to do;
everything is done for them. During their early years habits of
idleness, of passive receptivity, of mischief, and possibly of crime,
are ingrained. And though this kind of life may be more _pleasurable_,
in a low sense, than the active life of the country, there can be no
doubt as to which is the more wholesome and strengthening.

=Child Labor.=--A good child-labor law is absolutely essential to the
welfare of the children for whom it has been enacted; nevertheless,
there has been a great omission in not providing that idle children
shall do some work. Even in large cities there are probably more
children who do not work enough than there are who are made to work too
hard. In our zeal we sometimes forbid children to work, when some work
would be the very best thing for them. It is true that on the farm as
well as in the factory ignorant and mercenary parents make dollars out
of the sweat of their children, when these should be going to school or
engaged in physical and mental recreation and development. It is
unfortunate that society is not able to see to it, that, as in Plato's
Republic, every child and every person engage in the work or study for
which he is best fitted, and to the extent that is best for him. Then
the hundreds of thousands of children who are idling would be engaged
in some kind of occupation, and those who are working too hard would be
given lighter tasks; and all would have the privilege of an appropriate
education.

=The Finest Life on Earth.=--In view of such circumstances and
opportunities, life in the country should be, and _could be made_, the
best and most complete life possible to a human being. Country life is
the best cradle of the race. To have a good home and rear a family in
the heart of a great city is well-nigh impossible for the average
laboring man. The struggle for existence is too fierce and the
opportunity, in childhood and youth, for self-expression and initiative
is too meager. The environment is too vast, complex, and overwhelming,
with nothing worth while for the child to do. "Individuals may stand,
but generations will slip" on such an inclined plane of life. From this
point of view it can be truly said, we think, that "God made the country
while man made the town."

The real, vital possibilities of country life are without number. The
surface attractions of the city are most alluring. A focusing of the
public mind upon the problem, its _pros_ and _cons_, will, i