
 on immature youth in the matter of reading have 
 been withdrawn, even in the home, as they have 
 been in relation to the stage. Yet the influence 
 of the written word on the youthful mind is im¬ 
 pressive and lasting. 
 
PART FIVE 
 
 MODERN SUBSTITUTES—SOCIAL 
 
 CONDITIONS 
 
‘'Any society can put down offenses if it chooses. I 
 hold the whole school responsible for this offense. I 
 don’t know who the offenders are, and I don’t want to 
 know. They would not have done it, if the rest of you 
 disliked it enough. ’ ’ 
 
 Edward TJiring. 
 
PART FIVE 
 
 MODERN SUBSTITUTES—SOCIAL 
 
 CONDITIONS 
 
 A THIRD factor that has always played a 
 prominent part in its influence on youth 
 is found in the social conditions, he they local or 
 not, with which youth is surrounded. The in¬ 
 fluence here again is hard to define, but it has 
 always contributed its generous share to the 
 shaping of the habits and the developing of the 
 characters of our boys and girls. 
 
 The loss of the ordinary conventions of life, 
 now so conspicuous, has its place here and its ef¬ 
 fect on the social conditions of the present day 
 in which our young people move so freely and so 
 strangely. It is hard to recognize in these con¬ 
 ditions elements that are stimulating and helpful 
 either physically, intellectually, or morally. 
 
106 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 Some little has been gained, no doubt; too much 
 has been lost. The lack of the old and tested 
 moral standards; the increasing disrespect of law; 
 the undermining of the home; the flippancy with 
 which many of the most sacred things of life are 
 discussed and treated; all-night dances for chil¬ 
 dren still in their early teens; automobile “joy 
 rides,” unchaperoned and unrestrained—these 
 things contribute nothing to the stability of 
 youth, while they strain it, on its weakest side, 
 to the breaking point. 
 
 Not many months ago I had the privilege of 
 addressing a group of ex-service men at their 
 annual banquet. At the close of the speaking a 
 young fellow asked me if he could have a quiet 
 chat with me. I consented and we withdrew to a 
 corner of the room. There I listened to a strange 
 and heartrending story. 
 
 The boy, for he was still that in appearance, 
 told me that he had enlisted at a very early age 
 for the ambulance service in France. He had 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 107 
 
 been badly gassed and was sent to Paris to re¬ 
 cuperate and perhaps to be sent back to America. 
 After examination the doctors assured him that 
 he had only a fighting chance for life, and ad¬ 
 vised him to return home as soon as he could. 
 Passage could not easily be secured at that time, 
 and he was forced to remain for some weeks in 
 the French capital. Here a fit of discourage¬ 
 ment seized him, and for the time he lost his grip 
 on himself. The loose conditions which prevailed 
 in Paris exerted their subtle influence on his 
 weakened will, and he plunged into the excesses 
 of the life which surrounded him on all sides. As 
 the time approached for him to sail for the home¬ 
 land he was overwhelmed with remorse as he 
 realized how far he had departed from the earlier 
 and finer standards which had formerly governed 
 his conduct. In this state of mind his one and 
 great ambition was to get back to America, 
 where, freed from the temptations which had be¬ 
 set him in that foreign city, and stimulated by 
 
108 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 the conditions lie had formerly known in his own 
 country, he felt confident he would be able to get 
 his bearings once more and make a new and hon¬ 
 orable start. 
 
 At this point in his story a look of pain came 
 over his boyish face. He paused for a moment, 
 and then, leaning forward and with dramatic in¬ 
 tensity he said, “ But, Mr. Stearns, I came back 
 to a Sodom! ” 
 
 I asked him to tell me just what he meant by 
 that. 
 
 “ Why, you see,” he replied with feeling, “ I 
 had always moved among the best people at home 
 and in neighboring places.” He mentioned sev¬ 
 eral well-known cities. “ I had entered full}" into 
 the social life with my friends, both girls and 
 
 bovs: and I did not for a moment dream that the 
 
 %/ 7 
 
 old conditions and standards of conduct I had 
 known so well did not still exist. But I found 
 that they had all gone. I found things as bad, 
 and, in a sense, worse than they had been in Paris 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 109 
 
 where every loose element was in evidence, for 
 here I was dealing again with people who were 
 supposed to be respectable.” 
 
 He went on to tell me of some of his recent 
 experiences in this supposedly respectable social 
 life to which he had returned with such high 
 hopes. He told of the complete absence of the 
 old and restraining conventions, of the freedom 
 with which old and young, boys and girls alike, 
 openly indulged in liquor, and the effect of this 
 indulgence on their actions. He mentioned 
 specific cases, almost unbelievable had they been 
 related bv one of less sincere earnestness. And 
 then, in distress so manifest as to be pathetic, he 
 said, “ And under the excitement of it all my 
 ambitions and resolves all broke down and I went 
 the limit again. But, Mr. Stearns, what could a 
 fellow do under such conditions? ” 
 
 The self-righteous Pharisee will doubtless an¬ 
 swer that the boy was unforgivably weak, and 
 that he alone was responsible for his undermined 
 
110 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 will and unworthy impulse. In a sense he will 
 perhaps be right; but the schoolmaster, whose 
 continued dealings with unstable youth add con¬ 
 stantly to his stock of charity, knows only too 
 well that in this case a lad, at the most critical 
 moment in his life, was subjected to conditions 
 so needless and so grossly unfair as to arouse our 
 just pity for their victim and our hot resentment 
 against those who were responsible for or toler¬ 
 ated them. 
 
 I could give innumerable incidents of the same 
 distressing kind, stories that have been told me by 
 remorse-stricken boys, and frequently by dis¬ 
 tressed parents. But such stories, all too com¬ 
 mon nowadavs, are not needed to drive home to 
 any who will listen and think the indisputable 
 truth that we cannot subject plastic youth to the 
 lax and deplorable conditions that characterize 
 our modern social life without paying the inevi¬ 
 table penalty in the dimming of spiritual ideals 
 and the weakening of moral fibre. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 111 
 
 The public attitude towards these striking 
 changes that have come over our social life forms 
 an interesting, if a somewhat disheartening, 
 study. How the plain influence of these things, 
 so clearly taught by the history of the human 
 race in its long struggle from savagery to the 
 vantage point of the present day, can be ignored 
 by those of supposed intelligence is impossible to 
 explain. That the public is not altogether com¬ 
 fortable in the assumption of this attitude of 
 heedless indifference is clear from its own testi¬ 
 mony. Struggling to conceal unpleasant truths, 
 it has invented terms misleading and unfair. For 
 that which is attractive and alluring it makes use 
 of soft and smooth-sounding names. For that 
 which it would escape it chooses words the 
 very harshness of which inspires repulsion. Like 
 the ostrich, it strives to hide its head in the sands 
 of its own complacency and force itself to believe 
 that all is well. 
 
 “ Tolerance,” says Coleridge, “ is only possible 
 
112 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 when indifference has made it so.” But how are 
 we to account for the callous if not criminal in¬ 
 difference of the present day? 
 
 Everywhere we find the tendency to use the 
 soft pedal when dealing with unpleasant facts. 
 We speak of “ petting parties ” and “ joy rides ” 
 as if these were only innocuous and wholesome 
 pleasures. We decline to acknowledge the per¬ 
 fectly evident dangers which they involve. They 
 fit in nicely with our pleasure-loving tendencies, 
 so why worry? We talk indignantly and sneer- 
 ingly of “ blue laws,” of “ Puritanic traditions,” 
 of “ out-of-date ” and “ old-fashioned ” stand¬ 
 ards, and, if one is courageous enough to face 
 plain facts and define them, he will promptly be 
 dubbed a “ Grundy ” or a “ Grouch.” We would 
 like to believe that human nature has undergone 
 some inexplicable change in recent years and can 
 face serenely temptations which, in all ages, have 
 undermined or wrecked human character unless 
 successfully overcome, and can absorb with im- 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 113 
 
 inanity moral poison which has always worked 
 with deadly effect in humankind. Careless and 
 indifferent parents will smilingly tell us that our 
 boys and girls to-day are different, that they are 
 wiser than were their parents at their age, and 
 that they can safely be trusted to deal with life 
 and conditions as they find them, whatever those 
 conditions may be. 
 
 But human nature does not change. To-day 
 the laws which govern its development, like the 
 laws in the natural world, are stable and opera¬ 
 tive. Those who deal constantly and intimately 
 with youth cannot be deceived here. Daily inci- 
 dents confront them which ever refute this claim, 
 and the significance of which is plain. One in¬ 
 cident alone of my recent experience will be 
 sufficient, I think, to prove my point. 
 
 On a beautiful spring afternoon I had returned 
 from a journey which had kept me away from 
 the school for several days. It happened to be a 
 half-holiday. The regular ball game scheduled 
 
114 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 for the afternoon had been unexpectedly can¬ 
 celed. The boys were free for a few hours to do 
 about as they pleased. Ordinarily one would 
 have expected to see scores, if not hundreds, of 
 these fellows scattered over the various school 
 playing-fields, indulging with the enthusiasm of 
 youth in what are regarded as its most attractive 
 pastimes, but the baseball fields, the tennis courts, 
 and the track were as deserted as if some dire 
 calamity had suddenly wrapped the place in 
 gloom. 
 
 “ Where are all the boys this afternoon? ” I 
 
 •/ 
 
 asked one of my teachers. 
 
 “ 1 don’t know,” he said, “ but I imagine that 
 vou will find them at the movies.” 
 
 “The movies a day like this,” I exclaimed; 
 “ that’s impossible.” 
 
 “ Well,” he answered, “ I saw a line of them 
 heading that way soon after the lunch hour, and 
 I think you will find them there.” 
 
 Still a doubter, I set about mv routine work. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 115 
 
 Late in the afternoon I watched from my study 
 window these youngsters streaming up from the 
 village. My friend had evidently been right. 
 Pondering over the matter, I made up my mind 
 that there must have been some unusual attrac¬ 
 tion at the theatre that afternoon to draw several 
 hundred boys from the sunny and alluring play¬ 
 ing-fields into the dark and dingy precincts of a 
 movie house. I decided to investigate, and, dur¬ 
 ing the evening, strolled down to the village. 
 The posters conspicuously displayed in front of 
 the building told the story. It was not necessary 
 to investigate further. The film shown that 
 afternoon was “ Theda Bara in Cleopatra,” It 
 is hardly necessary to add that it was not an 
 enthusiasm for classical history that drew those 
 boys from ball grounds and tennis field into the 
 murky atmosphere of that dingy playhouse on 
 that beautiful spring day. 
 
 N T o, human nature has not changed; and we 
 only make fools of ourselves if we try to believe 
 
116 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 that it has. Y r outh will respond, as it has always 
 done, to the baser appeal when that appeal is 
 strong and alluring. 
 
 Robert Service, in a poem written shortly be¬ 
 fore the war, has touched on this theme and has 
 told the truth. I sometimes wonder how much 
 stronger he might have made his poem, or how 
 much more boldly he would have spoken, had he 
 written several years later. He describes the 
 plight of an angel in heaven, a red-blooded and 
 somewhat restless individual, who, tiring of 
 golden crowns, of golden harps and golden 
 streets, requests his good Lord for permission to 
 visit the earth for a time and mingle with mortals. 
 The permission is granted and he starts on his 
 journey. His arrival is depicted, and we are told 
 of the surprise with which the devils in the lower 
 regions watched his advent. Then Mr. Service 
 goes on to tell us what happened. Here is what 
 he says: 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 117 
 
 Never was seen such an angel—eyes of a heavenly blue, 
 
 Features that shamed Apollo, hair of a golden hue; 
 
 The women simply adored him; his lips were like Cupid’s 
 bow; 
 
 But he never ventured to use them—and so they voted 
 him slow. 
 
 Till at last there came One Woman, a marvel of loveli¬ 
 ness, 
 
 And she whispered to him: 44 Do you love me? ” And he 
 answered that woman, 44 Yes.” 
 
 And she said: 44 Put your arms around me, and kiss 
 me, and hold me—so-” 
 
 But fiercely he drew back, saying: 44 This thing is 
 wrong, and I know.” 
 
 Then sweetly she mocked his scruples, and softly she 
 him beguiled: 
 
 44 You, who are verily man among men, speak with the 
 tongue of a child. 
 
 We have outlived the old standards; we have burst, like 
 an over-tight thong, 
 
 The ancient, outworn, Puritanic traditions of Right and 
 Wrong.” 
 
 Then the Master feared for His angel, and called him 
 again to His side, 
 
 For oh, the woman was wondrous, and oh, the angel 
 was tried! 
 
 And deep in his hell sang the Devil, and this was the 
 strain of his song: 
 
 44 The ancient, outworn, Puritanic traditions of Right 
 and Wrong.” 
 
118 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 We may call things by all the pleasant or re¬ 
 pulsive names we will, but we shall not alter by 
 one jot the established laws of the moral world 
 which govern the development of the human race. 
 Whatever advance mankind has made through 
 the ages has been due to the observance of these 
 unchanging laws. Individuals and nations alike 
 have progressed when they have obeyed them. 
 They have collapsed when they have broken them. 
 The laws are still there whatever we may call 
 them; their effects are inevitable, however we 
 may seek to blink the truth. The discovery of 
 and our readiness to obey natural law in the 
 physical world have brought the wonderful ad¬ 
 vances that recent years have witnessed in every 
 realm of applied science. Every scientist and 
 most of the rest of us realize that we cannot trifle 
 with these laws without inviting danger or actual 
 destruction. Equally is this true in the moral 
 realm. It is time that we recognized and ad¬ 
 mitted this truth. To ignore it is to invite ulti- 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 119 
 
 mate disaster for the individual and the civiliza¬ 
 tion we now enjoy. 
 
 A close observer of youth cannot refrain from 
 the belief that the softening influences of modem 
 social life have already exercised a benumbing 
 effect on youth. Those who deal at close range 
 with the boys of our schools and colleges are 
 agreed that the boy of to-day has far less in¬ 
 clination than had his predecessors to indulge in 
 the “ rough stuff ” of undergraduate days. In 
 one sense this is a real and desirable gain. The 
 disappearance of much of the old-time lawless¬ 
 ness and meanness is an unquestioned gain; 
 though the more modern and gentle “ students’ 
 strike ” lacks at least something of virility and 
 romance. But much of the old-fashioned “ horse 
 play ” of student days was altogether innocuous, 
 while at times it indicated the presence in its per¬ 
 petrators of a degree of initiative and originality 
 not wholly uncommendable. I realize, however, 
 that a difference of opinion prevails on this point, 
 
120 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 and I have listened to many arguments pro and 
 con. But if these modern influences are tending 
 to undermine the vigor and enthusiasm with 
 which youth throws itself into the normal and 
 wholesome activities that properly belong to these 
 younger days, argument is out of place. There 
 are evidences, I think, that this has actually hap¬ 
 pened. 
 
 I chanced recently to be passing a Sunday at 
 one of our well-known universities. It was in the 
 early spring, the last Sunday before the close of 
 the winter term. The previous day, a half-holi- 
 day for the students, had been one of those rare 
 spring days in which a still distant summer sud¬ 
 denly injects itself into the midst of the bleak¬ 
 ness of the passing winter and gives warning of 
 its approach. The sun beat down hot and clear, 
 and the students swung their coats over their 
 arms and rolled up their shirt-sleeves as they 
 strolled about the campus and the streets of the 
 city. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 121 
 
 At the breakfast-table that Sunday morning 
 I chanced to meet an old acquaintance of college 
 days, a famous baseball player of his time, and a 
 graduate of this university. He drew me aside 
 excitedly to tell me a unique and almost unbe¬ 
 lievable story. On that alluring Saturday he had 
 closed his desk and given up his business in order 
 to get back to his college and help coach the 
 varsity nine which was to start on its annual 
 southern trip at the beginning of the spring vaca¬ 
 tion early in the following week. 
 
 “ There’s something radically wrong with the 
 boys of to-day,” he exclaimed heatedly. “ Let 
 me tell you what happened.” It was clear that 
 he found it difficult to control his feelings as he 
 spoke. “ You know what a wonderful day it was 
 vesterday for baseball? Well, I went out to the 
 field and donned my togs and waited for the 
 team to show up. But they didn’t come. After 
 about an hour a lone individual appeared. I 
 asked him what had become of the squad. He 
 
122 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 replied that he understood that practice had been 
 called off. 4 Practice called off on a day like this,’ 
 I exclaimed; ‘the first decent da } 7 you fellows 
 have had out of doors this year, and the spring 
 trip only a day or two ahead. That’s impossible.’ 
 ‘ It is queer,’ the youngster admitted, ‘ but I was 
 told that a notice to that effect had been posted 
 on the bulletin board.’ 
 
 “ That settled it for me,” went on my irate 
 friend. “ I hastily dressed and went back to the 
 campus. I found the bulletin board, and there, 
 sure enough, signed by the captain himself, was 
 the notice. After some difficulty I found the cap¬ 
 tain and demanded to know the reason for his 
 unheard-of act. He looked a bit sheepish, and 
 by way of explanation told me that one of the 
 fraternities had given a dance the night before, 
 that it had lasted till late into the morning hours, 
 and that he knew the members of the team would 
 be in no shape for practice.” 
 
 My friend paused to wipe the sweat from his 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 123 
 
 brow, and then, raising his hands excitedly, fairly 
 shouted: “ I tell you it’s a different brood! It’s 
 a different brood! ” 
 
 That afternoon, at a fraternity tea, I received 
 full confirmation of all that my friend had told 
 me. And the interesting part of it, to me, was 
 that the student body seemed to accept the thing 
 as a perfectly natural and normal incident of 
 college life. 
 
 Such an incident simply could not have hap¬ 
 pened only a few years back. The thing would 
 never have been attempted in the first place. But 
 had a varsity squad, or even individuals from that 
 squad, dared to try it, the student body would 
 have promptly seen to it that they were never 
 again permitted to wear the uniform of the col¬ 
 lege, if indeed they would have been allowed to 
 retain their places in the college community it¬ 
 self. Without doubt this may be regarded as a 
 somewhat extreme and unusual illustration. But 
 it clearly denotes a tendency, at least, which can- 
 
124 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 not be avoided if youth is to continue to react in 
 
 •/ 
 
 perfectly natural and normal ways to the soften¬ 
 ing influences of the social conditions with which 
 it is surrounded. 
 
 For all this we cannot fairly blame youth. 
 The reactions of youth are still normal, as they 
 have ever been; the conditions which prompt 
 these reactions to-dav are not; and for these con- 
 ditions not youth but the older generation is 
 responsible. 
 
PART SIX 
 
 DISCIPLINE VERSUS SELFISHNESS 
 
‘ ‘ This truth comes to us more and more the longer we 
 live, that on what field or in what uniform or with what 
 aims we do our duty matters very little, or even what our 
 duty is, great or small, splendid or obscure. Only to 
 find our duty certainly, and somewhere, some way, to do 
 it faithfully, makes us good, strong, happy and useful 
 men, and tunes our lives into some feeble echo of the life 
 of God.” 
 
 —Phillips Brooks. 
 
PART SIX 
 
 DISCIPLINE VERSUS SELFISHNESS 
 
 T HE loss of discipline in home, and school, 
 and society has been so steady and, in 
 recent years, so appalling that to-day its influ¬ 
 ences are everywhere felt. One is unpopular who 
 speaks of discipline in these days. It is not good 
 form. This is an age, we are given to under¬ 
 stand, when youth should develop in its own way, 
 unhampered and unrestrained. 
 
 This pernicious doctrine has spread its roots in 
 all directions, and these roots have gone in deep. 
 
 It is hard to tell where this theorv first started, 
 
 «/ 
 
 but, wherever that may have been, its spread is 
 
 evervwhere in evidence. It runs counter to all 
 */ 
 
 the experiences of individual life and of the hu¬ 
 man race, to the plain teachings of history, to the 
 
 testimony of all those who have achieved real 
 
 127 
 
128 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 greatness and positions of true leadership. And 
 yet it has its vociferous advocates everywhere. 
 “To him that overcometh ” used to be the inspir¬ 
 ing slogan for a man’s life. The reverse would 
 appear to be true to-day. 
 
 We have already noted its effects within the 
 home. Examine for a moment the teachings of 
 modem pedagogy and the theories so rampant in 
 modem school life. Note the catchwords that 
 are so common and so gratifying to a generation 
 immersed in pleasure, seeking material gain, and 
 averse to all things irksome and restraining,— 
 “ self-expression,” “ self-realization,” “ self-de¬ 
 termination.” Where can we escape them? 
 What their advocates persistently refuse to tell 
 us is that in the last analysis these all spell Self¬ 
 ishness, and with a large “ S.” 
 
 That there is something good in this theory no 
 one will dispute. That the emphasis is wrong 
 should be evident to all. And yet our public 
 schools have become almost experiment stations 
 
DISCIPLINE VS. SELFISHNESS 129 
 
 for testing these absurd nostrums, and there are 
 a growing number of private schools that thrive 
 lustily upon them. If many of our self-ap¬ 
 pointed pedagogical experts could have their 
 way, all schools, public and private alike, would 
 be forced to enthrone this new and absolutely 
 pernicious doctrine of education. 
 
 I have read the catalogues of some of these 
 schools, and, when I have finished, I have been 
 tempted to question my own sanity. The mon¬ 
 strous absurdities that are there set forth would 
 be only absurd if they were not so readily ac¬ 
 cepted by gullible parents, and did not involve 
 the character and future of the youth subjected 
 to their influence. Easily satisfied and duty¬ 
 shirking parents are captivated by assurances 
 that their promising boys and girls are unfolding 
 under such influences into wonderfully beautiful 
 
 human flowers. Thev have been led to believe 
 
 «/ 
 
 that through these newly discovered methods of 
 education the old Adam has been completely 
 
130 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 eliminated from the human child, and that noth¬ 
 ing less than an angel may be counted on for 
 the days ahead. 
 
 I received a letter recently from one of these 
 schools in which a picture of this kind of product 
 is given me, and, apparently, in good faith. This 
 is what the headmaster writes: 
 
 “ As I wrote you before, the boy is very sound morally 
 and very superior intellectually. His father once asked 
 me what I could find to correct in him, and I could sug¬ 
 gest only a slight hesitancy in speech and a tendency to 
 cock his head on one side when speaking close to a 
 person.” 
 
 If this is the description of a normal boy, I fail 
 to recognize it. Fortunately I have not been 
 called on to deal with that kind. I hope I never 
 may be. I wouldn’t know what to do with him. 
 My first impulse, I think, would be to teach him 
 to steal or commit murder or do something des¬ 
 perate that would at least give me reason to be¬ 
 lieve that he was human. Kipling must have had 
 some such boy in mind when he wrote: 
 
DISCIPLINE YS. SELFISHNESS 131 
 
 “ Angels maj' come for you, Willie, my son, 
 
 But you’ll never be wanted on earth, dear.” 
 
 Frankly, I don’t believe that the boy in ques¬ 
 tion was ever exactly as painted by his admiring 
 principal. If the principal’s statement is true, 
 it is certainly fair to ask whether there may not 
 have been something radically wrong with the 
 environment of a school to which the reactions of 
 a perfectly wholesome, normal boy would ex¬ 
 hibit only inconsequential and silly mannerisms. 
 Surely the prospects of a virile, rugged, and 
 manly character in maturer years for a boy of 
 that type would be dark indeed. 
 
 This tendency to extreme individualism and 
 glorification of self, which has developed in con¬ 
 junction with the loss of discipline, is not limited 
 to the home and school. It is rampant to-day in 
 all phases of our social, civic, and economic life. 
 Individuals and groups alike are more and more 
 concerned about themselves and their fancied 
 privileges and grievances and with steadily 
 
132 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 lessened thought of their obligations to society as 
 a whole. The classic expression of an old-time 
 railroad magnate, “ The public be damned,” 
 represents an all-too-common attitude of mind 
 in these later days. Woman shouts for her 
 “ rights labor joins the chorus and clamors for 
 the same somewhat indefinable thing; and the 
 sterner sex, not to be outdone, screams for its 
 “ personal liberties.” Seldom, in all this noisy 
 turmoil, do we hear the inspiring words “ duty,” 
 “ service,” “ sacrifice,”—words which were ever 
 in the minds and constantly on the tongues of 
 those who laid the foundations and builded so well 
 the lower structure of our national life. And yet 
 happiness, the pursuit of which we acknowledge 
 as an inalienable right, and the avowed aim of 
 all those who raise this boisterous turmoil, has 
 never yet been found where these words are lack¬ 
 ing in the thoughts of men. 
 
 General Robert Lee, in those immortal words 
 which have become an American classic, voiced 
 
DISCIPLINE VS. SELFISHNESS 133 
 
 for all true and patriotic Americans the spirit of 
 the founders and builders of this great republic 
 when he said, “ Duty is the sublimest word in 
 the English language/’ The modern invitation, 
 so freely extended to the youth of to-day, to seek 
 its satisfactions in selfish indulgence is in marked 
 and painful contrast to the sterling advice given 
 by this same great American to his son. He 
 writes: 
 
 “ I know that wherever you may be placed, you will 
 do your duty. That is all the pleasure, all the comfort, 
 all the glory we can enjoy in this world.” 
 
 Duty involves service for others and not for 
 self. Self-expression and self-determination, on 
 this sound basis, are realized only and always by 
 the investment of one’s self and one’s talents in 
 the welfare of the community. And this cannot 
 be done without facing constantly the exacting 
 demands of discipline. 
 
 It is this unwillingness of the present genera- 
 
134 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 tion to face discipline, to deny itself anything 
 that for the moment pleases, even when that de¬ 
 nial ministers to the welfare of society,—that is 
 responsible for much of the present-day unrest. 
 The passing whim, the personal interest, the self¬ 
 ish ambition,—these must have the right of way. 
 If the needs of the community and the welfare 
 of society as a whole can later find a place, well 
 and good. If not, let them pass. 
 
 Unfortunately this purely selfish and un¬ 
 patriotic attitude of mind is not limited to those 
 who lack vision and opportunity. Nowhere is it 
 more strikingly in evidence than among those 
 who, through birth and privilege, have been per¬ 
 mitted to fill positions of leadership and respon¬ 
 sibility. From these high sources widespread 
 and demoralizing influences are flowing which of¬ 
 fer an open and alluring invitation to those of 
 weaker minds and wills to realize their distorted 
 visions and unworthy ambitions. Prompted by 
 the same selfish motives the robber collects his 
 
DISCIPLINE VS. SELFISHNESS 135 
 
 loot and the gunman murders his helpless victim. 
 And plastic youth, bewildered and perplexed, is 
 the greatest sufferer of all. 
 
 I chanced to be sitting, at a banquet just after 
 the close of the war, beside that peerless Ameri¬ 
 can, Major-General Leonard Wood. As the ta¬ 
 bles were cleared and the speaking was about to 
 begin the appearance of liquor was everywhere 
 noted about the hall. Turning to me, in very evi¬ 
 dent distress of mind, the general said, “ Is this 
 a sample of the college dinners of the present 
 day? ” 
 
 “ I am sure I don’t know,” was my reply. 
 “ College dinners were not held during the war, 
 and before that time liquor had become unpopu¬ 
 lar and had practically disappeared on such occa¬ 
 sions.” 
 
 For a few moments the general watched the 
 increasing flow of the law-forbidden beverage. 
 Then he turned to me again, and, with intense 
 feeling, said: “ Don’t these men know that they 
 
136 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 are defying the constitution of their country? 
 Don’t they realize that they are trampling its 
 flag under their feet? Why, these are educated 
 men, those to whom we look for ideals and lead¬ 
 ership, those on whom we must lean to ward off 
 anarchy and chaos! Can’t they see that by their 
 actions they are breeding more Bolsheviks and 
 anarchists than all the ‘ reds ’ and radicals in the 
 slums and on the streets can possibly create? I 
 can’t understand it,” he went on, “ and I would 
 not have believed it possible if I had not wit¬ 
 nessed it with my own eyes.” 
 
 General Wood’s statements are altogether 
 true. The censure was deserved. But that 
 which, in those early days of prohibition, was 
 something of a novelty has become a common¬ 
 place to-day. No sane person believes that this 
 government of ours can stand unless supported 
 b}^ a law-abiding citizenship. But no sane per¬ 
 son can honestly expect that the manhood of to¬ 
 morrow, surrounded as it is to-day in its plastic 
 
DISCIPLINE VS. SELFISHNESS 137 
 
 youth by such influences as these, will entertain 
 even a passing respect for the law and the consti¬ 
 tution of the land. 
 
 In all the multifarious phases of our modern 
 life, where the effects of this self-centered atti¬ 
 tude and unwillingness to recognize proper re¬ 
 sponsibilities to others are so painfully apparent, 
 nowhere, I think, has there been a greater loss to 
 our boys than in that phase which belongs to 
 woman. As my contacts have been chiefly with 
 boys may I offer a special plea in their behalf at 
 this point. 
 
 The changes which have taken place of late in 
 woman’s realm, and bv which her horizon has 
 been so greatly enlarged and her activities so 
 widely increased, have changed significantly the 
 character of society. Woman has gained much 
 by these changes, much that is deserved, much 
 that was long overdue. That much all of us 
 must frankly admit. But with the gains there 
 have come losses, unnecessary perhaps, but in the 
 
138 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 realm of boyhood, at least, very real and very 
 greatly to be deplored. 
 
 Throughout the passing years the sanctity at¬ 
 taching to the name of woman has been a price¬ 
 less possession of the youth of the sterner sex. 
 Its influence has proved always a restraint on 
 ignoble action, a check on unworthy impulse and 
 desire, and a stimulus to chivalry and idealism,— 
 those choicest qualities of youth in the history of 
 the world’s civilization. Again, the influence is 
 hard to define. But to those who can, for the 
 moment, put themselves back into the days of 
 their own boyhood my meaning will be clear. 
 Whether rightly or wrongly we looked on woman 
 as an ideal, as an inspiration, as a challenge; 
 something set apart from the ordinary dirt and 
 dust of the world to guide and inspire us; some¬ 
 thing that steadied and strengthened us in our 
 hardest fights in those days when we were strug¬ 
 gling for self-control and manhood. Sometimes 
 it was womankind as a whole, sometimes an in- 
 
DISCIPLINE VS. SELFISHNESS 139 
 
 dividual over whose head we had set our bovish 
 halo; but always the influence was there; whole¬ 
 some, strong, uplifting, it stood between us and 
 the unworthy deed we were tempted to do. It 
 drove from our minds the base thoughts that so 
 frequently showed their ugly heads. It urged 
 us to place in complete control the best that was 
 in us. It stood as an ever-present challenge to all 
 that was noble but so often concealed. 
 
 It is hard to believe that our bovs to-dav can 
 find in their friends of the other sex the old-time 
 inspiration and appeal. If in her change of so¬ 
 cial status woman has lost those qualities and 
 characteristics that in all ages have been an in- 
 spiration to chivalry and high manhood, the loss 
 is irreparable. Once let our bovs believe that 
 woman is not worthy of their confidence, their 
 respect, and their reverence, we shall search in 
 vain for anything that can make good the loss. 
 That something has been lost already, is clear. 
 How far any gains will offset this loss will not 
 
140 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 perhaps be apparent until those who are boys and 
 girls to-day shall have become the men and 
 women of to-morrow. 
 
 To what extent that influence is appreciated 
 by the representatives of the other sex I am not 
 prepared to say. But that its existence was 
 resented by any had never occurred to me until 
 very recently. I had supposed that women 
 gloried in it. Their actions seemed to lend color 
 to this belief. But as one of the older generation 
 I fear that I am no longer competent to form 
 opinions about the modern representatives of the 
 other sex. 
 
 A city newspaper was once rash enough to 
 print something I had said on this subject before 
 a local college club. Several days later I re¬ 
 ceived a unique and somewhat remarkable letter 
 from a very modern lady, who took me sharply 
 to task for my remarks, and told me in plain and 
 emphatic language how thoroughly incompetent 
 she considered me to discuss the subject. Parts 
 
DISCIPLINE YS. SELFISHNESS 141 
 
 of this interesting letter deserve wider publicity, 
 and I venture, therefore, to give them to my 
 readers. 
 
 44 It is impossible a man of your age,” she writes, 
 44 should be unaware that the gorgeous bloom of social 
 immorality you deplore, and which the returning young 
 soldier beholds with astonishment, is the blossom and 
 fruit of a plant of age-long growth. Why did you not 
 point out, my dear Doctor, that the trouble is not so 
 much a lack of religion, but rather the dawning of that 
 inevitable day of which warning was given many cen¬ 
 turies ago: 4 Whatsoever a man soweth that also shall 
 he reap.’ Remember the promise: 4 Give and it shall be 
 given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken 
 together, and running over.’ Bear in mind that a great 
 writer once uttered the truth when he wrote: 4 The 
 whirligig of time brings in its revenges.’ You and your 
 audience faced the fulfilling of those promises. 
 
 did you not tell those 
 the troubles lay in the fact that their fathers ate sour 
 grapes throughout the ages and for that reason their 
 teeth are now on edge? Why did you not address them 
 after this fashion: 4 The men built up, for their own 
 pleasure and profit, laws unjust to women,—standards 
 and habits and customs unjust to women. This has 
 been a man-made world, and run for the benefit of the 
 men. They sowed the wind; you, my young friends, 
 
 boys that the root of 
 
142 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF, YOUTH 
 
 and I stand by, and experience the force of the inevi¬ 
 table whirlwind.’ I cannot see that men to-day, on the 
 whole, are inwardly much better, or much worse, than 
 were their forebears. There is ever a fashion in morals, 
 as in hats or coats. This present spell } r ou deplore is 
 a woman’s revolution. Unless you care to emulate 
 Canute of old, the best advice I have to offer is to await 
 the passing of this righteous hurricane, and trust that 
 the promise, 6 At eventide it shall be light,’ may be ful¬ 
 filled. 
 
 “ A great deal goes to make up the girl of the 
 period, and to explain her raison d’etre, besides her short 
 skirt, cigarette case, painted face, and lack of restraint. 
 The evolution of the face-mask our great-grandmothers 
 wore, so that their faces might not be deprived of their 
 marketable value, is the short skirt and the rolled stock¬ 
 ing. 
 
 “ If the girls unduly seek pleasure and diversion, 
 remember the dull, deadly monotonous, dreary drabness 
 of the lives of generations of women from whom they 
 descended. Had the centuries held for them less jam¬ 
 making and fewer children, and more fox-hunting, 
 cock-fighting, rat-baiting, and gambling, the movies, 
 dancing, and hundreds of enticing pleasures would not 
 to-day prove so alluring to their descendants. If those 
 St. Paul terms 4 the weaker vessels ’ had partaken of the 
 fine Burgundy, rum, and Madeira imported for the sole 
 consumption of paterfamilias, and at times joined him 
 beneath the dining-room table, possibly your young sol- 
 
DISCIPLINE VS. SELFISHNESS 143 
 
 dier . . . might not now be deploring 6 the number 
 
 of girls under its influence to-day.’ . . . You say 
 
 of influence: 4 I mean parents who are ready to make 
 sacrifices.’ Throughout the ages the mother has been 
 an eternal sacrifice to her husband, her children, and her 
 home. If she is so no longer, she is in a state of rebellion. 
 Something age-long has occasioned it. Metaphorically 
 speaking, she puts on her hat evenings and goes out 
 4 to the lodge.’ You speak of parents ”—I think she 
 meant to say 44 men ”— 44 who have a belief in the 
 modesty and purity of womankind as a whole, and say: 
 4 Those are the things we anchor to, and you know that 
 we cannot anchor to those things to-day as we used to.’ 
 Possibly not, and I think I can tell why. The women 
 are tired of having the men anchor to their purity, and 
 place their hope of heaven in woman’s skirts. 
 
 The root of the evil called 4 divorce ’ Adam planted in 
 the Garden of Eden. Divorce is a symptom not a dis¬ 
 ease. In the good old days of the religious home . . . 
 
 laws and customs favored immorality; the Church 
 winked at it, and preached the subjection of woman. I 
 might remark in passing that the -woman of to-day and 
 St. Paul are slightly out of harmony. Mary to-day 
 places her erring spouse on the curbstone and shuts the 
 matrimonial door. She thereby adjusts her own score, 
 and incidentally that of generations of her female fore¬ 
 bears. Do you blame her if she seeks a steadier anchor, 
 indulging in what Dr. Johnson calls 4 the triumph of 
 hope over experience.’ 
 
144 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 “ The Bible, my dear Dr. Stearns, must be revised and 
 reinterpreted, if you expect response from the girl of 
 to-day. The mosaic ox and ass, as compabuibs, make 
 scant appeal. St. Paul’s theories concerning woman, 
 her relation to man and the Church, are out of date. 
 Woman is the keynote of the situation. Had I ad¬ 
 dressed that-Club, those boys would have heard 
 
 a number of wholesome truths and without an\ r sugar 
 coating.” 
 
 I have read this interesting letter many times. 
 It contains a wealth of food for serious thought. 
 The writer has convictions, and the commendable 
 courage to defend them. I am told that she 
 enjoys the reputation of being something of a 
 leader in the feminist movement of the present 
 dav. Whether this is so or not, she undoubtedly 
 gives voice to the feelings and beliefs of those who 
 to-day are vigorously championing that cause. 
 For that reason, if for no other, her contentions 
 should be studied. She signs herself “ Mrs.” 
 She is a wife then; perhaps, a mother. 
 
 Mv first reaction on reading this unusual docu- 
 ment was one of unfeigned amusement. But 
 
DISCIPLINE YS. SELFISHNESS 145 
 
 while the smile still lingered there flashed across 
 my mind in arresting contrast the picture of a 
 mother I had known of the older, and now some¬ 
 what discredited, generation. 
 
 She was born on a New Hampshire farm, this 
 old-fashioned girl, where she grew up close to 
 nature and in daily contact with the “ dull, deadly 
 monotonous, dreary drabness ” of the life of the 
 mother who bore her, and of that of her women 
 friends. It was an old-fashioned home, with 
 many children. 44 Cock-fighting, rat-baiting, and 
 gambling,” for some reason, had not yet become 
 a part of the family regime to broaden the vision 
 of woman and free her from age-long shackles; 
 and the “ weaker vessels ” seemingly had no op¬ 
 portunity or desire to 44 join paterfamilias be¬ 
 neath the dining-room table ” after partaking of 
 “ fine Burgundy, rum, and Madeira.” A care¬ 
 ful perusal of the family records brings to light 
 no evidence that the mother in this old-time home 
 was accustomed to “ put on her hat evenings and 
 
146 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 go out to the lodge,” either for her own amuse¬ 
 ment or for the sake of “ adjusting her own 
 score ” or “ that of generations of her female 
 forebears.” Nor is there in the record any sug¬ 
 gestion that this sadly unenlightened mother 
 found in her “ eternal sacrifice to her husband, 
 her children, and her home ” anything more than 
 a God-given privilege and joy. 
 
 Y^et in spite of these frightful handicaps the 
 young girl grew up, and seemingly into a young 
 womanhood of beauty and charm. At least so 
 thought a young and adventurous-spirited fellow 
 from a neighboring city who sought and won her 
 hand, and who, a year or two later, carried her 
 away to the home he had prepared for her in far- 
 away and Sunnv India. 
 
 Wealth and success came rapidly to this happy 
 couple, and, with them, that which they counted 
 their greatest joy of all, an old-fashioned family 
 of seven children. The home, presided over and 
 graced by the presence of a hostess to whom had 
 
DISCIPLINE VS. SELFISHNESS 147 
 
 been denied the privilege of living at “ the dawn¬ 
 ing of that inevitable day of which warning was 
 given many centuries ago,” became the center of 
 the social and intellectual life of the Far Eastern 
 citv on the outskirts of which it was located. 
 British viceroys, army and navy officers from 
 many lands, distinguished travelers, native rajahs 
 
 and princes,—all found in that home a friendly 
 welcome and passed many happy hours within its 
 Avails. Da\ r id Livingstone, the great explorer, 
 made it his headquarters before his memorable 
 departure into the African wilderness. 
 
 The mistress of this home cherished warmly a 
 belief, translated into daily thought and action, 
 in old-fashioned religion. For her the 44 Bible ” 
 had neither been 44 rewised ” nor 44 reinterpreted.” 
 In it she found all that she desired to guide in 
 daily life, to comfort in time of sorrow, and to 
 strengthen in moments of adversity. In spite of 
 the many interests of her active life her thoughts 
 Avere ahvavs and chieflv of those children Avhich 
 
148 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 she counted her greatest blessing. And in those 
 days of material prosperity, while yet no cloud 
 dimmed the financial skies, daily on her knees she 
 prayed to her heavenly Father that if the wealth 
 with which she had been so signally blessed might 
 work some later harm on the characters of her 
 children it should be taken away. 
 
 How strangely must such a prayer fall on the 
 ears of our modem world! 
 
 And at length the clouds did gather. Higher 
 and blacker they piled than even this brave and 
 unselfish mother could have dreamed. Within 
 the brief space of a few weeks fortune, and the 
 husband and father too, had gone from her life. 
 But faith and courage were equal to the great 
 test. With superb heroism the stricken mother 
 turned her back on the old life and scenes, and, 
 with unshaken trust in the wisdom of Almighty 
 God, faced the new and unknown future. 
 
 A brief experience as a teacher in earlier days 
 prompted her to open a private school for girls. 
 
DISCIPLINE YS. SELFISHNESS 149 
 
 To give her children, the youngest still a baby, 
 the education which, in the days of prosperity, 
 had been planned for them, was her absorbing 
 ambition. Year after year she labored for the 
 accomplishment of this unselfish aim. Sacrifice 
 was her daily lot, and the stern discipline of an 
 exacting world faced her at every turn. One 
 after another four of the children for whom she 
 struggled were taken from her, and in the prime 
 of their lives. But she never wavered, this old- 
 fashioned mother, nor lost her faith that all was 
 well. To the world she held her head as high as 
 ever; and to her friends and family she was still 
 the same inexhaustible source of strength and 
 comfort and cheer. And after twenty-five years 
 of ceaseless effort she had completed her seem¬ 
 ingly impossible task. 
 
 The “ state of rebellion ” in which the modern 
 woman would have us believe true happiness can 
 alone be found, was never dreamed of by this 
 mother of whom I write; vet she fairlv radiated 
 
J50 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 happiness wherever she went. Her children, 
 knowing well where and when the springs of her 
 deep humor could best be uncovered, would some¬ 
 times twit her good-naturedly over her unpar¬ 
 donable offence in failing to consult them per¬ 
 sonally before asking the Almighty to take away 
 the inheritance that would have been theirs. 
 Then merriment would dance from those eves, 
 and the lips would twitch with uncontrollable 
 mirth. The worthless scion of some wealthy 
 home would be pictured in language that left 
 nothing to the imagination, and the protesting 
 children would be assured that this would doubt¬ 
 less have been their fate had not a far-seeing 
 Providence interfered in their behalf. As life’s 
 sunset drew near, the faith that had never de¬ 
 serted her seemed to burn with an ever-brighten¬ 
 ing flame, the courage that had sustained when 
 life’s road was roughest increased in strength, the 
 humor still flashed from dimming eyes, and the 
 happiness, which had always been so radiantly 
 
DISCIPLINE VS. SELFISHNESS 151 
 
 hers, catching now the rich coloring of the even¬ 
 ing skies, reflected the unseen but brighter glories 
 of another world. 
 
 Perhaps an “ old fogy ” may be pardoned 
 for suggesting that in such a contrast as this there 
 is something still to be said for the old-fashioned 
 woman of an earlier day. Such mothers there 
 still are, God bless them! But they are not those 
 who fill the air with noisy clamor about “ rights ” 
 and “ privileges not those who shun life’s dis¬ 
 cipline and shrink from sacrifice; not those to 
 whom “ self-expression ” means only the indul¬ 
 gence of selfish desires and the gratification of 
 personal whims. If the modern woman, freed 
 from what she regards as the shackles of the 
 former days, can still give us mothers of the old 
 heroic kind, we shall rejoice with her in her new¬ 
 found freedom and still render her the homage 
 that chivalry prompts. If she cannot or does not, 
 whatever may be her personal gain, civilization 
 will have lost something for which no other com- 
 
152 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 pensation will suffice. And youth will have lost 
 its noblest inspiration and its strongest support. 
 
 In one of his well-known war stories Private 
 Pete has put into gripping words the feelings of 
 reverence and adoration which the youth of the 
 sterner sex, in the deepest recesses of the heart, 
 has always cherished towards women: “ Out to 
 France we go for Flag and Country. Over the 
 top we go for Mother. And 4 mother ’—that one 
 simple word—embraces the whole of woman¬ 
 hood. 
 
PART SEVEN 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
‘ ‘ Who sleeps beneath yon bannered mounds, 
 The proudly sorrowing mourner seeks, 
 
 The garland-bearing crowd surrounds ? 
 
 A light-haired boy with beardless cheeks! 
 ’Tis time this fallen world should rise: 
 
 Let youth the sacred work begin! 
 
 What nobler task, what fairer prize 
 Than earth to save and Heaven to win?” 
 
PART SEVEN 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 DISTRACTED world calls loudly to¬ 
 day for leadership. It has not prospered 
 
 of late under the guidance of an older generation, 
 
 and it looks to youth, with its undimmed visions 
 
 and potential power, to set it right. 
 
 A friend of mine who returned not long ago 
 from Italy has described in vivid language an 
 experience which he had there soon after the close 
 of the Great War. He was present at a great 
 meeting in an opera house in a large Italian city. 
 The distinguished educator and philosopher, 
 Giovanni Gentile, was addressing the audience. 
 He was pleading for higher moral standards for 
 his nation. He spoke with feeling of the seem¬ 
 ing breakdown of those moral standards that had 
 
 155 
 
156 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 governed in the past, and the dimming of those 
 ethical and spiritual ideals in which alone stability 
 was to be found. He asked for nobler living 
 and clearer thinking, for the maintenance of 
 finer honor and truer justice in the relations of 
 individuals and in those of the nations of the 
 world. As he spoke he apparently noticed on 
 the faces of some of his audience expressions de¬ 
 noting cynicism and doubt. For a moment he 
 paused and his face showed the intensity of his 
 feelings. Raising his hands aloft and with dra¬ 
 matic earnestness, he cried: “ I am not speaking 
 to the older generation. The mind of the older 
 generation has broken down. I make my appeal 
 to youth, and youth will hear and answer me.” 
 
 He was right. Youth will hear and answer, 
 and gladly, as it has always done if the appeal 
 is clear and strong and high. 
 
 The war gave us evidence enough of this truth. 
 Here in America we had constant illustrations. 
 It was youth that first saw the real issues at 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 157 
 
 stake. It was youth that caught the first vision 
 of a needy and distressed humanity calling 
 loudly for help. It was youth that first sensed 
 the truth—that justice and honor and righteous¬ 
 ness were the stakes in that great contest. Youth 
 did not stop to count the cost. Youth offered 
 everything, even its life, that the great and neces¬ 
 sary end might be attained for humanity. It 
 was the older generation that quibbled and ques¬ 
 tioned. It was the older generation that sought 
 security in the cowardly answer of Cain of old, 
 “ Am I my brother’s keeper? ” It was the older 
 generation that tried to hide itself in the shadows 
 of its own selfish complacency, and answered, like 
 Adam in the Garden, “ I was afraid and went 
 and hid myself.” It was the older generation 
 that shrank from the thought of personal and ma¬ 
 terial and national loss. The early call of duty 
 awakened faint response in the hearts of those 
 of maturer years. It found its prompt and 
 courageous answer in the heart of youth. 
 
158 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 Youth is still endowed with the heroic spirit 
 it has always known, nor does it need the crisis 
 of some great world war to awaken that spirit to 
 action. It accepts the challenge in daily life, if 
 only the challenge is vigorous and its real mean¬ 
 ing clear. It will not hesitate and it will not 
 shirk when once assured that the call to action is 
 the divine call of duty. It will respond in a crisis 
 as those brave Yale boys did at the New Haven 
 fire, and it will respond, too, in the more obscure 
 activities of common life. Though the service 
 demanded may require the sacrifice of life itself, 
 it will ansv r er bravely and cheerfully in the words 
 of Allen Keith, “ I have no regrets.” 
 
 Many incidents in my ov 7 n experience come to 
 my mind as I ponder on this theme, some common¬ 
 place, some unusual, but all testifying in unmis¬ 
 takable terms to the presence in youth of clear 
 visions and the readiness to realize those visions 
 if given a fair chance. Once the path has been 
 chosen, youth will outstrip us in the race for the 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 159 
 
 goal. It will shame us, too, in its readiness to 
 invest its all. 
 
 Several years ago it seemed wise to the authori¬ 
 ties of my school to abolish altogether dances un¬ 
 der the school roof. The extravagances and ec¬ 
 centricities which had so rapidly and strangely 
 developed in this ordinarily pleasant pastime had 
 become so pronounced as to make it clear that 
 only drastic measures could check them and re¬ 
 store normalcy. For two years the ban held. 
 Criticisms and complaints and petitions for 
 restoration were many, and, at times, emphatic. 
 Finally there came a time when it seemed wise to 
 test the boys themselves. 
 
 It happened that those who would naturally be 
 in charge at the time comprised a group of fel¬ 
 lows of unusual poise and strength of character. 
 We had several conferences. I had made up my 
 
 mind that until the bovs admitted the true char- 
 
 %/ 
 
 acter of the dangers involved I would give them 
 no inkling of my attitude. The point desired 
 
160 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 was finally reached; with perfect candor the boys 
 admitted even more than I was ready to grant 
 myself. Then they took an interesting position. 
 They argued, and convincingly, that no one 
 stood in a better position than they themselves 
 to apply needed remedies. “ If we can run a 
 dance to your complete satisfaction,” they said, 
 “ and can prove to ourselves as well that the thing 
 can be done, isn’t the undertaking worth while? 
 Won’t we be in a position also to help straighten 
 things out in college and in society as the result 
 of our test? ” 
 
 This seemed the time to act. Somewhat to 
 their surprise, I announced myself ready to grant 
 the request and to place squarely on their shoul¬ 
 ders the full responsibility. For a moment they 
 were a bit disconcerted, for they had expected 
 help and guidance from me. I told them frankly 
 that I preferred to leave the matter in their 
 hands, but, at their request, I agreed to check 
 over with them in advance any regulations which 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 161 
 
 they might deem essential. A day or two later 
 they presented to me a paper which they had 
 carefully prepared, and in which they had out¬ 
 lined in detail the rules which they proposed to 
 enforce. As I first glanced at them it was diffi¬ 
 cult to retain self-control. Later in the evening, 
 after the boys had left, I sat down in the quiet 
 of my study and made free use of my blue pencil. 
 Frankly, if I had undertaken myself to prepare 
 and enforce such regulations as those submitted, 
 I should have invited a riot. The boys had out¬ 
 done me, and by a wide margin. 
 
 The dance was held; the regulations were en¬ 
 forced to the letter. The committee themselves 
 took no part in the actual dancing, so eager were 
 they to carry the affair through to a successful 
 conclusion. Again and again during the evening 
 they would slip to my corner of the room and 
 ask if I had any criticisms to offer. I had none. 
 Parents who were present, many of whom had 
 come from long distances and were thoroughly 
 
1G2 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 familiar with the character of dancing in various 
 parts of the country, assured me that if they had 
 not witnessed it with their own eyes, they would 
 not have believed it possible for a dance to be 
 conducted as was this one. When the affair was 
 over, boys and girls alike united in acclaiming 
 it the best dance they had ever attended. 
 
 Incidents like this are common in the life of 
 every headmaster. To me, personally, the ex¬ 
 perience was one of the most gratifying I have 
 ever known; nor was its influence limited, for 
 from several sources since that time I have heard 
 of similar activities on the part of these same 
 boys to whom had been brought home the realiza¬ 
 tion that they had accomplished something ac¬ 
 tually needed and distinctly worth while. 
 
 It might not be out of place here, in view of 
 earlier remarks that have been made on the value 
 of discipline, to note the fact that the boy in 
 charge, and on whom the chief responsibility 
 rested, had three years before been suspended 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 163 
 
 from the school for a violation of school regula¬ 
 tions. At the time his father had entered a vig¬ 
 orous protest against the severity of our action. 
 In this particular case the boy, with greater sense 
 and vision than his parent, had protested in the 
 latter’s presence against the plea for clemency. 
 He had accepted the situation like a man, and it 
 had given the final touch to that stability of char¬ 
 acter which had made him, at the close of his 
 school course, one of the most influential factors 
 in the student life, and one of the most depend¬ 
 able boys on whom it has ever been my privilege 
 to lean. 
 
 Youth sometimes challenges us under condi¬ 
 tions which startle us and shame us into a sense of 
 our failure to appreciate potential power and our 
 inability to recognize how close to the surface, 
 even undermost adverse conditions, lies that ever¬ 
 present spiritual vision so eager and ready to 
 find its realization in the ordinary activities of 
 daily life. A striking example of this has taught 
 
164 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 me more than all the other experiences of my 
 years as a schoolmaster. 
 
 A few years before the Great War a young 
 fellow entered the school fresh from the environ¬ 
 ment of a small New England mill town. His 
 parents had come to this country from England 
 when he was but a little chap, and had been mill- 
 workers all their lives. Limited from necessity 
 in their own education, they had definite ambi- 
 tions for their children. Learning that he could 
 work his way through the school, the boy had 
 come to us prepared to undertake the task. He 
 stayed with us three years, developing in the 
 meantime a distinct talent in English literature. 
 He entered Brown University and there dis- 
 played still further gifts of this same character, 
 until, at the close of his course, he was deemed 
 worthy to be called back to his college as an 
 instructor in English literature. While he was 
 serving in this capacity war was declared, and he 
 was one of the first to enlist. Shortly after his 
 
 •j 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 1G5 
 
 arrival in France, and while serving as a lieuten¬ 
 ant, he met a gallant death in action. 
 
 Not many weeks later the father called to see 
 me, and to secure the boy’s diploma which had 
 been left in our keeping. As we walked down 
 across the campus late one afternoon, we paused 
 under the shadows of an elm tree, and the father, 
 with deep feeling, unburdened his heart to me. 
 “ You know, Mr. Stearns,” he said simply, “ the 
 loss of that boy means more to us than others can 
 ever understand. I suppose all parents would 
 say that,” he added apologetically, “ but in Eg¬ 
 bert’s case it is different, and I will tell you why. 
 
 “ You know when he was in school how he de¬ 
 veloped a love for English literature. Gosh, how 
 he did love his Shakespeare! Well, he used to 
 come home Saturday nights to spend the week¬ 
 ends with us, and he would come bounding into 
 the room where we were sitting, smoking and 
 gossiping and whiling away the time with our 
 friends, and he would almost shout, 4 Oh, I want 
 
166 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 you to hear this great passage I found in Shake¬ 
 speare this week.’ Not many of those people 
 knew much about Shakespeare,” said the old 
 man with a touch of humor, “ and the pros¬ 
 pect of listening to a passage from Shake¬ 
 speare did not appeal very much to them. 
 Some were a bit restless and some were ready to 
 leave; but Egbert wouldn’t have it. He would 
 laugh and say, ‘ No, you can’t go; you have got 
 to hear this passage and you are going to like it.’ 
 And then he would read to them. 
 
 “ And so it went from week to week. Alwavs 
 he would come home, bounding into the room and 
 eager to read them a passage from the Shake¬ 
 speare that he loved. And by and by they didn’t 
 show any more restlessness. Pretty soon others 
 began to drop in, and, before the year was over, 
 the room would be crowded on Saturday nights, 
 waiting for Egbert to come home and read them 
 Shakespeare. Gosh,” said the father fervently, 
 
 
 it was great. 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 1G7 
 
 44 And then he went to Brown University and 
 there he developed a love for Browning, just as 
 he had developed in school his love for Shake¬ 
 speare, and again he would come home for the 
 week-ends, and, bounding into the room as be¬ 
 fore, he would say, 4 Oh, I want you to hear this 
 wonderful passage I found in Browning coming 
 up on the train from Providence to-day.’ ” The 
 father chuckled. 44 Browning was pretty stiff,” 
 he said, “for that crowd, and the old restlessness 
 once more appeared; but, just as before, Egbert 
 wouldn’t stand for that, and he would say, 4 No, 
 you have got to stay and hear it, and you are 
 going to like it, just as you did the Shakespeare.’ 
 And then the same thing happened as before; 
 the restlessness disappeared; more neighbors 
 drifted in; and, before the year was over, the 
 room would be crowded, and all waiting for Eg¬ 
 bert to come home and read them Browning.” 
 
 The old man paused for a minute. Then, with 
 the tears starting in his eyes and with dramatic 
 
168 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 intensity, he lifted his hands towards the sky and 
 said, “ Mr. Stearns, that boy just lifted us up 
 into a world we had never known before. Gosh, 
 but it was great! ” 
 
 This incident has been constantly in my 
 thoughts. And the more I have pondered on its 
 deep significance the more strongly have I be¬ 
 come convinced that Egbert Tetle} 7 , still a youth 
 and blessed with the visions of youth, has pointed 
 out the path, and the only path we can tread in 
 securit} 7 , along which we are bound to go if the 
 present-day unrest among the masses is to be 
 permanently quelled. However much the labor¬ 
 ing man may clamor for a better living, the in¬ 
 articulate cry which springs from the depths of 
 his being is, after all, a cry not for a better living 
 but for a better life; and that life is found not in 
 the realms of the material world but in the realms 
 of the spirit. “ Society,” says Aristotle, “ origi¬ 
 nates in the need of a livelihood, but it exists for 
 the sake of life.” Our modern world has placed 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 169 
 
 all the emphasis on living. That emphasis must 
 be changed. 
 
 The comment of a prominent member of the 
 Workingman’s Party in England on the descrip¬ 
 tion of “ The Athenian Constitution ” by Thu¬ 
 cydides has deep significance. Of that classic 
 constitution of an ancient democracy, the Greek 
 philosopher writes: 
 
 “ Our Constitution is named a democracy because it 
 is in the hands not of the few but of the many. But 
 our laws secure equal justice for all in their private 
 disputes, and our public opinion welcomes and honors 
 talent in every branch of achievement, not for any sec¬ 
 tional reason but on grounds of excellence alone. And 
 as we give free play to all in our public life, so we carry 
 the same spirit into our daily relations with one another. 
 We have no black looks or angry words for our neighbor 
 if he enjoys himself in his own way, and we abstain 
 from the little acts of churlishness which, though they 
 leave no mark, yet cause annovance to those who note 
 them. Open and friendly in our private intercourse, in 
 our public acts we keep strictly within the control of 
 law. We acknowledge the restraint of reverence; we 
 are obedient to whomsoever is set in authority and to the 
 laws, more especially to those which offer protection to 
 
170 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 the oppressed and those unwritten ordinances whose 
 transgression brings admitted shame.” 
 
 And the English workingman, voicing the 
 deep-seated longing of the human heart, says: 
 
 “ I believe that it is this great Hellenic spirit con¬ 
 sciously or unconsciously seeking expression which is the 
 cause of the great industrial unrest of this and other 
 lands; we are not covetous for the rich man’s gold or 
 land, only in so far as we realize that they are the 
 economic bases of life; and it is life that we want, full, 
 rich, free, and many-sided.” 
 
 Perhaps a schoolmaster who is privileged to 
 come in contact with such incidents as that re¬ 
 lated above may be excused if he rebels with 
 some heat at the kind of intellectual and moral 
 food we are offering our boys and girls in these 
 modern days. They ask for bread and we give 
 them a stone. They are hungry for meat and 
 we offer them offal. The sugar coating with 
 which we conceal the poison within will not pre¬ 
 vent that poison from doing its deadly work. 
 Those who are willing, through the medium of 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 171 
 
 the printed page, the stage, the selfish home, and 
 
 the lax social life of the time, to cater, for their 
 
 material gain or personal comfort, to the weaker 
 
 instincts of our boys and girls are selling their 
 
 souls, and for a frightful price. And those who 
 
 fail to recognize the presence in youth of those 
 
 higher and finer and spiritual desires are blind 
 
 and ignorant. It is to the youth of to-day that 
 
 the reforms of to-morrow, so sadly needed 
 
 bv a distracted world, must be entrusted. 
 
 «/ 
 
 Youth to-dav is restless. All over the world 
 * 
 
 are to be found evidences of this fact. The at¬ 
 tempt of the older generation to straighten out, 
 on oft-tried and unworthv bases, the world chaos 
 resulting from the war, jars badly with youth’s 
 idealism. The intangible verities of life which 
 inspired youth to take up arms are now inspiring 
 him to offer himself and his talents that those 
 same and spiritual verities may be placed in per¬ 
 manent control. Never has youth faced a greater 
 opportunity; and never has youth needed more 
 
172 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 sadly the wise counsel and guidance born only 
 of experience. At heart youth knows this; but the 
 counsel and guidance it desires do not seem to 
 be coming just now from the older generation, 
 who alone are qualified by experience to give it. 
 
 Those who believe that youth, because it has 
 
 vision and ideals, is capable of accomplishing this 
 
 Herculean task without the help supplied by the 
 
 experience of the human race and the aid of its 
 
 elders are as blameworthy as those who refuse to 
 
 •/ 
 
 recognize the inherent possibilities of youth. 
 Youth is receiving noisy and constant advice and 
 admonition to-day, and youth is naturally be¬ 
 wildered. It could hardly be blamed should it in 
 despair seek to choose and follow a path of its 
 own making. If it does, it will not be from pref¬ 
 erence. 
 
 A clergyman, long known for erratic and rad¬ 
 ical utterances, has recently added his voice to the 
 discordant chorus. If correctly quoted, he has 
 said, “To defy the counsels of the older genera- 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 173 
 
 tion, to act in a spirit of rebellion against consti¬ 
 tuted and respectable authority is the first duty 
 of youth.” And to make his meaning clearer this 
 champion of lawlessness would include the au¬ 
 thority and wise counsel even of parents. 
 
 But this is not the cry of youth. We must not 
 confuse youth with infancy. This is the petulant 
 cry of babyhood. Youth will recognize it as such 
 and will not heed it. 
 
 Youth must and will retain its visions; it must 
 realize them in the great world in which it is 
 called upon to play its part. These visions must 
 be kept clear and compelling, but youth must 
 keep its feet on the ground. “ Idealism,” some 
 one has wisely said, “ is a mighty good thing, but 
 even aeroplanes have little wheels on them so that 
 they can run on the ground when necessary.” 
 Youth cannot safely break with the past. It can¬ 
 not ignore the teachings of history. It cannot 
 part with human experience. It must see for 
 itself the pitfalls that human progress has always 
 
174 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 encountered in its path. It must recognize the 
 elements that have contributed to human success. 
 It must profit by all that the world has taught 
 the passing generations of mankind, and it must 
 frankly acknowledge the abiding presence of un¬ 
 changing moral law. 
 
 “ The dangerous age,” says an editorial writer 
 in one of our daily newspapers, “ is no longer 
 twenty-one but forty.” To-day youth challenges 
 the older generation. What answer are we to 
 give to that challenge? Our first duty clearly is 
 to readjust our own bearings, reestablish, if they 
 are no longer there, in our own lives the old and 
 tested standards of human conduct, accept again 
 and gladly, for the welfare of ourselves and of 
 society, the dictates of moral and civil law, find 
 our true and finest self-realization in the service 
 of society, and acknowledge our need of and de¬ 
 pendence upon Almighty God. Once we have 
 revamped our individual lives the distressing con¬ 
 ditions in the social world will disappear. Then 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 175 
 
 and only then shall we be prepared to issue our 
 challenge for which youth to-day waits. Home 
 and school and Church must unite, that our call 
 may be clear and loud and easily understood. 
 And the call must be that of a moral and spir¬ 
 itual, not a material, idealism; for only such a 
 call will youth understand, and to only such a call 
 will youth respond. 
 
 That call must come to-day. 
 
 “ Why worry about the boys? ” said a friend 
 with whom I had been discussing the incident of 
 the New Haven fire. “ The boys are all right.” 
 Yes, the boys are all right. But these boys will 
 be men to-morrow. And we must not forget that 
 it was the boys who played the heroes in that 
 great crisis, the boys who still retained the visions 
 and idealism of youth. The older generation, the 
 men to whom the visions of youth were already 
 lost, were fighting for their own worthless lives 
 in those critical moments, and even at the expense 
 of the lives of the weak and helpless whom they 
 
176 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 trod under foot. It is the men and the women 
 of to-morrow who demand our thoughts and our 
 service to-day. 
 
 An incident in the career of Mr. Lloyd George, 
 the British Prime Minister, related by a recent 
 writer, seems to me to offer us a clue as to the 
 character of the call we must issue to youth if we 
 are to secure the response we seek. 
 
 It was in the early stages of the war. Co¬ 
 ordination was everywhere lacking. Especially 
 was this true among the manufacturers of am¬ 
 munition. And this lack of coordination was 
 costing the British government and the Allies 
 untold wealth in lives and money, and threaten¬ 
 ing even to make possible an early victory for 
 German arms. In this crisis the Prime Minister 
 called a conference of the heads of all the muni¬ 
 tion factories in the United Kingdom. The crit¬ 
 ical situation was made clear. The compelling 
 need of close and full cooperation was vigorously 
 emphasized. The manufacturers were urged to 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 177 
 
 pool their interests, forget their rivalries and 
 jealousies, and, for the common good, reveal their 
 cherished trade secrets. But they stolidly de¬ 
 clined. Their patriotism was appealed to, but 
 with no better success. Even the clear explana¬ 
 tion of threatened disaster to the cause of the 
 Allies, and the inevitable destruction of the Brit¬ 
 ish Empire, left them unmoved. Hours of plead¬ 
 ing accomplished nothing. Finally, when it 
 seemed that nothing could undermine the self¬ 
 ishness of those who had the power to save or 
 wreck the great cause, Mr. Lloyd George at- 
 tacked them from a different angle and on an¬ 
 other and a higher plane. Leaning forward over 
 the table, and with that dramatic earnestness 
 Avhich has characterized him in great moments he 
 said: “ Gentlemen, have you forgotten that your 
 sons at this very moment are being killed—-killed 
 in hundreds and thousands? They are being 
 killed by German guns for want of British guns. 
 Your sons, your brothers—boys at the dawn of 
 
178 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 manhood! They are being wiped out of life in 
 thousands! Gentlemen, give me guns. Don’t 
 ■think of your trade secrets. Think of your chil¬ 
 dren. Help them. Give me those guns.” 
 
 Before that moral appeal selfishness collapsed; 
 material interests were forgotten; jealousies dis¬ 
 appeared. Trade secrets were thrown upon the 
 table, interests were pooled for the common good, 
 and from that moment a steadily increasing sup¬ 
 ply of arms turned the tide of battle and assured 
 final success to the Allied cause. 
 
 So our appeal to youth must be on the higher 
 grounds of moral and spiritual values. After 
 all, these are the values for which youth fought 
 in the Great War, as it has fought for them in 
 all times of crisis. These values it can compre¬ 
 hend. It will not willingly offer its strength and 
 its life for the sordid values of materialism. But 
 it will offer its all for the enduring verities of 
 the Spirit. And youth needs only to be shown 
 that the warfare for the preservation of these 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 179 
 
 spiritual verities is constant and as widespread as 
 
 and everywhere this 
 eternal struggle is waged. Youth should be in 
 the thick of it, and would be, if the nature of 
 that strife could only be made compellingly clear. 
 
 This then is our task, a sacred task too, and 
 worthy of the best we can give it. We must not 
 forget either that it is youth that has the greater 
 stakes in the ultimate issue. And youth at heart 
 is sound. Nor will youth refuse us its coopera¬ 
 tion and support. In spite of the silly clamor of 
 those who would have us believe that modern 
 vouth has unaccountablv been endowed with 
 some superhuman sense which gives it access to 
 all the realms of wisdom denied in the past, and 
 renders it innocuous to moral poisons, which, 
 from the dawn of historv, have worked their ills 
 on humankind, youth still looks to those of age 
 and experience to guide it in ways that human 
 experience has proved to be wise and safe. In 
 the days to come, when the responsibilities of 
 
 the human race. Hourly 
 
180 
 
 THE CHALLENGE OF YOUTH 
 
 manhood and womanhood rest heavily upon its 
 shoulders, youth will demand a reckoning from 
 its elders. And youth will have no gratitude in 
 its heart for those who, in the pursuit of their 
 own selfish pleasures, have neglected the greater 
 and more sacred task for the lack of which the 
 solid satisfactions that properly belong to the 
 years of maturity must ever be denied. 
 
 Youth has still its God-given visions of what 
 life can and should be. Only as it realizes these 
 visions in its later years will it find life, rich, and 
 full, and free; and experience teaches us only too 
 plainly that youth must have the help of its elders 
 if it is to reach the high goal that these visions 
 challenge it to seek. It is our duty and it is our 
 privilege as well to face this task and accept this 
 responsibility. We are not doing it to-day. 
 
A Book Every Parent Should Own 
 
 The Job of Being a Dad 
 
 By FRANK H. CHELEY 
 
 Author of " 'Che Adventures of a Prodigal Father ,' 
 
 "Camp Fire Yams," " Tfold by the Camp Fire," 
 &ditor-in-Chief of "Modern Boy A c ^°dy. 
 
 This job of being a real dad to a real boy 
 really is the biggest job in the world. It is the 
 best paying proposition in tangible dividends 
 that was ever known — mutual confidence, es¬ 
 teem and fellowship. 
 
 Do parents realize the price which must be 
 paid and the challenge which must be accepted 
 if they are to capitalize their wonderful oppor¬ 
 tunities ? 
 
 Every parent at heart wishes to do his best 
 — but does he know how? 
 
 This book is very readable but best of all it 
 is practical, suggestive and inspirational. 
 
 Eight full page illustrations. 
 
 For sale at all booksellers — $1,75 net 
 
 W. A. WILDE COMPANY, Publishers 
 
How to Find Your Rating as a Real Rad 
 
 The following chart is devised and 
 recommended as a simple and very 
 effective method of checking up one's 
 successes and failures as a Dad 
 
 30 Points for Boy Knowledge and Helpful 
 Home Influence 
 
 Maximum of 
 
 10 points For setting aside out of every week adequate 
 time for participation in the boy’s work, play, 
 study, activities and interests. 
 
 5 points For having definitely studied the problems 
 of boy life and development. 
 
 5 points For providing definite place and responsibility 
 for the boy in the life of the home. 
 
 30 Points for Care ol Mental Needs and 
 Development of the Boy 
 
 5 points For providing a definite program of mental 
 activity adequate for your boy (OUTSIDE of 
 his regular school work). 
 
 5 points For personally carrying out a plan, in a thor¬ 
 oughly adequate manner, covering the matter 
 of sex education. 
 
 5 points For providing simple shop, tools, necessary 
 books and other simple equipment necessary 
 to stimulate broad mental development. 
 
 5 points For arranging definite study time with the 
 boy on suitable subjects. 
 
 © W. A. WILDE CO. 
 
20 Points lor Care of tlie Physical Needs 
 and Development of the Boy 
 
 5 points 
 5 points 
 5 points 
 5 points 
 
 5 points 
 5 points 
 
 5 points 
 5 points 
 
 5 points 
 5 points 
 5 points 
 5 points 
 
 W. A 
 
 For providing a definite program of physical 
 activity adequate for your boy. 
 
 For having a specific plan in operation for the 
 establishment of fundamental health habits. 
 
 For an annual physical examination, includ¬ 
 ing eyes and teeth. 
 
 For personal participation with the boy in 
 outdoor sports and games. 
 
 20 Points for Care of Spiritnal Needs and 
 Development of the Boy 
 
 For providing a definite plan of spiritual ac¬ 
 tivity and interest adequate for your boy. 
 
 For encouraging, making possible, and par¬ 
 ticipating WITH the boy in some definite 
 service to others. 
 
 For the regular conduct of any definite form 
 of home worship and religious training. 
 
 For, with reasonable iegularity, personally ac¬ 
 companying the boy to some form of public 
 worship. 
 
 20 Points for Care of Social Needs and De- 
 velopment of the Boy 
 
 For providing a definite plan of social activity 
 adequate for your boy. 
 
 For success in making your home gang-head¬ 
 quarters. 
 
 For a definite plan of home training in thrift 
 and money matters. 
 
 For a personal relationship to a gang of boys 
 of which YOUR boy is a member. 
 
 Total Credits . 
 
 . WILDE COMPANY, Publishers 
 
 © W. A. WILDE CO. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
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