Reactions and Other Essays Discussing Those States of Feeling and Attitudes of Mind That Find Expression in Our Individual Qualities (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915. Excerpt: ... THE HOPE OF THE FUTURE ONE day, with a visiting Englishman, a man interested in the study of social conditions, I went to a baseball game on the East Side of New York. The two nines were composed of East Side boys, some of them rather tough-looking. It was interesting to see them play. They entered into the work with enthusiasm. And toward one another they showed a fine spirit. The Englishman was very much impressed. "Those are very remarkable boys," he said. Then, with that peculiar upward inflection to our ears so amusing, he asked: "Are they typical?" I replied that I thought they represented the average among the boys in the district. "And what will they amount to? Will they grow up to be useful citizens? There's certainly plenty of ability and character here. It's quite remarkable." "Some of them will grow up to be useful citizens," I replied. "But they will all be hampered by lack of education. Nearly all of these boys, though there are none of them more than fifteen, left school long ago and are working for their living. Saturday afternoon is their only play time. However, some of them will do fairly well." You see, I was really dodging the question. I suspect that the Englishman was shrewd enough to perceive I was dodging. He came at me again: "How about the others?" "Well, some of the others will drift." "H'm " said the Englishman. For a few moments he was seemingly absorbed in the game. But I noticed that he was studying the faces of those boys with his sharp eyes. "What happens to them when they drift?" he suddenly asked. "Sometimes for weeks at a time they have no work to do. Then they get out of the habit of working. Some of them begin to drink. Some of them become politicians and help to corrupt the city government. Some of them contract dis...