Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1899-05-29
dnIlIlllIlllnIlIlllllIlillllIlIlllllilllI
THE QUESTION OF REsPoNsrBrLITY FOR
THE CHILD.

THE QUESTION OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR
THE CHILD.
This tale Of two temperaments, by
Elizabeth Robins, is destined 10 remain
for years 10 come one Of the novels Of
constant demand, not merely because
Of it's literary merit and enduring value
az fiction, but because the problem it
presents will remain an unsolved issue
Of our national character. The child
question must remain THE open ques-
tion until solved by an education
that shall reach at the very root Of the
matter, and until generations shall be
born in the new thought and live the
new life. II will be for generations the
strongest statement OF the problem that
has yet fallen from the hands Of woman.
Essentially woman novel, IL will be
read by women and, while it offers no
solution, IL must serve the purpose of
bringing each woman who reads IL face
10 face with the deepest problem Of her
life. II IL readable because il is
womanly throughout.
Here Ia a picture Of social life in our
country where family has pride and
tradition founded upon character and
culture. Orthodox religion and puri-
tanic rgor Of morals has reached it's
highest flower. College education and
passion for philosophy and science pos
sess the highly developed brain Of it,
men and women. Music and art lend
their development and good breeding
and social advantages are their heritage.
Yet in the face Of all these equipments
for success the heroine and hero who are
lovers resolve TO marry and live in hap
piness one year, when II child is 10
come 10 them as the result Of their
union they agree that they shall commit
suicide and that Is what they do. They
deliberately sail into the face Of storm
at sea in little boat and accept their
fate. Unable 10 meet the storms of life
they are afloat at last on the frail craft
that IL 10 bear them 20 destruction. And
II not this frail craft ty pical Of our civili-
zation2
Tho book IL readable and il n work Of
literary art. II states the open ques-
tiOn Of our age but it does not answer it.
What shall ye do with the child2 Who
shall blame the man and women with
cowardly evasion Of their responsibility,
when the age teaches materialstic
doctrine Of heredity that leads TO fatal
ism more dark and dreadful than
Mohammed's because II teaches that
even death shall land us in uncertainty
We shall bo bound hand and foot by the
awful and ever increasing burdens of
the worlds accumulating woes and then
we shall not even be permitted 10 have |
iaithsin heaven or fear of hell 10 end |
all the suffering of helpless innocence or
right unrcquitted wrongs. Our systems
Of education and religion, based on
PHILOSOPHERS. presenting man
M an animal and heaven as u place, |
ruled over by personal deity, have
brought us to the brink Of prccipce |
where society must either retrace its
steps or take the awfnl leap into chaos
and uncertainty.
The book presents society ON this
brink. II will compel thought. II
will hasten the revolution of thought
pack 10 truth. The truth Of the social
evolution shall break slowly but il
will break. "Ye shall know the truth
'nd the truth shall make you free"
This book should make no one pes.
'imistic. In it's own way it il iorerun-
ier for better order Of thing terres.
rial and celestial II the author knew
lac working forces of the new educa-
ion, the newer lines Of philosophy,
he revival of pure and undehled
piritual truth that is being spread
aster and faster through all denomi-
,ations, she would never have written
What she has. May she nor any reader
lesitate ON the brink OF the chasm
'he reveals, Resolutcly may We all
lony the claims of this false mater
alism that would drag down humanity
rom It's high aud divine estate and
make IL the helpless victim Of the
ather of lies, May the question be
olved 10 Elisabeth Robins and may
'er splendid talent be- employed to give
he world her contribution to show
he way out OF the awful predicament