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Show MANUFACTURING SELFISHNESS "Seine ure born selfish somo achieve seillshucss, and somu iiavo selfishness thrust upon them," paru-phtnsed paru-phtnsed n woman the uther day, us sho watched the tactics of a mother with her Binall daughter. "That pother po-ther Is generating selllsltness In that llttlo child ut the rate of forty horsu power a minute." ".Not quite so strong ns that," laughed tho group about tho vvomnn, knowing tho forceful Way in which " she was given to expressing herselt. j 'It will seem that strong In the veins to (omu when the mother tiles I to opiotio It or iscapu from Its e J actions." The group watched the llttlo seem Tho child vv tinted something from hei -. mother. She wheedled und coaxed tiud grew angry und llnally how ltd '. Tlio mother's objections gtew weak- ; or. Finally with an Indulgent smile, j sho yielded, and the child run off ; Uitiinphuut. I '"llio mother told me tho othor j da," went on the, vvomnn who hud j first spoken, "that she had been quite I hurt at tho way her daughter had f acted tho day before'. Tho mother was quite blck It seems. Yet tho child tamo to tho couch whero sliu was lying clambered till over her, and coaxed and cried for her mother to tlo something until tho mother got up and did it. Shu said she was quite, wounded by the child's luck of con-sidctation. con-sidctation. Sho thought, It seems, that because sho always gavo the child everything It wanted, that In turn the ouugstcr ought to be equal ly thoughtful of her." "With a child of .that age and that tempeiument, that is scaicoy tho way to bring iiboui that result," com- niented one of tho party. j "No," replied the tlrst speaker, j "Tho mother Is really making that I child selllsh. The child of course dues not reatlzo it now. She simply Knows she gets her own way by tur tain processes. And us she wants her own way, sho adopts tho methods best calculated to obtain It." "Sho would bo a pretty child," observed ob-served another, "if her expression weie not so s.y anil self seeking and petulant." " J What these women said was all f tine. And this is nut the only small child who is being made selllsh and uunttractlvo by those entrusted with I its training. And like this mother, 1 many ot them aro doing it uucousci I ouslj . They really love tho child most devotedly or so they think They would give nnd aro giving their till to make the youngstet happy. Hut ns far as actual results go, they tin. obtaining just tho reverse of wlitt', thoy wish. For after all, it Is tho results tha: tell tho story, is it not. Tho mother who finds her llttlo one headstrong, selllsh, bad tempered. Is not pursuing tho right course in train lug her, or hns unusual dllllcult ma terial to work with, or perhaps both. If the child has by nature these defects, de-fects, burely It Is only a matter of justice to the child to root them out; and If the little one Is acquiring them by reason of her mother's Indulgence this Is likewise a terrible piece ot 'Injustice to tho child. For wo will all admit that tho man or woman who arrives at mature years lncklug self control or with u fiendish teuipor are thinking only of self Is heavily hand! capped In tho raco for sucmses or happiness. Selfishness is u weed easy to grov It needs no ctiltlvai-in. Rather, It needs repression. Tho mother who KiH)MWMff.,jfWJKU'v:ur2urrjr'iy ysBaKsamr. ' teaches her llttlo ones to think ot others instead of growing to believe that the achievement of their own wishes Is tho only deslruhlu thing on earth Is doing them a far greater, service and Is moro truly expressing her love than sho Is by yielding to them and letting them always havo their own way. llnrbara Hojd. |