War-Time Responsibilities Solve Juvenile Problem From The Spokesman-Review, June 26, 1943

To the editor of The Spokesman-Review:

The charges come from press and pulpit, “the parents are to blame.” A father of a large family hurls this lie back at these mutual incompetents. Human nature never has or will ever change until God himself turns the sword into the plowshare. As human beings, we have to fight for our physical, mental and spiritual life.

As a boy, when not allowed to play cards, we played out in the barn.

If caught reading “Diamond Dick,” the old folks never burned it till they read it. When herding sheep I would (for excitement) ride the pony back and forth through the water holes until the water was so muddy the snakes could not breathe then I killed them with a club.

“Nothing to do in the war effort” is the cause of most youth’s errors. Religion is not enough. These young girls could learn first-aid and do the same things that the older women are doing. That would give them responsibility that they were helping in the war effort. There are many things boys could do that would put responsibility on their shoulders.

In the fight in Congress over the C.I.O. one congressman said he had never known of a 4-H club boy being in jail but had to put many a CCC boy in. The 4-H had something he liked to do and accepted the responsibility. The CCC boy thousands of miles away from home, did not. Orson Beckes Grandview, Wash.