lWi»«.iniHoimii.* )ri »litt)tt r. « «n tH ( > I W » » l> a it' THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS N^ •The; BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS BY WINIFRED BUCK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 1906 All rights rcse7~ved Copyright, 1903, By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1903. New edition September, 1906. NotixrooB Ptfsa J. S. Cashing & Co. — Derwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. CONTENTS FAGK Introduction vii CHAPTER I The Place of the Club in Relation to Play in General . i « CHAPTER II Causes and Consequences of Criminal Acts in Children 22 CHAPTER III Preliminary Arrangements for a Club. Meeting-place. Equipment 48 CHAPTER IV Starting the Club. Getting the Boys. First Steps toward Organization 65 CHAPTER V Development of a Constitution 87 CHAPTER VI Analysis of the Constitution 97 V 152432^ vi CONTENTS CHAPTER VII PAGE Ethical Lessons of the Playground . . . .123 CHAPTER VIII Ethical Lessons of the Business Meeting . . . 139 CHAPTER IX Outside Activities of the Club 155 CHAPTER X Adaptations Necessary to fit the Club for Boys of Dif- ferent Ages and Races 172 CHAPTER XI The Personality of Club Advisers 185 CHAPTER XII Simple Parliamentary Law 190 INTRODUCTION The original and most famous boys' ciub was organized nearly twenty-five years ago, and is known to-day as the St. Mark's Place Boys' Club. This organization now owns a large building, which all of its several hundred members have the privi- lege of using as often as they please. The gov- ernment of this club is practically entirely in the hands of grown people. About ten years later an attempt was made in the Tenth Ward of New York City to change the street gangs which infested the neighborhood into small self-governing clubs. These self-governing clubs differed from the St. Mark's Place Club in that they never had more, and rarely as many, as thirty members, who, instead of having the right to enjoy at any time in the afternoon or evening the many privileges of a large building, had only the right to occupy one room, and that at stated intervals. But it was in the matter of government that these little organizations differed most from their distinguished prototype. While the boys of the vii Vlll INTRODUCTION St. Mark's Club had a merely nominal voice in the government of their club, the boys of the transformed gangs managed all their business affairs themselves, in some cases even to the ex- tent of paying completely for the rent of their room. The attendance of a sensible grown person at their meetings of course insured their success, but he or she acted in an advisory capacity" only. These small self-governing clubs eventually be- came a veritable force in the neighborhood where they were started, and they now fill all available rooms in the settlements, missions, public school buildings, and, unfortunately, Raines Law hotels in this locality, and they have to a very apprecia- ble extent outdistanced the gangs in popularity. Now, it must be remembered that self-governing clubs only are to be discussed in this book. My justification for assuming this task is the fact that I have had twelve years' experience in managing clubs organized upon the principles just suggested and to be more fully discussed hereafter. During two years of this period I have been "adviser" in a club of boys from eight to twelve years old ; during eight years in a club of boys from twelve to fourteen ; and during four years in a club of boys from fourteen to sixteen years old. For two years and a half of this period, again, I organized and retained general supervision of first six, and, INTRODUCTION ix finally, twelve, clubs of boys" of all ages in first one, and at last two, public schools in New York. I have also, during the two winters just passed, assisted in the organization and management of the clubs recently estabhshed in a public school on Staten Island. Besides this, I have visited and helped to organize at least a dozen clubs in dif- ferent parts of the city. My first club was started so long ago that already some of its members are old enough and settled enough in their habits to be said to have "turned out." While I do not assert that the club is more than one of the many good influences and causes of development which now surround most children in New York, I do believe that these young club graduates are more reasonable, broad- minded and wholesome in character than they would have been had they missed the club expe- rience; and even if one can claim no more for it than this, I think the club amply justifies all the trouble and expense which it involves. I have had no practical experience in applying self-governing club principles to the organizations of girls, but I cannot see any theoretical reason why both sexes should not profit by them equally. WINIFRED BUCK. BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS CHAPTER I THE PLACE OF THE CLUB IN RELATION TO PLAY IN GENERAL Everything that is amusing and entertaining is too often counted as play by people who have heard of play's importance, and who wish to give their children every chance for development and happiness. As a matter of fact, play is not by any means always amusing. Children often en- gage in it with desperate seriousness and even real anxiety. An active-minded child will apparently court responsibility and care in his play for pre- cisely the same reasons that a man will choose a strenuous life instead of a self-indulgent one ; and the child's vigor, like the man's, will only increase with the strain that is put upon it. Play is the outward manifestation of a force which is active within the child. Instruction and entertainment are outside forces which, from the outside, make B I 2 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS certain impressions upon the inner nature of the child. Play is the child's attempt to experience real living, and it is to him usually quite as serious — even tragic — an affair as real life is to us. Instruction, of course, is necessary to make play successful and vigorous. Entertainment is of a nature different from either play or instruc- tion. After the fatigue of play or study the child may well become the passive recipient of enter- tainment. Let us suppose that Education may be divided into two halves, thus : Play, on the one hand, and Instruction on the other. In the case of the first half (play) the child experiences and discovers for himself; in the second half (instruction) he learns the result of other people's experiences and discoveries. Now, these two great departments of education frequently intermingle. Instruction, as I have said, inspires and makes possible more vigorous play, while play should, and frequently does, create the desire for instruction. Neverthe- less, play and instruction call upon widely different faculties. Now, about the great department of instruction I am not qualified to write ; and even if I were I should not do so in this book. About the de- partment of play, however, I wish to write this short chapter, so that one may see clearly just what THE PLACE OF THE CLUB 3 relation Boys' Self-governing Clubs (Social Play) bear to other forms of play. If, as I hope I may, I succeed, later in making these self-governing clubs appear to be of great importance to the child's mind and character, one can gather some idea of the vastness of education as a whole ; for clubs only represent part of one of the four classes into which play is divided, and play itself is only half of education. All the four classes of play deserve thorough treatment ; they can only be briefly touched upon here. PLAY 1. Directed. {a) Social Play. Simple relations. Complicated relations. 2. " In Free Activity." (a) Creative Play. Overcoming the forces of man, of circumstances, of nature. (Jj) Imaginative Play. Nature. Mystery. Romance. (c) Animal Play. 4 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS A table like this would naturally give the im- pression that each class of play is sharply defined and completely isolated from all other classes. As a matter of fact, however, there is in each class or group of play, a little of all the others, but, for convenience, certain forms of play have been classified here under the name of the faculty most largely (but not exclusively) developed in the prog- ress of that play. In the first class, and in the division marked (a), is what is here called "Social Play," — perhaps the most fundamental, certainly the most impor- tant, of all play. To this class properly belong all games ^ in which not less than two children engage, but the rougher ones, such as hockey, foot- ball, and basket-ball, are of far greatest importance. It is only in such games as these and in " clubs " (of which mention is made later in this chapter) that a child finds an approximate representation of society. The elements of arbitrary authority and protection are so prominent in the school, or the home, that neither of these places fairly represents the outside world. But rough games in many respects present in miniature the conditions of 1 " For at this period games, whenever it is feasible, are common, and thus develop the feeling and desire for community and the laws and requirements of community." — Froebel, " Education of Man," p. 114. THE PLACE OF THE CLUB 5 a society where an ideal state of justice, freedom, and equality prevails.^ Here a child is free to exert all his individual (if rather elementary) vir- tues and talents. It depends only upon himself whether he makes friends or enemies ; whether he fails or succeeds. The virtues of cool temper, strength, self-control, and skill in games receive a natural and logical reward, and while for the breaking of laws a penalty must be paid, arbitrary punishment (so exasperating to a child's sense of justice) is in games unknown. The laws, too, are made, or agreed to, by every one, and confer equal restraint and equal benefit on all. ^ " It may be urged that such degree of harshness as children now experience from their parents and teachers is but a prepara- tion for that greater harshness which they will meet with on enter- ing the world; and that were it possible for parents and teachers to behave toward them with perfect equity and entire sympathy, it would but intensify the sufferings which the selfishness of men must, in after life, inflict on them. " This is the plea put in by some for the rough treatment expe- rienced by boys in our [English] public schools; where, as it is said, they are introduced to a miniature world whose imperfections and hardships prepare them for the real world. . . ." — Herbert Spencer, "Education," Chapter III, p. 178. Whatever humanity demands of the world it will get eventu- ally. If equity and sympathy are to prevail in the world (and who shall say that it would not be well to have them prevail?), a demand for these conditions must be created; and how can such a demand be created more effectively than by letting many indi- viduals experience the joys of equity and sympathy in a miniature world ? 6 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS But, while all individual merits receive just reward and encouragement, the value of team play as against individual play is exemplified better in games than in any other occupation of a child's life. This is one of the most im- portant social lessons. In games, too, those ad- vantages commonly called " worldly " count for nothing. Beauty, wealth, or birth help a man not at all to become the greatest hero in what is, for the time being, the boys' world. The champion foot-ball player personifies and glorifies all that is bravest, strongest, and most honest — the very qualities which should seem glorified to a child. But the value of games is so generally under- stood that little can be said here that would add to the appreciation of their merits. There is yet another kind of social play. I refer to those little organizations called " Self- governing Clubs," the details of whose manage- ment will be discussed in the following chapters of this book. They are merely the natural outgrowth of the gang, but the gang represented a society where low ideals of government prevailed. The leader was absolute monarch, swaying his voiceless sub- jects as he willed through force of a stronger character, cunning, perhaps, or by the material THE PLACE OF THE CLUB 7 means at his command. A club, however, is a more up-to-date representation of society. As in the foot-i)all game, ideal conditions of equality here prevail. These little clubs, although often no more free from faults and mistakes than the old gang groups, are, nevertheless, as social organizations just as different from gangs as republics are from the monarchies of old. At the weekly gathering of members the first hour is usually occupied with games, and the last hour is devoted to that which is typical of these clubs — the business meeting. Here the problems of a very complicated system of government are discussed by the children — the problems which grown people have to solve for the nation and society — the problems which arise from the elec- tion of officers, the choosing of suitable fellow- members, the relations of one's own organization to others of the same kind, the disposal of finances and the punishment of lawbreakers. These are the subjects which vex, excite, and interest the club boy every week at his business meeting. And he settles the debated questions to the best of his ability ; with honest intention usually, because the majority rules, but with wisdom only after years of experience in success and failure. This kind of social play — the club — furnishes 8 BOYS' SELF-GOVERmNG CLUBS a beautiful example of how play can be made to create a need and desire for instruction.^ One of the commonest traits in a child's charac- ter is his wilHngness to be driven by a necessity made, or imagined, by himself. Let a teacher or parent impose this necessity and, in a vigorous child, a spirit of opposition will be inspired at once. In a club, then, the child creates for him- self the necessity for knowledge. First, he finds that if he is to gain his own way (and his own way seems of desperate importance to him) he must be able in some way to appeal to the heads or the hearts of his fellow-members. One way to win honor and power in a club is through the skil- ful expression of ideas. Whatever a boy's ideas may be, the only way to express them is in lan- guage, spoken or written. So the boy, having himself created in his play the necessity for lan- guage, studies it in school with a zest which could never be imparted by the knowledge that in that far-off, grown-up future it would be of equal im- portance to him. And so it is with arithmetic and the keeping of books. The treasurer's ofhce is much honored 1 "There is in this a source of many of the errors in our schools. We teach our children without having aroused an inner want for the instruction. . . . How can such instruction be profitable?" — Froebel, " Education of Man," p. 223. THE PLACE OF THE CLUB 9 and coveted by club boys. So the child's play again creates the necessity for some knowledge of the very figures which seemed so useless when learned only for the shadowy years to come. The study of the history of nations can be vitalized by comparison with the club's history ; for it is surprising how many analogous situa- tions there are between the child's make-believe government and the life and death governments of nations. It is here that we see how the club, as a social organization, is more complex than the foot-ball game. In the latter, muscular strength, bravery, self-control, and honesty, with a certain mental agility, are all that are necessary to make a suc- cessful player. In the business meeting of the club all these quahties are required (with the ex- ception of muscular strength) and with the very important addition of intellectual arts of various kinds. But, important as is this social play, it has its limitations. Law is the very essence of social play as it is of grown-up social life. Every move of the friend or opponent is an expression of law. In almost any given situation rules and regulations prescribe exactly what shall be done. But in life there are certain forces in man, in circumstances, and in nature which cannot be met or overcome 10 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS by law, because no law (as yet understood) guides the expression of these forces. It is then that the creative faculty in man — the "finding," like Sentimental Tommy, "a w'y " — must be used. A vigorous man deUghts in an appeal to his inventive faculty, and to a child it is no less a pleasure to measure his strength against opposing forces. A man, of course, finds this pleasure and exercise in real Hf e ; and whether it be in the man- aging well of a small income, the forcing of an illusive thought to clear expression, or the invent- ing of a flying-machine the same faculty, in a higher or lower degree, is exercised. But for the child this form of inner activity is expressed in play, and in what has been classified here as Creative Play. The first and crudest expression of this form of a child's inner activity is the appointment, so to speak, of an enemy. This is probably the common- est form of creative play, partly because it is the most elementary, but chiefly because it is for the majority of children — for the majority are poor — the only one possible. This play is particularly interesting to one who believes that the evolution of the individual cor- responds in some measure with the evolution of the race. It will be remembered that our ances- tors were wont to work off their superfluous THE PLACE OF THE CLUB ii energy (incidentally developing their minds) by planning raids and battles against a real or " ap- pointed "• foe. If a child, then, has within him a germ of the creative faculty, and has no more interesting way in which to exercise it, he will not be satisfied until he is exerting all his forces to get the better of an enemy. In towns and cities some unconscious policeman usually fills this important office, while in the country an obliging farmer is always ready enough to act the part with every appearance of sincerity. The " getting the better of " an enemy is cer- tainly conducive to the development of a certain degree of ingenuity, but there is always danger that, unless this form of play is balanced by well- directed social play, it will degenerate into some- thing positively immoral. As long as the enemy remains an impersonal force whose unexpected turns and actions require the exercise of all a child's resources and his quickest thought, it is well enough. But the chances are that the child's attitude toward the enemy will change to one where hatred of a very personal order predomi- nates all other feelings. In that case the child loses all sense of justice and honesty, and the un- fortunate enemy becomes the victim of outrages by no means inspired by ingenuity alone. The 12 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS effect of hatred, too, upon a child's heart is alto- gether blighting. On the whole, therefore, this form of play is not commendable, but it is, never- theless, only the crude expression of a very desir- able mental quality. There is another form of play in which the crea- tive instincts manifest themselves. By an illustra- tion most people will recognize it at once, for it is common to almost all children whose families have the sense not to give them too many or too perfect toys ; boys and girls alike indulge in it. A child (who was a child long ago) had for years as her only playthings a big box of blocks and the pins, mucilage, and odds and ends of the household. One winter she made a large royal family of paper dolls, and constructed for their dwelling on the attic floor a palace of these wooden blocks. Completion would have ended the play ; but, fortunately, the royal family increased in numbers in the most lifelike manner, and this necessitated the constant engagement of new at- tendants and the frequent addition of new wings to the palace. Finally, on one never-to-be-forgotten occasion, another royal family from across the way came without warning to spend a week. Many were the ingenious shifts which had to be made to house the distinguished visitors in a manner suited to THE PLACE OF THE CLUB 13 their exalted stations ; for the blocks had already long since become part of the palace, and the end had nearly been reached of the odds and ends of the household. Twenty years have passed since that event ; but the maker of the royal dolls and the block palace says that to-day, when she cannot think some thought out to its end, or cannot see how the money in hand will cover the week's expenses, her thoughts fly back to her struggles to equip a royal family out of nothing. And a picture flashes into her mind of a Httle girl on a bare attic floor say- ing despairingly to herself, " Only five pins, ten matches, and a visiting-card left, and the princess's lady-in-waiting without a place in which to spend the night." There were some hard thinking and great anxiety that day, but the lady-in-waiting found comfortable shelter in the end, we are told. And twenty years later the habit of concentration thus formed in childhood, and the fertility of resource stimulated by such self-imposed necessities as housing royal paper dolls, found a way to push the vague thought to clear expression, and to make the limited income cover the expenses of the week. Here, as in the boy's club, the child's imagina- tion creates the necessity for the exercise of his 14 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS faculties. As in the club, again, instruction facili- tates the expression of these faculties. In direct connection with creative play should come first manual instruction, — carpentry, sewing, clay- modelling, etc. If, with advancing years, the child's creative faculties develop beyond the man- ual standpoint, instruction should be given accord- ing to the form in which the youth wishes to express his ideas ; if in art, the technique of writing, music or painting ; if invention, mechanics, chemistry, electricity and mathematics ; if adminis- tration, such legal and business principles as this peculiar bent may demand. People of wealth in giving their children com- plete and perfect toys unconsciously do them a great wrong. A child delights in working toward completion, but when completion is once accom- plished his interest ceases or is expressed in destruction. To excite a child's ambition to make perfect, insufficiency is absolutely essential. A child finds no stimulus whatever to creative- ness when he knows that everything lacking will be given him, ready-made, for the asking. In this, as in almost all play, it is the children of the extremes of wealth or poverty who suffer most. While for the rich child the play is spoiled because he has too many materials at his command, for the poor one it is impossible. THE PLACE OF THE CLUB 15 as he has no materials at all ; for there is a limit even to a child's power of " make believe." But there is another play in the class of creative play which is available for the rich only. It is to sports that I refer. Sports demand, as nothing else will, the finding of a way. Take a boy who knows nothing of swimming, throw him into deep water out of reach of assistance, and he will learn better in five minutes how to keep his head out of water than he could in a day at a swimming-school. In this case the boy, to all intents and purposes, invents, under the spur of necessity, the art of swimming. In the school he learns how, me- chanically, to use the invention of another. The mental processes in both cases are entirely differ- ent. And in all sports it is the same. The ele- ment of unexpectedness, unusualness, and the necessity created by the presence of actual dan- ger, or, possibly, humiliating failure, stimulate most effectively the creative faculty. But one of the greatest advantages in sports is, that they bring a child in direct touch with nature, and it is nature that best develops the imagination as well as the inventive faculties. The element of imagination enters very largely, of course, into all the plays of children. In crea- tive play imagination and invention run together, each aiding and encouraging the other. But there l6 BOYS' SELF-GO VERNIJVG CLUBS is one play in which no faculty but the imagina- tion is exercised. We all remember it vaguely in connection with some of the happiest hours of our childhood, — Imaginative Play. The chief difference between creative play and pure imaginative play lies in the fact that in the former the forces of man, of circumstances and of nature are understood and mastered, and some- thing is definitely accomplished, while in the latter these forces are, in glorified form, simply felt. What this feeling is, cannot be described here, for only a poet could put it into words. But while the man who can give expression to his imagina- tion is rare, nearly all of us have the power to feel what he feels. For some of us this power soon departs, but for others the very look on a child's face will, even in middle age, bring back something of the glamour which young imagina- tion once cast over life. Look about you any day in the poorer parts of the city, or in the country, where there is no restraining conventionality to stifle the imagina- tion, and there you will see many children at this play. Two boys come down the street, a look of expectancy and importance on their faces. They do not collide with you as they pass, but, never- theless, they are unconscious of your presence. They are unconscious of each other's bodily pres- THE PLACE OF THE CLUB 1/ ence. Their spirits are together in that glorious world of mystery, excitement and beauty that we all once knew so well. When a child hears a call from that other world no power should keep him from it ; but without us he must go. No person grown, however sympathetic or beloved, can fol- low him into his world of dreams and fancies. He will know and will choose his right companion, and it will be another child. But although once grown we cannot follow a child into his imaginative world, and though the glory of things fades from year to year, it is on the imaginations that we have developed in our youth that we depend for all that makes life worth living. Over the dullest, most monotonous lives, over the ughest, wickedest cities, imagination will cast the glamour of romance. Sea and mountain and the scenes of history will live if our imagina- tions bid them. To almost every child is given the germ of an imagination. This germ can be developed in youth ; but if it is neglected then, the stern reali- ties of later life soon crush out its feeble existence. The first requisite for its development is, of course, freedom and opportunity. I do not know whom to pity more, the child of "up-town," guarded against all the dehcious experiences and adven- tures of freedom, or the child of the slums, free, l8 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS it is true, but shut out from that paradise of the child's imaginative life, — the country. Once given freedom and opportunity a child's imagination can be infinitely developed by instruc- tion of the right kind. Plistory, from the romantic rather than the economic point of view, poetry, stories of adventure, real and fancied, the lives of men and animals, and everything which will develop the perception of beauty, — all these things are rapidly absorbed by an active imagination which they in turn will help to feed and develop. There comes a time after a long period of play or study when the brain has exhausted for the time being its vitality, the body which has been comparatively inactive, on the other hand, having accumulated a tremendous amount of energy. This energy will be expressed in the familiar and much-dreaded process known as " letting off steam," and which is classified here as Animal Play. The chief function of this play is apparently to give the brain a needed opportunity for rest, while the body works off its superfluous energy, the result being a gradual return of a normal bal- ance between mental and bodily activity. There is probably no play so trying to the grown person as animal play, and the evident brainlessness of it makes it seem wrong to endure, much less to encourage, it. THE PLACE OF THE CLUB 19 Picture to yourself a very large, empty room, having facilities for every sort of game, and a small but complete gymnasium opening out of it. Then imagine your surprise when the boys, for whose use the room and the gymnasium were in- tended, refuse on entering to become part of any organized game or play. This surprise rapidly turns into despair when their real preferences be- come evident. Dignified schoolboys, their books thrown aside, become for the moment irresponsi- ble animals, shrieking and howling, throwing themselves against the walls, lying on their backs, their legs waving in the air, and dropping in dizzy, giggling heaps all over the floor. A scene Hke this makes one feel that time and money are being wasted in providing such opportunities for them. And yet, after half an hour of this sort of play, there will be a gradual straightening up of the roll- ing, squirming figures, a choosing of sides for a foot-ball game, and a gentle scramble for remote corners by the bloodless armed with checker-boards. The proper balance between brain and bodily activity has been brought about in the half hour of apparently wasted time, and the animals are once more intelligent human beings. There is one result which is produced by ani- mal play, the effects of which upon the charac- ter are immeasurable. It is to happiness that I 20 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS refer. In an earlier paragraph the statement is made that many kinds of play are indulged in seriously and even with real anxiety. It would appear that such play, therefore, could not be at- tractive to a child. The fact is, however, that nature so impels him to be active in this way that restraint would make him wretched. But because he may be unhappy without such play it does not necessarily follow that with it he is happy. Intense interest comes to man or child with any- thing that absorbs the attention, but even intense interest cannot be mistaken for happiness. Hap- piness for children (and for grown people also) is largely a matter of animal spirits, and it is with the aimless, brainless, foolish noise and antics of animal play that animal spirits rise. Let the reader search his own memory and see if this be true for him. Personally, I confess that it is on the scenes of wildest folly that I now look back with fondest remembrance. Does one ever forget, I wonder, the awful delight of " getting the gig- gles," and the wild, irresponsible joy of making all the noise one wanted ? Cannot every one remember how his spirits rose and soared with the increasing din .-* Only yesterday a small friend of mine re- turned to his home from a progressive euchre party, his eyes sparkling, his cheeks aglow. " Was the party a success .-' " his mother asked THE PLACE OF THE CLUB 21 him. " A success ! " the boy exclaimed in rapture, "well, I should say it was. There was such a racket that you could not hear the bell when they rang it to change tables." The boy had won no prizes ; the euchre game was forgotten. But to look at his beaming face was to know that his spirits had risen with the noise until his evening had been one of ecstasy. If one believes that the possession of animal spirits constitutes happiness, and that happiness is necessary for a child's healthy growth, then char- acter and mind-building play — no matter how much it may absorb his interest — will not be enough. Animal play, disagreeable as it is to grown-up people, must be given recognition and endured for the results it promises. All kinds of play demand patience and intelli- gence from the parent and teacher. But in no way can one obtain such insight into a child's real character and needs as through the effort to under- stand its play. CHAPTER II CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN ^ The word " gang " connotes to most people an organization of young criminals. It is true that the members of gangs do perpetrate many evil deeds, but the performance by children of criminal acts does not necessarily indicate the possession of criminal characters. Indeed, the effect of indulg- ing in such acts is frequently beneficial to the child, for activity at that age would appear to be the only si7ie qua noji of development of character, brain and muscle. That active impulses must so often be forced or guided from wrong channels into right ones does not alter the fact that even perverted energy is a better quality than stagna- tion, and the enterprising young thief, therefore, often constitutes more promising material for a good citizen than the boy who contentedly sits at 1 " Children " when referred to in this chapter, or indeed through- out the book, are young people under sixteen years of age unless otherwise specified. 22 CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 23 home all day, not from principle, but simply from inertia. It must be remembered that, through the performance by our early ancestors of acts now considered criminal, we largely owe our survival as a race, and that, through the performance of these acts, valuable mental and physical character- istics were developed. Manslaughter, revenge, rape and theft under certain circumstances were once not considered crimes ; and, indeed, the race which had been least proficient in, or had had moral scruples against, these practices, would have become extinct. But it must not be understood that all " bad boys," so called, are capable of becoming wise and virtuous citizens. There are children whose men- tal and physical instincts are so perverted that criminal habits (which with ordinary children readily yield to the greater interest of legitimate activity) become almost ineradicable in their natures. Such children are often degenerate, cer- tainly always abnormal. Degenerate or abnormal children are usually the result either of bad hered- ity, bad physical conditions, immoral environment or all of these conditions of Ufe.^ Normal chil- 1 A doctor in a criminal insane asylum once told me that roughly speaking fifty per cent of the inmates owed their condition to insuffi- cient nourishment before or after birth. " It is estimated by criminologists that from fifty to seventy-five per cent of the detached cases of criminality are the result of pre- 24 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS dren, on the other hand, may commit the same crimes in spite of sound characters and the most favorable surroundings. The characteristics which are accountable for the crimes of abnormal children are these : — 1. Exaggerated physical instincts. 2. Exaggerated emotional instincts. 3. Atrophied power of perception. 4. Atrophied power of sympathy. 5. Perverted reasoning power. 6. Deficient will power. The characteristics which lead normal children to serious dehnquencies are these : — 1. Good characteristics (energy or ingenuity usually) seeking exercise or outlet. 2. Undeveloped perception. 3. Undeveloped sympathy. 4. Innate though temporary perversity. 5. Undeveloped will power. Now, while the characteristics which cause the criminal performances of abnormal children are natal causes, the remainder being caused by insalubrious or delete- rious youthful environment, or by defective education." — William H. Boies, " Science of Penology," p. 39. The children of criminal parents, brought up amid vicious sur- roundings, are not always abnormally criminal themselves; nor, on the other hand, are the children of apparently virtuous parents, who live rationally, always normal. CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 2$ quite different from those which inspire the mis- demeanors of normal children, the crimes and misdemeanors themselves may be exactly alike. For instance, both normal and abnormal children indulge in stealing and vandalism, fighting, cruelty (physical and spiritual), gambling, giving and tak- ing bribes, and lying. Murder, however, is never committed by normal children, and normal chil- dren do not indulge in excessive smoking, drinking or other distinctly physical crimes.^ It is plain that the abnormal child will need radical treatment, physiological and psychological. His physical mode of living should be completely revolutionized, and his mental powers and affec- tions systematically trained and developed. I do not believe in admitting abnormal children to a club. Their influence upon the other boys is likely to be bad, while they themselves will gain nothing from such temporary association with more virtu- ous companions. Bi-weekly club meetings cannot bring about very radical changes either in body or ^ A recent investigation of the condition of child labor has brought to light the fact that a large percentage of the 5000 news- boys of New York are regular patrons of unspeakable resorts. Statistics are not at hand to prove whether these boys are congeni- tally abnormal in their tastes, or whether they have become so through the unnatural lives they lead. See pamphlet entitled "Child Labor: The Street," by Ernest Poole, 184 Eldridge St., New York. 2.6 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNIATG CLUBS character. Indeed, " changes " are not what the club should seek to effect; for the normal child, whether he has acquired criminal habits or not, does not need alteration of his characteristics, but merely their development and guidance. Some experiences I have had with the misde- meanors of normal and abnormal children, both in and out of clubs, will show how one crime may be instigated either by good or by bad characteristics. Of the class of abnormal children which com- prises murderers or excessive smokers or drinkers, I have seen little. No juvenile murderer, poten- tial or actual, ever applied for admission to my clubs. One or two " cigarette fiends " tried to enter, but boys of this class were discouraged from aspir- ing to membership by reason of the rigid laws which the clubs enacted against smoking. (See page 89.) I remember only one instance in which a real " fiend " was long a member of the club. How he got in I do not know, for his habits were plainly indicated by his pasty face and his stunted figure. The fact became well known at last, however, and he was requested to leave. This he refused to do. The club insisted, and the poor wretch cried, philosophically but pathetically, " Keep me, and let me be a warning to the other boys." In the hope that he would serve this use- ful purpose or for some other reason he was never CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 2/ expelled ; but, while his influence upon the other boys did not seem to be bad, he himself gained nothing from the club. He was a " cigarette fiend" when he entered and a "cigarette fiend" when he left, three years later. While a " cigarette fiend " acquires his vicious habits through some morbid physical craving, healthy, normal boys indulge in smoking because it is an amusement — the only one available, too often. Fully half of all the boys I have known smoked occasionally before they joined clubs, but they readily forswore the practice when they real- ized that it was injurious to their health, and when a greater diversion was offered by the activities of the club. A great many normal children smoke, not for the love of it, but because they think it so delight- fully wicked. The club adviser, by the way, should avoid all appearance of being shocked or horrified at anything his boys may do. An ex- pression of contemptuous or even kindly amuse- ment will do more to put bad or foolish acts in an unattractive light than could any words of indig- nation. All boys at a certain age think it a fine thing to be taken for devils, but none of them care to be considered pathetic little fools. With drinking, as with smoking, only those boys who have an abnormal physical craving appear 28 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS to desire to do it to excess. It is better that growing boys should not touch a drop of alcohol, of course, but I cannot say that for a boy in normal physical condition, and leading a normal life of varied interests and activities, there appears to be any great danger for him, as a boy, in a moderate use of it. A great many perfectly normal boys of the poorer classes, however, do not lead normal lives, and even if they do, there is always the danger that they may acquire a latent taste for liquor that will develop under the stress of mature life. However, few children, as such, are drunkards. Only one, in fact, ever tried to become a member of my club, and the reports of juvenile reformatory institutions record few inmates who have been committed on this charge. Stealing is the commonest of the more serious crimes practised by children, normal and abnormal, rich and poor alike. There are four classes of child thieves. In the first is the child who takes something, — money, clothing, or jewellery usually, — which he knows he has no right to, for the sake of possessing and enjoying it himself at the expense of the legiti- mate owner. In this class we should not include the raiders of orchards or pantries, because they are often impelled to this form of larceny by CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 29 genuine hunger or by a spirit of adventure. The abnormal child thief will avoid adventure or danger to ■ himself always, and, if caught, will lie or even cast the blame on some one else for the sake of escaping a penalty for his misdeeds. Stealing in this cold-blooded way indicates a perverted mental attitude which is quite abnormal. The most efficacious method of teaching such a child to respect the sacred rights of ownership is to let him be an owner himself, and in no way can he be made to feel more conscious of the security which should attach to ownership than by earning or making his own property. Any child who is old enough to steal when he knows better (some of them do it when they are only three or four years old, and show their conscious- ness of guilt by the slyness of their operations) will be old enough to make things. These his parents should buy for small sums of money which he should be taught to spend judiciously. If he is old enough, it may be better to engage him for a tiny salary to perform some useful duty about the house, — such as sweeping a room, blacking boots or shovelling snow. At the same time his sympathies should be aroused for the victims of his thefts. Now, as will be seen, reform in such cases must be effected through a more or less radical 30 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS change in the child's manner of living in his home, and his parents will be the natural persons to bring about this change. If the parents have neither sufficient time nor intelHgence for the task, and the child's predatory habits are per- sistent, he should be sent to a reformatory insti- tution, like the George Junior Republic, where he will stand the best chance of being cured of his moral disease. The club, as will be seen later, is not adapted to deal successfully with cases of this kind. In the second class of juvenile thieves belong kleptomaniacs. That strange desire to take objects of which no after use is made, and not for the sake of the adventure to which the theft is inci- dental, belongs in the domain of insanity ; and in- sanity is far removed from mere abnormality in the sense in which I use the word in this chapter. Insanity, naturally, is not to be discussed in any of its phases here. In the third class are comprised all children who steal for the sake of finding exercise or outlet for their physical energy or their ingenuity, or who crave the excitement incidental to an escape from the irate victims of their thefts. While the thief of the first class, who steals for the sake of profit, will only steal if he is sure he can avoid detection, the adventurous thief courts danger and enjoys a hair- CRIMINAL ACTS I AT CHILDREN 31 breadth escape from the owner of the pilfered property. Children of this class (the third) may belong to any social grade ; they are extremely numerous and are usually perfectly normal. The year before our school clubs on Staten Island were organized the boys of the neighbor- hood regularly stole apples from an orchard in the vicinity. The following autumn, after the clubs had been running for several months, the owner of the orchard discovered to her pleasure and sur- prise that her apples had been left untouched. The explanation of the changed habits of the thieves was probably this. The boys were about twelve years old, of small intellectual attainment, and of no creative power or imagination, ignorant of all legitimate ways of amusing themselves, and yet of unquenchable animal spirits. Although the district in which they lived was a rural one, their houses were crowded together on tiny plots of ground. The only way in which to find an outlet for their physical energy was to trespass upon the large places of their more fortunate neighbors. When ripe apples and a spice of danger were added as incidental attractions to the delight of space, it was easy to see wherein lay the charm of these marauding expeditions. After a year's course in the clubs these boys had developed a taste for a number of things besides mere physical 32 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS activity, and physical activity itself found vent in games which were quite as amusing as apple-steal- ing. There was little principle involved in this return to virtue ; misdirected energy had simply been diverted into a proper channel. Certain forms of mental energy require constant opposition for their growth. Now, for many chil- dren, the only opposition to be met with comes through breaking (perhaps unconsciously) some law. (See page lo.) When I was about ten years old I spent my summers in a beautiful country place where my friends and I had at our command boats, games, bathing and companions, and where we were given a remarkable degree of liberty con- sidering our ages. We were seldom forbidden to do anything, but when we were, the wisdom of the command was so apparent that we had little desire to disobey it. For days at a time legitimate amusements satisfied us, but the very facility with which we acquired these pleasures made them pall upon us occasionally, and then the longing for a more strenuous life would become irresistible. At such times three or four of us would repair to a distant tomato field, where, after eating our fill, we tore dozens of the fruit from the vines and flung them at one another and at targets marked on sur- rounding fences. Now, although the tomatoes themselves tasted CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 33 delicious (we sucked them through straws, which was bad manners at home) and one who has not tried it-cannot realize the bliss of smashing a ripe tomato on an opponent's face, the real charm of the expedition consisted in the hope of being chased by the owner of the tomato field. As a matter of fact, he never discovered us, but we lived in the expectation of seeing him come after us, pitchfork in hand, across his field. The fact that opposition existed only in our imaginations made it none the less stimulating to our ingenuity. We had planned a scheme for escaping across a neigh- boring corn-field by aid of an elaborate system of signals, and a dozen times — on what proved to be false alarms — we had the joy of operating this system in our efforts to save ourselves from our imagined pursuer. Strange as it may seem I was at that time a morbidly conscientious child in regard to most things, but it never once occurred to me that it was wrong to steal or destroy tomatoes on a vine. Had I been starving I would not have touched one in a shop, but on a vine I considered that it was subject to different moral laws. A little later, the reading of Cooper and Park- man suggested to us other and more legitimate ways of exercising our ingenuity which completely usurped the charms of stealing. As Indians, cow- 34 BOrS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS boys, western explorers and Spaniards, we fought, ambushed one another, guarded prisoners who constantly tried to elude our vigilance, and gen- erally imitated the lives of the heroes of " The Conspiracy of Pontiac " and the " Leatherstocking Tales." In the fourth class of youthful thieves are the boys who, in stealing, yield to an irresistible temp- tation, and those of deficient will power. There is a great difference between these two kinds of boys — the difference between the normal and the ab- normal. Now, it is not easy to decide what degree of temptation the normal boy should be able to with- stand. It is certain that no boy could resist the opportunity to steal food if he were in an advanced stage of hunger. The temptation to " borrow " pennies from the club's treasury might also be called an irresistible one to a lusty boy of many needs (which must be distinguished from mere desires) and no money of his own. There are many business occupations for boys in which employer and customer seem to have vied with each other in putting a premium on stealing. In the messenger service this is notice- ably so. The proper charge for a message is, let us say, twenty-five cents. The messenger boy, however, asks the customer for thirty cents and CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 35 pockets the difference. The company receives its legitimate remuneration and therefore asks no questions. The customer cares very little whether a message costs five cents more or less, so he also asks no questions. Everything is to be gained and nothing lost by stealing in this way. There is absolutely no danger for the boy, and no appeal can be made to his sympathies ; for his employer gets his due, and the customer is indifferent to the injury done him. And the boy is wretchedly underpaid by the company. Judging from what messengers have told me, I doubt whether the company could get boys to do their work at its present terms if there were no chances to pilfer. I think one can safely say that only a boy with very high principles, combined with extraordinary strength of character, and not altogether depend- ent upon his earnings for his needs, could resist such a temptation. And yet to acquire the habit of stealing so safely and easily must be very demoral- izing, and cannot fail to undermine and pervert the moral nature of the most normal of boys, and to breed a race of unscrupulous, if not actually criminal, men. By inculcating the love of honesty for its own sake, regardless of consequences, and by develop- ing the perceptions of the boys to the point where they can see how all wrong deeds must work to the 36 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS ultimate injury of society, and by inspiring such a love for, and sense of responsibility toward, society that to do it even a remote injury becomes dis- tasteful, the club can do much to arm a boy against the demoralizing effects of constant temptation. The typical weak-willed boy does not need to be subjected to any such severe temptation as this to become a thief. Nor will it be the gratifying of legitimate needs that will cause his moral down- fall. The merest whim — the desire for candy, jewellery, or gambling money — will be sufficient to make him forget his good resolves (for the weak-willed boy always regrets his misdemeanors and vows he will never repeat them) and go off with funds intrusted to his care. The weak-willed thief is never, of his own initia- tive, enterprising ; he will only take what lies ready to his hand, unless he gets under the influence of some stronger character who may lead him into any daring scheme. Under these circumstances the weak tool is likely to suffer all the penalties. It has been my experience that deficient will power and stupidity are the most difficult and hopeless of all abnormal characteristics to deal with. The fact that weak and stupid children are often amiable is not a happy augury for their futures ; young fiends often stand a better chance of becoming useful men. CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 37 In making out the list of " crimes " which are practised by normal and abnormal children alike, I had great hesitation in placing " fighting " along with cruelty, and lying, and other really bad deeds. As almost all women consider it one of the worst of juvenile crimes, however, it seemed best to give some space in this chapter to its discussion. Next to steahng and general vandalism, fighting is the commonest misdemeanor (so-called) of chil- dren. Before we condemn the practice we should understand the causes of it. When the books of Parkman and Cooper suggested to us the adven- turous games which took the place of stealing ex- peditions, some of us were so carried away by our imaginations, and acted our parts so consistently, that we tore one another's clothing, knocked out teeth, and drew blood. A punch in the face may be dealt as an expression of righteous indignation by the hero to the villain who is about to carry off a fair lady into captivity, but it is not likely to be received or returned in the imaginative spirit in which it was given. The blow delivered by Pathfinder, pro tern., in defence of a helpless if imaginary maiden, was, from Pathfinder's point of view, as justifiable as any blow struck for liberty or justice. On the other hand, the blow returned by the villain (suddenly resolving into plain Johnny Smith) was, from Johnny Smith's point of view, 38 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS only a natural and manly expression of resentment at an affront to his dignity. Theoretically, it may be very fine for a boy to have such strong principles against fighting that he will meekly accept all blows and insults that are given him, but practically such a boy would be simply a coward or would be lacking in self- respect ; for no boy has instinctive principles against fighting, and it will take him years to acquire intellectual principles against it. I will not go so far as to say that fighting should be encouraged. The desire to fight is, perhaps, a brutal instinct, but the child who has no brutal instincts will probably be lacking in health, ani- mal spirits, courage, humor, and many other quali- ties which are essential to success and " niceness " in after life. Brutality cannot be suppressed. All children must work through and beyond it. The boy I always disliked in my clubs, and who never amounted to anything when he grew up, was the one who would come whining up to me and say : "Teacher, Johnny Jones has been making faces at me. Tell him to stop." To fight may be as stupid a way to avenge an insult as to whine and complain, but it shows a more wholesome impulse. With the development of reasoning power and sympathy the desire to fight, and the satisfaction CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 39 gained from it, ceases, but as long as it seems to be the natural way to express justifiable anger or indignation it should not be suppressed. The club adviser must distinguish between what may be called legitimate and normal fighting, and the quick, irritable temper which is often the result of disordered nerves. I once knew a small girl who, on no provocation whatever, would suddenly kick and punch her companions almost into insen- sibility, and then for days afterwards would suffer the keenest remorse. " Something black comes into my head and throat" she would say, and then no power could restrain her fury. The club could do nothing for a child like that. She was in a very abnormal physical condition and required skilled physiological treatment Nor is mere brutality, unaccompanied by mental or nervous force, a normal expression of youthful spirit. The Young Potomac Club once had a member who fought continually in a cold, passion- less, heavy-footed way, and without provocation ; for he had not temperament enough to feel hatred or resentment and would often accept the most in- sulting speeches with meekness. Fighting seemed to be necessary to him for the growth of his mus- cles (the only thing about him which nature evi- dently intended should grow), for games and gymnastics required more mental and nervous 40 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS ability than he possessed. We broke up his bad habit eventually by loading him down with stupid, muscular work — carrying heavy furniture, run- ning up and down stairs on made-up errands, etc. But it would not do to have many such members in a club, for they would soon do away with all its intellectual features. Love of fighting and brutality must never be mistaken for cruelty. The former are almost in- variably the expression of some kind of nervous or physical energy, while the latter, in normal natures, is merely the result of undeveloped sym- pathy, unconsciousness of the existence and nature of pain or curiosity.^ Only abnormal or degen- erate people practise cruelty because they derive pleasure from the spectacle of suffering. Without a qualm perfectly normal children will often practise barbarities of the vilest description. A boy I knew as a child, and who is now a kind and amiable gentleman, once caught a hapless rat which he covered with oil and then set free — in flames. To the rest of us this act appeared so revolting that for a week we refused to speak to the boy, and yet we ourselves did things almost as 1 " The cruel treatment of insects and other animals in which, particularly, young boys engage good-naturedly and with no evil intention . . . originates in the little boy's desire to obtain an insight into the inner life of the animal and to get at its spirit." — Froebel, *' Education of Man," p. 164. CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 41 cruel to animals whose personalities did not appeal to our affections. It was not cruelty in the ab- stract that revolted us, but only when applied to some creature which, from its beauty or imagined good qualities, appealed to our fancies. For in- stance, to quote again my own childish feelings on the subject, I had read stories endowing bears and mice with supernatural charms and virtues, and consequently bears and mice appeared to me to be worthy of all kindness. Roosters and snakes, on the other hand, had had no attractive romances woven about them in those days, and their per- sonalities were disagreeable to me. Consequently, I never hesitated to tease or hurt them. Even now, I confess that my sympathy for an animal or a person depends largely upon whether it appears to me attractive and lovable. Until I had read of old Kaa and his hunting, common decency to snakes was more a matter of fear than favor on my part. As no one that I know of has as yet undertaken the apotheosis of the rooster I will refrain from saying what are still my sentiments in regard to this animal. Weakness per se does not inspire feelings of gal- lantry even in the best of children. Our savage forefathers allowed the physical weaklings among them to die for want of attention or from hard treatment; and thus only the vigorous survived 42 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNIIVG CLUBS to become the progenitors of the race. With children this rude plan is still operative in deter- mining what mental and moral characteristics shall survive. It is not necessarily a love of hurting or a pas- sion of hatred that makes the older boys kick and cuff the little brother who wants to " tag " into submission to their orders to " stay behind." There is an element of rude justice in the seemingly cruel act. The little boy has no right to interfere with the big boys' doings. He probably has (his mother should certainly provide him with) oppor- tunities for gaining his own friends and legitimate pleasures without bothering people who naturally do not want him. If he were once taken on an excursion v/ith the older boys he would never again leave them in peace until they took him again and spoiled their own pleasure, or — kicked him into silence and a consciousness of his own proper status in the world. I have known boys who would sacrifice everything for a baby placed in their care whom they felt was really helpless and had a right to their protection, or who would run their legs off to wait on an aged person, who would act like fiends to some one they felt ought to have been able to take care of himself, but who tried to sponge upon them and to interfere unjustly with their pleasure. In this barbarous way chil- CRIMIMAL ACTS IN CHILDREN- 43 dren effectively insure the survival of the lusty- virtues of independence and self-reliance. Meekness is extolled as a virtue by the Bible, but there seems to be a deep aversion to this char- acteristic instinctive in the human race. I have never yet seen meek children or grown persons who were not overloaded with work and abuse, and who had not, per contra, stimulated arrogance, injustice and aggressiveness in their associates. Now, while a child who is cruel in any way should be reproved, and should have its sense of pity and sympathy developed, the little tag- ging brother should be taught to keep his place, and the meek companion should be stimulated to exhibit greater self-respect and assertiveness. Sympathy must first be developed in the concrete and then in the abstract. A normal child, no matter how cruel it may seem to be, will respond readily to an appeal to its sense of pity. It may be some time before it learns the principles of kindness and gentleness to all creatures, but it will easily learn to be kind and gentle in particular instances. Unlike stealing, vandalism and fighting, gam- bling is not a spontaneous and natural expres- sion of a boy's energy. Some one must show him how to gamble, and then a normally consti- tuted boy will only indulge in it if he has no other means of amusing himself. Nearly all the 44 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS boys in my Tenth Ward clubs had been " crap shooters " when no better opportunity for pleasure offered, but they readily gave up this and other fascinating gambling games in the hope of be- coming eligible as members of some club. (Club constitutions always provide that gamblers are not to be admitted.) If they were elected at last, the affairs of the club afforded them so much to talk about and do, that they seldom had time to revert to their old bad habits. I do not think a child ever has a conscience about gambling or an instinct that it is wrong. He may, therefore, with perfect innocence, acquire a habit which will prove his ruin in after life. The charm of gambling is very insidious ; the more one does it the more one wants to do it. The important thing, therefore, is to keep boys so occupied with other things that they will not have time to gamble sufficiently often to fall under its spell. In addition to this they should learn principles against it. I always tried to explain to my club boys how essentially dishonest gam- bling is — how, when they win from their oppo- nents, they take money which they have in no sense earned, and for which they give no fair equivalent ; — how their gain can never be any- thing but another's loss ; — how in losing they often have to part with a sum disproportionate CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 45 to the amount of pleasure received in the game ; — how the habit associates them with idle, even low, company;" — how gambling can become a passion so absorbing that all other interests in life are forgotten ; — how gambling debts lead one into the temptation to steal. Practically all children lie. Sometimes they do it through fear, sometimes to gain an advantage, and sometimes because they scarcely know the difference between truth and mendacity. Normal children know that untruthfulness is wrong, but the benefit to themselves of a lie is often so immediate and apparent, and the harm to other people so remote and problematical, that they never hesitate to tell one when occasion requires it. The most forceful argument against lying is that no one trusts a liar. The cowardli- ness of telling an untruth, too, should be empha- sized, and a general hatred and horror of the practice inculcated. (See page 106.) Children in their ordinary games and occupa- tions have no opportunity to bribe or to be bribed. In the club, however, the brightest boys nearly always discover that the distribution of pennies and promises before an election is an effective way to get a coveted office. Undeveloped perception of right and wrong usually accounts for this form of criminal behavior. (See page 140.) 46 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS Too often boys are judged to be criminal be- cause they break some arbitrary law or ordinance made by their parents or town. A boy with the blood of explorers in his veins is forbidden to go outside his own gate, and when he is found a mile from home his mother feels her child is on the road to ruin. The frequently discussed cur- few ordinance is one which the child's best nature and the circumstances of his life make impossible to obey.^ And yet, if this ordinance were to be enacted, hundreds of boys would, by their subse- quent arrest, be branded as lawbreakers, with the result that either the boys would lose respect for themselves or for their laws. Some readers may think that I have not drawn a sufficiently grim and horrible picture of juvenile crime. " Why ! " they will say, " we did just these things when we were children, and yet we have turned out all right." Perhaps you have turned out all right, but would you have done so if you had been tempted to do wrong day after day ; if you had not had the constant care and advice of wise parents, the advantage of an excellent edu- cation, and chances to amuse yourself in a thou- sand legitimate and elevating ways .-' If you or I ruined the tomatoes of some poor farmer, the only ^ See North American Review for March, 1897, "Some Objec- tions to a Children's Curfew," by Winifred Buck. CRIMINAL ACTS IN CHILDREN 47 risk we ran was of involving our fathers in a bill for damages. If a boy in the Tenth Ward steals some little thing in a spirit of adventure, he is lia- ble to arrest (which is in itself demoralizing) and then to be sent to an institution where he will have to associate with many abnormal and degraded boys, and where the training he gets may not be very scientific or improving.^ The circumstances of your life should strengthen and develop you ; the circumstances in the lives of the most normal children in the slums often tend only to degrade them. The club can do much, as will be seen later, to break up the dangerous, criminal habits of normal children, but it is in the line of developing positive virtues that the club excels. A word or two may be all that is needed to break a boy of the practice of stealing or lying, but it will take years of talk to make him acquire the habit of doing wise and kind things for others whenever he gets the chance. In the chapters which follow it will be plain what special kinds of goodness and wisdom are devel- oped by the experiences of the club. 1 New York has now a " Children's Court," where a special judge is detailed to try the cases of arrested boys and girls. If the cir- cumstances seem to warrant it, these children are released on pro- bation ; that is, as long as they behave themselves they are free, but as soon as they are found to be guilty of breaking some law, they are instantly committed to some reformatory institution. CHAPTER III PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS FOR A CLUB. MEET- ING-PLACE. EQUIPMENT The first step taken by a young man or woman who intends to organize a Boys' Self-governing Club will be to obtain a room in which to hold meetings. In the largest cities there are many social settlements where one may find accommoda- tions for the use of which a merely nominal sura will be asked ; but in smaller towns and country villages, the difficulty of securing a proper room is a serious damper on the enthusiasm of the prospective club adviser whose means are not unlimited. In New York City, not only do the " settle- ments " harbor a large number of clubs, but, within the last five years, many of the public schools do this also. Last winter (1901-1902) the indoor playgrounds of twelve public schools were kept open every week-day evening for games and gymnastics, while two class-rooms in each school were free for the " business meetings " of the 48 PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS 49 clubs. The New York school board was one of the first (if not the first) to recognize in this prac- tical way the self-educating force of these juvenile organizations. But, since the plan of using the schools for this purpose has now been proved to be perfectly feasible and very successful, even in the roughest and poorest city wards, I cannot see why the smaller cities and towns all over the country could not be persuaded to follow the good example set by New York. Mr. Jacob A. Riis, whom New York has to thank for so many improvements, was the first person in this country to say that the public schools should be used for other purposes than those of instruction, simply, and it was owing to his efforts, and those of the Public Education Association of New York, that the laws were so amended as to give the Board of Education in this city the right to allow the school buildings to be used for " rec- reative " as well as "instructive" purposes. In 1897 six clubs were established in a public school in the famous Tenth Ward by the Association just mentioned, and for two years and a half these clubs were run at private expense. When it was proved beyond a doubt that among the children there was a great demand for such accommodations as the public schools afforded, and that the school property was not endangered by the presence of 50 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the clubs, the Board of Education readily under- took the expense and responsibility of continuing (on a much larger scale) the work which had been unofficially inaugurated. And so, in almost any town or city, an object-lesson proving the feasibility of the plan would have to be furnished first by pri- vate effort. A school board is not in office to try experiments at the expense of the taxpayers ; but unless this body is extremely conservative it would not refuse to adopt a new educational scheme whose success had been already demonstrated. The idea that the social as well as educational life of a neighborhood should have its focus in the public school, is one that is growing in favor in the largest cities ; and while the church is still the centre of the best activities in country districts, there is enough work that ought yet to be done for rural populations to tax to their utmost capacity both churches and public schools. In speaking of churches the idea naturally sug- gests itself that the Sunday-school room might be loaned for clubs on those afternoons and evenings when it was not the scene of regular parochial activities. Many complications would be sure to arise, however, as soon as a club came under church jurisdiction. There are clergymen who would insist that religious exercises be given a place on the club's programme, or that members PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS 51 should be limited to church attendants ; while to obey either of these rules would be to change the pecuHar, democratic character of the club. Then, too, it must be confessed that there are boys — excellent boys, full of energy, affection and intelli- gence — who would feel (to use the term they would employ) that it " queered " a club to meet in a Sunday-school room. On the ground of economy, however, such a room is so desirable that it would be well worth while to make some arrangement by which you (and "you " I address here and hereafter as a future club adviser) may be given liberty in the Sunday-school room to run your club on club principles and without undue interference. Failing a room in a settlement, a public school or a Sunday-school, there remains nothing for you to do but resort to the costly expedient of renting one in a private house or office build- ing. If you are obliged to do this, there is no special precaution to be taken in making your selection beyond exercising the obviously necessary care in choosing a house whose inhabitants are of respectable character. On general principles, the larger the room you can afford to get the better it will be for your club; but a room of any size whatsoever will, after a fashion, answer the purpose. 52 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS At last, undoubtedly, from among all these pos- sibilities you will be able to choose a meeting- place which suits you. If it is in a settlement or parish house, you will not be required to prepare it in any way for your occupancy ; but if it is in a public school, or a rented room, the question of its suitable equipment will yet remain for you to decide — that is, indeed, if it is to be furnished at all in the beginning. I feel, and rather strongly so, that it is better to organize the club in an empty room and to let the members buy or make, little by little, what decorations and furniture and games they may need, than to start at once with unsuggestive perfection of appointment. How- ever, much may be said in favor of both plans. A beautiful room which is filled with games and gymnastic apparatuses sure to have a tremendous attraction for boys whose circumstances in life do not afford much that is either beautiful or amus- ing. By simply opening the doors of such a room and welcoming in the "street" you can gather together the material for your club with little exertion on your part. And when your club is organized the pictures which you will have placed upon the walls commence at once to exert a refining influence, while the parallel bars and the games will perform their usual service in develop- ing muscles and character. PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS 53 But, as I have said already in Chapter I, when completion is once attained the child loses his interest or expresses it in destruction. I have frequently observed, too, that a lawless set of boys, turned loose in a room for the furnishing of which they have made no sacrifices, are far more ready to smash things than when they feel a proprietary interest in games and tables. It is a well-known fact that a boy must have owned things which he has earned or made for himself, to be able fully to respect the ownership of other people. I once visited a club in New York where the principle of allowing the boys to furnish their own room had been carried out to the fullest extent. This club had been organized by a Miss H., a young Southern woman. She had rented a small, dilapidated room in the basement of one of the so- called Italian quarters. As she had barely money enough to pay the rent, it was impossible for her to buy even tables or chairs. Nevertheless, and solely through the force of a very charming per- sonahty, she had gathered about her some twenty of the toughest-looking street arabs that could be found in the neighborhood. These boys she had in some way inspired with an idea of loyalty and devotion to the organization they were about to form, and their one thought was to fit up their club- room in worthy style. Their energy was first 54 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS bestowed upon its very dirty floors and windows which, with borrowed soap and brushes, they vigorously scrubbed. Next, they set to work to make furniture. All the shops in the neighbor- hood were visited, and nails, old boards and boxes were begged from their owners. Half a dozen benches and a table were ingeniously fashioned out of this material. Then — a great event in the club's history — two dozen beautiful, bright red kindergarten chairs were presented to it. These chairs were rather small, it is true, for boys of fourteen ; but they were considered so ornamental that the members were stimulated to fresh efforts. One boy, after having disappeared for a week, returned with a hanging book-case which he had very cleverly constructed with wire and the sides of wooden boxes. These shelves were at once suspended upon the wall, where their emptiness was a continual reminder of their need for books. The ornamentation of the walls was not being neglected because of more imperative needs. Bright-colored pictures from the Sunday papers were collected in great numbers. Miss H. in- sisted that the boys should exercise some selection before pinning up all these artistic contributions. This picture, she pointed out, was vulgar in sub- ject while that was badly drawn, as could be easily seen. The dormant critical faculty of the boys PRELIMINARY. ARRANGEMENTS 55 was at once awakened, and after that all pictures were subjected to such severe criticism (usually expressed physically by the critics) that few re- mained in sufficiently good shape to appear upon the walls. Indeed, for a time, so fierce was the feeling between donors of colored supplements and the artistic reformers that it seemed as if few of the members themselves could survive the terrible experiences resulting from generosity on the one hand and criticism on the other. How- ever, all differences of opinion ceased when a friend from " up-town " presented to the club three framed pictures, — one a colored lithograph of a lion, another of some red roses, and the third a colored photograph of a river with the boughs of soft green trees overhanging its banks. Perhaps you will think that even these pictures were not very " high art." That is quite true. But they had the merit of being unpretentious in subject, well drawn, extremely decorative just as bits of color, and technically good specimens of two different processes of reproduction. It is quite as important to gratify a child's taste for color as it is to develop higher artistic perception, and it is impossible to buy reproductions of the greatest art (even if it were not sacrilege to do so) in color. In a school I should feel that the problem was quite different from that presented in a club. 56 BOrS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS Education in school is largely receptive and not expressive. There, I should advocate hanging photographs of the best paintings only, so that the child might always have before him the highest standard. This is bound to influence not only his artistic taste but his perception of truth, although he will be quite unconscious that this influence (which is from the outside) is at work upon him. In a club the child is supposed to be developing a conscious critical faculty through expressing himself in a process of selection and elimination. He may like, but he cannot at first understand, the highest art, and the aim of the club is to make him understand. He must work up through the cruder and more elementary sub- jects and processes to the highest, just as he will have to work his way in the club through from the simplest concepts of law and morality to an understanding of the complicated systems which are necessary to insure happiness and justice to-day. And in art, as in government and moral- ity, the club boy will learn to know the best and most profound through " experiencing " it. In a recent address. Dr. Lyman Abbott said something to the effect that it was better for the people to read anything, however worthless, than nothing. This is true because the appetite for read- ing is never satisfied — it grows with indulgence ; PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS 57 and it is no less true that the normal human being continually demands something higher and better ; the main thing is to start him off on the ascent. An interest in a bad picture or a vulgar newspaper is better, as Dr. Abbott said, than no interest in any kind of art or literature; for at least the interest in inferior things may be made the first step in an ascent to better taste, while lack of interest leads to no development at all. With pic- tures or newspapers (and later on with law-making and morality) let the child simply express his natural, uncultivated predilections, no matter how much they may shock your better-trained sensibil- ities. Your duty lies simply in giving him the opportunity to choose something better from time to time and in explaining why it is better. But to return to our little Italian club. The artistic standard of every member rose about three degrees immediately upon the receipt of the framed, colored pictures, and such of the news- paper cuts as still existed, after the many battles which had raged around them, were torn down, while a movement was started to save the con- tents of the club's treasury to buy more pictures like the much-appreciated gift. I doubt whether the new pictures were ever bought, however, for by that time the club was saving the modest three-cent dues of the members to help pay 58 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the rent, to go on an outing to the park, to pur- chase a foot-ball for the outing, and also to buy, I do not remember how many, other objects with which to improve the comfort and appearance of their room. One can easily see what a stimulus to worthy efforts of many kinds this empty room had proved to be. Of course, a great deal more trouble and responsibility were thrown upon Miss H. than would have been the case had she started with complete equipment. In the latter event it would have been necessary for her only to let each boy amuse himself with a game and turn him out if he became disorderly. But, although her nerves might have been spared by pursuing such a policy, the boys would have missed a very great opportu- nity for development. When a club is running in a small room where there are only a limited number of members (say ten or fifteen), there is no question in my mind that it is best to let the boys themselves make or buy the equipment. It is for this reason that a small, privately rented room possesses a unique advantage over a school or settlement. Rooms in a settlement would be furnished before you occupied them. In a schoolhouse the rooms would be so vast in size and the boys so numer- ous and so nearly strangers to you, that to try PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS 59 the scheme adopted in the Italian club would be quite impracticable. But, whether you let the boys themselves buy or gradually make the necessary outfit, or whether you buy it yourself complete at the outset, there is in both cases an ideal toward which you will work. For the benefit of the wholly inexperi- enced I will enumerate the most useful things and those which will serve to make the room amusing and instructive. For chairs, those which fold (with wood, not canvas, seats) are most convenient, for when not in use they occupy little space. There should be one chair for each member in regular attendance, and two or three extra ones for visitors. The tables should be small, — about two and a half feet square, — and there should be four of them for a club of twenty boys. It is important to have some kind of a lock box, closet or cupboard in which to keep games. In a large room where basket-ball or foot-ball is played, glass-covered pictures had better be omitted, for they are sure to be damaged. Active or violent games and gymnastic exercises will be better in all respects for your boys than quiet games ; for, in the poorer quarters of the city (where a club is most likely to be established) the lack of opportunity for physical exercise is 6o BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS accountable for much of the brutality and mis- chief, as well as the unhealthiness, of growing boys. Violent games, however, such as foot-ball, hockey, etc., require much more space than is likely to be afforded by a privately rented room. In a small room (say fifteen feet square) the following games, which are classified as " active " in contradistinction to "violent" games, may be played with perfect facility : ring-toss, shuffle- board, grace-hoops, battledore and shuttlecock, all shooting-at-the-mark games, ping-pong (which requires a large table) and pillow-dex. Boxing and tether ball might certainly be called violent games, but, nevertheless, they can be played in a room fifteen feet square. There are many pieces of gymnastic apparatus which can be used in a small room, although they should not be allowed to occupy so much of the floor that there will be no space, even when they are pushed to the wall, for the paraphernalia of the business meeting — viz., chairs for the members and a table for the officers. The interest in gymnastic exercises can be greatly increased by systematic instruction, but unless you wish to change your free, self-governing club into a class, with all the necessary arbitrary discipline of a class, no systematic instruction in anything should be given. The boys should be PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS 6z encouraged to take lessons outside, however, so as to fit themselves to enjoy and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the club. Here is a list of the small gymnastic pieces which stand upon the floor or which are attached to the wall, and which are suitable for the small room just described : vaulting-horse, vaulting- buck, horizontal and vaulting bar, parallel bars, teeter ladder, hitch and kick standards, leaping boards, bouncing boards, single-scull rowing ma- chine, jumping standards, balance-beams and punching-bags. There is also a great variety of wall attachments for the development of the chest, wrist, foot and other parts of the body, but an inexpensive Whitely exerciser answers the purpose for a club quite well enough. Mattresses should, of course, be placed near most of these pieces for safety in case of falls. Now, even when they meet in a large room, a certain number of boys always like quiet table games. Of games of this class the following were popular in my clubs : chess and authors, for Hebrew boys of fourteen and over ; checkers, backgammon, old maid, halma, dominoes, croki- nole, conette and anagrams, for boys over ten ; and dissected maps, messenger boy, fish-pond and colored pencils, for boys of ten and under. Violent games (hockey, basket-ball, foot-ball or 62 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS base-ball), which, as I have said, cannot be played in any but the largest rooms, are by far the best for mind, muscle and character. The indoor playground of a public school, which will not be less than forty feet long, is the ideal place for such games in winter. By arranging your games and gymnastic apparatus in the following way, thirty big boys may be kept intelHgently interested and occupied in a room 45 x 25 feet in size. First, I would set up at the ends of the room the bas- kets for basket-ball. In this game, if the boys are not more than ten years old, one more than the regular five to a side may perfectly well be added ; for by so doing the pleasures and benefits of the game will not be curtailed, while two more boys will have the opportunity to enjoy them. Foot-ball (Rugby) may be played quite as well as basket-ball in the middle of a large playground, although some of the finer points of the game are necessarily lost in the comparatively limited space of any room. Base-ball, too, may be played here, although it naturally requires some modification. By substituting an ordinary soft tennis-ball for the usual hard base-ball, this game can be played with perfect safety for heads and windows. Hockey is also an excellent game for the middle of a large playground ; but, like base-ball, it should be played with a soft ball. PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS 63 In one corner of this large playground (in the centre of which some violent game is playing) I would hang a punching-bag, and would fasten upon the wall, a little to one side of the punching- bag and out of its way, chest weights or a Whitely exerciser. In another corner may stand a vaulting- buck, or low parallel bars ; while in each of the two remaining corners may be placed tables and five or six chairs for quiet table games. These corner occupations will not disturb at all the game which is going on in the central and largest part of the room ; while in the corners themselves the boys will only occasionally be interrupted by the arrival in their midst of a misdirected ball. The class-rooms above the playground (always supposing that you are meeting in a school- house) are not adapted for any purpose but that of the business meeting. Such class-rooms will, of course, need no furniture, unless you can afford to hang pictures which will meet with the approval of the school principal. And now, in conclusion, I can only say that no one should be discouraged by the apparently large outlay of money which he will be required to make (eventually if not at first), so to equip his club-room that his boys may enjoy every ad- vantage. I have said there was an ideal of club equipment toward which one always worked. To 64 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS realize this ideal at once would indeed be ex- pensive, but to do so is not at all necessary. Children are not materialists. Their power of make-believe is so tremendously developed that merely the semblance or symbol of the thing desired suffices. Last winter I witnessed a game of foot-ball where the ball consisted of brown paper rolled into the shape of a foot-ball and tied together with twine. It was as fiercely contested and as happy a game (as long as the ball lasted) as I have ever seen. The real drain in club work comes, not upon your purse, but upon your sym- pathies and judgment. But of that more later. Now that we have decided upon the proper equipment for club-rooms of different kinds, let us discuss the various means of getting together the boys who are to enjoy these privileges. CHAPTER IV STARTING THE CLUB. GETTING THE BOYS. FIRST STEPS TOWARD ORGANIZATION There are several ways of gathering together the boys for your prospective club. If you are going to rent a small room in an ordinary house, you will have to attract the boys yourself, and win their confidence, one by one. Miss H. started her club through her acquaintance with the office boy of the firm for which she worked. Through him she soon met twenty of his friends, with all of whom she finally became on more or less inti- mate terms. But, even if one is not in this way thrown naturally into social relations with the right kind of boy, there are plenty of other chances for starting such an acquaintance. Parks and play- grounds, and even the streets, abound in op- portunities for making juvenile friends. Some years ago I became much interested in a little fellow who begged for pennies on Madison Avenue. I never gave him money, but the demand for it served as an introduction. After that, although he found that the pennies were F 65 66 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS not forthcoming, he seemed to enjoy my com- panionship. I made no effort to ingratiate my- self beyond asking questions and laughing at his jokes; but his was a genial soul, and that very mild degree of sympathy appeared to satisfy him ; and as, that winter, our beats lay for a short distance up the avenue together, we daily and gladly bore each other company on the way. I have since wished that I had had at the time some social opportunity to offer him — some club-room in that part of town to which I could have invited him to come in the evenings with his friends. I am sure he would have ac- cepted such an invitation eagerly. There is something very pathetic about the so easily bestowed confidence of the average street boy. He places himself entirely at the mercy of the most casual acquaintance who is kind to him, and the grown person who tries can mould into any form — good or bad — his pliable character. If it is necessary, then, it will be only too easy for most of you to win the boys for your club, un- less, like most Anglo-Saxons, you make the mistake of supposing that a friendless street arab wishes his reserve respected, as you would have your own, by the stranger. But this personal gathering in of boys is only necessary if you are going to run a club independently of any institution, as in a room STARTING THE CLUB 6/ hired by yourself for the purpose. If your club is to meet in a settlement, the head worker will get you all the boys you need through the library, penny bank, or by other means. In the Uni- versity Settlement of New York, clubs were started thirteen years ago, and they are now so much the fashion in the neighborhood that the boys organize themselves and then apply for a room and an " adviser." A club of boys, all of whom are totally unacquainted with club usages, is not common to find in that part of New York. New clubs there now start into existence through a division or rupture in some old organization. The boys who leave the parent body will naturally have experience, and will have learned the club traditions of the neighborhood. The inexperienced boys whom they draw to them come in so slowly that they are easily assimilated. This makes the work of an adviser very simple, for he has merely to act as a guide to a machine which has acquired full velocity, — an easier task than to generate activity in a hitherto inanimate body. In the neighborhood of a recently established settlement there will be no such demand as this for clubs, but any head worker can furnish you with untrained human material ; and you, as the iirst club adviser in the locality, will have the satisfaction of feeling that it will be your stand- 68 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS ards and ideals, as you express them in this first club, which will become the standards and ideals of the many clubs which, growing directly out of your work by the process of division described above, will eventually exist in the district. If you are so fortunate as to get permission to use a public school building for clubs, an an- nouncement made by the teachers at the morn- ing session, that the playgrounds are to be opened that evening, will assemble for you an appalling crowd. Indeed, your only difficulty will be to limit the number of boys who want to get in. This plan was recently tried on Staten Island, a semi-rural district, where such a thing as a club had never been heard of. As a result of what was said by the principal on the subject (in one school only) two hundred boys appeared on the scene the opening night. As these boys were wholly untrained in club ways, and, moreover, the games provided were few and the club ad- visers were limited in numbers and experience, it was found necessary to eliminate temporarily the least promising of the boys. Tickets (about seventy-five in number) ^ were therefore issued, and only the bearers of these were admitted at 1 Fifty boys are quite enough to begin with, unless you have a great many assistants or do not care for an intimate acquaintance with the boys. STARTING THE CLUB 69 the next meeting. A majority of the 125 boys who received no tickets appeared on club nights just -the same, however, and remained outside (al- though it was then the heart of winter) to watch the games through the windows. When the difficulties (which are not very great after all) of populating your club-rooms are dis- posed of, and your crowd of boys has jostled its way into the schoolhouse, or your little circle of fifteen or twenty has gathered happily in your own room or the settlement, the first thing to do, natu- rally, is to see that the means of entertaining them which you have provided are sufficient and suit- able. I have already described what seems to me the proper equipment of a room, but every adviser will have to prove its fitness through his own ex- perience. At this first meeting notes may be taken of whatever changes or additions may be needed, so that at the second no unnecessary trouble may be caused by idle boys. I must repeat that games and gymnastics (and eventually the busi- ness meeting) are the only kind of amusements * which are appropriate to an organization whose object is social development. Lectures, concerts or entertainments cannot be considered here, for, however admirable these may be, they belong to a different department of education, and one about which I am not entitled to write. yo BOYS' SELF-GOVERmN-Q CLUBS Before you attempt to interest your children in any more complicated system of educational play than games and gymnastics — that is, before you try to organize them into clubs — you should be- come well acquainted with the names, faces, and characters of all the boys. I cannot too strongly emphasize the importance of a fair degree of in- timacy with your young charges just at this critical stage in your experiment. An experience I had last winter will effectively illustrate my meaning. It was at the public school on Staten Island, which has already been referred to. I had gathered together from among a large crowd in the play- ground a group of about fifteen boys averaging fourteen years of age, and had taken them up to a class-room for the purpose of organizing them into a club. I did not know the faces of half a dozen, and of the names and characters of all I was totally ignorant. The first part of the proceedings inter- ested these youths fairly well, but they were a jovial, thoughtless sort of crowd, and they soon became very hilarious over the parliamentary rules which I tried to explain to them. From simple hilarity they soon resorted to ink-bottle throwing. When it came to that I arose as majestically as possible and told them they had forfeited all right to remain in the schoolhouse by their attempts to destroy school property, etc., and that they should STARTING THE CLUB 7 1 leave the building instantly. As, before I spoke, the boys had been in hysterics of excitement and amuseinent, I had no idea they would obey me. They did, however, and with sudden meekness and dejection left the class-room and descended to the playground on the floor below. On the stairs I had a sudden and terrible thought. / could not remember more than four or five faces of the tiventy boys I had dismissed ! In the playground they would mingle at once with the other boys who were playing there, and I should be unable to say who were and who were not the culprits. The same thought evidently struck the boys at this moment, for, with suddenly recovered spirits, they rushed in among the game players, where, of course, they were safe. I could only laugh and admit that they had got the better of me. The few boys whose faces I knew went home. After that we had no more ink-bottle throwing, but my moral influence was seriously impaired. I am very sure that I could never again have commanded instant obedience if it had been necessary to order a club to leave a class-room. So do not be in a hurry to start the technical organization of the clubs. Every boy whose affection you win in the game hour will help to facilitate the difficult work of systematically organizing the clubs. Then, too, as I shall try to explain in a later chapter, in 72 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the game hour the boys may acquire the habit of looking at things from an ethical point of view which will make more intelligible to them much that you will have to explain to them later on. By the end of a month or two, let us say, you will know all the faces of your boys, a few of their names, and the more striking individualities among them. But, no matter how well you may know them, fifty boys whirling through the playground in the pursuit of a foot-ball do not constitute a self-gov- erning club ; nor does a little circle of boy friends happily entertained by you in your own room ; but the necessary elements of several clubs may be found in these assemblages. In the course of time you will learn that almost any crowd of boys is divided naturally into groups of from ten to fifteen, who are thus drawn together by community of in- terests and similarity of age. Among the fifty or more boys in the school playground, for instance, several such groups will probably exist. On the street they will be known as gangs if they do not behave with great decorum. Everybody has heard of gangs. Bad as they undoubtedly are, they are primarily only the ex- pression of a thoroughly healthy social instinct, — an instinct which, if properly guided, may be- come one of the best forces in a boy's life. The STARTING THE CLUB 73 effects of social organization per se upon the individual are always very marked. If colorless, insipid people band themselves together for legiti- mate purposes and are helped by wise advice, moral and intellectual qualities will be developed in them whose existence would have lain forever dormant in isolation. Obversely, if fairly intelli- gent and harmless boys organize, as in a gang, upon wrong principles, and come only under vicious influences, they will all become of worse character than any one of them could have be- come alone. The club, then, tries to take advantage of instincts which, if neglected, become a source of positive danger, but which, if wisely guided, be- come a force for right living. Each one of the gangs or groups in your playground will become the nucleus of a self-governing club. Neither force nor persuasion will be needed to start the formation of these gangs or groups. It will only be necessary to follow the lead given by the boys themselves. And now, you may ask, how are you to recog- nize one of these " gangs " in the midst of a possibly howling mob in a playground .-' It is true that your task will not be easy, for at first you will be conscious of nothing but the crowd. But, after the faces have become famihar to }'ou. 74 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS and you are able to connect them with certain names, and a few of the boys have even begun to assume individuahty — their characteristics dis- tinguishing them in some manner from their fellows — you will notice that in each game of hockey or foot-ball the same set of boys seems to appear again and again. Perhaps while one of these games is in progress your attention will be attracted by some lonely figure standing apart and wistfully eying the game. If you want to find out whether the game players constitute a gang or not, suggest to them that they make a place for the stranger. If these boys are them- selves free lances they will acquiesce ; but, if they are bound together by the slightest ties of organi- zation they will frown upon the idea of so easily admitting an outsider to their ranks. In another way, too, you can discover the ex- istence of an organization. Keep your eye on the masterful boys and notice who are their followers. There is no overlooking these leaders. If not of a stronger or finer individuality, they have at least more highly colored characteristics (so to speak), which makes your discovery of them as leaders almost coincident with your first sight of them. These boys may be heard bossing every game and assigning all positions, and it is to them that you appeal when confusion and noise prevent you STARTING THE CLUB 75 from giving some necessary order or explanation. They, in some mysterious fashion, can always command attention to their orders. Make friends with these leaders as soon as possible, and win their confidence and respect, for, when the mo- ment arrives in which you wish to start the formal organization of your gangs and groups into clubs, it will be important to have these active characters on your side. The boys, then, of congenial temperament, if not already banded together as a gang, will, never- theless, drift together for the purpose of playing games in your playground. For several weeks after you have become thoroughly acquainted with your boys your efforts should be devoted to strengthening the organization of these game groups. Each of them should have its regular hour for playing certain games. For instance, one group can be allowed to play basket-ball from eight to eight-thirty ; another set from eight- thirty to nine, and so on; while the use of the quieter games can be more or less systematized also. This strict use of time is not for the sake of arbitrary discipline, but to strengthen the idea of unity in the groups, and also to teach the boys that the privileges of the playground must be divided equally and without favor. Each boy should take and keep a certain position in these 76 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS games, and a spirit of friendly rivalry should be encouraged between the game groups, — in the playing of match games, for instance, — which will help to develop an esprit de corps. At last, after several weeks certainly, perhaps after months, you will judge that the critical mo- ment has come for taking the first steps toward making your group or gang a club. Let us say that you have opened a public school on Wednes- day evenings, and that you have gathered about fifty attendants. You have a couple of large in- door playgrounds, in which active games may be played, while in the corners of both rooms are gymnastic apparatus and tables for quiet games. Three friends of about your own age have volun- teered to help you, and they are now engaged in supervising the various games which are in prog- ress in the playground. A class-room upstairs is lighted and ready for your first club-meeting. Which one of all the gangs or game groups will you choose for your experiment in club- making .-* Perhaps your whole future success as a club adviser will depend upon this choice. Since the opening of the school your attention has been attracted most by one particular group. The boys in this (their ages will range from twelve to fourteen) have evinced unusually keen interest in the games you have showed STARTING THE CLUB y-/ them, and they appear to be more intimate with one another — more homogeneous — than the boys of any other group. There are among them, too, one or two boys of strong character, whose influence over their companions for good or bad you feel would be very potent. This group has been known by the district in which most of its members live — the Stanton Street Gang, let us say. While none of these boys are of really ingrained criminal character, many of them have, nevertheless, acquired criminal habits, such as occasional petty thefts, raids on unpopular characters in the neighborhood, and frequent out- breaks of temper which result in more or less bloody fights. Their chief virtue at present is their keenness. See how intensely they care who wins the game or who becomes captain of the team. See how absorbed they are in their game. They have played an hour already, a careful game, paying strict attention to complicated rules, new to most of them, and yet they can still con- centrate their minds upon it and howl with rage and disappointment when you call them off to give the others a chance. Such are the characteristics of the boys you wisely choose to initiate into the mysteries of the first club. Do not make the mistake of choosing the most amiable and colorless boys. Beware of y8 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the boys who, after five minutes of a game, throw- ball or checkers around the room ; who giggle incessantly and causelessly ; and who have so few and such lukewarm opinions that they never in- dulge in angry words or fisticuffs. Such boys are usually lacking in both heart and intellect. Choose always the group which has the most pronounced characteristics, the most ardent passions, even if they seem to you to be bad ones, for with such temperaments you will be likely to find active minds and strong affections, and without both of these characteristics in its members a self-gov- erning club could not, as such, exist. When you have at last made your choice of groups — the Stanton Street Gang it is, I believe — you call aside the leader, Mosey Fidelsky, and tell him to bring his crowd upstairs. If you have spoken the right words and dropped the right hints during the last three or four weeks, the boys will have been longing for this moment, and, filled with curiosity, they will leave their games unfinished and will hurry up to the class-room. The boys of the Stanton Street Gang are always ready for new ideas and experiences, and now, filled with eager anticipation, they take their seats, turning round eyes and eager faces toward you. Mosey, feeling a sense of responsibility for the behavior of his sateUites, places himself near the front where he STARTING THE CLUB 79 can turn and give them a masterful scowl if they show signs of disgracing the occasion. Mosey is your friend by this time. At least, I hope he is, for your lot will be a hard one if he is not. From your place at the desk you now rap for attention and then make something like the fol- lowing little speech : — " In the United States every sane man of twenty-one, who is unconvicted of crime, has the great privilege of voting for the officers who shall administer the affairs of the nation. The hum- blest citizen thus takes part in the government of a country of seventy-live million inhabitants. By his vote this citizen may bring war upon his coun- try or, in a city, may put in office men who will steal the public money or who will give the people bad schools and dirty streets. No one, untrained and unprepared, can safely be intrusted with such a power. Now, to train boys to become wise and careful voters, this club is organized ; for while a club's government may seem very small and unim- portant compared to the government of a nation, it is run on the same principles as that of a great republic, and, consequently, the lessons learned in the club will help the boys to become wiser voters when their ballots count in deciding great national or municipal issues." Then you may ask them if they know what is 8o BOYS' SELF-GOVERmNG CLUBS the difference between a monarchy and a republic. Although they may make out an unnecessarily bad case for the monarchies, their understanding of the differences will probably be sufficiently correct to illuminate your point. " Now," you may continue, " a club may be like a monarchy or it may be like a republic. If a club allows some strong boy or man to come in and become a boss whom all obey out of weakness, laziness, or for gain, then a club is like a monarchy, and its members will never fit themselves to become intelligent citizens of a republic where every man can have his say about the government." This more picturesque than accurate descrip- tion of a monarchy will probably incite a frantic demand for an elected leader, and this will mark the first step in advance taken by the Stanton Street Gang. It may well be that the elected leader will manage the club with no greater virtue or wisdom than poor Mosey Fidelsky guided his once faithful subjects through their adventures, but the gain for the boys will be in their changed point of view and their added sense of responsibility. Immediately before electing a president you must explain how the people only, in a republic or a club, are responsible for the kind of government they have. If the govern- STARTING THE CLUB 8 1 merit is bad, it is because the deciding majority are lazy, stupid, or vicious. Tlie virtuous and intelligent minority suffer, and rightly, because they have allowed their fellow-citizens to remain ignorant or bad. In a republic or a club the government is always good enough for the people who choose it. Then you must explain that while bad popular government may cause a great deal of unhappi- ness, it is better for the people than good monarchical government, because, where govern- ment is popular and mistakes are made, the peo- ple must stop and reason why things are going wrong, because the people only have the power to set things right. That makes them think, and argue, and study, which develops their minds and reasoning powers. They become self-reliant, also, for, knowing that they have all the power, and that there is no one to help them, they realize that they must stand on their own feet, and that if they make mistakes they must take the consequences bravely and blame no ore but themselves. All this applies equally to the government of a club. If you, the adviser, were to run the club as an autocrat, you may say, because of your years and vast experience in running clubs, you could undoubtedly make every one happy, and 82 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the club would appear to be very successful be- cause everything would run so smoothly. But, you say, how could the boys themselves learn wisdom by making laws if they were simply to obey blindly the laws made by their adviser ? How could they learn self-reliance and a sense of responsibiUty if they leaned and depended on their adviser instead of themselves ? By this time you will probably feel somewhat like a traitor to poor Mosey. However, he may not recognize himself as having been anything so important as the kind of boss you have been describing, and so will not know that you have been talking against him. But whether he understands or not, as a boss, he must go. The chances are that at this first election, when a strong reaction is taking place in favor of independence, repubHcs, etc.. Mosey will fail of an election by his once faithful followers. His name is called, however, when you ask for nominations for president of the club. Two other boys are also named and seconded for the office, and you then request some boy near you to escort the three candidates into the hall, where the door is closed upon them. I do not believe the boys will have much to say about the candidates. At this stage of their devel- opment they are probably not accustomed to put- ting their thoughts into words, and, indeed, these STARTING THE CLUB 83 thoughts have not run in the line of critical analysis of suitable characteristics for presidents. Then, too; they are shy, and inclined to giggle at each other's bashful efforts to make speeches. Note the embarrassment of the inexperienced orators and remember it for your encouragement a year hence when, if you manage rightly, your boys should be able to say intelligibly, if not elo- quently, all that they think and feel. And not only this, but they should think and feel a great deal more than they do now ; for pubhc speaking stimulates thoughts and convictions. By looking intensely appreciative of what each halting speaker tries to say, you will encourage him to do his best and will inspire him to do himself greater credit upon another occasion. The names of the candidates (whose ears are now undoubtedly on the keyhole) are, we may say. Mosey, Sam and Harry. These names you will ask some boy to write on a blackboard or a slip of paper. You will then ask the boys to rise as you call the name of the candidate they wish to vote for, each boy to vote in this way only once. As a result of this canvass you find that Mosey receives three votes (this is a fickle world), Harry seven and Sam six. Mosey's name is then dropped from the Hst, and his faithful adherents are told to express their preference for either Sam or Harry. 84 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS The rising vote is then called for again, with the result that Harry is elected by nine votes against seven received by Sam. The sergeant-at-arms {pro tern.) then calls in the candidates, and you announce the club's choice. It may be that the election of a president will be sufficient business for the first meeting ; but if the interest and attention of the boys do not seem to have flagged, it will be best to proceed with the election of a full complement of officers, viz., vice- president, secretary, treasurer and sergeant-at- arms. This will surely be enough for the first meeting, for you do not want to run the chance of boring the boys or of giving them too many things to think about. If all the officers are elected, however, the secretary should be in- structed to write down the occurrences of the meeting and the treasurer to make a list of the members of the club. On the following Wednesday evening at nine o'clock, let us say, you all repair again to your class-room. The newly elected president takes his place behind the desk with a funny expression on his face and in his whole bearing of pride and helplessness. The secretary will sit at his right hand and the treasurer at his left. You will be seated near enough the president to coach him in parliamentary procedure. You will have pre- STARTING THE CLUB 85 pared for him a slip of paper bearing the " order of business " for the day. (See page 190.) When the president comes to the point of ask- ing for "new business," and if none of the boys wish to speak, you must ask for the floor. This should be done with the utmost gravity, so that the boys may be impressed from the beginning with the necessity for talking only when permission is given to do so. Then you ask the company if they intend to keep the old name of Stanton Street Gang for their reorganized body. The chances are there will be a loud demand for a new name. As the boys make suggestions for the new name (which they must not do until they are given the floor each in turn) the secretary will write them down on a sHp of paper. Three or four of these suggestions will be sensible, and in voting for the favorite you can manage as you did when the president was elected, that is by voting once for each suggested name, then ehminating the one or two receiving the lowest number of votes, and finally calling for a general vote for the surviving two. The name chosen by your boys will be the " Young Citizens' Social Circle." If you analyze this name you will see that it is not so simple as it appears. The "Young Citizens" part of the title is an echo of the enthusiasm which you aroused by 86 BOVS' S ELF-GO VERiV/NG CLUBS your talk on republics, government and such things on the previous Wednesday, and the " Social Circle " is added as a loophole of escape to lighter pleasures should you keep the members too strictly to the citizen business. After this choice has been made, I am sure you will notice an added dignity and self-respect in the bearings of the members. Indeed, from this mo- ment you may consider that the "club" is fairly launched. With a name and a full complement of officers it will be ready to meet and conquer all difficulties which confront it. CHAPTER V DEVELOPMENT OF A CONSTITUTION For a little while your club will run along smoothly with no laws but those relating to its name, the number and duties of its officers and its place and hours of meeting. Of these simple laws there will be no written records beyond those which were entered in the minutes at the time the laws were passed. Soon, however, it will be found that yet other laws are required to facilitate the operation of club business. Some one asks. Why have we a treasurer and no treasury .? The question of dues is then taken up, discussed and finally settled. Another member wonders what is the reason for the club's existence. A discussion of " objects " follows. In the course of time outsiders hear of the club and desire to become members. That opens the question, — years may be required to settle it permanently, — What kinds of boys are desirable as members of the club .'* Although these laws are all duly recorded in the minutes, it involves time and trouble to find them 87 88 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS there among so many irrelevant matters. There- fore, a separate book is purchased, and everything suggesting a permanent law is entered on its pages. In order further to facilitate the quick reference to laws, they are arranged in groups and classified. Thus begins the making of a constitution. After many years of discussion and experiment the Young Potomac Club adopted the constitution which is quoted below. It has served as a model for the constitution of nearly every club on the lower East Side of New York. CONSTITUTION OF THE YOUNG POTOMAC CLUB Organized in the Neighborhood Guild (University Settlement), 26 Delancey Street, in the year 1893 Article I NAME This club shall be known as the Young Potomac Club, commemorating the services of the Army of the Potomac. Article II OBJECTS The objects of this club shall be, to promote a feeling of brotherhood among its members, to teach them the principles of honest and intelligent self-government and to encourage good citizenship among them. DEVELOPMENT OF A CONSTITUTION 89 Article III MEETINGS Meetings shall be held twice a week in the afternoon at the Guild. Article IV MEMBERS Sectmi I. There shall be two kinds of members, active and honorary. Section 2. Active membership is open to boys of good character, between the ages of twelve and fifteen, if not shorter than four and a half feet. Section 3. Active members shall be proposed on the first meeting of the month. Their characters shall then be investigated by the Investigating Committee. On the second meeting of the month this committee shall make its report, after which the candidates shall be voted for. Section 4. No boy who is reported by the Investi- gating Committee to be a gambler, thief or cigarette smoker, or who is known to be such by two members in good standing, shall be eligible for membership. Section 5. If a candidate fills the requirements men- tioned in Sections 2 and 4 of this article, a member may not vote against him unless he can give some reason which shall be deemed sufficient by the members of the club. Section 6. Members of the Order Club [a club of smaller boys which met in an adjoining room] who grad- uate in good standing, and who can bring a letter of 90 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS recommendation from their Adviser, shall be admitted as members of this club without vote or question. Section 7. There shall never be more than twenty-five active members in this club. Section 8. Honorary members may be proposed and voted for at any time after the consent of the Adviser has been privately obtained. Section 9. Three blackballs shall exclude a candidate for active or honorary membership. Article V OFFICERS Section i. The officers of this club shall be an Ad- viser, a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Sergeant-at-Arms. Section 2. The Adviser is responsible to the Guild for the success of her club, the safety of its members and of the Guild property. She therefore has the power to veto any measure passed by the club, to order an immediate adjournment or to send home any boy for the day. The Adviser controls the club's finances. No money can be spent without her author- ity. The Adviser arranges for days and hours of club session. All public entertainments given by the club must first be approved by the Adviser. Section 3. The President presides at the business meetings, and has the power to dismiss, for cause, any boy for the day. (That is, during the business meet- ing.) He appoints all committees and may dissolve the same. He must be ready to represent the club when necessary. DEVELOPMENT OF A CONSTITUTION 91 Section 4. The Vice-President presides during the absence of the President. He takes the place of that officer if he resigns or is removed. Section 5. The Secretary has charge of all the cor- respondence and reports of the club, and reads the same when called for. He writes and reads the min- utes of each meeting. Section 6. The Treasurer calls the roll, collects the dues, keeps charge of the same and sends in a monthly financial statement to the Secretary. Section 7. The Sergeant-at-Arms arranges for every- thing at the business meeting, brings up chairs for vis- itors, attends the door, carries messages for officers and members and sees that the orders of the President are executed. Section 8. All officers (excepting the Adviser) hold office for four months. On the last meeting of the fourth month new officers are nominated, and at the next meeting (the first of the following month) their names are voted upon. Section 9. The place of any officer who resigns or is removed is filled at once, but the term of the newly elected officer ends when that of his predecessor would have ended. Section 10. No one can hold office for more than two consecutive terms (this, of course, does not apply to the Adviser), or more than three terms altogether. Article VI MISDEMEANORS, ETC. Section i. Any member who steals, gambles, smokes or swears inside or outside the club is guilty of a mis- demeanor. 92 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS Section 2. Should the boy who is accused of a mis- demeanor be absent from the meeting when the charge is brought against him, he shall at once be notified, and if, at the following meeting, he neither appears in person nor sends a satisfactory excuse, the trial shall proceed without him. Section 3. No charge against a boy shall be consid- ered unless two members in good standing can testify to having seen the accused committing the misdemeanor with which he is charged. A confession from the ac- cused shall be equivalent to the testimony of two witnesses. Section 4. If an officer appears to fail in the perform- ance of his duties, any member may make a motion to remove him from his office. Article VII EXPULSION, SUSPENSION, ETC. Section i. Any boy proved guilty of a misdemeanor shall be expelled or suspended, according to the judg- ment of the club. Section 2. A three-quarter vote is necessary to expel a member. Section 3. A boy who has been expelled cannot apply again for membership until the following year. Section 4. Any boy who has been suspended for a certain time shall, at the expiration of that time, be taken back into the club without formality, on condition of his good behavior during his suspension. Section 5. An officer who has been convicted of neg- lect of duty shall be removed from his office and may not hold any office again until the following year. DEVELOPMENT OF A CONSTITUTION 93 Section 6. If an officer fails in the performance of any of the duties prescribed for him in Article V, he shall forfeit his office but not his membership. Article VIII DROPPING Section i . A member shall be dropped for the follow- ing reasons : For non-payment of three weeks' dues without satisfactory excuse (an excuse may be made to the Adviser privately, and if found sufficient by her will be accepted by the club) ; and for non-attendance at meetings during three weeks without an excuse satisfac- tory to the club. SectioTi 2. A member who is dropped for either of these reasons may, upon payment of the debt for dues recorded against his name at the time of dropping, apply at any time for admission, and he shall be voted for at the usual time with the other candidates. Section 3. No boy may be elected as a member, or rc' instated as a member, who owes money to the club. Article IX LEAVE OF ABSENCE Section i . The President may grant to any one a leave of absence (subject to the approval of the club) for a period not exceeding four months. Section 2. A member wishing to return before his leave of absence is over may do so without formality. Section 3. A member, away from the club on a leave of absence, is not required to pay dues. Section 4. No member who has received a leave of 94 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS absence, and who owes at the time more than eight cents, can return unless he pays his debt or can give a satisfactory excuse. Article X RESIGNATIONS Section i. No one can resign until all his debts are paid. Section 2. Any member whose resignation has been regularly accepted may apply again at any time for readmission to membership. Article XI CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENTS, ETC. Section i. This constitution shall be read to the as- sembled club soon after the election of new members once a month. Section 2. The constitution may at no time be " laid aside." Section 3. Amendments may be made at any time and shall be recorded in the minutes, but such amend- ments shall take effect only from the first week in every month. Section 4. A three-quarter vote is necessary to effect an amendment. Article XII DUES Section i. The dues of this club shall be three cents weekly. Section 2. See Sections i and 2 of Article VIII. DEVELOPMENT OF A CONSTITUTION 95 Section 3. Two-thirds of all the dues collected shall be given to the Guild for rent of room. Section 4. The remaining sum may be spent in any way approved by three-fourths of the members present, unless vetoed by the Adviser. " Constitutions are not made but grow." One's first impression is apt to be that the choice of laws depends only upon taste or convenience, and that, therefore, since I have testified to the "workabil- ity " of the Young Potomac Club's constitution it might as well be used at once, just as it stands, in any new club. Now, while no visible bad results would follow if this plan were to be adopted, the best opportunity for the development of intellect would be thrown away. It is not the perfect con- stitution itself, but the years of discussion and ex- perience, out of which the perfect constitution grows, that develop the boys' mental and moral faculties. All the good that comes from club life must come slowly and gradually — so gradually that all the minutest details of the machinery of government are known and understood by the boys, and, one by one, acknowledged by them to be necessary. First, let them express their own crude ideas on the subject of law-making. In the beginning these laws will be either brutal or senti mentally weak, but from them will gradually evolve 96 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS a constitution written in correct form and contain- ing real truth and justice. Figuratively speaking, and stretching the idea a little to make the meaning clear, the boys have, broadly in the two hours of the club's session, and in detail in the three years of club life and growth, lived through all the stages of man's social development, from his simplest attempts at law- making, thousands of years ago, to the complex machinery by which we are governed to-day. By understanding the necessity for each law as it is made, the boys become willing lawkeepers ; they become intelligent ones also, for they see that con- stant watchfulness and thoughtfulness are necessary to keep those laws up to the ever growing and changing requirements of humanity. As I have said, the boys will learn the meaning — the philosophy — of their laws gradually and by experience, but the adviser must know all this be- fore he even starts a club. Therefore, let us take up the dozen or more most important articles in the constitution and analyze their meaning. CHAPTER VI ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION Article I. " The name of this club shall be- A name may become a serious obstacle in the way of the progress and pleasure of a club. I once knew some boys who banded themselves to- gether as the " Shakespeare Literary Circle," be- cause they thought this public avowal of a love of culture would bring them credit and respect in the neighborhood. About three months later this name was changed. I asked a member why this had been done, and he said, " What fun could you have with a name like that .-' " It appeared that they had had a conscientious president who kept them strictly to reciting poems and reading essays as long as they were the Shakespeare Literary Circle. So they became "The Sunrise Pleasure Club." "Well ! " I exclaimed, "I should think you could do anything with such a name as that." "We can," the boy answered, turning hand- springs in joyous remembrance of the changed programme of the club. H 97 98 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS Among Hebrew boys there is a strong tendency to hypocrisy in the choice of names and objects for their clubs. Learning and culture command public admiration ; therefore they wish it to appear that their club is an organization devoted to the development of intellect. Such a club has a more genteel standing than a mere athletic or pleasure club. But while desiring all the respect and ad- miration due to a body of students, few of the boys are willing to spend all their club hours in serious work. Therefore, unless a Shakespeare Literary Circle has a strong and consistent president or ad- viser, it will gradually assume the character of any athletic or social club, while receiving the credit meted out to a "literary circle." It may seem foolish to take seriously hypocrisy that is practised on so small a scale, and yet one must take seriously any situation in which a prin- ciple is involved. Everything that happens in the club is on a small scale — some things scarcely more than symbolic. But the fact that they are small brings them within the grasp of boyish minds. A principle once learned may be applied not only in small cases but, as the intellect de- velops, in important ones also. Article II. " The objects of this club shall be, to promote a feeling of brotherhood among its members, to teach them the principles of honest, intelligent self- ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION 99 government and to encourage good citizenship among them." As you will probably notice, the avowed objects of the Young Potomac Club appear rather serious and purposeful for boys of only twelve and four- teen. I have a strong suspicion that Article II was worded in this rather ponderous way chiefly to impress outsiders, for, as a matter of fact, in- timate friends found wholesome frivolity to be a striking characteristic of the club. Other more honest (or, shall we say, more simple-minded .-') clubs frequently choose to add to the lines regard- ing their purpose to become wise and intelligent citizens the words, "and have a good time." In these cases many people were shocked that we allowed so frankly frivolous an avowal. Indeed, most of our friends have disapproved of all good times that were not merely incidental to a con- scious attempt at self-improvement, and self-im- provement, these people believed, could only be accomplished by more or less bookish study or actual instruction. In the Staten Island public school playground, one evening last winter, an exciting game of basket-ball was in progress. In addition to the players in the contest a number of boys stood along the walls of the room, watching the game with apparent delight and applauding heartily every skilful feat. A lady gazed sadly lOO BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS at these onlookers for a moment, and then said: " I wish we might be teaching them something useful. Here they are just standing around amusing them- selves. '' When I had charge of the first clubs in the two New York public schools of which I have spoken, I received perhaps a dozen letters from people who begged to be allowed to "teach " the boys something. A patriotic society wanted to furnish us with text-books on patriotism, whichthe boys were to study, and from which they were to recite on our Saturday evenings. Other individ- uals volunteered to provide us with courses of lectures. Now, it must be remembered that none of our boys were truants or idlers. In New York most of them worked during the day or attended the City College, and on Staten Island they were in school all the morning and ran of errands in the afternoon. None of the people who offered us courses of instruction seemed to grasp the idea that many private educational societies, and the public schools, with their day and night classes and pubhc lecture courses, were already providing excellent instruction in nearly every branch of learning, and that our clubs would have had poor excuse for existing if they had merely tried to rival these well-estabHshed institutions. The means for harmless pleasure and amusement and for social development, however, were wholly inadequate to ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION loi the needs of the neighborhood, and it was to meet, in a small measure, these needs, that our clubs were organized. Social development, expressed by the Young Potomac Club in Article II as a desire " to promote a feeling of brotherhood among the members, to teach them the principles of honest, intelligent self-government and to en- courage good citizenship among them," is, of course, the primary object of any club. This must be obvious to any one who reads the preceding and following chapters. The second object is, frankly, to instruct them in a variety of ways of getting harmless pleasure and amusement. Activity in pure amusement serves a twofold purpose, first, as already suggested, by teaching how to spend leisure hours innocently, and second, by producing those situations which must be ethi- cally discussed, and which represent object-lessons in self-government. In Chapter IX, " Outside Activities of the Club," is described the purely mechanical management of various forms of boyish amusements, and in Chapter VIII, "Ethical Les- sons of the Business Meeting," is an account of several ethical experiences and discussions grow- ing out of, and made necessary by, the indulgence in these outside amusements. Now the meaning of the words " pleasure " and "amusement" may be pretty liberally interpreted, 102 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS and purely intellectual exercises are for many people a source of genuine delight and recreation. I use the words here in their narrower sense, how- ever, and would define them as meaning the en- joyment which results from the " working off " of animal spirits in any kind of purposeless activity (partly mental but largely physical) and indulged in with the sole object of gaining enjoyment. Now, whether one approves of it or not, the fact remains that young people, with hot, coursing blood in their veins, demand insatiably amusement of this kind. It might be safe to ignore this de- mand if disappointment merely were to result from it. Unfortunately, if no decent amusement is at hand, people who are thoughtless, ignorant or un- principled take advantage of the ever present op- portunities for mischief. Inherent badness, which only radical treatment can cure, undoubtedly causes much evil living (as does also ignorance of the laws of physiology, lack of respect for the rights of weaker beings and deficient will power); but many young people, not essentially bad, get into wrong habits simply because, so far as they can see, there is nothing else for them to do. In this connection it is significant that the word "pleasure" has been for years almost a synonym for dissipation. It is no less unfortunate that people of a higher grade, whose principles or in- ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION 103 telligence will not permit them to indulge in vicious practices in their leisure hours, should grow old and dull prematurely for lack of oppor- tunity to amuse themselves innocently. The danger which results from misunderstand- ing and neglecting the appetite of youth for amusement is appreciated by all the more progres- sive reformers. Here is one of the recommenda- tions made by the committee which was appointed (in 1 901) to investigate the condition of vice in New York. This body suggests, as a means of lessening vice, "... the furnishing, by public provision or private munificence, of purer and more elevating forms of amusements to supplant the attractions of the low dance halls, theatres and similar places of entertainment which only serve to stimulate sensuality and to debase the taste. The pleasures of the people need to be looked after far more earnestly than has been the case hitherto. If we would banish the kind of amuse- ments which degrade, we must offer the public, in this large cosmopolitan city, where the appetite for pleasure is keen, some sort of suitable alter- native." Now the most unpractical dreamers would scarcely hope that for all people lectures, classes and free libraries would prove an immediate alter- native for dancing. The best substitute will always be found in the purified form of the amusement I04 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS first chosen by the people themselves, and from this they may be led to demand what is more ennobling. Some people must not only be provided with opportunities for harmless recreation, but they must actually be shown how to use and enjoy these opportunities when they exist. Two experi- ences in summer camp work for boys have taught me that even a love for the country is an acquired, not an inborn, taste. Nor does a taste for rightful pleasure (or indeed pleasure of any kind) always go with the possession of money. We have all known rich men who dreaded their vacations. On Staten Island the boys in one of the school clubs spent nearly half an hour before they could think of a way in which to spend the year's accumulation of dues. The solitary sug- gestion made (it was adopted instantly with a sigh of relief) was to buy ice-cream, although the weather was cool, and these boys were all well nourished. If such unimaginative people as these are not provided with opportunities for harmless pleas- ure, and are not taught how to enjoy these oppor- tunities when they exist, how shall they employ their leisure hours — hours which modern life tends to multiply } In a recently published book called " Substitutes for the Saloon " may be found ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION 105 the following suggestive sentence, "The leisure problem equals in importance the labor problem and far surpasses it in difficulty." Now that the eight-hour working day is becoming so prevalent, and the customary religious exercises no longer satisfy the people's needs for all of their weekly holi- day, we should realize that there has come to be a " leisure problem " ; that many people are too weary, or unfitted by nature, to find refreshment in purely mental exercise ; and that aimless pleas- ure, attractive to all, may not only be harmless but actually productive of cheerful spirits and the courage which makes lighter the toil which does, and should, occupy the larger part of the day. At least we should be consistent and should not be- grudge every minute the " poor boy " spends away from his book or his tool box, while our sons are given every opportunity for developing a taste for sports, games and social recreation. So, whether your club decides to come out boldly and honestly in its constitution for a " good time " or not makes comparatively little difference, so long as you, the adviser, appreciate the importance of amusement and see that unconsciously the boys learn the art of true recreation. In doing this you will be performing for them quite as useful a ser- vice as in teaching them the " principles of honest, intelligent self-government." I06 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS Article IV, Section 2. — "Active membership is open to boys of good character, between the ages of twelve and fifteen, if not shorter than four and a half feetr For many years in the Potomac Club the last part of this section was worded, " if not shorter than the piano in Room 2," but eventually this phrase was voted "babyish," and it was changed to the words italicized above. Indeed, when the club first wrote its constitution, it was not considered necessary to make any specification whatever in regard to the height of would-be members; but when boys only recently promoted to trousers ap- peared as candidates, and solemnly swore that they were twelve on their last birthdays, it was deemed wiser to insert some clause in the constitution which would protect the club against this influx of immaturity. Of course, in such cases as these the adviser might simply deny the assertion of age, but the effect of doubting a boy's word is always demoral- izing to him. The problem of how to deal wisely with the habit of lying is one of the most difficult the club has to solve. We have obtained the best results by trusting the boys' words until they were proved to be false. If a boy's word is going to be doubted with or without proof against it, he is apt to feel that it does not make much difference ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION 107 whether he tells the truth or not — the results for him (your suspiciousness) are equally bad in both cases. .On the other hand, if you let him enjoy your perfect confidence and trust until he is proved guilty, he feels that the penalty of his untruth- fulness is the loss of something which he pre- sumably values ; viz., your trust in him. Now, in most of the experiences of the club, the proof of untruthfulness will be eventually forthcoming, and the natural penalty paid by the liar (the loss of the respect and confidence of his fellow-members and you) must inevitably be paid ; but, in the case of making false statements in regard to age, it is almost impossible to obtain proof of the fraud. In a village one would have access to the parish register, but in a large city, where many of the children are foreigners, such a record of birth is not easily obtainable. The parents, too, cannot always be depended upon to give a correct version of their son's age, for if they feel that an advantage for their child is at stake, many of them will perjure themselves to obtain it. To allow a boy's state- ment in regard to his age to pass at its own value is simply to put a premium upon lying, for he will have everything to gain and nothing to lose by his untruthfulness. There is another view to take of the matter. No good is accomplished by forcing a boy to I03 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS face an irresistible temptation. Some temptations they must feel and learn to resist, but, so far as you have it in your power to do so, you should grade the temptations of the club according to the strength of the boy to resist them. It would not be fair to measure the morality of a starving man by placing forbidden bread within his reach. Strength to resist temptation may be developed like a muscle by judicious exercise, but, like a muscle again, it may be completely atrophied by an overstrain. Some kind-hearted persons will be sure to say. Why not take in boys of all ages if they desire admission, and thus avoid all the troublesome complications which ensue from the making of restrictions .'' Theoretically it might be wise to do this, but experience has proved it to be impracti- cable. I have never known a club to thrive whose members were of mixed ages. The larger boys, being quicker and stronger, are likely to gain most of the advantages of the club. On the other hand, certain restrictions are necessary for the safety of smaller boys which unjustly hamper the movements of older boys. In the discussions of the business meetings the friction which results from the disparity of ages is even more incon- venient. Either the intellectual standard of the club is lowered to the level of the small boys, in ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION 109 which case no tax is put upon the intelligence of the older ones, or else the discussions are so over the heads of the younger members that they can neither understand nor take part in them. The result in my experience has always been that a mixed club divided itself into cHques, each one of which eventually split off and formed the nucleus of an independent club. In a well- organized settlement or public school, where the ground of club education was to be covered thoroughly, there should be so many clubs for groups of all ages that there will be no necessity for little boys to force their way in where they do not belong. (See page 172.) Article IV, Section 4. — " No boy who is reported by the Investigating Committee [which is composed of boys] to be a gambler, thief or cigarette smoker, or who is known to be such by two members in good standing, shall be eligible for membership." Sentimentalists always object to this section, for they feel that a boy who is a gambler, thief or cigarette smoker is the one, precisely, upon whom the club should try to exert an influence. The fact is, the club exerts its strongest influence against these faults by wording Section 4 in this apparently heartless way. My idea in regard to the matter is, that the club represents a privilege, and that privileges should not be supported for no BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the benefit of lawbreakers as such. The fact that the boys cannot enjoy the pleasures of the club until they actually forswear the practice of breaking laws, offers them a natural and legitimate inducement to make a change in their bad habits. Indeed, only those boys who have sufficient in- telligence and character to be willing and able to change such habits for the sake of getting into the club will benefit by the discussions and ex- periences of the club when at last they become members. As I have said in Chapter II, when criminal habits become deeply ingrained in the character, or are the result of congenital defect, something more radical than mere membership in a club which meets but once or twice a week will be needed to effect a cure. Neither would-be members, nor the club itself, can gain anything by cheapening the club. The higher its standard of conduct, the more the boys in the neighborhood will look up to it, and the more it is reverenced, the greater will be its influence. A club that is admired can make a standard admired also, and it is consequently important that this standard should be a right and high one. Your attitude in regard to the wording of this section should be thoroughly explained to your boys ; for nothing could be more unfortunate ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION in than for them to assume, or to think that you held, a self-righteous attitude toward the excluded candidates for admission. The boys who have succeeded in becoming members should, naturally, feel a proper self-respect for having good sense and strength of character, but they should look at the matter in a thoroughly practical, matter-of- fact way. All elements of mystery in regard to wrong-doing should be removed. It should never be spoken of as " sin " or anything which suggests that the wrongness of it cannot be explained perfectly and convincingly. Article IV, Sectio?i 5. — "If a candidate fills the requirements [that he be neither a thief, gambler nor smoker] mentioned in Sections 2 and 4 of this article, a member may not vote against him unless he can give some reason which shall be deemed sufficient by the members of the club." When boys commence quite arbitrarily to black- ball candidates (they do it sometimes simply to show their power), it may seem necessary to put in force some such regulation as this. Such a rule has little real force, however, for a boy will seldom admit that his reason for blackballing a candidate is simply foolish prejudice, because this reason will not be accepted as sufficiently good by the club. He is, therefore, likely to prevaricate and to invent some serious grievance against the candi- 112 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS date. On the other hand, a too exclusive policy on the part of the boys brings its own penalty. A smaller membership list and consequently depleted treasury are the natural result of a general black- balling of candidates. When this state of things has been brought about, the boys will realize that it is better to indulge in a more generous spirit. Article IV, Section 6. — " Members of the Order Club [a club of smaller boys which met in an adjoining room] who graduate in good standing, and who can bring a letter of recommendation from their Adviser, shall be admitted as members of this club without vote or question." This section was one of the most unstable in the constitution ; it was removed or reinserted nearly every month. I have not yet been able to decide certainly whether there are more reasons for or against it. It is, of course, important that the attitude of the boys toward the advisers of all clubs should be one of respect and confidence, but, on the other hand, if the boys are to feel that the success of the club depends chiefly upon them- selves, it is only just that they should have the right to take in members who are not only honest, but whom they think will be congenial and in other ways suitable for the club. The recom- mendation of the adviser is solely for the honesty of a member ; she cannot vouch for his general in- ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION 113 telligence or the likelihood of his being congenial. It may seem unjust that only three members should have the power-to keep out of the club, for no reason but their dislike of him, a boy whom per- haps the other twenty-two are anxious to take in ; but the fact is, that if two boys in a club disHke each other, their squabbles may bring a whole club to ruin. Article V, Section 2. — "The Adviser is responsi- ble to the Guild for the success of her club, the safety of its members and of the Guild property. She there- fore has the power to veto any measure passed by the club, to order an immediate adjournment or to send home any boy for the day. The Adviser controls the club's finances. No money can be spent without her authority. The Adviser arranges for days and hours of club session. All public entertainments given by the club must first be approved by her," If the provisions of this section were to be put in force frequently, it would relieve the boys entirely of that responsibility for the success of their club which develops in them wisdom and strength of character. In a club where the members are over twelve, a wise adviser will seldom use the power which the constitution gives him, though the boys must understand that he has, and should have, this authority, since the owners of the building and the parents of members will hold him accountable for a seriously damaged room or an injured boy. 114 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS They must also realize that the adviser is not given this power for the purpose of saving them — the boys — from worry or the consequences of all their mistakes, but only to save himself when he believes his credit and standing with owners and parents is going to be endangered by some decision or action of the boys. Wherever the con- sequences of their acts can be borne by the boys themselves he will not interfere. But this reserving of authority for extreme cases is not inconsistent with the frequent giving of advice. The probable results and consequences of any contemplated act should be pointed out, and if, in spite of such a warning, the boys persist in carrying out some unwise plan, and disaster follows, the adviser should trace out for them the connection between cause and effect. But even advice should not be too authoritative. In my clubs I used to go so far as to tell the boys that I did not claim to be infallible, and that, if they could see any untruth in what I told them or any flaw in my logic, I should not consider it signifi- cant of disrespect or impertinence to argue against me as they would if they disagreed with an ordi- nary member. Indeed, more than once I have had to acknowledge the superior wisdom of one of the boys. Before adopting this open-minded policy, how- ANALYSIS OF. THE CONSTITUTION 115 ever, the adviser must be so sure of the real re- spect and confidence of the boys that his attitude will never be mistaken for weakness or timidity. It may not be amiss to speak here of how the ad- viser is to gain this confidence and respect. First, one's physical supremacy must be estab- lished. It is very well to talk of the effect of mind over matter, but in my experience it has been su- perior matter over inferior matter first, and then superior mind over inferior mind. Until the ques- tion of who is physical master is settled, the inferior mind is not subject to mental or moral influences. A male adviser nearly always has to assert the fact of his superior muscle by a fight with at least one of his members, and even I have had cause to be thankful more than once for strong arms. Twice I have had to organize clubs in a neighborhood where such institutions had never been heard of before. In both cases there was great lawlessness in the first business meetings, and things finally came to such a pass that no amount of moral suasion had any effect whatever. In both cases I had to resort to the expedient of picking up the ringleader by the col- lar and carrying him, kicking, through the front door, which I closed upon him. This crude ex- hibition of superior force commanded instant ap- preciation. The proof that I was not afraid of Il6 BOYS' SELF-GOVERJVIN-G CLUBS them made the boys realize how useless it was to try to disobey me. In the play hour the boys should be allowed a good deal of latitude in the way of noise and general aimless activity, up to the point where they trespass upon the rights of the owners of the building and the game players. The adviser should remember that he must not judge of a wrong-doing by its irritating effect upon his own nerves. For instance, it is no worse a crime to make a noise on the day when he has a head- ache than any other day, unless he explains his affliction and begs for forbearance on the ground of friendship. Article V, Section lo. — " No one can hold office for more than two consecutive terms (this rule does not apply to the Adviser), or more than three terms alto- gether." This provision is in distinct opposition to all efforts at civil service reform. At least two terms are required to fit a boy to fulfil the functions of office really well, and by that time, according to the section above, he is required to step aside to give another inexperienced boy "a chance." The point of view of the boys is, that to be an officer is a privilege and an honor greatly to be coveted, and that, therefore, every member should share it, ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION 117 and that it should not be monopolized by the few simply because of their fitness. This is an un- sound theory, of course. But, on the other hand, the holding of office certainly does develop latent character and ability. The end toward which the club should work is not to make smooth and orderly business meetings, but to develop the intelligence and character of the members. For that reason it is desirable that each boy should have reasonable opportunity to profit by the ex- perience of holding office. For another reason, also, it is better that the term of office should be Hmited. Change of officers necessitates constant watchfulness on the part of the other members. . I have known boys who were so gifted that under their administrations the club at first throve and prospered. So great was the confidence and admiration which they inspired (solely by personal magnetism half the time) that gradually all authority and judgment were left to them. The members settled down to the lazy en- joyment of a peace and prosperity which was not in any degree owing to them, and the gifted presi- dent, missing the stimulus of contradiction and opposition, degenerated into a common boss. Article VI, Section i. — "Any member who steals, gambles, smokes or swears, inside or outside the club, is guilty of a misdemeanor." Il8 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS Article VII, Section i. — "Any boy proved guilty of a misdemeanor shall be expelled or suspended, ac- cording to the judgment of the club." A boy may find it possible to refrain from steal- ing, gambling or smoking for a month or two with the prospect of membership in the club as a reward for his self-restraint, but, after attaining his object, his strength of character may be unequal to the task of living up to this high standard of con- duct for an indefinite length of time. When a member, therefore, is proved by two reputable witnesses to be guilty of a misdemeanor, he must pay some penalty for his transgressions. Here, again, the attitude of the club must be impersonal and judicial, and the boys should never regard the penalty which must be paid by the defecting mem- ber as punishment. First, they should consider it as a necessary measure in order to save the honor and good name of the club, and second, they should regard it merely as a means of self-defence. A thief, for example, would scarcely be a safe per- son to admit to a room where games, coats and hats were lying about in trusting confusion. Article XI, Section 2. — "The constitution may at no time be ' laid aside.' " Article XI, Section 3. — "Amendments may be made at any time and shall be recorded in the minutes, ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION 119 but such amendments shall take effect only from the first week in every month," Some time elapsed after the organization of the Young Potomac Club before it became necessary to incorporate either of these sections into Article XI, but in the course of time somebody dis- covered that an ingenious way to evade a tempo- rarily inconvenient law was to vote to " lay it aside " for the moment. The effect of regarding a law with such laxity was naturally demoralizing. Instead of regarding the business of law-making as serious and worthy of intelligent thought, it was considered as a pleasant and somewhat humorous pastime merely ; for however jocose and unpracti- cal a law might be, its provisions were never binding. When Section 2 was first inserted into the constitution, it was hoped that a more respect- ful attitude toward laws would be induced, but the only result was that the boys had immediate re- course to their power of amendment. The instant the restraint of a law was felt it was amended, and perhaps amended back into its original condition at the same or the next meeting. Section 3 was required to put an end to this abuse of the power of amendment. In parliamentary law there is a rule that " when any contemplated motion or proceeding is ren- dered impracticable by reason of the existence of 120 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS some special rule by which it is prohibited, it has become an established practice in this country to suspend or dispense with the rule for the purpose of admitting the proceeding or motion which is desired." Now, it must be remembered that the club has its own code of parliamentary laws in addition to its constitution. The laws of its con- stitution represent what might be called its laws of morality, and its parliamentary code its laws of convenience. As the boys have no voice in the making of their parliamentary laws, and as these laws are not subject to alteration or amend- ment, it is only just and sensible that they should be suspended whenever they cease to perform the function for which they are intended ; viz., to fa- cilitate the transaction of business and the mak- ing of morality laws. Such suspension should not take place without the unanimous consent of the assembled members of the club. Article XII, Section i, — "The dues of this club shall be three cents weekly." Of course this sum would vary according to the age and class of the boys composing the club, but I think that three cents is the sum which boys from twelve to fifteen would find it most con- venient to pay. The members of both the Young Potomac Club ANALYSIS. OF THE CONSTITUTION 12 1 and the Staten Island clubs have been guilty on several occasions of a curious little piece of hypoc- risy ifi this matter of dues. At regular intervals amendments to this section would be made which called for ten or fifteen cent dues, and the boys who were the loudest in approving this change were those who had been unable to afford even three cents. Article XII, Section 3. — "Two-thirds of all the dues collected shall be given to the Guild for rent of room." Ultimately the boys of any club should make some contribution toward the rent or any other current expense. This will not only be a decided help to the people who are running the club ^ but is necessary to maintain the boys' self-respect. ^ The clubs which were organized by the Public Education Asso- ciation in the two public schools made a valuable contribution to the running expenses. During the first year of the experiment only six clubs met in one school. During the second year two schools were open, and these sheltered twelve clubs. The cost of running these clubs for two years and two or three months was as follows : — Janitors' salaries ..... ^246.25 Damage 13.44 Postage, typewriting, etc 6.48 Basket-ball 1.38 Of this sum the boys contributed ;?93.70, ^13.44. of which was for damage and ^80.26 for use of class-rooms. This diminished the association's expense to $173.85. 122 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS When a club is first started there may not be enough enthusiasm for it to inspire the sacrifice of money for rent; but as soon as possible the boys should be made to realize the shame of ac- cepting club privileges without paying for them, at least in part. As I have said in a previous chapter, the boys will learn gradually and by experience the inner meaning and significance of laws, but the adviser must know all this from the beginning. If a bad law is passed, he must know why it is bad and must know how to guide the thought and opinion of the club, not too suddenly, toward taking the first step ^ in the direction of greater wisdom and morality. 1 "The institutions of a people to be helpful and serviceable cannot be far in advance of their actual condition; and if the dream of the educational utopist could be reaHzed in form, it would be inoperative with men and things as they are." — Will- iam H. Payne, A.M., " Contributions to the Science of Education." Harper Bros., 1886. CHAPTER VII ETHICAL LESSONS OF THE PLAYGROUND The reward of admission to the club serves as an inducement to break bad habits. The fear of some arbitrary punishment, or the hope of an equally arbitrary reward administered by some irresponsible power or person, is the most primi- tive incentive to morality. Little principle is involved in morality of this kind, however, and without principle morality will neither develop nor remain permanent. If I tell Mosey that he must not break windows because if he does the poHce- man will catch him, he will refrain from doing so only as long as the policeman is in sight, because he has learned no principle against breaking win- dows. If I say to Teddy that if he steals jam God will see him and punish him, he will keep away from the pantry only until it is dark, and then he will tell me he took the jam because it was so dark he was sure God could not see him. If, after I had warned him, some one had convinced him that there was no such person as God, he would then also have felt at liberty to take the jam. 123 124 BOYS' SELF-GO FERNING CLUBS Now, if one is to have real principles against wrong-doing, one must know how and why a given act will work harmfully upon one's self or upon others; one must have self-respect sufficient to be unwilling to damage one's own soul, mind or body; and one must possess enough sympathy to be averse to injuring the soul, mind or body of one's neighbor. If I had explained to Teddy how the jam would get his digestion out of order, and how, by eating it, he would waste something that cost a great deal of the money his poor father worked so hard to earn, he would have learned a principle against stealing jam. It is a mistake to believe that we can trust to the instinct or conscience of children to tell them what is the right thing to do under all circum- stances. As we have seen in Chapter II, chil- dren do not have an instinct that stealing is wrong, and yet it requires very little knowledge, intelligence or sympathy to acquire a principle against this practice. If conscience does not tell children that it is wrong to steal, how can we ex- pect it to dictate the highest form of wisdom and moraUty in the comphcated political and social relations of modern Hf e } I do not mean to say that your boys will not have had many generous, even noble, impulses, but they will have given no more spontaneous ETHICAL LESSONS OF THE PLAYGROUND 125 thought to ethics than to metaphysics. The habit of calculating wisely and cold-bloodedly the effects upon themselves and upon others of any given act is one which they will never have acquired ; but this steady, intelligent, principled morality, as dis- tinct from spasmodic, impulsive morahty, is, it seems to me, a quality greatly needed among us. Most children are capable of understanding what is right in a very simple case whose bearings are all lucidly explained to them, and sympathy, even passionate sympathy, is latent in every normal child's nature. During the first hour in the play- ground are found opportunities for explaining with great simplicity the principles of honesty and kind- ness in human relations. These principles are not to be forced upon the boys, but must be gradually developed in them. First, by your explanations and reasoning, you instil into their minds the theory of 2i principle, and then, by showing them how it works in the concrete situations of the club, you teach them a practical working principle. I speak of the first hour in the playground. Now, it is obviously impossible for all the clubs in, let us say, a schoolhouse of average size to pass their first hour in the playground ; some of them must be taking their turns in the class-room upstairs. If, however, you are of a philosophical turn of mind, you will gain great satisfaction from the idea 126 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS that one, at least, of your clubs passes each night of its meeting up an ascending scale of civilization, commencing with the hour in the playground, which, with its many opportunities (and limitations also), represents the conditions of a primitive society where the only necessary laws relate to purely physical situations, and the problems to be solved are con- crete ; and ending with the business hour, when the machinery of government becomes more complex, the laws relate to spiritual as well as physical situa- tions, and many of the problems which present themselves are abstract. As an example of the elementary ethical lessons of the first hour I will describe a scene which I have witnessed many times, and which, I might say, is typical of all newly organized clubs. Let us imagine that the Young Citizens' Social Circle has the exclusive right to occupy the playground in your public school during their " first hour," — that is to say, from eight to nine o'clock. From nine to ten this body of future voters moves upstairs to a class-room where, during its second hour, it dis- cusses the affairs of the nation — represented for the time being by the Young Citizens' Social Circle. While the Citizens are in the playground another club — the Lincoln Pleasure Club — is in the class- room, and at nine o'clock these two organizations change places. ETHICAL LESSONS OF THE PLAYGROUND 127 When these groups are first assigned their re- spective hours in the playground they do not know exactly how to take advantage of the privi- lege you offer thera. When your school was first opened all the gangs were in the playground to- gether, shouting and jumping about, and the very gregariousness and noise of it afforded sufficient entertainment. But now that each group — of certainly not more than twenty boys — can have the playground to itself, it is overawed by an opportunity so much vaster than anything it has hitherto been taught to make use of. " Now," you say to them, "each boy here is free to do what he likes up to the point where he seri- ously interferes with the pleasure of some one else. The only ' must not ' I shall have to say is when he does that. Now tell me, all of you, what you intend to do with yourselves here. Four of you want to play checkers .'' Very good. There are two tables and two boards. Take your things into the farthest corner of the room, so that you will be out of the way of the game which occupies the middle of the room. And now you. Mosey, you want to play — base-ball f Please tell me how you think you can arrange such a game in a room like this." " Well," says Mosey, excitedly, " I have a bat at home, and I know some one who has a ball. I'll 128 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS go and get them now. Say, you fellers, how many of you want to play base-ball ? " Twelve, boys respond as Mosey darts toward the door in quest of bat and ball, while the four or five remaining members seat themselves along the walls as onlookers. In a short time Mosey returns with his bat and ball. " But, Mosey," you say, "how can you play in a room like this with such a hard ball .-' " " I thought you said we could play anything," says Mosey, indignantly. " So I did," you answer ; " but I also said that you must not interfere seriously with any one else's attempt to do what he likes. How would these other boys like to be hit on the head with such a hard ball ? " " Oh, we could dodge," they cry like true sports. " All right," you say ; " that objection is removed. But there yet remain the windows. They are un- screened, you see. It is impossible to guide a ball with a bat, and it would make short work of these panes if it struck them." The little circle meditates gloomily for a moment. Then Mosey says, remembering that they now col- lect dues in his club, " If we break the windows, we can buy new ones." "But," you answer, "do you think it is right to ETHICAL LESSONS. OF THE PLAYGROUND 129 destroy good and useful things ? Paying for new window-panes does not bring back the old ones. Just so much wealth in the world is wasted ; just so much labor thrown away ; and if you had a million dollars, you could not bring back to life and utility the thing destroyed." "But," you continue, "there is no reason why, in the course of time, you should not save up money enough to buy screens for the windows and electric lights. But, in the meantime, let us see if there is not some way of changing this game so as to make it safe." If no one else can think of a way to adapt the game to the limitations of the room, you may sug- gest playing it with a tennis-ball. In this way all the motions of the game are preserved, while the danger to people and windows is entirely averted. If they do not care for this arrangement, you can propose that the game be played thus : The pitcher rolls the ball to the catcher, while the man at the bat stands with his bat turned downwards, and in striking the ball drives it along the ground, as he would with a golfing-iron. When this ball has been stopped at one of the bases or in the field, it may be tossed to other bases or to the pitcher, be- cause with the hand it is possible to guide the ball with reasonable accuracy, while with a bat a true aim can never be taken. By this adaptation all I30 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the rules of base-ball are preserved, while only a few (important ones, however) of the motions are changed. In this little episode we see that several practical ethical lessons have been instilled into the boys' minds. It is probable that many of your club boys will never have stopped to think whether it is, or is not, right to break windows. I think their point of view will probably have been that, as people were so mean as to stop ball- playing in the streets, it served them right to have their windows broken. I am sure that not a boy will ever have had the idea that to break what one is willing and able to pay for is an unwarranted act. Now (to carry out the idea that the club repre- sents society on a small scale) the boys not only pass each night from a lower state of civilization in the playground to a higher state in the class- room, but (as I have said before), as time goes on, the problems pecuUar to each hour tax to a greater and greater extent the boys' powers of reasoning, while the standard of morality in each hour is raised. The lessons of the playground will not end with the peaceful acceptance of a modified game of base-ball. Indeed, a new and less simple set of problems confronts us with the first attempt to get the game under way. ETHICAL LESSONS OF THE PLAYGROUND 131 For instance, a scene of wild confusion is caused by the efforts of the boys to settle the question as to who are to occupy the various positions on the nine. Considerably over half an hour is consumed in this way ; but at last the captains and their respective men withdraw to opposite ends of the room, and the boys take their assigned places in joyous anticipation of the game. The man at the bat looks as if a cannon-ball would not be too swift for him ; the pitcher gives a few preliminary squirms, when — on the stairs are heard resounding footsteps, and the members of the Lincoln Pleasure Club burst upon the scene. The Young Citizens fall upon them. "But look at the clock," says their adviser; "the playground was only assigned to you till nine." The poor little Citizens look at the clock. After that there is nothing to be said. Sadly they gather up their belongings and watch the " Lincolns " take the coveted positions on the diamond. Perhaps they think that next week they will not waste so many precious minutes squabbling for positions, that there is no time left to enjoy those positions when they get them. At any rate, you must see to it that this idea is present in their minds just when the disappoint- ment of the incident is fresh. 132 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS If none of the boys can think of a way to avoid in future this encroachment upon their game hour, you may propose to them that the nines meet to discuss the make-up of their game at some given rendezvous half an hour before the play- ground opens ; or else, if they are willing to spare fifteen minutes of their business meeting once in a while, they may elect a captain, to whom is delegated the power to appoint to all positions. In this incident we see the second lesson of the playground ; viz., the importance of a wise and economical expenditure of time. As the months go on, other experiences tax the boys' powers of ethical reasoning. Some weeks after we first met the Young Citizens' Social Circle, we find the club as usual amusing itself in the early evening with games. Four boys are playing checkers in dif- ferent corners ; two more have moved to the other end of the room, where they play battledore and shuttlecock. In the middle of the room a dozen boys are absorbed in a vigorous game of base-ball. For a while all goes well. Then, suddenly, the shuttlecock lights on the nose of the man on first base, who is just about to catch out the club's swiftest runner. There is a howl of rage. What right have two or three to disturb the majority — the majority which always rules ETHICAL LESSONS OF THE PLAYGROUND 153 in the club — they ask indignantly! The adviser tries to explain the situation to them, but it is much ^nore difficult for the boys to understand the right of the minority to the pursuit of very incommoding happiness, than the right of a man to have his windows left unbroken. But, never- theless, the effort is made, and in a little while the majority consents to relinquish some small part of its liberty in order that all may have a good time ; and when, a few minutes later, the base-ball drops on the checker-board, scattering the little pieces in all directions, the minority does not complain, feeling that it, too, must make some concession for the good of all. Sooner or later the boys must learn the difference between the responsibility of the crowd and the responsibility of the individual. For instance, on a fine, bracing winter evening, the Lincoln Pleasure Club enters the playground in extraordinarily high spirits. The members gallop about the big room, their voices gradually increasing in volume until the noise becomes a din. Benches are overturned and leaped over; good-natured blows are dealt right and left ; lights are turned off and on. You simply watch these proceedings, making no criticism, as, thus far, nothing wrong has been done. Soon, however, a boy seizes a foot-ball and with a shout of glee flings it into 134 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the air. It strikes an electric-light bulb, which it breaks. There is an immediate collapse of the inflated little figures. They look at you askance. " Well, boys," you say, " we shall have to take up a collection to pay for this broken bulb. Twenty cents divided among you will be about a penny apiece." "But Johnny Brown broke it; why should we pay for it .'^ " will ask the boys of more question- ing minds. " Johnny Brown did break it," you answer ; " but who worked him up to such a pitch of excitement that he was impelled to act in this reckless way 1 " No," you continue ; " whatever spirit, good or bad, dominates a crowd is sure to infect those in- dividuals who come within the influence of that crowd. If these individuals excel the crowd itself in their expression of this spirit, the responsibility for this expression must, nevertheless, be shared by the crowd." Instances where the individual alone is respon- sible for his acts of vandalism will certainly not be wanting during the course of your club experience. When such instances occur, you should point out to the boys wherein lies the difference between individual and collective responsibility. In such cases there will be three different classes of of- ETHICAL LESSONS OF THE PLAYGROUND 135 fences, and you should try to discriminate between them and grade the penalty accordingly. First, where an act of vandalism is performed as a result of anger, for wanton mischief or revenge, the cul- prit should be made to pay the full cost of the damage and should be deprived of any office he may hold, the idea being that, by his exhibition of loss of self-control and dignity, he will do the club discredit in a representative position. Second, where the accident results from carelessness or clumsiness, the boy should pay full damages but should not be deprived of his office. The atten- tion of the club, however, should be called to the fact that carelessness and clumsiness unfit a man for many useful positions, such as game-keeper (an honored post), for example. Third, where the damage occurs through unavoidable accident, the whole club should be asked to contribute volun- tarily toward paying the debt which its fellow- member has had the misfortune to incur. It is sometimes difficult to know just how much to charge the boys for the damage done by them. The decision in regard to the amount must be purely arbitrary and must be graded according to the boy's ability to pay. Nothing is so crush- ing to the spirits or so destructive to self-respect as a debt which, through no fault of your own, it is impossible to pay. On the other hand, the sum 136 BOYS' SELF-GOVERIVING CLUBS should be sufficiently large to make the boy feel the pinch and inconvenience of self-denial. What- ever sum you decide upon, he should believe that it represents the full extent of his indebtedness, for it would be demoralizing if he found that you had paid his debts for him. Quite as important as good principles are self- control and strength sufficient to put these princi- ples into practice. For example, when the boys realize the necessity for adapting their game of base-ball to the limitations of the room, a tremen- dous amount of self-control must be exercised to play the game in this unnatural way. The habits of years make it instinctive to strike the ball into the air and not along the ground. For a long time you will have to remind the boys frequently of the changes that have been made in the old, time-honored rules of the game ; but while you must never let up in your insistence that the new rules be obeyed, in your own heart you may have the comfort of sympathizing with them in their struggle, and even admiring them for succeeding as well as they do. Up to a certain point arbitrary discipline de- velops genuine self-control, but more often it merely inculcates the Jiabit of doing what one has no liking for doing. For instance, early rising may be at first a painful effort, but the exigen- ETHICAL LESSONS OF THE PLAYGROUND 137 cies of school or of business may make it sec- ond nature to rise at a certain hour, so that after the first no conscious effort of the will is made to cut short one's morning nap. Authority exerted by a strong will over a weaker one sometimes has the effect of weakening still further that will by making it dependent. One spring a club of mine started to play base-ball in the crowded streets where they lived. I deliber- ately pretended not to know it, for I had not the heart to stop what seemed to give so much pleas- ure and to do so little damage, principle or no principle. But the boys had a guilty conscience about it. They came to me at last and said, " Please tell us whether it is right to play base- ball in the streets." My sympathies were entirely with the boys, and I never felt so mean as when making the answer which it seemed to me right to make. " Boys," I said, " why do you ask me whether it is right or wrong to play ball in the streets .'' You know as well as I do what laws and ordinances are made for, and you know there is an ordinance against ball-playing in the streets of New York. However, if you choose to play, there is little danger for you, as it is easy to evade the policeman, and as for me, I shall never know whether you continue to play or not, for I am going home this minute. You must decide what 138 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS is right yourselves and then live up to it or not as you like." I shall never forget the despairing faces that were turned to me. " Oh, Miss Buck," they said, " if you would only forbid us to do it, it would be so much easier^ There it was — the prop of the stronger will. Of course I did not use my authority, but with contemptible weakness hurried away from the scene. I learned later, however, that the ball game had been abandoned on that day, and to do it must have taxed their will power to the utmost. If your boys are intelligent and have self-con- trol, they will soon learn to apply all the new ethi- cal principles you teach them instinctively and without conscious effort. CHAPTER VIII ETHICAL LESSONS OF THE BUSINESS MEETING As I have already said, in the second hour of the club session the problems which are to be solved and the principles which are to be acquired are more complex than in the first hour. As time goes on, the lessons of the second hour itself grow more complicated — or rather, as the perceptions of the boys grow keener, they learn to distinguish between right and wrong in cases increasingly involved, and the most harmless act of one year may appear to them a downright wrong-doing the next. Now, in the business hour as in the play hour, the boys will either learn the theory of a principle first and then see by concrete lessons and ex- amples how well this principle works in practice, or else they will witness some occurrence first and afterwards learn the principle which underlies it. The earliest laws of the club's constitution will embody chiefly the theoretical principles of the boys, and these will be gradually modified in ways 139 140 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS suggested by the experience gained in testing the practicability of these theories. In the first or play hour, you will instil into the boys' minds all principles, theoretical or practical ; in the second or business hour, the boys will work out these principles for themselves by discussion, under the inspiration of your explanations or sug- gestive words. The only ethical lessons, whose significance the boys will be able to perceive at an early stage of their development, will be extremely simple and concrete. The first will be the lesson of politely taking turns. At the first election held by the Young Citizens' Social Circle half the boys in the room rose at once and shouted the names of their favorite candidates, while the other half clamored for the floor. The result was that no one voice could be heard above another. It was quite obvi- ous that, unless each one exerted self-control and awaited his turn to speak, nothing could be ac- complished in the limited amount of time at the disposal of the meeting. The next lesson was more complicated. One of the first oflficers to be elected in the club was a treasurer. This youth was favorably known only because he had, that morning, treated every one to candy. In two months he absconded with the money the club was saving for a picnic. It finally LESSONS OF THE BUSINESS MEETING 141 turned out that his reputation for honesty had never been good, but the glamour created by his apparent, generosity had effectively obscured this unpleasant fact. Arbitrary punishment cannot teach such effec- tive lessons as the perfectly natural consequences of wrong-doing. 1 In such a case as that recorded above, not only are the dishonest punished, but the foolish and thoughtless are victims of the same consequences, as they always are when nature works untrammelled in the world. The perfectly innocent minority, too, who voted with the utmost discretion, suffer, alas, with the others. But even for them the lesson has its value, for it teaches them the oneness of the human family, and de- monstrates the fact that the success or happiness of one is, in reality, the success or happiness of all. They learn, too, that ignorance and dishonesty are dangerous, not only to the ignorant and dishonest, but to the wise and virtuous as well. The punishment meted out by circumstances to the foolish voters is apparent in the loss of their hard-earned savings. But what is the fate of the defaulting treasurer } What are the natural con- sequences of his wrong-doing .-' The natural conse- quences are the loss of respect and confidence of his fellow-members. This penalty is imposed by ^ See Chapter III of Herbert Spencer's " Education." 142 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS nature and cannot be evaded. It is useless for you to say you " forgive " him ; the matter is entirely out of your hands. You cannot change human nature, and consequently you cannot guarantee that, at a word from you, his fellow-mem- bers will cease to regard him with distrust ; and, until this distrust is conquered, "forgiveness" is but an empty word. Nothing could be weaker, stupider, or more ineffective to cure bad habits than for an adviser to shirk the trouble of treating a delinquent logically and simply "forgive" him. If you excuse a defaulting treasurer from repaying the stolen money, you take from him the only means he can have of regaining his self-respect and the confidence of his fellows. If you yourself treat him with equal confidence, whether he acts honestly or dishonestly, you will take away from him a powerful incentive to honest living. He will probably think either that you do not know the difference between right and wrong, or that his influence over you is stronger than your influence over him. In any event, he will probably end by despising you. In the case of stealing, the penalty imposed by nature will not alone insure no repetition of the offence. How to treat its criminals wisely and justly is one of the most difficult ethical problems which will confront your club. The natural in- LESSONS OF THE BUSINESS MEETING 143 stinct of the members will be to measure the iniquity of the offence by the way it affects them rather than by the circumstances which have influ- enced the offender. For instance, I am sure from experience that the members of the Young Citizens' Social Circle would be harder upon their treasurer if he absconded with the money accumulated for a picnic than they would be if this official made off with the savings prudently laid aside for a " rainy day," Indeed, children are not the only people who are guilty of this inconsistency. Once upon a time I knew a small boy who carelessly broke a vase which to him appeared very beautiful. After making a tearful confession to his mother, what was his surprise to receive a joyful embrace and words of gratitude and praise. It turned out that his mother abhorred this vase and only placed it on exhibition because it was the gift of a frequent visitor. Now, a personal attitude should never be taken by a club in regard to wrong-doing. The culprit and his crime should be considered merely as an abstract proposition. The question of punishment should be discussed purely with a view to preserving most effectively the safety of members and to diverting the lawbreaker from his evil courses. Boys must first learn to distinguish between serious and insignificant misdemeanors. In the 144 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS early days of a club there are always members who will vote to expel a boy who comes to meet- ings with a dirty face, and others who, going to the opposite extreme, will say, " Oh, give him another chance," when an habitual thief walks off with coats or money. After deciding whether a crime, in its outward aspect, appears serious or not, the boys must learn to grade their penalties according to the causes of the crime. Was the temptation very severe, such as the destitution of the family, for instance ? Was it a first offence ? Did the offender appear to realize the gravity of the charge against him ? Was there evidence that he expected to be able to return his stealings ? The section in the con- stitution which relates to the treatment of mis- demeanants says, " Any boy proved guilty of a misdemeanor shall be suspended or expelled, ac- cording to the judgment of the club," so the club can have latitude in deciding what to do with its lawbreakers. If it is a boy's first offence he should lose any office he may hold and should be suspended from the club for two or three weeks. If he is an old offender he must be expelled for reasons sufficiently explained in Chapters II and VI. If it is discovered that the treasurer stole because of desperate need at home, both expulsion and suspension may be omitted. LESSONS OF THE BUSINESS MEETING 145 But, as I have said, whatever penalty the club may think best to impose or withhold, a thief of any kind should be made to understand that he can only regain the respect of his friends by re- turning every cent of the money stolen, and that confidence in him will not be restored until he has been subjected to fresh temptation and resisted it. Even if a boy should steal to save his family from want, he should pay back the money eventually. In the holidays, schoolboys can nearly always get jobs in shops or factories, and in this way they can earn about three dollars a week. Selling papers is a fairly lucrative undertaking and can be pur- sued in odd hours. If a boy is already working, and requires all that he earns for the support of his family, the adviser should make work for him which can be done in the evenings, and which should be fairly difficult and not too well paid. It must appear to be useful work, however, and some- thing for which the adviser is glad to pay ; for it would have a demoralizing effect if a boy were to suspect that work and wage were given him for charity. But the club has other political experiences. At the first meeting of the Citizens, a boy named Harry, as you may remember, was elected president. In the course of time the fact leaked out that this youth had promised, in the event of 146 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS becoming president, to give honors to all who voted for him. He received his office and pro- ceeded at once to carry out the pledges of his campaign. Nine boys voted for him, but there were only four or five legitimate appointments which he could make. So, in order to satisfy the demands of his constituents, he appointed whole committees to attend to the work which was not more than sufficient to keep one boy occupied. For instance, instead of appointing a single, com- petent gamekeeper, who could be held responsible for loss or damage, he created a game committee of three, with the result that when the checker- board was smashed and the base-ball lost (which soon happened) no one knew which of the three was to blame for the catastrophe. With the exception of stealing, bribery is the most serious and most frequent crime with which club boys will be charged. Boys who appear so nice in other ways are so often caught buying or selling votes that I conclude their doing so is only a manifestation of lack of perception. Of course, if a boy is guilty of bribery after the wrongness of it has been explained to him, he can justly be considered as immoral. Children and elementary grown people seem to regard bribery as legitimate pay for useful ser- vices. If I tell Mosey that he may have all the LESSONS OF THE BUSINESS MEETING 147 fruit he can bring down from the top of my apple tree, he will, if the first branches are rather high from -the ground, call his friends and say, " Give me a boost up to that first bough, and I will give you an apple apiece from among those I bring down." An office is regarded by unthinking peo- ple as something created for the glory of the in- cumbent, and a vote as something to make a humble man feel of some importance; both are commodities as naturally for sale as apples. In connection with a charge for bribery the adviser will have the chance to instil into the boys' minds the first principles of political honesty, which means ethics and altruism of the high- est sort. It will surprise most of the boys to learn that votes and offices should never be for sale, but it will amaze them even more to learn that they must sacrifice what seem to them their highest feelings in order that their vote may go to benefit the stranger public. The other day a big boy, seventeen or eighteen years old, told me, with a face which beamed with piety, that he had just voted for a most undesirable presidential candidate in his club because the candidate was his friend, and to vote for him was consequently a sweet and sacred duty. He stared at me blankly when I asked him what right he had to sacrifice the wel- fare of the club for the sake of gratifying his own 148 BOYS' SELF-GOVERmNG CLUBS emotions. " But is not friendship a beautiful thing," he asked, " and is it not one's duty to stick to a friend through thick and thin ? " " Certainly," I answered, "up to the point where others be- sides yourselves are involved. When other people are made to suffer in order that your love may prosper it is time to stop. A vote is a sacred trust to humanity. It represents your voice and power in a cause which will affect the happiness of humanity. Friendship and even parenthood should not influence you against taking the side which seems to you to be best for the welfare of humanity. In the great war of the Rebellion father fought against son in battle, and each be- lieved that what seemed to him the welfare of the country outweighed in importance all considera- tions of his own personal affections." I once had a talk with a "yellow-journal" re- porter on the political situation of the moment, and in the course of this talk he said, " God help us when a father can no longer bribe a judge to acquit his guilty son." This anecdote invariably shocks people to whom I tell it, and yet they admit that if they knew their sons were guilty, and were to be condemned to death or imprison- ment, they would certainly bribe the judge, the jury and all the witnesses. Now, it can scarcely be expected that in our present stage of altruistic LESSONS OF THE BUSINESS MEETING 149 development we should be willing to sacrifice our own feelings to the extent of giving a son to certain, death or misery for the sake of saving the public at large from possible death or misery in the future, but, nevertheless, young people should be trained to look at every situation from the point of view of the welfare of the public rather than from the point of view of their own feelings. A club will seldom be averse to doing a kindly and unselfish act if the loss to itself is not too great and the gain for the public is immediate and definite. The following suggestive discussion I once heard in a little club in Boston, where the adviser had been himself a club boy (a Young Potomac, part of the time) for many years. The discussion at the business meeting that night turned upon a proposition made by one of the members that they (the club) should petition the school authorities to allow them to hold their meetings in a schoolhouse. " Shall we take in other clubs if we get per- mission to use a school .'' " one boy asked. " We'd have more fun alone," another answered. " But wouldn't it be piggish to keep them out when we had more space than we actually needed .'' " suggested another. " But," went on the sceptic, " the board will I50 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS hold us responsible for damage ; and in that case we should have to pay for all the windows broken by the strangers if they refused to pay." " But some one is responsible for our damage here," another boy replied. " Can't we be gener- ous, too, and pass on a good thing we've been so fortunate as to have had given us } " But all the discussions of the club are not on such a high plane of philosophy and ethics as those I have quoted. Most practical problems in regard to the wise and economical expenditure of money, for example, constantly confront the club. Quite recently I heard one of the older, East Side clubs wrestling with the problem of how to lay out to the best advantage five dollars which was to be appropriated annually for books. Some of the boys claimed that it would be best to subscribe to the travelHng library operated by the state. By so doing they would have access during the year to an almost indefinite number of books on any chosen subject. But the oppo- nents of the plan pointed out the fact that at the end of the year there would be nothing tangible to show for their money, whereas, if they bought a few books, in the course of time they would possess a nice little library. I have never been able to decide which I think the wiser plan, and I do not remember what was the decision of LESSONS OF THE BUSINESS MEETING 151 the club, but every one can see how useful such practical discussions must be. A year or two before, I had heard in this same club a discussion which was quite remarkable in showing the common-sense reasoning of which some of the boys were capable. This club had had very bad luck with its game supplies. The new foot-ball had only survived two games and the boxing-gloves as many rounds. No money was in hand for the purchase of new games and the boys could think of no way in which to replenish the treasury (the " Entertainment " did not come off for three months) but to raise the dues. But, of course, this suggestion met with great opposition. One boy said that higher dues would bar out of the club some of the brightest members who happened to be poor. Another said, " Look at Spain. See what high taxes have done for that country. The people were so weary with the burden of taxes that they could not put up a decent fight with the United States." At that a third boy sprang to his feet. " It was not the highness of the taxes in Spain which brought about the downfall of that country. // was the way those taxes were spent. The taxes went for old tubs of war vessels and for gunners who couldn't shoot straight. What we need in this club is not high dues but a committee which 152 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS won't spend them for paper foot-balls and boxing- gloves stuffed with sawdust." Through the constant discussion of the right and wrong of every act the boys grow more criti- cal of what constitutes right and wrong. Their sharpened perceptions finally lead them into con- sidering questions of good taste in conduct. A rather amusing instance of this sort of acuteness once occurred in the Potomac Club. This organi- zation " ran off " (as they expressed it) once a year a " Grand Annual Ball and Entertainment" for the benefit of no one in the world but the Young Po- tomac Club. In their eagerness to make money, the boys had been in the habit of inveigling grown- up, " up-town " people, who had no intention of coming to the entertainment, into buying some- times a dozen ten- or fifteen-cent tickets. I once suggested that this was nothing better than ac- cepting charity, but none of the boys seemed at that time to understand my point of view. " We give them an equivalent for their money, do we not .? " they asked, " and if they do not choose to make use of this equivalent it is their lookout, not ours." Now, it is one of the principles of the club not to force a boy to act above his own con- victions, so I dropped the matter at the time and only hoped that my words had made some latent impression upon them. This, in fact, turned out LESSONS OF THE BUSINESS MEETING 153 to be the case ; for the following year, when plans for a new entertainment were making, one of the leader* arose at the meeting and made a speech in which he quoted all that I had said the previous year, and added many of his own thoughts on the subject. In conclusion, he said : " I do not know exactly what there is that is bad about selling tickets like that. It isn't exactly dishonest. I guess it simply isn't high-toned; " and, although it meant the loss of many dollars to the club, all the boys voted that the practice of selling tickets to people who obviously wouldn't use them should be discontinued. It may be thought that these boys were excep- tionally bright or that they had unusually sugges- tive openings for good discussion in their clubs. I do not think so. There is in anything that happens in a club just so much philosophy as may be seen in it. If boys were to be left alone to work out ethical propositions for themselves they would not get far, but it is the duty of the adviser constantly to guide the talk in the right direction — to say the word that will start a train of thought. If such a word touches a boy's mind on a vital spot, a whole series of scattered thoughts and impressions will be thereby quickened. Now, it is, of course, important that thoughts and impressions should be quickened, but the 154 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS greatest benefit to the intellect comes through the effort to formulate these thoughts and im- pressions into logical ideas, and to express these ideas in speech. " Train and perfect the gift of speech, unfold all that is in it, and you train at the same time the power of thought and of intel- lectual sympathy," says Professor J. R. Seeley in one of his essays. It has been my experience, too, that when a normal boy has successfully put his ideas (if they are right ones) into eloquent words, these ideas become convictions ; and a nor- mal boy will seldom do what he has convinced him- self is wrong, foolish or not " high-toned." CHAPTER IX OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB If we all agree that it is important for boys to know how to amuse themselves while at leisure, the adviser may profitably spend considerable time, outside the regular hours of the club session, in demonstrating those legitimate pleasures which come within the means and understandings of his prot^g^s. In the playground hour the boys should learn to play as many games as possible. Some of the table games should be so cheap that the boys can afford to buy similar ones for use in their own homes. Such active games as prisoner's base, fox-and-geese or puss-in-the-corner are so inferior to basket-ball, base-ball, hockey or foot-ball that it is usually not worth while to let them occupy a large part of the club playground ; but, never- theless, the boys should learn to play these games, for they are among the few which do not seriously disturb people in the quieter city streets, and in the streets the average club boy will spend much of his time. 155 156 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS No game in which the only factor in winning is luck should be allowed in a club of boys over twelve years old. A game which requires skill may be en- joyed for its own sake, but a game of pure luck almost inevitably becomes flat and uninteresting without a money stake. Because of the danger of encouraging a mercenary spirit in games it is even best not to offer a prize in a competition unless it be something like a banner, which has no material use or value, and which (as it will decorate the walls of the club-room) will redound to the credit of the club as a whole rather than to any individual. It is well to stimulate a spectator's interest in all games and sports. The adviser should take his boys to see the professional base-ball games, college foot-ball games, polo matches and yacht races, and he should explain all the finer points of play. An appreciative interest in watching games and sports will prove a mine of pleasure to people who have long since ceased to take any active part in ath- letics. I have said in another chapter that a love of the country was, with some boys, an acquired, not an inborn, taste. While in all my clubs a day's outing to the Bronx or to Central Park was one of the most popular ways of spending the accumulated contents of the treasury, there were always two or OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB 157 three boys who at first could only be decoyed into joining such expeditions by the promise of choice food or entertainment. Eventually, most of them became enthusiastic country lovers, but this happy result was attained only after strenuous efforts on the part of their adviser. The first thing to do will be to get the sceptics to the country at any cost, and the second will be, to use a slang phrase, to give them " the time of their lives " when they get there. Tempting viands will warm the hearts and susceptibilities of the worst of Philistines, so the adviser must provide himself with a generous supply of fruit and cakes. (The boys bring for themselves the more solid and staple articles of food.) Many boys do not care for the country because, when they get there, they do not know what to do with themselves. The adviser should be skilled in discerning the entertaining possibilities of field and forest. Even in the hottest weather a bonfire is delightful, and nothing equals the pleasure of roasting potatoes and apples upon it. Tree-climbing will be a novelty to many boys, but the aptitude for it will only be latent and will grow with opportunity. If there is a sheet of water near, the boys should be taught to row, fish, swim and sail. A part of any day's outing should be devoted to a foot-ball or base-ball (according to 158 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the season) match between opposing halves of the club or with teams from rival clubs. If you can do it, you should arrange to let your boys spend several days and nights in the country. Much of their happiness there will depend on whether you can stay with them. There is too great a tendency in "fresh-air" enterprises to try to make children happy by wholesale, and by machine, as it were. Most children — even big boys — are homesick away from their families, but if they have with them some familiar friend like yourself, this form of suffering is reduced to a minimum. All boys over twelve should pay at least 1^1.50 a week for board while making a "fresh-air" visit, for you cannot begin too early to teach them to despise unnecessary charitable assistance. Any boy of this age can earn the required sum by selling papers or by working in a shop for a week. In most cases the parents will be willing to pay for such an advantage. Of course, if you invite boys as friends to visit you in your home, they need not pay board, but there is then no reason why they should not raise sufficient money for their railroad tickets. Some boys have no desire to see what a long visit to the country is like. They are afraid of the black nights, of tramps or of simple ennui. The only way to cure them of their fears is to OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB 159 give them an actual experience in the country, and to do this it may be necessary to pay for their board yourself. The same boys should never be treated twice, however. If a boy is ever to be capable of appreciating the country, he will only need to visit it once under pleasant circum- stances. Social talents generally are developed by the club. It begins with the formation of friendships between the boys and advances to the stage of hospitality. Hospitality is not popular at first. Why, the boys ask, should we buy a double quan- tity of ice-cream for outsiders when we have never yet had all we wanted ourselves .-• How- ever, the more generous spirits usually prevail, and all good clubs vote to give a "party" once a year. I shall never forget the first of these entertainments given by a club whose name I shall not betray. After a generous supply of ice- cream had been purchased all sense of responsi- bility for the entertainment of guests was cast aside. The members unblushingly carried off all the prizes in contests which had been planned to afford amusement for friends and relatives, and during the refreshment hour all the members huddled together and gobbled ice-cream, turning their backs upon their unfortunate guests. How- l6o BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS ever, after these parties had been frequently repeated, and the methods of the hosts had been mercilessly criticised, the boys' manners became more polished. These same boys, now nearly grown up, find cooperative hospitality to be one of their greatest pleasures, and one cannot but admire the tactful manner in which they have learned to har- monize all elements when their assemblage of friends is composed of people of both sexes and all ages and classes. A frequent indulgence in picnics and parties would soon deplete an average club treasury if the club were dependent for all revenue upon the dues of its members. Fortunately, there remains a financial resource in the "Grand Annual Ball and Entertainment" which, as its name implies, may be given yearly by any active and capable club. The usual programme of this important function is as follows : — Part I Address of welcome by the president of the club. Violin solo with piano accompaniment. Recitation. Clog dance. Songs. Songs, Dialogue. Recitation. Violin solo. OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB i6l Part II A one-act play or farce. Part III General dancing. The order of the dances usually ap- pears on the programme. Tickets for this performance are sold by the members for from ten to twenty-five cents apiece, and, on the lower East Side of New York, al- though there are hundreds of such entertainments every year, I have never known one in which the boys did not sell a sufficient number of tickets to pay their expenses, and few in which they did not make a profit of from five to twenty-five dollars. When it is decided to have an entertainment the president appoints a stage manager and a floor man- ager, and the success of the entertainment will depend largely upon the capability of these two officials. The stage manager and the floor manager between them engage the hall for the entertain- ment, the person who is to play for the dancing, and some one to take charge of hat checks. The stage manager is ultimately responsible for everything connected with the performance on the M l62 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS Stage, but he divides most of the actual work among three officials — a programme maker, a play director, and a property man — whom he himself appoints. The programme maker goes among the members and makes a list of all the "talents" among them and also takes the names of talented friends, whom he interviews with regard to their willingness to con- tribute their services to the entertainment. When he has the names of ten or fifteen promising can- didates for a place on the programme, he calls for a trial of their abilities before the stage manager and himself. Each " talent " performs his little piece and is accepted or rejected according to his merits. When a sufficient number have been chosen the tentative plan of Part I of the programme must be approved by the club as a whole. Finally, the ad- viser looks it over, hears the boys say their pieces, criticises and rehearses them, and, if necessary, takes their parts away from them. When, at last, a Part I is planned that is satis- factory to all, the play director has sent in the name of the play and its cast for Part II and the floor manager has made out his "order of dances" for Part III, the programme maker should make out a complete draught of his programme, and from several printers get estimates of the cost of printing so and so many copies of it. When one OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB 163 of these estimates has been approved by the club, he will be responsible for having the printed pro- grammes ready for the entertainment. The play director is supposed to hunt up a suit- able play for the boys to act in Part II of the evening's performance, but the adviser will be more likely to select it. When a play is chosen the play director, the adviser, and the stage man- ager consult together about the assignment of parts, and when the cast has been decided upon the play director drills the boys until they are letter perfect in their lines. The adviser conducts the regular stage rehearsals, but he cannot coach the boys in the art of acting until they know their lines faultlessly. The play director sees that the actors are prompt and regular in their attendance at these rehearsals. A taste for acting will probably not survive the period of young manhood, but while it lasts it is absorbingly pleasurable. A person who has acted himself, in ever so humble a capacity, will take a more discriminating interest in the professional stage than one who has always been merely an on- looker. It is needless to say that discriminating audiences will be the first to demand the so-called " elevation " (artistic, at least) of the stage. Now, boys of about twelve, who have never acted before, will require a short piece which is rather l64 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS more a farce than a genuine comedy, and one which is drawn on very simple, broad lines. " No Pay, No Cure " (Samuel French & Son, New York), a farce which some of the boys discovered them- selves, was usually the first play acted by East Side clubs. While it is harmless it is unnecessarily silly, and almost any bright boy would be capable of learning something stronger. "Wanted : A Con- fidential Clerk" (William Roorbach, 132 Nassau St., New York) belongs to a slightly higher plane of art. Some of it is horse play, and the fun is far from subtle, but it is harmless and teaches the first principles of appearing effectively on the stage and really requires a certain amount of skill. Each part is spoken in the broken English of some foreigner, and the action, characteristic speeches and costumes are appropriate to each part. The play of " Box and Cox " calls a much greater variety of talents into requisition. In facial expression alone it affords an opportunity for great cleverness. The female character's part in this play can well be taken by a boy dressed as a woman. For bright boys of fifteen or sixteen I can recom- mend "The Rice Pudding" (Walter Baker & Co., Boston); "Mr. Bob" (same publisher); " Ici on parle Frangais " (Samuel French & Son, New York) ; and several of the plays of Mr. John Ken- drick Bangs. The scenic effects called for in all OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB 165 of these are simple, and not too many people are re- quired to appear on the stage at the same moment. All of* these plays call for female parts, but the love-making is only a momentary and minor inci- dent in their plots. A book published by French, New York, called " Guide to Selecting Plays ; or Managers' Com- panion " (twenty-five cents), gives descriptive and classified lists of plays suitable for all kinds of per- formers and is of value to any stage manager. The duties of the property man (the last of the stage manager's appointees) are easily imagined. When a play is decided upon this personage holds a consultation with the adviser and stage manager, and together they make out a list of the furniture, costumes, make-up, etc., which will be required to stage the play. The adviser can probably lend a great many of the things needed ; but everything else the property man must guarantee to have on hand for the final rehearsal. If wigs or the more elaborate costumes are to be hired, he must submit an estimate of their cost for the club's approval. If the adviser is a woman, and is ingenious, she can do wonders in the way of wig-making with horse- hair, tow, rope ravellings, or cotton wool and will be able to save the club a great expense. The requirements of the stage are now pretty well fulfilled, and we can turn our attention to the l66 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS management of that part of the entertainment which appertains to the "floor." It will be remembered that when the president of the club appointed a stage manager he also ap- pointed a floor manager. The floor manager makes out the order of dances for the evening, and he appoints the following assistants : a chair mover, a head usher and a ticket man. The chair mover (with assistants whom he chooses himself) comes to the hall early in the afternoon of the entertain- ment and sees that the chairs (which he may have had to hire or borrow) are arranged in neat rows with proper aisles between. When the " stage " part of the entertainment is over and the " floor " part is about to begin, the chair mover and his men remove the seats from the centre of the hall and arrange them along the walls. He will also sweep up the dust and peanut shells which will have ac- cumulated under the chairs. The head usher appoints as many ushers as he thinks are needed. Their duties are to show the arriving audience to its seats and to distribute programmes. These youths wear large rosettes in their buttonholes and are altogether very impres- sive. Their post is really a sinecure, but is full of glory and consequently much sought after. The ticket man's duties are fairly onerous. He decides what words shall be on the tickets, and, OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB 167 with the authority of the club, orders and pays for the printing of them. He keeps a strict account of every ticket given to a member to sell, and when the entertainment is over he must see that each member returns the tickets given him or an equivalent in money. As the entertainment is in progress he stands by the door and takes tickets from people as they enter. The organizing and running of such an enter- tainment develops marvellously the executive ability and sense of responsibility. Only boys of real character and intelligence will be able to make such an entertainment successful, but any boy will gain much valuable knowledge and experience from the attempt to put through the performance. Every club I have known has tried to publish a monthly magazine. Usually about three very full issues of this periodical would appear and then, for lack of further contributions, it would die amidst the reproachful wails of the editors. All the work of preparing this journal would be done out- side of club hours, although the finished product was always read at the business meetings after the business had been disposed of. The contents would be varied in character and would range from essays on Emerson to witty personal jokes on the members and other hits of purely local 1 68 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS interest. If the adviser can give time outside of club hours to helping the editors, such a magazine can be made very instructive. It is an excellent thing for a club of boys if their adviser will show them the various points of interest in their city. Each year a systematic plan of sight-seeing could be undertaken on one Saturday afternoon a month, let us say. For example, during the first year, the aquarium and zoological garden, and all the museums and libraries could be visited. In the second year trips to the historical points in the city could be under- taken. Another year could be devoted to beautiful churches, buildings, and monuments ; and last, when the boys are fairly mature, they could attend the public meetings of the various city departments after having had the functions of these depart- ments explained to them by their adviser. A knowledge of all that exists in a great city for the profit and advantage not of the individual but of the people, is a necessary preliminary to the inculcation of public spirit among the boys. Without cant or sentimentality the adviser should teach them the delight of taking an interest in the happiness and welfare of other people, and this interest should not be an abstract one merely. OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB 169 There are many things that very young fellows can do to help along altruistic movements. At the University Settlement two or three of the advisers constantly sought for opportunities to utilize the voluntary services of club members. For instance, whenever the meetings of certain educational societies were held the boys would be asked to take tickets at the doors and distribute programmes. At one time a playground society wanted signatures to a petition for a small park, and the clubs of the district worked hard to get friends and neighbors to subscribe their names. The members of the older clubs frequently volun- teered their services as teachers or assistant advisers in their own or other settlements, and sometimes they gave entertainments to raise money for some philanthropic scheme. Do not suppose that I would have your boys encouraged to undertake the complicated and frightfully difficult task of administering charity. On the contrary, they will have already a natural predilection for almsgiving in its most pernicious form, and this predilection should be sternly repressed. It is just as important that a child should per- ceive the remote ill-consequences of deeds inspired by the kindly wish to help, as of acts performed for selfish motives. On the surface the result of I/O BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS giving money to beggars appears to be merely feeding and cheering a hungry and unhappy man. The remote consequences are the encouragement of idleness and shiftlessness by making idleness and shiftlessness profitable and pleasant. It may seem to you that your generosity to a beggar is inspired by love and pity, but is it not in reality an expression of a cynical contempt for the lower classes ? If you felt any kind of respect for even the latent possibilities for good in a beggar, would you not try to save him from his worst self .-' If your son should take to begging, would you thank the man who acceded to his demand for money .-' and if this man refused, because of his lavish gifts to beggars, to subscribe to the trade school which might have prevented your son from choosing his shameful calling, would you then feel that his generosity was beneficent .-• As it is hard enough for even the best of men to earn a living, why should one not devote one's money and sympathies to making the lives of struggling workers happier and easier, instead of putting all the premium on the life of idleness } This is not the place for an exhaustive treatise on the problem of mendicity, but as you will probably be called upon to take some stand with your boys in regard to indiscriminate giving you should be prepared with some convictions founded on actual OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB 171 knowledge of the subject. Therefore, I would recommend that you read "Paris qui Mendie," by M. Louis Paulian, or the excellent translation of this book entitled "The Beggars of Paris" made by Lady Henschell, and which is published by Edward Arnold, New York. Read also " Tramp- ing with Tramps " and other books by Josiah Flynt. I think enough has been said here to suggest what a person standing in the relation of a club adviser may do for the general culture of his boys outside of club hours. These "outside activities" will vary according to the opportunities presented by the town in which the club meets and the in- telligence and ambition of its boys. CHAPTER X ADAPTATIONS NECESSARY TO FIT THE CLUB FOR BOYS OF DIFFERENT AGES AND RACES Typical self-governing clubs, such as I have had in mind in writing this book, are for boys from twelve to sixteen years of age ; certain changes in these organizations must be made to adapt them to the needs of older and younger boys. It is impossible to run a club successfully where the members' ages vary too greatly. (See page io8.) If a settlement or school wishes to cover the ground of club education thoroughly, it should maintain separate clubs for boys from eight to ten ; from ten to twelve ; from twelve to fourteen (all these can meet in the afternoons) ; from fourteen to six- teen ; and from sixteen to twenty (the last two clubs can meet in the evening). The two youngest clubs, for boys from eight to twelve, may be designated as juvenile clubs. The clubs for boys from twelve to sixteen may be called intermediate or typical clubs ; the last club, for boys from sixteen to twenty, may be called simply 172 NECESSARY ADAPTATIONS 173 the oldest club. In the two juvenile clubs there may be from thirty-five to forty members ; but boys over twelve are very sensitive to congeniality, and consequently in the intermediate and oldest clubs it will be difficult to find more than twenty to twenty-five members who can work and play in harmony together. The fact that boys who reach a certain age have marked likes and dislikes, and care to associate only with individuals whose tastes are like their own, is no indication of snobbishness. Very radical differences in the quality of heart, mind and taste are apparent among Hebrew boys of sixteen. Irish and Italian boys, living in one tenement and receiving the same early education, are likely to continue to belong to the same class all their lives. Even if one or two of them amass a greater competence than the others, there will be very slight differences in their spiritual or mental conditions. A large colony of Jews, however, will have within it every possibility for talent, virtue, force of character, vice, and stupidity. I have often wondered at the divergence in the careers of two Hebrew youths, brothers perhaps, who as children were friends and playmates in some juvenile club. In childhood there would not seem to be much to choose between them in mind, morals, or man- ners. When they were sixteen or seventeen both 174 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS might be equally virtuous, but one would have made up his mind to be a teacher, lawyer or doctor ; he would be making heroic sacrifices to keep his next few years free for a college educa- tion ; he would have found companionship in the various residents, advisers and lecturers of the settlement ; he would be keenly interested in politics and philanthropy. His old playmate, on the other hand, would have left school permanently two years before ; his ambition would be to be- come a plumber ; his friends would be other boys of his own caliber ; and his only apparent out- side interest would be melodrama. It is not snob- bishness that makes a clever youth perceive the ^rowino- crulf between himself and his friend and that makes him feel this friend is choosing the lower calling, and one that he neither likes nor comprehends. The feeling of dislike which the young professional man might have for the prospec- tive plumber, for example, would scarcely even be personal ; it would be simply a part of a general revolt against a condition of living and thinking which the plumber seems to represent and embody. A truly democratic spirit is not an instinct but a matter of conscious principle. Lack of percep- tion is not true democracy, although often mis- taken for it. Little boys when they welcome every one into their club are not democratic. Dif- NECESSARY ADAPTATIONS 175 ferences in character and ability at this age are not very marked, but those that do exist are not perceived. When a boy first begins to be critical of people, the adviser should distinguish between an intelli- gent perception of differences in character and a snobbish regard for differences in social standing, so-called. For instance, it is quite proper that a boy should see and dislike coarseness, stupidity, or selfishness, but he should not object to shabbiness or a humble calling. I have known department- store cash-boys in my clubs who would blackball all newsboy candidates because the latter were considered to belong to a lower class. Snobbish- ness of this sort should be mercilessly condemned and ridiculed. In the course of time all boys who are really clever will realize that there is a higher social ideal than the desire to associate merely with persons of like parts to their own, and the adviser should guide their thoughts constantly toward this ideal. In a grown-up club, where the members are twenty years old, there is often a truly democratic spirit. When the young teacher is a man he will think of his club as a forum where all kinds of opinions can be expressed unrestrained. The young plumber will then become interesting because he expresses a point of view — one which is held by thousands of human beings. He 176 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS becomes the representative, the voice of this vast number of people — important people in the world because of their numbers. He ceases to irritate, too, because the mode of life and thought he rep- resents no longer seriously hampers the ambitions of his cleverer fellow-members, who can therefore regard it and him dispassionately. By this time, too, it will be found that lovable qualities are often inherent in extremely elementary natures. The second reason why juvenile clubs may have more members than older clubs is, that little boys under twelve will not have much to talk about in their business meetings ; for, as I shall explain later, their adviser decides for them many things which older boys decide for themselves, and older boys will see in a question or problem much more food for discussion than can be perceived by less mature minds. Every boy who has an idea should be given the chance to express it fully, and yet to do this he *will require time. If, in a club, there were forty members of the talkative age (that is, any age after twelve), none of them could do their ideas justice in the few seconds which would be at their disposal in a business meeting. The forty little boys in a juvenile club will have so little to say that they can transact all their business in from half to three quarters of an hour, while ATECESSARV ADAPTATIONS 177 in the oldest clubs, where there are perhaps only- twenty members, two hours will sometimes be scarcely sufficient for every one to have the floor when he wants it. The adviser in a juvenile club should exert a great deal more authority than in an older club. In clubs of boys from eight to twelve the adviser is, properly speaking, a director. It has been found expedient to allow this director to admin- ister most of the discipline of the business meet- ing. If the boys appeal from some decision or ruling of the chairman, the director, and not the boys, should arbitrate the disputed point. These little boys should be allowed to perform all minor acts of discipline, such as sending home for the day or suspending for non-payment of dues, but they should not be permitted to discuss or con- sider the graver charges which can be brought against a member, for nothing is more disgusting than to see little children criticising or analyzing the immoral characteristics of their companions. If the members find out anything serious against one of their number, — that he steals or gambles, for instance, — they should report it to the direc- tor, who will do whatever seems wisest in the way of suspending or expelling the accused. While the boys in a juvenile club may have the privilege of electing their own members (a majority N 178 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS instead of merely three blackballs should be re- quired to exclude), the director should have the power to admit any boy to membership regard- less of the wishes of the club. There should also be a rule that a candidate who brings a recommen- dation from any grown person known to the direc- tor should be admitted to the club without vote or question. These boys may also vote for their own officers, but without discussion. In short, all per- sonalities should be excluded from the business meetings of little boys' clubs. Most of the ethical lessons of the juvenile club will be learned in playing games ; the object of the business meeting will be to inculcate habits of orderly thinking, of unselfconsciousness, of clear speaking and of courtesy. In the game hour of juvenile clubs the director should have a number of assistants who will explain and moralize over the games which they play with the children. (I mean the italicized word in a cheerful, practical, interesting sense, although I know well that it connotes all that is dismal and borous — a comment on the way in which ethics have been usually taught.) In the typical or intermediate self-governing clubs (boys from twelve to fourteen and from fourteen to sixteen) the discussions of the business meeting predomi- nate as a source of ethical experiences, although. NECESSARY ADAPTATIONS 179 as we have seen, games also instil effectively many- moral principles. In the oldest club (boys from sixteen to twenty) the grown person in charge, who may attend the meetings, is an adviser in the strictest sense of the word. In the constitution of the typical or inter- mediate club it may be remembered that the ad- viser is given considerable authority which he may use at his discretion. In the oldest club he has no position in the constitution at all. It is not his place to reprove or keep order, or to protect life or property. His duty is merely to make com- ments, to criticise and to advise when he can tactfully do so. The business meetings of these clubs are of paramount importance ethically ; games are indulged in chiefly for recreation or exercise. When Hebrew club boys are about seventeen or eighteen years old and have been through a long course of club-training, they often become dis- contented with what seems to them the futility of spending hours in the discussion of topics of im- portance merely in the club. They cannot see that the hair-splitting, parliamentary squabbles which at this time take place, and the fierce dis- cussions on merely club affairs, are teaching them anything but combativeness. A favorite scheme of the older East Side clubs at this stage of their l80 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS existence is to invite down some distinguished man each month to deliver an address. The idea of twenty boys sitting luxuriously in their meeting room within a step of their homes while some busy man toils down town fifty blocks on a bitter winter night to entertain this small audience, is rather comic, although the self-indulgence of the proceed- ing never strikes the boys. As in New York the Board of Education provides very elaborate courses of free evening lectures in public schools all over the city, and as nearly every philanthropic institu- tion in town also gives frequent talks and confer- ences on all subjects, there is little reason why any one should indulge in the luxury of private lectures. If the monthly lecturer does not seem to satisfy the cravings of the boys for a really serious object in their clubs, an effort is made to turn the pleasure or social club into a "literary society," in the be- lief that reading aloud and reciting poems afford better intellectual and moral training than the dis- cussion of the usual subjects of the business meeting. Sometimes a definite course of study is taken up during the winter, and an adviser is chosen who can act as instructor in literature or political economy. I believe that it is a great mistake, however, for a club to adopt the features of a class, for by so doing it narrows its interests NECESSAJiV ADAPTATION'S i8l and influence ; for the members of a club, elected for their general social qualities, will not necessarily agree in 'taste or talent, and those who find they cannot do well in the prescribed course of study will be likely to seek more congenial occupation elsewhere. There are two kinds of work which come within the abilities and appeal to the tastes of boys of greatly varying talents and virtues, and which consequently are appropriate for the oldest club to undertake. One of these is the promotion of a gay and wholesome social life in the neighborhood. This can be done by giving cooperative parties and theatricals for the young friends of the members ; by visiting newcomers in the district, entertaining them, and introducing them to whatever pleasures and benefits may be open to them in the settle- ments and schools near them ; and by bringing together, for some brief entertainment and conver- sation, older people — the boys' parents, club ad- visers, honorary members, school teachers, local political friends — of both sexes and all ages, classes, races, nationalities, political affiliations and religious beliefs. This last proposition may seem to be impracticable, but it is not, for I have often attended such parties on the East Side. Intelligent club boys will have peculiar opportuni- ties for establishing friendships with a great variety 1 82 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS of people, and they often have a real gift for suc- cessfully mixing people of different kinds. The other work, which may be undertaken by ambitious older club boys, is to forward all schemes for local improvements by reporting nuisances and infractions of ordinances ; by obtaining signatures to petitions ; by raising money ; and by helping philanthropic and civic societies in ways suggested on page 169. In the play hour of a club of Hebrew boys rough games should be encouraged as much as possible, for, owing to generations of sedentary living, the Jew has a sadly undeveloped physique. The boys of this race take to active games and gymnastics with great avidity, however, and can usually outstrip Irish competitors because of their more highly organized nervous systems and better minds. The average Hebrew youth who receives an all- round education will be a better-balanced indi- vidual than his Irish contemporary who has had the same advantages. Irish boys have exuberant animal spirits, they are warm-hearted, they have quick and pugnacious tempers and the sort of attractiveness that comes with good looks and genial dispositions. These are their only pro- nounced characteristics. Hebrews (provided they are well nourished) have quite sufficient physical NECESSAIiV ADAPTATIONS 183 vigor (although painfully lacking in beauty), they have equally warm and much more faithful hearts, their tempers are gentler, and they have a keen, vigorous mentality quite unknown to their Irish friends. The Jews are essentially reasoning be- ings. What they need is a broader knowledge of the world as it is, so that they may reason soundly. The Irish seldom reason, or, indeed, think at all. They are creatures of impulse, instinct, and emo- tion. Their mental powers need development from the most fundamental beginnings. The typical self-governing club is for Hebrew boys ; boys of no other race will benefit from it as they will. An Irish club will be much less interesting than a Jewish club. In the former, one will have to devote one's self for years to the imparting of the mere rudiments of ethics and logic. Arbitrary authority will be necessary with them until they are almost grown up. Hebrew boys are so reasonable, and learn so well the principles of order, that, if occasion requires it, their adviser can leave them to conduct with per- fect decorum their meetings by themselves. Dur- ing the first winter I had charge of the clubs in the New York public school, it happened one night that not an adviser besides myself was pres- ent. Six boys' clubs, averaging twenty members each, met in the building, and one of these had 1 84 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS taken the occasion to give a party to which were invited about twenty-five little girls. Although I spent most of the evening, as usual, with my own particular club, there was not one moment of dis- orderliness in any other part of the building. Once in a while I strolled through the corridors and listened outside the class-rooms where the club meetings were in session, but found quiet prevailing everywhere. I only realized how re- markable that experience was, when I came to have something to do with the Irish clubs on Staten Island, There, the turning of one's back was a signal for pandemonium and wanton mischief. I might go on suggesting adaptations for clubs of boys of different ages and races ad infinitum, but to do s© is quite unnecessary. Any adviser with common sense will know when the time comes just what changes it is best should be made. CHAPTER XI THE PERSONALITY OF CLUB ADVISERS It must not be inferred from the foregoing chap- ters that the educational power of self-governing clubs depends upon system alone. It is personality working through system which is effective in clubs as it is in any other scheme of education. It is personality which sees, explains, and inspires ; it is system which affords the practical illustrations and which shows the relation of one act or experience to events that have gone before, and to its train of consequences. The difficulty always in making a good club is to find the proper personality to guide it. Hereto- fore all clubs have been run by untrained volun- teers and amateurs whose only qualification for the task assumed was a liking for boys and the power to inspire liking in them. I look forward to the day when the work of advising or directing clubs shall be as honorable a profession as that of school- teaching, and when all advisers shall be required to prepare themselves for their calling by a course of study more difficult than that now required to 185 l86 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS prepare public school teachers. In addition to a technical knowledge of history, sociology, psychol- ogy, physiology, ethnology, criminology, political economy, pedagogy, the history of education, com- parative religions, ethics, music, athletics, botany, arborology, and dramatics, and one or two lan- guages, the ideal club adviser should be a man of the world in the best sense of the word. He should be without religious or political prejudice; he should be democratic in the true, not the cant, acceptation of the word ; he should have an attrac- tive personality and excellent manners ; he should have travelled ; and he should have had a fairly broad social experience, such as might be gained by any well-behaved, intelligent young man (no matter what his origin), in a large university. He should also have the power to inspire love as well as respect and admiration. I speak of the club adviser here as "he," but I do not mean to imply that there are not many women as learned, and as bracing in their influence over boys, as men. If an adviser is a woman, she sometimes commands a peculiar influence because she inspires respect and admiration for qualities which many boys do not know a woman ever possesses. But where would the money come from to pay the salaries of these highly gifted beings if they should undertake the profession of club advisers THE PERSONALITY OF CLUB ADVISERS 187 for a living, the practical reader may ask. May I not, after having confined myself throughout the book to recording what has actually occurred, in- dulge in a little Utopian dreaming ? And since it is quite as easy to fancy that one has a large sum as a small, let me believe myself the possessor of ^10,000,000 annually, with which I am to put in operation a complete system of club education in New York. With this money I would first build a normal college for the training of all kinds of social workers, but particularly club advisers, with a special post- graduate course for the graduates of the universities. Next, I would open every public school in the city in the afternoons and evenings for games and gym- nastics. Into each public school I would send a number of trained club advisers to superintend the games and gymnastics, and it would be the duty of one of these men to draw from the crowds in the playground a group with which to form his club. In the course of time, through the example of the first club, there would be a demand for other clubs, and as fast as there was a demand other advisers from the normal school would be sent there to meet it. Each adviser should have charge of two clubs, one of which should follow the other in the matter of the ages of its members. This would require him to give four afternoons or evenings a week to club l88 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS meetings, and would place under his charge from forty to sixty-five boys (according to their ages). On Saturdays and on Sunday afternoons and holi- days, the adviser should take these boys on excur- sions, or should superintend their entertainments, as suggested in Chapter X. Each boy should be invited to call upon the adviser in his home several times a year, and every few weeks the adviser should visit his boys' parents and should learn their char- acters and financial standing. The adviser should live in or near the district in which his club met, and he should keep himself posted on all the condi- tions, moral and immoral, of the neighborhood, and should interest himself in local politics and move- ments for civic improvement. The advisers should be well paid ; for it is not desirable that men or women who are content to live dull or narrow lives should be given positions of so much influence and responsibility, and those who would choose the calling in a self-sacrificing spirit would be too few. Apart from the salary, which should be large enough to attract vigorous, clever men and women, I think the profession would be an interesting one, not only on its own merits, but because it would lead naturally and legitimately to high positions in politics and reform. And what would be the effect upon the com- THE PERSONALITY OF CLUB ADVISERS 189 miinity if the proposed scheme of club education were to be put in force ? I believe that there would be such a demand for technical instruction of all kinds as has never been heard of before, and a marked increase in public morality. Education is vast and self-governing clubs are but a small part of education as a whole ; but, nevertheless, I believe my fabulous ^10,000,000 a year could not be spent to better advantage for the public than by establishing these self-governing clubs under the guidance of trained advisers in all the public schools of New York. CHAPTER XII SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW ^ SPECIALLY ADAPTED TO boys' CLUBS Order of Business 1. When the chairs for the meeting have been arranged and garments disposed of, and the mem- bers have taken their seats, the president raps with his gavel upon the table before which he sits and says, " The meeting is hereby called to order." After this if any member makes a noise, speaks, or leaves his chair without permission of the chairman, he is guilty of a breach of decorum. (See § 56.) 2. When the call for order has been responded to, the chairman tells the treasurer to call the roll and collect the dues. The treasurer will have prepared a book in which to keep a clear account ^ For authoritative books on parliamentary law I would refer the reader to Cushing's " Manual," Roberts's " Rules of Order," Reed's " Manual," and Miss Adele Fielde's " Manual." (The lat- ter can be obtained only from the author at 23 West 44th Street, New York.) These books are quoted in the order of their publication. 190 SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 191 of the attendance, absence, and state of indebted- ness of every member. 3. After the roll has been called and the dues collected, the chairman must ascertain if there is a quorum present. A majority of the members in regular attendance (that is, of those who, while belonging to the club, have not been suspended or granted a leave of absence) should constitute a quorum. If there is a decided majority present, a glance will tell the president that this is so, but if there is any doubt in his mind, he must ask the treasurer to count the number of those who are members in regular standing and then the names of those recorded as being present on the day in question. If the president or any member has a doubt of the presence of a quorum, the business of the meeting should not proceed until an actual count has been taken. 4. If a quorum is present, the president instructs the secretary to read the minutes of the previous meeting. (See § 8.) When he has done so the president calls for corrections or additions to the minutes. If any of these are made, and if they are acceptable to the club (that is, if no one makes objection to them), the secretary shall be instructed to incorporate them in the minutes. The chairman then announces that a motion to adopt the minutes as corrected would be in order. If such a motion 192 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS is made and carried, these minutes become the authoritative record of the proceedings of that day. If there has been no discussion as to the correct- ness of the minutes as originally read by the secretary, the chairman, for the sake of saving time, may simply say, "If there is no objection, the minutes will be adopted." He should then pause a minute to give a possible objector time to be heard. 5. When the business of the minutes has been disposed of, the president calls for communications and reports. On the first reading of these the club may take any one of three actions ; viz., to reject, to accept, or to lay on the table. (See §§ 9, 10, II and 12.) 6. After this preliminary sorting and disposing of communications and reports, the chairman calls for old and unfinished business. The secretary should have compiled, from the minutes of the previous meeting, a list of those subjects whose discussion was postponed. If any of the accepted reports or communications of the day bear on these postponed subjects, they should be read in connec- tion with the discussion of these subjects. 7. After old and unfinished business has been disposed of, the chairman calls for " new business." The first matter to be taken up will be those re- ports and communications which were " accepted " SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 193 immediately after reading the minutes, but which were not finally disposed of in connection with "old or unfinished business." Next should follow the election of new members or officers (if there are any), and last, the members have the right to introduce any discussion or motion on any sub- ject whatsoever. Minutes 8. The minutes may open in this form : " The hundredth regular meeting of the Young Potomac Club was held in the Guild on November 2, 1894, at four-thirty, Mr. Max Greenberg presiding." Then should follow the number of boys in at- tendance and the amount of dues collected. After this there should be an account of the communica- tions and reports read at the meeting and of the disposition made of them. No record need be kept of general discussion or of motions which fail of passage, but all motions which are passed should be given fully with the names of the boys who have proposed and seconded them. The names of all members appointed on committees and the duties of these committees ; the names of boys sus- pended, expelled, dropped or granted a leave of absence ; the names of new members when elected ; the names of newly elected officers, should all be entered in the minutes. In closing. 194 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the following words may be used, " The meeting adjourned at five-thirty." Disposal of Communicatio7is and Reports 9. When communications or reports are first read the club should decide whether each one is to be rejected, accepted or laid on the table. 10. If a communication or report is not written in correct form, — that is, if it is incoherent, illegible or (in older clubs) written in pencil instead of ink, — or if it should contain bad or abusive language, or should be unsigned, it should be rejected and should be returned to the sender if he is known. 11. If a report or communication is of slight importance or requires no immediate attention, or cannot be considered until further information is obtained, a motion should be made to lay it on the table. At any time a member may demand that action be taken upon it, but no definite time for its consideration need be fixed. 12. Reports that are in correct form, and which contain information of immediate consequence, or questions which should be answered at once, should be accepted without discussion and should be reserved for further consideration when, either in " old or unfinished business " or " new busi- SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 195 ness " (see §§6 and 7), it would be appropriate to discuss their contents. 13. A report or communication which, after its preliminary reading, has been accepted, may, in " old or unfinished business " or in " new busi- ness," be adopted, filed or rejected. 14. Certain reports, if their provisions are agreed to, require immediate constitutional ac- tion. For instance, the report of the Investigat- ing Committee may contain the information that a certain member of the club has been discharged by his employer for theft. If the members feel that this report is correct, they adopt it, which makes it as authoritative as law, and which requires them to take immediate action in regard to expelling or suspending the accused member, ac- cording to Article VIII, Section i, of the Consti- tution. 15. If such a report is found to be false, or to have been made with honest intention but in- sufficient proof, it will be simply rejected and destroyed, and no action in regard to the accused member will be taken. 16. Other reports or communications of less vital importance may be simply filed if their con- tents are agreed to. Some of these reports may contain imformation or recommendations on several matters, and these should be taken up and dis- 196 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS cussed separately. For instance, a report may recommend sending a foot-ball challenge to the Lincoln Pleasure Club, and it may add the infor- mation that trains run to the park on the half hour and that a foot-ball costs from ;^2.oo to ^4.50. Now the club may take up each of these propo- sitions separately and may make whatever motions in regard to them it may desire. Even if the recommendation to send a challenge is rejected and the vote is taken to buy no foot-ball and to have no outing, the report must be filed, as it will have contained information which was of sufficient utility to justify its discussion in detail — information which maybe of use later, 17. On the other hand, if this report had been found to contain false information, as, for instance, that no such club as the Lincoln Pleasure Club existed, that no trains went to the park and that foot-balls cost from 1^5.00 to $10.00, it should be rejected and destroyed, and this rejection would justify the members in "new business" in taking action against the committee which sent in the false report. 18. A report which merely announces that a committee or individual has done certain work which it was instructed to do and which requires no action on the part of the assembly should be merely filed, unless the report is found to be false, SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 197 when it should be rejected and later on action taken against the writer. The Making of Motions 19. A member may launch some vague idea upon an assembly which will provoke a scattering and more or less random discussion. In order to bring matters to a head and accompHsh something definite, a member may incorporate in concrete form the ideas advanced in this discussion and present them in the form of a motion. It will be the duty of the presiding officer to suggest as soon as possible that some member make such a motion. Otherwise, he must stop the discussion. 20. " Whenever a member introduces a propo- sition of his own ... he puts it into the form he desires it should have, and then moves that it be adopted as a resolution, order or vote of the assembly. If this proposition so far meets the approbation of other members that one of them arises in his place and seconds it, it may then be put to the question ; and the result, whether affirmative or negative, becomes the judgment of the assembly.^ ..." 21. "A motion must be seconded, that is, ap- proved by some one member at least expressing 1 AH the sections in this chapter which are placed between quotation marks are taken from Cushing's " Manual." 198 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS his approval by rising and saying that he seconds the motion ; and if a motion be not seconded no notice whatever is to be taken of it by the pre- siding officer. . . . The seconding of a motion seems to be required on the ground that the time of the assembly ought not to be taken up by a question which, for anything that appears, has no one in its favor but the mover." 22. When a motion has been made and seconded, the chairman rises and, " making sure that perfect order and quiet prevails, repeats the motion so that all may hear it." He then asks if there is any discussion on the motion. If there is, the members who desire to speak in favor or opposi- tion of the motion are given the floor (see §41); but if there is not, the vote is called at once. 23. When a motion has been stated by the pre- siding officer to the assembly, it becomes a question for its decision ; " and until so stated it is not in order for any other motion to be made, or for any member to speak to it ; but when moved, seconded and stated from the chair a motion is in the pos- session of the assembly, and cannot be withdrawn by the mover but by special leave of the assembly, which must be obtained by a motion made and seconded as in other cases." (See § 38.) 24. " But, on the other hand, after a motion has been made, or even after it has been seconded, SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 199 provided it has not yet been stated by the chair- man as a question, it is allowable for the maker of the motion, either of his own choice or at the instance of the presiding officer, or even of some member, and without any motion or vote, ... to modify or withdraw his motion." 25. After a motion is in the possession of an assembly, the discussion of the members should be devoted strictly to the subject of the motion. Amendments to Motions 26. " All amendments of which a proposition is susceptible so far as form is concerned, may be effected in one of three ways : namely, either by inserting or adding certain words ; or by striking out certain words; or by striking out certain words and adding or inserting others." For in- stance, a motion is made to spend ^2.00 of the club's treasury for an outing on New Year's Day. An amendment (striking out and inserting) is made to spend ^2.00 of the club's treasury for an outing on Christmas Day. Another amend- ment (adding) is made to spend $2.00 of the club's treasury for an outing on New Year's Day and to invite the Blank Club to go, too. Yet an- other amendment (striking out) is made simply to go on an outing on New Year's Day. 27. A club should not be allowed to make an 200 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS amendment on an amendment, for it confuses matters too much. In a club it is simpler to allow an indefinite number of amendments to the original motion. 28. An amendment which has no bearing on the original motion should, of course, be ruled out by the chairman. For instance, some one might propose as an amendment to the original motion stated above that the club should give a recitation after the business meeting of that day. This should properly be the subject of an independent motion, as it in no way hinders or facilitates the outing on New Year's Day. 29. Every amendment must be seconded before it can be recorded by the secretary and receive the consideration of the assembly. All amendments which are regularly seconded shall be written down by the secretary in the order of their making. 30. In voting for a motion which has been amended, the amendments are put to the question first, going backwards until the original motion is reached. (See § 70.) Division of a Question 31. " When a proposition or motion is compli- cated, that is, composed of two or more parts, which are so far independent of each other as to be susceptible of division into several questions, and it SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 20 1 is supposed that the assembly may approve of some but not all of these parts, . . . the motion may be divided into separate questions to be separately voted upon and decided by the assembly." 32. " A proposition in order to be divisible must comprehend points so distinct and entire that if one or more of them be taken away the others may stand entire and by themselves ; but a qualifying paragraph, as for example an excep- tion or proviso, if separated from the general assertion or statement to which it belongs, does not contain an entire point or proposition." 33. When a chairman has stated a motion for the last time and is about to put it to a vote, any member may call for division of the question or motion. If the chairman approves and no other member objects, the motion shall be voted upon section by section. If, however, any member objects to the division, he may make a motion to this effect, upon which a vote (see § 38) shall be taken at once and without discussion to ascertain whether the majority are in favor of the division or not. On Reconsideration of a Motion 34. " It is a principle of parliamentary law upon which many of the rules and proceedings previously stated are founded, that when a ques- 202 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS tion has once been put to a deliberative assembly and decided, whether in the affirmative or negative, that decision is the judgment of the assembly and cannot be brought again into question." 35. " It has now come to be a common practice in all our deliberative assemblies, and may conse- quently be considered as a principle of the common parliamentary law of this country, to reconsider a vote already passed whether affirmatively or nega- tively." 36. " For this purpose a motion is made and seconded in the usual manner, that such a vote be reconsidered . . . and if this motion pre- vails ..." it simply means that the original motion is brought before the assembly, under pre- cisely the same conditions as when it was first presented, and can be voted upon either affirma- tively or negatively all over again. 37. In a club it is best to allow reconsideration of a motion once settled, only if new Hght or in- formation has been thrown upon the subject. The mere fact that the boys have changed their minds should not be sufficient to warrant a motion to re- consider a question once settled. Privileged Motions 38. The discussion on a motion may be inter- rupted (see § 59) or indeed stopped by the intro- SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 203 duction of a privileged motion, so called because it takes precedence over all other motions. The privileged motions are : to adjourn, to postpone discussion for lack of time or until further infor- mation in regard to the subject can be obtained, to drop the subject, to withdraw the original mo- tion (this may only be made by the maker of the original motion), to stop discussion, to appeal from the decision of the chairman (see § 60) for division of a question, to suspend some rule (see § 81), to settle some subsidiary matter, to discipline some refractory member, or to amend the original mo- tion (see §§ 26, 27, 28 and 29). Any one of these motions will take precedence of any other that may be before the assembly, and it shall be voted upon without discussion (amendments only may be dis- cussed) as soon as it is made, seconded and stated by the chairman. A privileged motion once defeated cannot be made again in connection with the same original motion. 39. If the privileged motion to postpone voting upon the main or original motion is carried, the original motion shall be introduced at the next or any following meeting under the head of old or unfinished business. 40. On the other hand, if an original motion fails to be put to the vote because of the passage of a privileged motion to adjourn the meeting, it 204 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS shall not be taken up again at any succeeding meeting, unless a member reintroduces it as new business. On obtaining the Floor 41. " When a member has occasion to make any communication whatever to the assembly, — whether to make or second a motion of any kind or merely to make a verbal statement, — as well as when one desires to address the assembly in debate, he must in the first place, as the expression is, ' obtain the floor ' for the purpose he has in view. In order to do this he must rise in his place and, standing uncovered, address himself to the presiding officer by his title ; and the latter, on hearing himself thus addressed, calls to the mem- ber by his name ; and the member may then, but not before, proceed with his business." 42. " If two or more members rise and address themselves to the presiding officer at the same time, or nearly so, he should give the floor to the member whose voice he heard first." In case his decision should not be satisfactory, "... the members may appeal from his decision." (See 43. A member who rises to a question of infor- mation (see § 51) should be given the floor before a member who wishes to discuss the question at issue. SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 205 44. " It is customary . . . for the presiding offi- cer, after a motion has been made and seconded, . . . ta give the floor to the mover in preference to others if he rises to speak." 45. " It is sometimes thought that when a mem- ber in the course of debate breaks off his speech and gives up the floor to another for a particular purpose, he is entitled to it again as of right when that purpose is accomphshed." This should not be so, however, as it is not possible for the presiding officer to take notice of and enforce agreements of this nature between members. A member may always resume his speech, however, if the chair- man has been obhged to interrupt him to enforce order among the other members. 46. " If the presiding officer rises up to speak, any other member who may have risen for the same purpose ought to sit down, in order that the former may be heard first ; but this rule does not authorize the presiding officer to interrupt a mem- ber whilst speaking, or to cut off one to whom he has given the floor ; he must wait like the others until such member has done speaking." 47. The chairman as chairman can only take the floor to speak when he desires to make some brief comment on the debate, or to give some in- formation in regard to it, or to make some parlia- mentary ruling, or to maintain order. If he desires 206 BOrS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS to discuss the question before the assembly, he should give his gavel and seat to the vice-chair- man, and from the vice-chairman's old seat make his address after he has received the floor like any other member. As to Times of Speaking 48. " Every question that can be made in a deliberative assembly is susceptible of being de- bated according to its nature ; that is, every mem- ber has the right of expressing his opinion upon it. Hence it is a general rule . . . that in debate, those who speak are to confine themselves to the question, and not to speak impertinently or beside the subject. So long as a member has the floor and keeps within the rule, he may speak for as long a time as he pleases ; though if an uninteresting speaker trespasses too much upon the time and patience of the assembly, the members seldom fail to show their dissatisfaction in some way or other which induces him to bring his remarks to a close." 49. " If a member speaking finds that he is not regarded with that respectful attention which his equal right demands, — that it is not the incHna- tion of the assembly to hear him, — and that by conversation or other noise they endeavor to drown his voice, — it is his most prudent course to submit SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 207 himself to the pleasure of the assembly and to sit down ; for it scarcely ever happens that the mem- bers of -an assembly are guilty of this piece of ill manners without some excuse or provocation, or that they are so wholly inattentive to one who says anything worth their hearing." 50. " The general rule in all deliberative as- semblies, unless it be otherwise specially provided, is, that no member shall speak more than once to the same question, — unless a member who desires to speak a second time has, in the course of de- bate, changed his opinion." 51. " A member may ... be permitted to speak a second time in the same debate in order to clear a matter of fact ; or merely to explain himself in some material part of his speech . . ." or to ask for information on a subject. In this case, he says, " I rise to a question of information," and the chairman should then give him the floor in prefer- ence of others who may ask it. A member who is speaking on a question of information, however, must speak briefly and must confine himself to questions or to giving of facts and must not ex- press his own theories or feehngs in the matter. As to Matter in Speaking 52. " It is a rule that no person in speaking is to use indecent language against the proceedings 2o8 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS of the assembly, or to reflect upon any of its prior determinations unless he means to conclude his remarks with a motion to rescind such determina- tion ; but while a proposition under consideration is still pending and not adopted, . . . reflections on it are no reflections on the assembly " and are therefore permissible. 53. "Another rule in speaking is, that no mem- ber is at liberty to digress from the matter of the question, to fall upon the person of another and to speak reviling, nipping or unmannerly words to him. (See § 57.) The nature or consequences of a measure may be reprobated in strong terms; but to arraign the motives of those who advocate it is a personality and against order." 54. " No person in speaking is to mention a member then present by his name ; but is to de- scribe him by his seat in the assembly or as the member who spoke last, or last but one, or on the other side of the question, or by some equivalent expression. The purpose of this rule is to guard as much as possible against the excitement of all personal feeling, either of favor or of hostility, by separating, as it were, the official from the per- sonal character of each member, having regard to the former only in debate." SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 209 Breaches of Decorum and Penalties for Ill- behavior 55. " Every member having the right to be heard, every other member is bound to conduct himself in such a manner that this right may be effectual. Hence it is a rule of order as well as decency that no member is to disturb another in his speech by hissing, coughing, spitting ; by speaking or whispering ; by passing between the presiding officer and the member speaking ; by going across the assembly room or walking up and down in it, or by any other disorderly deportment which tends to disturb or disconcert a member who is speaking." It is also a breach of decorum for a member to remain seated while speaking or to wear his hat in the assembly room. 56. The only penalties which can be inflicted upon a member for breach of decorum are, dis- missal for the day, dismissal from the room for a brief period, deprivation of his vote, or simply a reprimand. The chairman should not send a boy out of the room until he has given him at least one warning that his behavior is unwarranted. Three warnings should be given before a member is dis- missed for the day. The chairman has the power to inflict any of the above-mentioned penalties upon a member with the exception of depriving him of his 210 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS vote. This can only be done by a vote of all the members present (excepting the accused member). 57. " If a member in speaking makes use of language which is personally offensive to another, or insulting to the assembly, . . . and the mem- ber offended or any other . . ." complains of it to the assembly, "the course of procedure is as follows : The member speaking is immediately in- terrupted (see § 59) in the course of his speech by another or several members rising and calUng him to order." The secretary instantly writes down the objectionable words. The accused is at once given a hearing, when he may be able by justification of his words or explanation of them, or by apology, to satisfy the offended member or the assembly. If, however, no such justification or apology is forthcoming, a privileged motion would be in order to dismiss him for the day or to inflict any other of the penalties prescribed for breach of decorum. On Interruptions 58. It is sometimes supposed that, because a member has a right to explain himself (or to give information or to ask questions), he therefore has the right to interrupt another member whilst speak- ing in order to make the explanation or ask the question. This is a mistake. He should wait SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 211 until the member speaking has finished ; and if a member, on being requested, yields the floor for an' explanation or question, he yields it alto- gether. (See § 45.) 59. A member who has been given the floor and who is speaking can be interrupted only by the president if he rules him out of order, or by a member who calls the attention of the president to the fact that the member is out of order, or by a member who objects to the language used (see § 57), or by the president trying to maintain order in the assembly. Under no other circumstances may a speaker be interrupted. Even privileged motions can only be put after the mover has regularly obtained the floor when some speaker has finished. As to stopping Debate 60. When the discussion of a motion becomes tiresome or unprofitable a member may (if he can get the floor without interrupting any speaker) move that the chairman put the question at once without further discussion. This is a privileged motion. (See § 38.) Of Rights and Duties of Members 61. " The rights and duties of members of a deliberative assembly as regards one another are 212 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS founded in, and derived from, the principle of their absolute equality among themselves. Every mem- ber, however humble he may be, has the same right with every other, to submit his propositions to the assembly, — to explain and recommend them in discussion, — and to have them patiently examined and deliberately decided upon by the assembly ; and, on the other hand, it is the duty of every one so to conduct himself, both in debate and in his general deportment in the assembly, as not to obstruct any other member in the enjoy- ment of his equal rights." 62. " No member ought to be present in the assembly when any matter or business concerning himself is debating ; nor if present, by the indul- gence of the assembly, ought he to vote on any such question. Whether the matter in question concern his private interest, or relate to his con- duct as a member, — as for a breach of order, or for matter arising in debate, — as soon as it is fairly before the assembly the member is to be heard in exculpation and then to withdraw until the matter is settled. If, notwithstanding, a member should remain in the assembly and vote, his vote may and ought to be disallowed ; it being contrary not only to the laws of decency, but to fundamental principle of social compact, that a man should sit and act as a judge in his own case." SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 21 3 On Appeals 63. For the sake of saving time the chairman is allowed considerable freedom in his rulings and in dispensing justice. If any decision of the chairman seems unjust to a member, he may rise and say, " I appeal from the decision of the chair." In a boys' club this appeal must be seconded, for the power of appeal is sometimes used by mischievous boys, or boys who have a grudge against the chair- man, for the sake of creating a disturbance. 64. When an appeal has been made the chair- man resigns his place to the vice-chairman, and then states his case. The appeahng member then states his case. Then the vice-chairman calls for the vote of all who would uphold the chair in its decision. 65. Whether the chairman is upheld or not, he resumes his place as soon as the vote is taken in regard to the disputed ruling. On making Points of Order 66. If, in the course of the business meeting, it seems to some member that the discussion or other proceedings are not being transacted according to the parliamentary usage generally recognized by the club, he must rise from his seat and say, " I rise to a question of order," and even if these 214 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS words interrupt a speaker the member who makes the point of order must be given an immediate hearing. If the chairman agrees with the correc- tion, he says, " Your point, or correction, is well taken," and rules accordingly. If he does not accept the correction, he says so. If any member objects to the decision of the presiding officer, he may demand that authority for his action in the matter be sought in the parliamentary manual whose authority the club recognizes. Only, if this manual does not cover the case in question, should a member appeal from the decision of the chair. (See § 63.) Otherwise the book shall be con- sidered as the final authority. How to Vote 67. If, during the discussion of a motion, the chairman concludes that there will be an over- whelming majority either in favor of or opposition to it, he may call for a vive voce vote ; that is, he may say, " All in favor of this motion say aye ; " and then, " All that are opposed say nay." If there is any strong unity of feeling in regard to the motion either the ayes or the nays will be so conspicuously strong that there will be no need to count them to know which are in the majority. 68. If a fairly evenly divided vote is expected, SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 215 or a vote in which, say, two-thirds are necessary to effect the passage of a motion, it is better to call for a standing vote ; that is, the chairman should say, " All in favor of this motion please rise." He then counts the number standing, the secretary records the number, and the voters are instructed to sit down. Next, those in opposition are re- quested to stand, when they are counted in the same manner, and the votes of the two sides are compared aloud. 69. When new members or officers are to be voted upon it is sometimes desirable to have a closed or secret ballot, so that the candidate may not know who has opposed him. A closed ballot may be effected by distributing slips of paper upon which the voters may write yea or nay, or, when there are several candidates opposed to one an- other for an office, the name of the one favored candidate. These slips may then be folded up and given to the chairman, who, with the secretary, will count them and announce the result. 70. In the case of a viva voce, standing or secret vote, if there are several candidates for one office, or several amendments to a motion, the way to manage an election or choice will be as fol- lows : Let us say that there are three candidates for office. A, B, and C. The amendments to the motion may be designated also as A and B, while 2l6 BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS the motion itself may be C. In the case of candi- dates or amendments the chairman first calls for votes for A. Let us say there are six. Then he calls for votes for B. There are eight. C wins ten votes. As A has received the smallest num- ber of votes he, or it (as the case may be), is elimi- nated from the affair. The six boys who voted for A are expected to make a second choice either of B or C, unless they prefer not to vote at all. The boys who voted for B and C originally will presumably not change their vote. The result of the second canvass is, that B receives ten votes and C fourteen, C therefore winning the office, or the motion. 71. The presiding officer never votes unless there is a tie in the vote of the members, in which case he casts the deciding ballot. 72. Each club may make its own rules in regard to whether a simple majority shall be sufficient to rule. In order to effect a constitutional amend- ment it is better to require a three-quarter vote. When new members are to be elected, three or four in opposition may be sufficient to exclude. In most cases the majority should rule, but as has been said before, this is a matter for each club to decide for itself ; but each club should have some definite rule in regard to the matter, and not de- cide haphazard at the last moment. SIMPLE PARLIAMENTARY LAW 217 Committees 73. Every club will need a certain number of committees. These may be standing committees or special committees. A standing committee is expected to perform work for which there is a never ending need, — as, for instance, the finance committee, which is expected to audit the accounts of the treasurer; or the investigating committee, which must find out the characters of would-be members and investigate charges against mem- bers. 74. Special committees are appointed to per- form some particular task and are dissolved when this task is finished. 75. The members of standing committees go out of office with the outgoing administration, but if they have done good work or are in the midst of some uncompleted task, they should be reappointed by the new chairman. 76. The members of special committees are not affected by a change of administration. They stay in office until their task is performed. 77. In a club the president usually appoints all committees, standing and special, but the mem- bers should have the power, if they object to an appointment, to call for a vote of the club. 78. The chairman dissolves all committees 2l8 BOVS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS when their services are no longer needed. He may also remove any member of a committee if he fails to perform his duties. The members have the power to appeal from the decision of the chair in the case of a removal, however. 79. In the case of falsifying reports or accounts, or of gross incapacity (buying unsound supplies, for example), a whole committee or a member of it may be tried before the club and may be expelled or suspended. Suspensioti of a Rule 80. '"When any contemplated motion or pro- ceeding is rendered impracticable by reason of the existence of some special rule by which it is prohibited, it has become an established practice in this country to suspend or dispense with the rule for the purpose of admitting the proceeding or motion which is desired." This must be done by passing a motion (privileged). (See § 38.) 81. It is better, however, certainly in younger clubs, not to allow the suspension of a rule without the consent of the adviser. (See page 46.) THE STANDARD SCHOOL LIBRARY. (Each Volume, cloth, 50 cents. Sold singly or in sets.) BAILEY. LESSONS WITH PLANTS. Suggestions for Seeing and Interpreting Some of the Common Forms of Vegetation. By L. H. Bailey. 12mo. Illustrated, xxxi + 491 pages. This volume is the outgrowth of "observation lessons." The book is based upon the idea that the proper way to begin the study of plants is by means of plants instead of Jormal ideals or defini- tions. Instead of a definition as a model telling what is to be seen, the plant shows what there is to be seen, and the definition follows. BARNES. YANKEE SHIPS AND YANKEE SAILORS. Tales of 1812. By James Barnes. 12mo.. Illustrated, xiii + 281 pages. Fourteen spirited tales of the gallant defenders of the Chesa- peake, the Wasp, the Vixen, Old Ironsides, and other heroes of the Naval War of 1812. BELLAMY. THE WONDER CHILDREN. By Charles J. Bellamy. 12mo. Illustrated. Nine old-fashioned fairy stories in a modern setting. BLACK. THE PRACTICE OF SELF-CULTURE. By Hugh Black. 12mo. vii -I- 262 pages. Nine essays on culture considered in its broadest sense. The title is justified not so much from the point of view of giving many details for self-culture, as of giving an impulse to practice. BONSAL. THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE. Extracts from the let- ters of Captain H. L. Herndon of the 21st U. S. Infantry, on duty in the Philippine Islands, and Lieutenant Lawrence Gill, A.D.C. to the Military Governor of Puerto Rico. With a postscript b}^ J. Sherman, Private, Co. D, 21st Infantry. Edited by Stephen Bonsai. 12mo. xi + 316 pages. These letters throw much light on our recent history. The story of our " Expansion " is well told, and the problems which are its outgrowth are treated with clearness and insight. 1 BUCK. BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS. By Winifred Buck. 16mo. x + 218 pages. The history of self-governing clubs, with directions for their organization and management. The author has had many years' experience as organizer and adviser of self-governing clubs in New York City and the vicinity. CARROLL. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. By Lewis Carroll. 12mo. Illustrated, xiv + 192 pages. CARROLL. THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. By Lewis Carroll. 12mo. Illus- trated. XV -I- 224 pages. The authorized edition of these children's classics. They have recently been reprinted from new type and new cuts made from the original wood blocks. CHURCH. THE STORY OF THE ILIAD. By Rev. A. J. Church, vii + 314 pages. CHURCH. THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY. By Rev, A, J. Church, vii + 306 pages. The two great epics are retold in prose by one of the best of story-tellers. The Greek atmosphere is remarkably well preserved. CRADDOCK. THE STORY OF OLD FORT LOUDON. By Charles Egbert Craddock. 12mo. Illustrated, v -t- 409 pages. A story of pioneer life in Tennessee at the time of the Cherokee uprising in 1760. The frontier fort serves as a background to this picture of Indian craft and guile and pioneer pleasures and hard- ships. CROCKETT. RED CAP TALES. By S. R. Crockett. 8vo. Illustrated, xii + 413 pages. The volume consists of a number of tales told in succession from four of Scott's novels — "Waverley," "Guy Mannering," " Rob Roy," and "The Antiquary"; with a break here and there while the children to whom they are told discuss the story just told from their own point of view. No better introduction to Scott's novels could be imagined or contrived. Half a dozen or more tales are given from each book. k DIX. A LITTLE CAPTIVE LAD. By Beulah Marie Dix. 12mo. Illustrated, vii + 286 pages. The story is laid in the time of Cromwell, and the captive lad is a cavalier, full of the pride of his caste. The plot develops around the child's relations to his Puritan relatives. It is a well- told story, with plenty of action, and is a faithful picture of the times. EGGLESTON. SOUTHERN SOLDIER STORIES. By George Gary Eggleston. 12mo. Illustrated. xi + 251 pages. Forty-seven stories illustrating the heroism of those brave Americans who fought on the losing side in the Civil War. Humor and pathos are found side by side in these pages which bear evi- dence of absolute truth. ELSON. SIDE LIGHTS ON AMERICAN HISTORY. This volume takes a contemporary view of the leading events in the history of the country from the period of the Declaration of Independence to the close of the Spanish-American War. The result is a very valuable series of studies in many respects more interesting and informing than consecutive history. GAYE. THE GREAT WORLD'S FARM. Some Account of Nature's Crops and How they are Sown. By Selina Gaye. 12mo. Illustrated, xii + 365 pages. A readable account of plants and how they live and grow. It is as free as possible from technicalities and well adapted to young people. GREENE. PICKETT'S GAP. By Homer Greene. 12mo. Illus- trated, vii + 288 pages. A story of American life and character illustrated in the per- sonal heroism and manliness of an American boy. It is well told, and the lessons in morals and character are such as will appeal to every honest instinct. HAPGOOD. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By^ Norman Hapgood. 12mo. Illustrated, xiii + 433 pages. This is one of the best one-volume biographies of Lincoln, and a faithful picture of the strong character of the great President, not only when he was at the head of the nation, but also as a boy and a young man, making his way in the world. HAPGOOD. GEORGE WASHINGTON. By Norman Hapgood. 12mo. Illustrated, xi + 419 pages. Not the semi-mythical Washington of some biographers, but a clear, comprehensive account of the man as he really appeared in camp, in the field, in the councils of his country, at home, and in society. HOLDEN. REAL THINGS IN NATURE. A Reading Book of Science for American Boys and Girls. By Edward S. Holden. Illustrated. 12mo. xxxviii + 443 pages. The topics are grouped under nine general heads: Astronomy, Physics, Meteorology, Chemistry, Geology, Zoology, Botany, The Human Body, and The Early History of Mankind. The various parts of the volume give the answers to the thousand and one questions continually arising in the minds of youths at an age when habits of thought for life are being formed. HUFFORD. SHAKESPEARE IN TALE AND VERSE. By Lois Grosvenor HufiFord. 12mo. ix + 445 pages. The purpose of the author is to introduce Shakespeare to such of his readers as find the intricacies of the plots of the dramas somewhat difficult to manage. The stories which constitute the main plots are given, and are interspersed with the dramatic dialogue in such a manner as to make tale and verse interpret each other. HUGHES. TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS. By Thomas Hughes. 12mo. Illustrated, xxi + 376 pages. An attractive and convenient edition of this great story of life at Rugby. It is a book that appeals to boys everywhere and which makes for manliness and high ideals. HUTCHINSON. THE STORY OF THE HILLS. A Book about Mountains for General Readers. By Rev. H. W. Hutchinson, 12mo. Illustrated, xv + 357 pages. "A clear account of the geological formation of mountains and their various methods of origin in language so clear and untech- nical that it will not confuse even the most unscientific." — Boston Evening Transcript. ILLINOIS GIRL. A PRAIRIE WINTER, By an Illinois Girl. 16mo. 164 pages. A record of the procession of the months from midway in Septem- ber to midway in May. The observations on Nature are accurate and sympathetic, and they are interspersed with glimpses of a charming home life and bits of cheerful philosophy. INGERSOLL. WILD NEIGHBORS. OUTDOOR STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES. By Ernest IngersoU. 12mo. Illustrated, xii + 301 pages. Studies and stories of the gray squirrel, the puma, the coyote, the badger, and other burrowers, the porcupine, the skunk, the woodchuck, £ind the raccoon. INMAN. THE RANCH ON THE OXHIDE. By Henry Inman, 12mo. Illustrated, xi + 297 pages. A story of pioneer life in Kansas in the late sixties. Adventures with wild animals and skirmishes with Indians add interest to the narrative. JOHNSON. CERVANTES' DON QUIXOTE. Edited by Clifton Johnson. 12mo. Illustrated, xxiii + 398 pages. A well-edited edition of this classic. The one effort has been to bring the book to readable proportions without excluding any really essential incident or detail, and at the same time to make the text unobjectionable and wholesome. JUDSON. THE GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN NATION. By Harry Pratt Judson. 12mo. Illustrations and maps. xi 4- 359 pages. The cardinal facts of American History are grasped in such a way as to show clearly the orderly development of national life. KEARY. THE HEROES OF ASGARD: TALES FROM SCANDI- NAVIAN MYTHOLOGY. By A. and E. Keary. 12iuo. Illustrated. 323 pages. The book is divided into nine chapters, called "The ^sir," "How Thor went to Jotunheim," " Frey," "The Wanderings of Freyja," " Iduna's Apples," "Baldur," "The Binding of Fenrir," "The Punishment of Loki," "Ragnarok." KING. DE SOTO AND HIS MEN IN THE LAND OF FLORIDA. By Grace King. 12mo. Illustrated, xiv + 326 pages. A story based upon the Spanish and Portuguese accounts of the attempted conquest by the armada which sailed under De Soto in 1538 to subdue this country. Miss King gives a most entertain- ing history of the invaders' struggles and of their final demoralized rout; while her account of the native tribes is a most attractive feature of the narrative. KINGSLEY. MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY: FIRST LESSONS IN EARTH LORE FOR CHILDREN. By Charles Kingsley. 12mo. Illustrated, xviii+321 pages. Madam How and Lady Why are two fairies who teach the how and why of things in nature. There are chapters on Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Coral Reefs, Glaciers, etc., told in an interesting man- ner. The book is intended to lead children to use their eyes and ears. KINGSLEY. THE WATER BABIES: A FAIRY TALE FOR A LAND BABY. By Charles Kingsley. 12mo. Illustrated. 330 pages. One of the best children's stories ever written; it has deservedly become a classic. LANGE. OUR NATIVE BIRDS: HOW TO PROTECT THEM AND ATTRACT THEM TO OUR HOMES. By D. Lange. 12mo. Illustrated, x + 162 pages. A strong plea for the protection of birds. Methods and devices for their encouragement are given, also a bibliography of helpful literature, and material for Bird Day. LOVELL. STORIES IN STONE FROM THE ROMAN FORUM. By Isabel Lovell. 12mo. Illustrated, viii + 258 pages. The eight stories in this volume give many facts that travelers wish to know, that historical readers seek, and that young students enjoy. The book puts the reader in close touch with Roman life. McFARLAND. GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES. By J. Horace McFarland. 8vo. Illustrated. xi + 241 pages. A charmingly written series of tree essays. They are not scientific but popular, and are the outcome of the author's desire that others should share the rest and comfort that have come to him through acquaintance with trees. MAJOR. THE BEARS OF BLUE RIVER. By Charles Major. 12mo. Illustrated. 277 pages. A collection of good bear stories with a live boy for the hero. The scene is laid in the early days of Indiana. MARSHALL. WINIFRED'S JOURNAL. By Emma Marshall. 12mo. Illustrated. 353 pages. A story of the time of Charles the First. Some of the characters are historical personages. MEANS. PALMETTO STORIES. By Celina E. Means. 12mo. Illustrated, x + 244 pages. True accounts of some of the men and women who made the history of South Carolina, and correct pictures of the conditions under which these men and women labored. MORRIS. MAN AND HIS ANCESTOR: A STUDY IN EVOLU- TION. By Charles Morris. 16mo. Illustrated, vii + 238 pages. A popular presentation of the subject of man's origin. The various significant facts that have been discovered since Darwin's time are given, as well as certain lines of evidence never before presented in this connection. NEWBOLT. STORIES FROM FROISSART. By Henry Newbolt. 12mo. Illustrated, xxxi + 368 pages. Here are given entire thirteen episodes from the "Chronicles" of Sir John Froissart. The text is modernized sufficiently to make it intelligible to young readers. Separated narratives are dove- tailed, and new translations have been made where necessary to make the narrative complete and easily readable. OVERTON. THE CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTER. By Gwendolen Overton. 12mo. Illustrated, vii + 270 pages. A story of girl life at an army post on the frontier. The plot is an absorbing one, and the interest of the reader is held to the end. PALGRAVE. THE CHILDREN'S TREASURY OF ENGLISH SONG. Selected and arranged by Francis Turner Palgrave. 16mo. viii + 302 pages. This collection contains 168 selections — songs, narratives, descriptive or reflective pieces of a lyrical quality, all suited to th^ taste and understanding of children. 8 PALMER. STORIES FROM THE CLASSICAL LITERATURE OF MANY NATIONS. Edited by Bertha Palmer. 12mo. XV + 297 pages. A collection of sixty characteristic stories from Chinese, Japa- nese, Hebrew. Babylonian, Arabian, Hindu, Greek, Roman, German, Scandinavian, Celtic, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Anglo-Saxon, English, Finnish, and American Indian sources. RIIS. CHILDREN OF THE TENEMENTS. By Jacob A. Riis. 12mo. Illustrated, ix + 387 pages. Forty sketches and short stories dealing with the lights and shadows of life in the slums of New York City, told just as they came to the writer, fresh from the life of the people. SANDYS. TRAPPER JIM. By Edwyn Sandys. 12mo. Illus- trated, ix + 441 pages. A book which will delight every normal boy. Jim is a city lad who learns from an older cousin all the lore of outdoor life — trapping, shooting, fishing, camping, swimming, and canoeing. The author is a well-known writer on outdoor subjects. SEXTON. STORIES OF CALIFORNIA. By Ella M. Sexton. 12mo. Illustrated, x + 211 pages. Twenty-two stories illustrating the early conditions and the romantic history of California and the subsequent development of the state. SHARP. THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL. By Evelyn Sharp. 12mo. Illustrated, ix + 326 pages. Bab, the "youngest girl," was only eleven and the pet of five brothers. Her ups and downs in a strange boarding school make an interesting story. SPARKS. THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION: AN OUTLINE OF UNITED STATES HISTORY FROM 1776 TO 1861. By Edwin E. Sparks. 12mo. Illustrated, viii -1- 415 pages. The author has chosen to tell our history by selecting the one man at various periods of our affairs who was master of the situ- ation and about whom events naturally grouped themselves. The characters thus selected number twelve, as "Samuel Adams, the man of the town meeting" ; "Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution"; "Hamilton, the advocate of stronger govern- ment," etc., etc. THACHER. THE LISTENING CHILD. A selection from the stories of English verse, made for the youngest readers and hearers. By Lucy W. Thacher. 12mo. xxx + 408 pages. Under this title are gathered two hundred and fifty selections. The arrangement is most intelligent, as shown in the proportions assigned to different authors and periods. Much prominence is given to purely imaginative writers. The preliminary essay, "A Short Talk to Children about Poetry," is full of suggestion. WALLACE. UNCLE HENRY'S LETTERS TO THE FARM BOY. By Henry Wallace. 16mo. ix + 180 pages. Eighteen letters on habits, education, business, recreation, and kindred subjects. WEED. LIFE HISTORIES OF AMERICAN INSECTS. By Clarence Moores Weed. 12mo. Illustrated, xii + 272 pages. In these pages are described by an enthusiastic student of entomology such changes as may often be seen in an insect's form, and which mark the progress of its life. He shows how very wide a field of interesting facts is within reach of any one who has the patience to collect these Uttle creatures. WELLS. THE JINGLE BOOK. By Carolyn Wells. 12mo. Illustrated, viii + 124 pages. A collection of fifty delightful jingles and nonsense verses. The illustrations by Oliver Herford do justice to the text. WILSON. DOMESTIC SCIENCE IN GRAMMAR GRADES. A Reader. By Lucy L. W. Wilson. 12mo. ix + 193 pages. Descriptions of homes and household customs of all ages and countries, studies of materials and industries, glimpses of the homes of literature, and articles on various household subjects. WILSON. HISTORY READER FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. By Lucy L. W. Wilson. 16mo. Illustrated, xvii + 403 pages. Stories grouped about the greatest men and the most striking events in our country's history. The readings run by months, beginning with September. WILSON. PICTURE STUDY IN ELEMENTARY SCH60LS. By Lucy L. W. Wilson. 12mo. Illustrated. 10 Ninety half-tone reproductions from celebrated paintings both old and modern, accompanied by appropriate readings from the poets. All schools of art are represented. WRIGHT. HEART OF NATURE. By Mabel Osgood Wright. 12mo. Illustrated. This volume comprises "Stories of Plants and Animals," "Stories of Earth and Sky," and "Stories of Birds and Beasts," usually published in three volumes and known as "The Heart of Nature Series." It is a delightful combination of story and nature study, the author's name being a suflBcient warrant for its interest and fidelity to nature. WRIGHT. FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS AND THEIR KIN. By Mabel Osgood Wright, edited by Frank Chapman. 12mo. Illustrated, xv + 432 pages. An animal book in story form. The scene shifts from farm to woods, and back to an old room, fitted as a sort of winter camp, where vivid stories of the birds and beasts which cannot be seea at home are told by the campfire, — the sailor who has hunted the sea, the woodman, the mining engineer, and wandering scientist, each taking his turn. A useful family tree of North American Mammals is added. WRIGHT. DOGTOWN.' By Mabel Osgood Wright. 12mo. Illustrated, xiii + 405 pages. "Dogtown" was a neighborhood so named because so many people loved and kept dogs. For it is a story of people as well as of dogs, and several of the people as well as the dogs are old friends having been met in Mrs. Wright's other books. YONGE. LITTLE LUCY'S WONDERFUL GLOBE. By Char- lotte M. Yonge. 12mo. Illustrated, xi + 140 pages. An interesting and ingenious introduction to geography. In her dreams Lucy visits the children of various lands and thus learns much of the habits and customs of these countries. YONGE. UNKNOWN TO HISTORY. By Charlotte M. Yonge. 12mo. Illustrated, xi + 589 pages. A story of the captivity of Mary Queen of Scots, told in the author's best vein. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. m .^i/d ^L2419^^ y0m-7/68(JlH'J5s4; — C-120 LiPHARYrRCIUTV IVA 000 395 904 6 HV 878 t I- o — PLEA*=^ DO NOT REMOVE THIS BOOK CARD i ^^•LIBRARYQ^ ^ ->l r f- uJ z ij c .0 r 01 Jl 1 m 30 lb"' ao J 1 < f-