Boy Scouts Handbook Part 74

The record t.i.tle, therefore, of all real property is to be found in the office of the register of deeds in the county court house. It makes no difference what kind of real property it is, acre property or city property, here the t.i.tle of ownership is always to be found, the books of record being always open to the public. Thus when one buys a piece of real property, a home for instance, he should receive from the owner a deed and an abstract of t.i.tle, which is a paper showing the t.i.tle as it appears on the records, and this t.i.tle when not vouched for as perfect by an abstract t.i.tle company, should be pa.s.sed upon by a lawyer in order that any flaw or defect therein may be made right before the deed is pa.s.sed from one owner to another. In some states, however, the law does not require the owner to furnish an abstract. When the t.i.tle is proved or p.r.o.nounced good, the deed should at once be placed on record.

Personal Property

Personal property is that form of property which in general terms is stated as movable, such as animals, furniture, clothing, tools, implements, money, stocks, bonds, mortgages, etc., the transfer of which from one owner to another is not as a rule a matter of public record, although in the case of a bill of sale--sometimes made of some forms of personal property--the county record may give evidence thereof. Therefore it is, that in the matter of taxation, the tax record or a.s.sessment comes under two general heads--a tax on real property and a tax on personal property.

Property and Government

It is desirable to be a property owner so long as the government under which one lives protects one in his property ownership. The government must do two things: it must protect the person and his personal rights as a citizen, and it must also protect property and the rights of property ownership from enemies within, as from without. In order that this may {349} be done and done in all fairness and justice, we elect some citizens to make laws and term them legislators. We elect others to enforce or administer the laws, and term them executives--the President, the governor, and the mayor coming under this head. We elect other citizens to enforce and interpret the laws, and we term them judges and officers of the court. In fact, it is a principle in our government that no man or set of men shall have authority in all departments of government, legislative, executive, and judicial. You will see that the Const.i.tution of the United States is divided into these three departments of government, and the state const.i.tutions and city charters are, as a rule, likewise divided.

You will understand that any property you may obtain will be valuable to you only in proportion as you are protected in your rights of ownership by the government, and that the government not only protects your property, it also protects your life and its interest as well as the life and interests of all other citizens.

The building and maintenance of schools and colleges, libraries, art and natural history museums, parks, playgrounds, hospitals, etc., are carried on at the expense of the government by means of taxation, inasmuch as these things are in the interests of mankind and for its upbuilding. In the city the protection of life and property is found in one or the other of these different departments: police, fire, health, street cleaning, parks, water supply, etc.; and every good citizen should lend his hand to help in every way possible the enforcement of law in each department.

Citizenship

In any form of government, problems are continually arising as to the rights of property and the rights of persons, and it is well for us to remember this distinction: that the end of society (and by that term we mean government) is not the protection of property, but rather the upbuilding of mankind. If we bear this in mind and act upon it as a principle in life, we shall find ourselves standing and voting on the right side of public questions. We shall also be able to mark the man in private or public life who shows by his talk or his actions that he thinks more of property rights than he does of the rights of individuals. Any business that does not benefit society, but on the other hand degrades it, whether run by an individual or individuals in a firm, company, or corporation, is a business that ought by the law to be put out of existence. This is why {350} the business of gambling, for instance, is made unlawful; also why the government had the right to make lotteries unlawful; also why some states (for instance New York) have pa.s.sed laws making book-making at race tracks unlawful. For all of these things degrade and do not upbuild mankind.

It is for every one then, to apply this principle to the town, village or city in which he lives, and determine just what stand he will take as to endorsing and protecting such business interests in his community. One is likely to find in any community men who seem to care nothing for any interests other than their own. They stand for property rights because it is for their interest to do so; but for the rights of mankind, the rights of society, apparently they care nothing. Here is the distinction then between the good citizen, and the bad citizen, the desirable and "the undesirable" citizen.

Practical Citizenship

In nearly every town, village, and city of any size or importance, there is at least one individual, and usually groups of individuals, working for the "betterment of society." They are people who take an interest in the people about them and do what they can to improve the conditions of life in the community. If one were to take a survey of the whole country and make a study of the social workers--the men and the women who give freely of their time and of their money to make the world a better and happier place to live in--he would come to see that such service is a kind of service that grows out of the heart, and is the fruit of the kindly spirit which prompts the "good turn daily."

In doing the "good turn daily," then, one has abundant opportunity to do his part toward the social betterment of the community in which he lives. There are so many ways that one hardly knows what to write down as the most important, because all are important. It is not alone in big things, but in the little things as well, that the really great work is done.

The community--the town, the village, or the city in which one lives--has many problems to solve. The streets in the community are always interesting and one can do much in the streets to help keep them clean, attractive, and pleasing, as well as safe for the people and horses pa.s.sing through. In a city where there is a large population the lives of the people are in greater danger at all times than in the country, and that is the reason why the city has to be so organized in its government that it can make special laws, or ordinances as they are {351} called, for its own special protection against the dangers of city life. The policemen of a city, wherever stationed in the daytime or in the night time, are there to protect the lives and property of individuals, at street crossings, at public buildings, at theatres, in the parks, and on playgrounds; and it is the privilege as well as the duty of all citizens to help them in every way possible to do their work well. In the "good turn daily," one may be able to help in more ways than one if he is on the lookout.

"A scout's honor is to be trusted" to obey the laws and to see that they are not disobeyed by others. "A scout's duty is to be useful and to help others. He must be prepared at any time to save life or to help injured persons." There are often accidents in the streets--many avoidable ones--due simply to carelessness. For instance, some boys were careless and threw broken gla.s.s bottles into the street, and a pa.s.sing automobile came to a standstill because of a punctured tire.

The man who owned the automobile and was driving it got out and called one of the boys on the street to come over to him. He did not call this particular boy because he thought he had thrown the gla.s.s, but because he thought he was a boy who would appreciate what he wanted to say to him. He told the boy that he had just had a new tire put on his machine and appealed to him as to whether or not he thought he had been treated right through the carelessness of the one who threw that gla.s.s into the street. The boy said no, he didn't think he had been, and, after a little more talk, added that he would do all in his power in that neighborhood to see that such things were kept out of the street in the future. That boy was in line for the making of a first-cla.s.s scout, and the man to whom he had been talking, being a good scout commissioner, had won the boy, because instead of being angry, he had been kind, courteous, and friendly--all qualifications of a good scout.

"A scout is a friend to animals." "Yes," said a stable keeper, "I have two good horses laid up, each injured by stepping on a nail in a board in the street. You know people are awfully careless about such things." There are some people who never go out of their way to do helpful things, just as some people never go out of their way to know people, and for that reason are often alone and lonesome. It is the little things that count, just such little things as picking up from the street a board with a nail in it, and putting it aside--even that is a good turn.

Lincoln once said in speaking of a man whom he thought lacking in sympathy: "He is so put up by nature that a {352} lash upon his back would hurt him, but a lash upon anybody's else back does not hurt him." There are many people in the world who seem to be like that man--not so many who feel that way towards mankind, possibly, but many who thoughtlessly feel and act that way toward animals. The lash on the back of an animal--the horse, the cow, the dog--hurts, and the good scout always takes the animal's part. He is kind to animals.

In the city, people often become careless as to the necessary precautions against fire and for this reason many lives are lost. In all well-regulated school systems, each school building is properly provided with fire escapes and the children regularly disciplined in fire drills. Proper fire precautions are not yet generally required by law as they should be in great buildings, factories, or workshops where men and women are employed in large numbers. If a scout should be employed in such a place, he might make himself very serviceable in case of a fire, because having thought of it beforehand, he would know what to do--his motto being, "Be Prepared."

One very important thing in city life is the protection of one's health: it is essential to have good food, pure water, plenty of good, fresh air--things not always easily obtainable, but always most necessary. The scout learns through the many activities of scouting something of the market places and sources of supply for food; he has some idea as to the cost of living in his own home, and should become a good marketer himself, making himself competent to judge of the quality and prices of food. If he is wide-awake and intelligent, he knows the products of his own county as well as those of the state. He knows what food products are shipped in and sometimes finds that it would be cheaper, and more profitable as well, to produce them in his own community. An industrious scout may often make his own pocket money in this way or provide funds towards his own education.

In the Const.i.tution of the United States is written this law: "No t.i.tle of n.o.bility shall be granted by the United States." The purpose of this law is to defeat any attempt to elevate one citizen above another in rank of social or political preferment. Ours is a country free from the entanglements of social distinction such as mark one man or family from another by way of t.i.tle or patent of n.o.bility; and yet, in our country of uncrowned kings and unknighted men, we would not forget the real deeds of valor, the services rendered, or the victories won. For it was the purpose {353} in the mind and in the heart of our fathers who framed the Const.i.tution that each succeeding generation should rise to the duties and responsibilities of the State; that the virtues of the State should not descend or be lodged in one family, or any selected number of families, but rather should be in the keeping of all the families, in the care and keeping of all the people.

Thus do we remember our Washington and our Lincoln. They served the generation to which they belonged; they lived and pa.s.sed out of their generation having served the State: and all the virtues, cares, and responsibilities of the State--the government that is--they left to the generations that should come after them. And, therefore, each generation as it comes and goes must rise or fall in proportion as it raises or lowers the citizenship standard, for each generation must prove its own worth as must each individual his own virtues.

Practical Citizenship

As set forth in a letter from Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, Honorary Vice-president, Boy Scouts of America:

THE OUTLOOK 287 Fourth Avenue, New York

Office of Theodore Roosevelt July 20th, 1911.

My DEAR SIR:

I quite agree with Judge Lindsey that the Boy Scout Movement is of peculiar importance to the whole country. It has already done much good, and it will do far more, for it is in its essence a practical scheme through which to impart a proper standard of ethical conduct, proper standards of fair play and consideration for others, and courage and decency, to boys who have never been reached and never will be reached by the ordinary type of preaching, lay or clerical. I have been particularly interested in that extract of a letter from a scout master in the Philippines, which runs as follows:

"It might interest you to know that at a recent fire in Manila which devastated acres of ground and rendered 3,000 people homeless, that two patrols of the Manila scouts reached the fire almost with the fire companies, reported to the proper authorities and worked for hours under very trying conditions {354} helping frightened natives into places of safety, removing valuables and other articles from houses that apparently were in the path of the flames, and performing cheerfully and efficiently all the tasks given to them by the firemen and scout master. They were complimented in the public press, and in a kind editorial about their work."

"During the recent Carnival the services of the boys were requested by the Carnival officers, and for a period of ten days they were on duty performing all manner of service in the Carnival grounds, directing strangers to hotels, and acting as guides and helpers in a hundred ways."

What these boy scouts of the Philippines have just done, I think our boy scouts in every town and country district should train themselves to be able to do. The movement is one for efficiency and patriotism.

It does not try to make soldiers of boy scouts, but to make boys who will turn out as men to be fine citizens, and who will, if their country needs them, make better soldiers for having been scouts. No one can be a good American unless he is a good citizen, and every boy ought to train himself so that as a man he will be able to do his full duty to the community. I want to see the boy scouts not merely utter fine sentiments, but act on them; not merely sing, "My Country 'Tis of Thee," but act in a way that will give them a country to be proud of.

No man is a good citizen unless he so acts as to show that he actually uses the Ten Commandments, and translates the Golden Rule into his life conduct--and I don't mean by this in exceptional cases under spectacular circ.u.mstances, but I mean applying the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule in the ordinary affairs of every-day life. I hope the boy scouts will practise truth and square dealing, and courage and honesty, so that when as young men they begin to take a part not only in earning their own livelihood, but in governing the community, they may be able to show in practical fashion their insistence upon the great truth that the eighth and ninth commandments are directly related to every-day life, not only between men as such in their private relations, but between men and the government of which they are part. Indeed the boys even while only boys can have a very real effect upon the conduct of the grown up members of the community, for decency and square dealing are just as contagious as vice and corruption.

Every healthy boy ought to feel and will feel that in order to amount to anything, it is necessary to have a constructive, {355} and not merely a destructive, nature; and if he can keep this feeling as he grows up he has taken his first step toward good citizenship. The man who tears down and criticises and scolds may be a good citizen, but only in a negative sense; and if he never does anything else he is apt not to be a good citizen at all. The man who counts, and the boy who counts, are the man and boy who steadily endeavor to build up, to improve, to better living conditions everywhere and all about them.

But the boy can do an immense amount right in the present, entirely aside from training himself to be a good citizen in the future; and he can only do this if he a.s.sociates himself with other boys. Let the boy scouts see to it that the best use is made of the parks and playgrounds in their villages and home towns. A gang of toughs may make a playground impossible; and if the boy scouts in the neighborhood of that particular playground are fit for their work, they will show that they won't permit any such gang of toughs to have its way. Moreover, let the boy scouts take the lead in seeing that the parks and playgrounds are turned to a really good account. I hope, by the way, that one of the prime teachings among the boy scouts will be the teaching against vandalism. Let it be a point of honor to protect birds, trees and flowers, and so to make our country more beautiful and not more ugly, because we have lived in it.

The same qualities that mean success or failure to the nation as a whole, mean success or failure in men and boys individually. The boy scouts must war against the same foes and vices that most hurt the nation; and they must try to develop the same virtues that the nation most needs. To be helpless, self-indulgent, or wasteful, will turn the boy into a mighty poor kind of a man, just as the indulgence in such vices by the men of a nation means the ruin of the nation. Let the boy stand stoutly against his enemies both from without and from within, let him show courage in confronting fearlessly one set of enemies, and in controlling and mastering the others. Any boy is worth nothing if he has not got courage, courage to stand up against the forces of evil, and courage to stand up in the right path. Let him be unselfish and gentle, as well as strong and brave. It should be a matter of pride to him that he is not afraid of anyone, and that he scorns not to be gentle and considerate to everyone, and especially to those who are weaker than he is. If he doesn't treat his mother and sisters well, then he is a poor creature no matter what else he does; just as a man who {356} doesn't treat his wife well is a poor kind of citizen no matter what his other qualities may be. And, by the way, don't ever forget to let the boy know that courtesy, politeness, and good manners must not be neglected. They are not little things, because they are used at every turn in daily life. Let the boy remember also that in addition to courage, unselfishness, and fair dealing, he must have efficiency, he must have knowledge, he must cultivate a sound body and a good mind, and train himself so that he can act with quick decision in any crisis that may arise. Mind, eye, muscle, all must be trained so that the boy can master himself, and thereby learn to master his fate. I heartily wish all good luck to the movement.

Very sincerely yours, THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

Mr. James E. West, Executive Secretary Boy Scouts of America, New York City.

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America

MY country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the Pilgrims' pride, From every mountain side Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee Land of the n.o.ble free, Thy name I love; I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills; My heart with rapture thrills Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom's song; Let mortal tongues awake, Let all that breathe partake, Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong!

Our father's G.o.d, to Thee, Author of liberty, To thee we sing: Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light; Protect us by Thy might, Great G.o.d, our King.

--Samuel F. Smith, 1832.

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The Star-Spangled Banner

O Say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming; And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there!