The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-04-15
.INDUSTRIALISM
and THE HOME
CLUB WOMEN WOULD SAFE
GUARD FAMILY LIFE.
Chicago Speakers Unite in Agreement
that All Other Considerations Must
Yield to the Interests of the Home
Proposal to Pension Widowed
Mothers.

Mothers.
"The Home as affected by in
dustrialism. was looked at from every
side by a conference last week Of
several hundred Of the most thoughtful
women Of Chicago. They represented the
greatest diversity of opinion as to rene
dies for the many unfortunate conditions
shown to exist, but every avoWal rang
clear in its sincere intent Of helpfulness.
The note CT universal agreement was that
| the rearing and training Of children must
never be endangered by commercialism
and that the home life must not be sacrf-
| feed to any other consideration. -. 49,
The conference was held Friday and
| Saturday under the auspices of the home
department Of the Chicago Woman's clubs
| and was one Of the most notable of its
remarkable record Of steps in progressive
modern life.
"It will 500, be as disgraceful for a girl
to marry without knowing how to manage
a home as it is low for a man to marry
when he cannot support wife,
"The home where bakers bread is eaten
! is as sacred as tie home where mother
does the baking ~
Where IS the Warrior with such cour-
age as the woman has who ma1ries a man
with a salary Of 50 week? What else
but the innate power of the heart-pulling
thfng-love Of hCmc-would ever make a
| "OTKlnS1QdIl OF WOIIldu II AIRY ana attempt
to establish a family in the face of this
modern irdilsti is;ls1n
when a woman Is widowed she must
work-scrub. do anything she can, to feed
and house her little ones. and not many
women are educated Is work The state
should r,n!1ce for the mother-pension
| her and no, take Ter children from her
| to place them In irs titLtions, and the
poorhouse. She has Gone q duty to the
ma ton in be,rg a mother. and the nation
should recognize it
These are few Of the striking nutshell
arguments.
Mrs. Ethelbert Stewart, in illustrating
| her statement that = women marrying
! workingmen were hereines told Of their
mode of life and their heipfulness in the
| struggle. One Of Mrs. Stewards conclu-
sions was that women could not keep up
the home and bear and rear family Of
children under strenuous, modern condi-
lions without breaking down at an early
age. DR.. Julia Ross Low! took similar
view of Women's health as affected by
industrialism. American women are de-
teriorating,' she said;. ''the deterioration
is due to- their mode of living; they are
4 too constantly on the alert, interested in
too many things, and eat too badly.
High heels, tight lacing and poor food
are responsible for the race suicide Of the
country more than labor. But the work
ing woman is scarcely competent to strug-
gle with household duties, with mater
nifty. Four years of 4 constant work,
coupled with her snatched pleasures,
break her physique, and her children are
apt to be frail."
The deterioration of American women
was actively disputed by Mrs. Henrotin
and several women physicians who were
present, who claimed that American wo-
: nmen were never healthier or stronger
: than at the present time. &
!. Tha c11io ~
various guises, Mrs. McCulloch raising il
in a talk on 1.-THE Status Of Women in the
Law" She urged that when q woman
lawyer marries she is confronted by the
necessity Of sacrificing the law to chill
dren or children to hw. Mrs. Charles E
Henrotin urged that a. woman can be
both a good mother and a good lawyer
She declared that altho fewer children
are born nowadays than formerly, race
suicide does not exist, for the reason thai
a greater number. Of children survive the
diseases Of infancy and attain maturity
now than ever before. The present edu.
cational demands are too great to permit
cir woman to raise a large family, she
said.
The question Of woman as labor
unionist stirred up the liveliest contro
versy Of the conference, but ended il
maintaining the favorable attitude toward
unionism, to which the conference leaned
before hearing the employers side. Fred
erick W. Job, secretary Of the Employ
ers' association Of Illinois, painted a very
black picture of trade unionism, claiming
that its principles do not stand for Law
and order but for bloodshed and violence
Miss Jane Adams in replying said: q:
will not apologize for the violence O
strikes. I think it should be suppressed
but when employers charge that it is {
part and complement of labor unionism
they are misleading. Women worker