Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-04-23
THE TRUE CENTER.
The Strength of a Nation Lies in Its
 Homes.

 The Strength of Nation Lies in Its
 Homes.
 The character of the homes of a na- tion makes the character of the nation. The characteristics developed in the greater number of homes become na- tiona1 characteristics, and are part of the history of the nation. It is this fact that makes his home-training, home development, of national importance. How shall each home minister to the national good2 By being administered solely for the moral good of each mem Der of the household. This sounds sell fish, it seems to disregard the human family, of which the home is at most, and best, only fraction, a part; but perfected fractions make perfect unit, symmetrical whole.
 It is one of the errors that we are constantly making in arranging and adjusting our lives to the demands made upon us, that we are apt to use our natural vision to discern the evils, and the remedies for the evils, in homes that are really foreign, though in our land-the homes which in philanthropy we are apt to term ''our neighborhood. ]" The intensity of our interest in social questions at large frequently prevents us from having interest in and knowl- edge of the social conditions and social questions affecting the homes of which we form part, perhaps even the ones of which we should be the centers. It is this diverted, not to say perverted, interest that results in den0uenents which amaze and appall all thinkers, and in which the thoughtless find oc- casion for derisive jokes ard slings at wou1d-be reformers.
 All true reformation, like all true charity, begins at home, and it is only as the student of social questions has the wisdom to test his theories, his knowledge of hygiene, sanitation, eco monies, psychology and ethics, moral and spiritual, upon the individuals for whose physical, intellectual and moral standards he is responsible, that he shows himself fit to grapple with those problems that are part of the history of all civilized nations.
 The man who fails to maintain a reputation for honesty in his world is not man to deal with political issues whose beginning and ends are integri- ty and principle. A man who can not control himself is not the one to become leader or guide. The woman who can not manage household is hardly the one to manage an institution, guide an association, or fill an executive office. It is the home that offers the best place for philanthropic experiments, for legislation and administration. We know that if every home could be brought to moral perfection the social questions would all be solved. This can not be accomplished by magic; it is the work of life. Moral degradations,i if not moral disasters, come too often from homes where the promise seems that of long strides toward human perfection.
 The appreciation and the applause of the outside world are often a fatal at traction. They result in our taking to our homes only the remnants of en- thusiasm, the dregs of vitality. It is fair to share with the world those abili- ties which are not required at home; more than that is required at home The best we have of social grace, of in- tellectual brilliancy, of spiritual mag netism, belongs where our greatest re- sponsibility is-in our ownhomes. Any thing else is fatal to our development and is fatal to its development, and can bring only disaster and disgrace- Christian TTni0n