Throwing Dirt A By-Product

HELLO FOLKS! — It's a good thing to get in and dig, but be careful which way you throw the dirt.

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MY NEIGHBOR says that a cold can be both positive and negative; sometimes the eyes have it and sometimes the nose.

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THERE IS a move in the senate to start a youth development camp for boys of ages 16 to 28.

The idea is to make it a conservation camp on the order of those had before World War II. The reason for it is that so many boys of that age do not have work.

Here is a move that could have great benefit if it is handled right. On the other hand if it is handled like the CCC camps of former days it might not he so good. For one thing I think it should be a summer camp and for boys of ages 15 to 18. It should meet the highest specifications morally and physically. It should be a camp that would develop the young boys into men, in every sense. The boys who apply for permission to attend such a camp should have their pastors recomendation. The men who are chosen should be of the highest moral character and the training should be so it will teach the boys to work and learn. Boy Scout principles should be taught and observed. These camps should be of the nature that any parent would be proud and willing to send their boy to.

The reason that it should be just a summer camp is that these youths should be in school the rest of the year, and the reason that it should be for youths of the tender age of 15 to 18 is that they are the ones who need the recreation and training that such a camp affords. Boys that age are formative and will learn to do and develop.

The reason the ages should not be over 18 is that such men over that age are usually set in their habits and would be the ones most apt to bring evil influence into the camps. They should he out preparing themselves for a lifetime occupation and not be in such a place. A camp for them would be a liability and not an asset. Also they would be a drug on the economy.

Such a camp would either be a great asset or a breeding place for vice and evil. If it would be like the CCC camps of the 30's it would be a hangout for prostitutes and gamblers, surely not in the camps themselves but all around them.

Our youths of the teenage need something to keep them occupied during the summer months and this would be a good thing for the state, to develop parks, recreation-al areas and beautify our natural scenery. By having it as just a summer project we would be able to get highly qualified men to handle it. These would probably be teachers who want jobs through the summer vacation. They would be apt to be the best leaders anyway as they are used to handling youths. The cost would not be prohibitive that way either, as winter provisions would not be needed.

It would not be necessary nor wise to pay too high a wage as the work would not be of the highest skill and just the training and food they get would be worth it to them.

There is one must that I think should be followed and that is that our pastors should nave a heavy hand in it. Without that the camps would not be apt to be run right. If the pasors have the veto of the leaders and applicants it would have an uplifting effect on the projects and these boys would be apt to come back into the community better than they left it. 1 am sure that if they will take the initiative in asking for the privilege the public will back them up in it and the consequence will be good.