Scouting, Volume 3, Number 14, November 15, 1915 Page: 2
8 p. : ill. ; 31 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
SCOUTING.
American Booksellers' Association, and
has therefore received the stamp of ap-
proval from two of the most important
agencies for the distribution of books.
Mr. Franklin K. Mathiews, Chief Scout
Librarian, in an address to the American
Booksellers' Association, emphasized the
fact, so often overlooked, that books, al-
though merchandise, are something more;
and that both the bookseller and the li-
brarian are made responsible by the
things in which they deal and give to the
public. The answer of some booksellers,
when they are urged to discriminate
against the bad book, "Business is busi-
ness," is based on a theory which may
now be said to be exploded; for Ameri-
cans have learned that any form or
method of business which sacrifices the
customer is in the end bad business. The
great defect in the business methods of
this country has been the sacrifice of the
larger revenue for the immediate profit.
No country has ever killed the goose that
lays the golden egg more thoroughly than
the United States. A dollar today, in the
practice of a host of Americans in all
kinds of business, has been much more
important than ten dollars next week. The
fallacy of selling the cheap book because
"business is business" is exposed by the
fact that a well-written and wholesome
book has just as much appeal in it and is
just as salable as the book that tells pic-
turesque or clumsy lies to its readers.
Out-of-doors sports have come to fill a
great place in the lives of boys, as they
should, but it is a mistake to suppose that
boys no longer read. Mr. Mathiews,' who
has been investigating the matter, reports
that in the schools of a large city, when
the question was asked the children as
to what they did between Friday after-
noon and Monday morning, it was dis-
covered that the largest percentage of them
spent their time in reading. In another
city one boy sent in the titles of ninety-
eight books which he had read during his
summer vacation; and those who watch the
habits of boys in camp or at hotels can-
not fail to be struck by the fact that as
soon as the exercise hour is over the read-
ing hour begins. In spite of increased ac-
tivities, reading is still the principal recre-
ation of a host of boys. And many of
these boys are still reading the nickel
novel, which has taken the place of the
dime novel of a generation ago. It is
true that there has been a decline in the
sale of the nickel novel; and a writer in
the New York Times, who has himself
been an author of these one-hundred-
thrills-for-a-nickel books, says that the
decline of "Shorty Muldoon" and others
whom he names has been due, not to a cru-
sade, but to the moving picture shows,
which means that the mischief has changed
its form, but has not been ended. _
These books are not at all the kind of
book which Anthony Cornstock spent his
life in destroying. Their offense is not
that they are immoral, but that they are
untrue and intellectually vulgar. They are
not indecent, but exaggerated; and they
fill the minds of boys with the same sort
of mischievous rubbish with which the
cheap novels fill the minds of shop-girls.
Mr. Mathiews describes a book of this
type in which the captain of a new sub-
marine is sixteen years of age. He had
already served a world-wide apprentice-
ship and is a "world-known expert in the
handling of submarine torpedo boats."
With this brilliant youthful commander
two other sixteen-year-old heroes were
associated, who are also masters of^ the art
of submarine boatbuilding and direction.
They had all taken medals at Annapolis,
and they had served as instructors in sub-
Do This One Thing!
SAFETY First Juvenile Book
Week, Nov. 28-Dec. 4, inau-
gurated by the Boy Scout
movement, is meeting with phe-
nomenal success.
The endorsement of the cam-
paign by a magazine of the stand-
ing of the OUTLOOK proves that
the problem of good reading mat-
ter for boys is a live issue of prime
importance.
Your minister no doubt would be
glad to give this splendid effort a
boost, if somebody called it to his
attention.
Let that "somebody" be YOU!
Send him—or, better yet, take him
in person—this OUTLOOK, article
and suggest that he make some
mention of it on Sunday, Nov. 28,
which is the first day of the cam-
paign.
Do this one thing as YOUR
contribution!
MR. MATHIEWS REPORTS
ON HIS WESTERN TRIP
Finds People Everywhere Speaking in
Glowing Terms of Scouting and
its Leaders
marine work at that institution. To boys
who read this sort of rubbish the discipline
of education, the painful pursuit of
knowledge, are wholly eliminated, and life
becomes an easy and brilliant job in which
the highest rewards are obtainable without
a struggle and at an age which would
have driven the heroes of an earlier time
to despair.
The sin of these books is intemperance.
They are a form of cheap whisky. They
not only intoxicate, but they destroy the
tissues of the brain and contribute to the
fostering of that lack of discipline which
is shown in every department of life in
the United States, from the brutal hang-
ing of a man by a mob in Georgia, the
overturning of a steamboat tied to a dock,
the blowing up of the streets of New
York, to the so-called "gentleman's mark"
in the colleges, and the failure of mu-
nicipal government. These cheap stories
do not stimulate the imagination; they dis-
sipate and waste it, and so destroy the
greatest power with which boys and girls
are endowed. They relax the attention
to such a degree that it is impossible to
hold the attention of their victims except
by what are called thrills. "A thrill a min-
ute" is a phrase not uncommon in theatrical
advertisements and is highly significant of
the widespread relaxation of brains and
will in America. . .
The vulgarization of the American mind
involves the loss of the highest possibili-
ties within the reach of American democ-
racy. The most serious objection to the
vulgar "movie" is its cheapening of love,
its blurring of the standards of intercourse
between men and women, the free and
easy manners which lower the girl in the
sight of the boy—and there is nothing
more important than that boys should hold
girls and women in high respect. The
idealization of women, which ^ at certain
ages protects boys to whom religious prin-
ciple does not appeal, is an invaluable pos-
session. The cheap movie and the cheap
book which trades in thrills tear this
idealism up by the roots, and the tragic
thing about it is that the boys do not want
them—that they want the real thing and
take it eagerly when it is offered to them.
Juvenile Book Week is a matter of na-
tional interest and importance. Booksell-
ers, book publishers and librarians must
co-operate, but they ought to have all in-
telligent Americans behind them.—Edi-
torial. The Outlook.
Everywhere i found the people
speaking in glowing terms of our
Movement and of our scout execu-
tives and other local officials. Meeting in-
fluential men and women engaged in school
and library work, it was a delight to hear
them, with unstinted praise, tell of some
of the beneficial effects of Scouting they
had observed. This is the more significant
because in many instances these representa-
tive people were not in any way identified
with the Movement. Yet they had felt its
quickening influence in other social agen-
cies, and were eager to pay tribute to the
scouting program and to our leaders who
are spending their lives for the bettering
of boyhood in the communities where
they serve.
Speaks in Many Cities
The object of my trip was to deliver
an address before a joint meeting of the
Wisconsin Teachers' and Librarians' associ-
ations, which met in Eau Claire, October
21-23. On the way, I was privileged to
share in the conference at Buffalo, after-
ward visiting Syracuse, Rochester and
Cleveland, spending a day in each of these
cities. Two days were spent in Chicago,
one day in Eau Claire and three days in
St. Paul and Minneapolis, from which
places I went to Madison, Wisconsin, ad-
dressing there the Library School of the
State Library Commission and University.
I am happy to report that increasingly
the work of our Book Department is be-
ing understood. Librarians are giving it
enthusiastic support. I was welcomed by
them with an interest so genuine that I
am convinced that the future of our Book
Department is well assured, so far as they
are concerned. Indeed, it is not too much
to say that they are looking to us to fur-
nish leadership as regards directing the
reading of the boy in his early teens. They
say that their boys are always more in-
terested in the books of their libraries
when they know they are recommended by
us.
Librarians Interested in Scouting
And it is well to add that I found li-
brarians tremendously interested^ in the
Scouting program, and in some instances,
working with our executives to set up the
work in their libraries. It warmed my
heart again and again when these women
told with pride and gladness of how often
their problems of discipline in the library
had been solved because their boy patrons
had received the benefits of Scouting.
I had time, also, to visit the bookstores
and here again I found a very sympathetic
interest in our work. When I proposed to
booksellers our plans for "Safety First
Juvenile Book Week" (November 28-De-
cember 4), almost without exception they
pledged their support, in some cases even
after I had explained that some of the
books they were selling were nothing but
'hickel novels in disguise—the kind we are
planning to attack in our "safety first" cam-
paign. In many instances they agreed with
me as to the character of these books, and
indicated that they will gladly eliminate
them just as soon as we are able to in-
fluence their customers to ask for better
books.
Most earnestly do I hope that all our
scout leaders will realize how big and
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 3, Number 14, November 15, 1915, periodical, November 15, 1915; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282772/m1/2/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.