Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1899 — YOUTHFUL DEPRAVITY. [ARTICLE]

YOUTHFUL DEPRAVITY.

Boys ia tkt Argentine Republic Pose aa Men at 14. We bear a good deal said of Young America and bis impudence, writes Frank G. Carpenter. Tbe boys of the Argentine %re even more precocious than those of tbe United States. An Argentine father seldom whips bis son, and children have much more liberty south of th* equator tbnn north of it Tbe Sunday school Is almost unknown, and ideas of morality are so loose that children ary. brought tip In a most perniciods waj. Aa to lying, this is common among men, women and children. The polite lie Is met with everj where, and a father will sometimes say about bis little giij or boy In admiring tones: “Why, hear that child lie,” or “How well it does Ue;”. “Why, I could not 110 better than that myself.” They do not think It disgraceful to lie, and have tbe Spanish idea of honor. You might, for Instance, call an Argentine n liar, and be wotjd think nothing ot it. He might think it a compliment more than anything elje. But if you should call him a coward he could not consistently rest until hn had knocked you down or stabbed you in the back. The young Argentine learns wickedness at a much earlier age than do our boys. Many of them have reproved minds at U, and already pose as men. Boys begig to talk politics before they are out of knee pants. Nearly every college has its political factions. The boys organise revolutions against tbe professors, thus training themselves to get np revolutions against the government wbajt they grow older. The well-to-do young Argentine is not brought up to any business. He has a prejudice agalsst trade and work, though he wiU study for a profession. It Is the fashionable thing to study law, and thus get the title of doctor to the name, though the young man may never expect to practice. The children, as a rule, learn the language* easily, and many young men speak English and French. Girls are also good linguists, but outside of the languages they know but little.