What of the boy, under these conditions, who tells a lie? An inquiry into the motives which prompt his falsehoods may clarify the problem and afford a solution. The study of a large number of untruthful boys has developed the fact that their motives for mendacity are few and are usually comprehended under one class--the desire to escape punishment for an offense. Other and lesser incentives to lying are envy, boasting, revenge, jealousy, and imitation, but none of these is as potent as the fear of a reprimand, a scolding, or corporal punishment. A scolding and a whipping are both painful--one in mind, the other in body. It is natural for one to seek to avoid pain and suffering. It is equally certain that punishment must inevitably follow the violation of law--whether parental law, physical law, or the law of the land. Loading the stomach with indigestible food brings its own punishment in the disturbance of the bodily functions. The commission of a felony necessitates a term of imprisonment after conviction; and with equal certainty punishment should follow the violation of parental law. But if that punishment is unnecessarily severe or if it violates the boy’s sense of fairness and justice, he will seek to avoid it by the most effective weapon of defense at hand--falsehood. Nothing is more conducive to deceit than frequent scoldings or floggings for trivial offenses, and the elimination of corporal and unduly severe mental punishments will remove the chief incentive to falsehood. The remedy for the falsehoods which have their origin in the lesser provocatives referred to above is moral suasion, a hackneyed phrase often used and little understood. Literally it implies the persuasive influence of moral teaching. In its broader aspect and as a cure for lying, it comprehends the culture of moral consciousness; training of the will; fixation of the habit of obedience; teaching the evil results which always follow falsehood; the development of mentality (without which there can be no comprehension of moral concepts); and the influence of parental example in the exact and scrupulous adherence to truth. All these combined produce the composite result called moral suasion, which is generally effective. CHAPTER X CORPORAL PUNISHMENT Among the corrective measures used in child-training since time immemorial, corporal punishment occupies a large and conspicuous place. While such punishment is, at present, on the decline, still it is sufficiently widespread and frequent in its application to warrant a discussion of its effectiveness in accomplishng the ends desired, as well as a word concerning its moral effect on the child.