Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-05-07
OUTSIDE POINT OF VIEW
Race Suicide Poverty and Promi.

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Race Suicide" Poverty and Pronoi
hence.
When President Roosevelt opened UP
q discussion on the question of large
families he little expected the interest
l. would excite or the numerous news
paper and magazine articles it would
furnish text for. The public has read
what the most eminent Of the woman's
rights orators thinks of the large fam
ny. That such an authority is Il single
| woman seems not to lessen the weight
of her argument. Again gifted wri-
ter, holding an editorial position on one
of our big dailies, has most plainly ex-
pressed her opinion on the monstrous
proposition that woman's greatest mis-
sion is to become the mother of large
family. Some of the long haired male
writers have also joined in the chorus,
velts proposition savore1 of the doe
trnes of uncivilized countries and that
the large family was a most decided
| step towards returning barbarism
Summed up. the objections to his sug-
Sestion of American men and women
raising large families are, first, that
women are slowly undermined in health
by continuous child-bea ring, that the
necessary care and training of so many
children make slave Of a woman for
all of the best years of her life, and
finally, that advanced civilization makes
the cost of living so great that only the
rich can afford a dozen children around
the family table. AS one writer puts ii,
smaller families and thus more money
Tor the physical and mental needs of
our offspring is better for the colnmu-
nifty than larger families with the con-
sequent deprivation.
In his eulogy of Abraham Lincoln al
the Lincoln dinner in New York City,
eX-Governor Black gave utterance to
this extraordinary sentiment: 1T is not
wealth that counts in tie making of the
world. but character. And character is
best formed amid those surroundings
where every waking holr is filled with
struggle, where no flag of truce is ever
sent and only darkness stays the con-
ttict. Give me the hut that is small
enough. the poverty that is deep
enough, and the love that is great
enough. and 1 will raise from them the
best there is in human character
And these. few words have raised a
storm of comment all over the country,
nearly all of an adverse nature, but
every word of it is true. Boiled down
stu more. the statement is, character
makes the ideal world, ard poverty the
ideal character. This can be para
phrased into, poverty, If necessary
concomitant of large families, puts
character into the individual members |
of such families. We all know wealth |
and education in large or small falni-
lies do not bring out the best individual |
traits. Many assume tie opposite and |
claim wealth is u deterrent factor in |
building up the best rounded character |
OF young men and women, but this |
country has many grand men and wom-
EN- who never have had to earn by their |
own manual labor the food they have
eaten or the clothes they have worn.
Roosevelt is a type of this class of men.
Helen Gould is a most magnificent type |
Of this class of women. But exceptions
10 not prove the rule Ry large per-
aentage the prominent men of this :,
started in life as the children
IF poor people. And the word poor" is
not to be taken relatively but actually.
What we have read of our presidents
ellis us this story in nearly every case.
What we know of our senators and rep
'esentativeS in congress is in the same
inc. 1t is just as true of our judges of
he supreme court of the United States
Town to the district judges of the state.
I stands out as fact when we look
,ver the list of all of our professional
nen all over the country, including all
Who have distinguished themselves by /.
mental efforts. And when we come to
Measure success In life by the dollars
he man accumulates this class almost
Without exceptions bear out the truth of
Ex-Governor Blacks statements. Fur
hermore, one can look thru the ency-
giving the life history of these
uccessful men and find that nearly ali :
we're members of moderate sized if not
o-called large families.
OF course our personal observation !
cunts but little in making UP an argu- 5
nent, but within the mamory of all is
hat of the many mothers of eight. ten c
nd twelve children who at so, SO and t
Ven 20 years of age are wonderful OBJ
ect lessons of good health and WELL
reserved age. And physicians tell us c
hat these mothers of a large number of ,
llllureH are DIS Il RUE lnucH pettef
pecimens physically than their daugh I
ars who only have the inclination (?) +
. have one or two or three children. a
nd scientists claim the same argument +
true in the lower order of animals. s
or whether we like to ADMIT 1t or not, s
man is only an animal that walks up IL
ght.' hild-bearing. rer Sc, does not t
ljure the health of the mother. TO c
Omit such doctrine is to dispute ma a
Ire. And in fact the WI hole argument 8
gainst large families is an assertion of c
L..