56 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



get more for our honey by improving its 

 quality and stimulating the use of honey 

 among those who rarely eat it. 



CURRLNT READING 



It's Trend Should be Carefully Watched 

 by the Parent. 



Many men have written and thanked 

 me warmly because I have called their 

 attention to the Success Magazine; but 

 my interest extends even to the children 

 of my subscribers. I feel that they, too, 

 ought to have the best of reading. In 

 fact, I think the kind of reading that 

 children have is really of more import- 

 ance than that read by the grown-ups. 

 A circular sent out by the Youth's 

 Companion, covers this point so perfectly. 

 so deiiglitfully, that I hope I may be 

 pardoned for reproducing it, even if it is 

 of some length. If you are a parent, I 

 beg of you to read it. It is as follows: 



More and more clearly is it recognized 

 that the public of today is being educated 

 by the publications of general circulation. 

 Greater responsibility, therefore, rests on 

 the publisher for his production, and on 

 the reader for his selection, of periodicals. 



The present multitude of periodicals has 

 this serious disadvantage: we are 

 tempted to use our leisure, not in the 

 fruitful reading of one, but in the care- 

 less and unproductive skimming of many. 

 If in the home there are young people 

 with mental habits yet unformed, it js 

 especially better to have not many peri- 

 odicals, but a few, each one of which has 

 been thoughtfully selected. 



What periodicals we do have should be 

 the best. In determining which these are 

 we should be sure, first of all, that the 

 weekly paper or the magazine for which 

 we subscribe is edited not merely for the 

 selfish interest of the proprietor, but really 

 for us. The publisher of a popular peri- 

 odical is under a constant temptation to 

 sacrifice the interest of his readers to 

 the desire to gain greater circulation. 

 Under the plea that he "must give his 

 readers what they want," he surrenders 

 his moral self-respect and shirks his 

 plain duty as a public servant. The 

 publisher concerned chiefly for the com- 

 mercial value of a large circulation has 

 not the courage to give the conscientious 

 editing which insists upon the best work 



of the best minds. He is in the shame- 

 ful position of one who uses the great 

 moral instrument which he controls 

 solely for his private gain. 



THE PARENT IS THE LEADER. 



We must be sure, therefore, that the 

 periodical we invite to our homes is 

 honestly edited for us. If there are 

 young folks, the reading of the home 

 must be watched with double care. 

 Boys and girls enjoy the same sort of 

 reading as their parents; for the very 

 young, it must, of course, be more simply 

 phrased, but even for them it need not 

 be different in kind. Parents are, in any 

 case, the natural leaders in selecting the 

 reading for the family. Whether they 

 realize it or not, what they read will 

 powerfully affect the choice of their young 

 folks. They need not think that they can 

 indulge in questionable reading and not 

 have their children do so. too. In the 

 family no book or periodical should be 

 allowed which does not help to build 

 mind and character, and is not an 

 inspiration to high ideals. It is both a 

 parental and public duty to see that 

 young folks are wisely guided in their 

 reading. Their emotions are quick, their 

 imaginations overactive and undisciplined, 

 their love of excitement is keen; the criti- 

 cal powers are low, their judgment is 

 immature, their knowledge of the reali- 

 ties of life is practically nil. They have, 

 as a result, substantially no natural pro- 

 tection against the literary charlatan 

 and quack. 



STORIES OF CRIMINALS. 



Even the boy of the best upbringing 

 may be attracted by the sensational 

 story of impossible adventure, by tales of 

 crime and criminals, by cheap, slangy 

 and vulgar comicalities. The girl may 

 be fascinated by the silly, false and 

 offensive sentimentality of a certain 

 mushy kind of cheap love-story. They 

 may, in short, be easily caught by any 

 writing which is crude in color, violent in 

 incident, questionable in taste and 

 specious in morals. How can they know, 

 who as yet know little of life, that these 

 highly colored pictures of it are most 

 misleading? 



At its worst, cheap reading destroys 

 their minds and their morals. For the 

 pleasure given by this reading is, in its 

 essence, a sort of nervous excitation 

 differing little from that afforded by 

 certain drugs. It becomes a habit, a 

 dissipation, a deeply rooted craving for 

 excitement almost impossible to destroy. 

 It spoils all taste for really wholesome 



