Woman's chronicle. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1888-1???, 1889-10-12
The Influence Of Home Upon the State.


home, are not those whose happiness is found in
fashionable society, or those who find pleasure in
visiting any place Of infamy. They are, instead,
people with more exalted ideas of life; they real
ize that 'the dearest spot on earth" is where
their children get their earliest impressions, and
those which are most lasting and influence whole
lifetime.
Home is the nest where the builders of our gov
eminent get their early warmth and nourishment,
till they acquire at least their half-hedged WINGS
when they begin to soar away. Is it any wonder
that when they build away from home, they will
construct something on the plans and principles
they saw carried out in the old 'home nest?
The relation of the home to the outside world is
closer and stronger than many realize. The ways
of thinking and acting of men and women depend
greatly upon the degree of enlightenment in the
home. 1t is through the medium of good homes
that the best, most sympathetic thought is devel-
oped and kept in circulation. Excellence Of char
acter is the offspring of good home-life Men and
women that have to exist without the associations
of 'Home Sweet Home, or who have none in
memory nor even hope for one, are weak and more
or less demoralized. The home seldom favors
saloons, gambling places, or haunts of vice, or
anything ignobe. Like all great agencies-sleep,
death, heat light, electricity, gravity-the home
influence works with little noise, but its results may
be mighty.
The home is infinitely more than the house the
home may even be destroyed by over-regard for
the house. The foundations of many wrongs are
laid in the home. If our homes mould the men
and women then whatever position they take in
life will be affected by the home Impressions Can
any one question the home influence on political
views? So closely are the two connected that
sensible man or woman will take advantage of the
home facilities to influence sons and daughters, so
that when they come to have a voice in making the
laws that govern the country they will work for the
right every time. All good men and women wish
our government to stand for justice and truth, and
their words and actions in the home influence the
political status of the present and of the future.
Does any one suppose that the many good things
wse discreet woman may say in the presence of her
husband and children, do not help eaven the loaf?
She influences her daughters, and they in turn in
fuence those they associate with, and all these
things help materially to color the political aspect.
If women are interested in the welfare of their
husbands and children they must take an interest
in what is going on in this great land. If woman
and her daughters show this interest, political
questions will be more generally discussed in the
home, and in that very act many ignoble things
that may be associated with politics are not men
toned by husband or brothers, for they become in
the presence of noble women actually ashamed of
the existence of anything that is not pure and en-
nobling This is one instance where home nhu-
ences politics, for if men really love their homes,
they will fight for the right away from them. Some
one has truly said, "The homes of nation are
the bulwarks of national safety and thrift" The
best home government is where father and mother
have equal power. The effect upon children is not
good where only one parent governs. If boy
observes that the fathers word is the only law and
that he treats with contempt the advice of the
mother he will enter political life with utter disre