4 THE NATIONAL IDEAL 



without the strain that prematurely ages. There 

 is nothing better for man, there is nothing more 

 truly enjoyable, than a sound day's work, ade- 

 quately paid for, provided the other conditions of 

 life are as they should be. 



Infirm folks there must always be, and others 

 who, partly owing to past conditions, partly 

 owing to present conditions, can never have 

 good health, who are perhaps consumptive, or 

 worse. There must always be, too, a number of 

 people who, by the great cleverness of physicians, 

 have been just plucked from death, and are handi- 

 capped for the greater part of their lives. 



Therefore it is all the more necessary that the 

 status of those who are not physically handi- 

 capped should be always closely studied, that 

 they should never be allowed to drift and be 

 the sport of fate. For their own sake, for the 

 sake of their children, and still more for the 

 sake of the nation, as many men and women as 

 possible should be at work where the air is 

 purest, and have their dwelling-place where the 

 sanitation is perfect. 



Important as this is to adults, to those who 

 are younger it is still more important. All young 

 men should be obliged to live where the sanitary 

 conditions are most carefully watched, and should 

 at the same time be so treated that the obligation 

 should become as welcome to them as the advan- 

 tages to their physical growth are obvious. 



The social ideal is an accompaniment of the 

 physical ideal, and means that improvement 

 should ever be worked for in the relations 



