42 THE THIRD YEARBOOK 



like that of every other day, that we should expect to find in the 

 man who under better physical conditions performs work which at 

 every moment exacts his individual and personal initiative. The 

 great differences which are easily recognized do not arise because 

 the one kind of labor is so much harder than the other ; for both 

 may make about the same drafts upon the sum total of human 

 strength. They depend much more upon quality — upon the kind 

 of reaction that they stimulate in the worker. Herein is the real 

 reason for the long struggle for shorter hours in the working-day ; 

 it is not so much that the muscles may be relaxed, as it is that the 

 mind may be released from the monotonous alternatives of the 

 pick and shovel, and the rhythmic bang of steam-driven tools. 

 The short working-day will accomplish its true purpose only when 

 the hours now largely spent in idleness shall be filled with some 

 stimulating purpose that turns the energies of the individual upon 

 some personal problem relating to the public good. 



Mingling with the influences of the present surroundings are the 

 traditions that in many instances go back to some remote spot in 

 the Old World. The result is a general disturbance of ideals and a 

 modification of methods that serve to add to the confusion which 

 a great diversity of new conditions would of itself naturally induce. 

 Add to this the theory of self-goverriment, only imperfectly under- 

 stood, but which by its very terms must mean the extreme reverse 

 of what a large part of the people have been accustomed to, and 

 there is no need to seek farther for the causes of social and political 

 turbulence. The mystery concerning the origin of political parties 

 no longer remains ; the only wonder is that there are not more of 

 them than already exist. The shifting of political boundaries in our 

 country's history following, now one great natural feature, now 

 another, is a very simple story that need not be detailed in this 

 connection. The pupils should be taught to study the great drama, 

 not as a spectator reviews the panorama of the stage, but as active 

 participants. For most people history is an affair of the books ; 

 for our pupils it should be a matter of present concern and of 

 personal experience. It is only as they really become intelligent 

 as to man's place in nature that the theory of self-government can 

 be appreciated or fully understood. It is from such wisdom that 

 the proper machinery of government must be devised, so that the 

 mutual and natural relations between the governed and their repre- 



