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Editorial
May 16, 1872
Wyandot County Republican
Upper Sandusky, Wyandot County, Ohio
What is this article about?
An editorial critiquing overwork in American life as 'mismanaged work' rather than excessive effort, using analogies of machinery to argue for balanced physical, mental, and spiritual toil. Attributed to Rev. Wm. Alrin Bartlett.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
Over-Work.
The complaint is quite universal that in our American life we over-strain the muscle, over-wear the brain and over-burden the heart. Men at the hottest point of enterprise give out, and consumption takes the body, lunacy the mind, avarice the affections. Prominent men drop suddenly here and there, when they are all aglow with perspiration, and dilated eye, and absorption of success. The epitaph is, "died of over-work."
It should be, "died of mismanaged work."
That wheel on the car is not hot because it rolls faster than the other wheels, nor because it is weaker or stronger; but because its journal was not packed as well—because some unusual friction has heated it. Here is a sewing machine with which a woman has flung away thread enough to baste the two hemispheres together at the equator, and reach the north pole, and make a spool of it. And yet it has needed little repair as it sung the dollars together with its monotonous buzz. Here is another that is returned, broken in pieces and radically injured. Lack of lubrication, mis-feeding or guiding caused an injury, and then it has been up-hill work ever since, till it has become absolutely worthless.
Men are worked in precisely the same ways. A man cannot run his body, and leave his mind behind without harm; nor his mind and leave his body in the lurch; and neither, and fling his soul to the dogs. False work, mis-judged and mis-guided work, is the crime of the day. No mechanic shall fail in muscle, nor in skill, if he will fertilize his mind as he goes along, and keep a window in his soul open to God. No business or professional man shall waste in body, or waver in mind, if he will proportion his intellectual and physical toil, and not forget his religious obligations.—Rev. Wm. Alrin Bartlett, in the Chicago Pulpit.
The complaint is quite universal that in our American life we over-strain the muscle, over-wear the brain and over-burden the heart. Men at the hottest point of enterprise give out, and consumption takes the body, lunacy the mind, avarice the affections. Prominent men drop suddenly here and there, when they are all aglow with perspiration, and dilated eye, and absorption of success. The epitaph is, "died of over-work."
It should be, "died of mismanaged work."
That wheel on the car is not hot because it rolls faster than the other wheels, nor because it is weaker or stronger; but because its journal was not packed as well—because some unusual friction has heated it. Here is a sewing machine with which a woman has flung away thread enough to baste the two hemispheres together at the equator, and reach the north pole, and make a spool of it. And yet it has needed little repair as it sung the dollars together with its monotonous buzz. Here is another that is returned, broken in pieces and radically injured. Lack of lubrication, mis-feeding or guiding caused an injury, and then it has been up-hill work ever since, till it has become absolutely worthless.
Men are worked in precisely the same ways. A man cannot run his body, and leave his mind behind without harm; nor his mind and leave his body in the lurch; and neither, and fling his soul to the dogs. False work, mis-judged and mis-guided work, is the crime of the day. No mechanic shall fail in muscle, nor in skill, if he will fertilize his mind as he goes along, and keep a window in his soul open to God. No business or professional man shall waste in body, or waver in mind, if he will proportion his intellectual and physical toil, and not forget his religious obligations.—Rev. Wm. Alrin Bartlett, in the Chicago Pulpit.
What sub-type of article is it?
Moral Or Religious
Labor
Social Reform
What keywords are associated?
Overwork
Mismanaged Work
American Life
Spiritual Balance
Labor Strain
Religious Obligations
What entities or persons were involved?
Rev. Wm. Alrin Bartlett
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Mismanaged Overwork In American Life
Stance / Tone
Critical Of Unbalanced Work, Advocating Spiritual And Proportional Toil
Key Figures
Rev. Wm. Alrin Bartlett
Key Arguments
Overwork Leads To Physical, Mental, And Emotional Breakdown
True Cause Is Mismanaged Work, Not Excess Effort
Machinery Analogies Illustrate Need For Proper Lubrication And Guidance
Balanced Physical, Intellectual, And Religious Obligations Prevent Failure