The copper era., 1905-03-23
First National Bank

those who. from no fault of their
 own, are denied any of the other
 great blessings of life. But the man
 these blessing, whether from vicious
 ness, Coldness, shallow w-heartedness.
 self-indulgenc or mere failure to
 appreciate alright the difference be-
 tween the all-important and unin-
 portant-why, such creature mer-
 it's contempt as hearty as any visi.ed
 upon the soldier who runs away in
 battle, or upon the man who refuses
 to work for the support of those de-
 pendent upon him, and who though ablebodied is yet content to eat in idicnc,s the brcad sr%<', others pro- vide.
 The existence of women of this type forms one of the most unpleas- ant and unwholesone feature of modern life. If any enc is so dim of
 vision as to fail to sec what a thor oughlv unlovely creat Ire such wo- man is I wish they would read Judge Grants novel, "Unleavened Bread. :"
 ponder seriously the character of Selma, and think of the fate that would surely overcome any nation which developed its average and typical woman along such lines. That it exists in American life is made pleasant evident by the statis- tics as to the dwindljng families in some localities. It i, made evident in equally sinister fashion by the cen sus statistics as to di' orCe. which are fairly appalling: for easy divorce is now as it ever has been, menace to the home. an inciten ent to married unhappiness and to immortality, an evil thing for men and still more pleasant tendencies in our American life are made evident by articles such as those which I actually bane to any nation, a CIrse to society, read not long in certain paper. where q clergyman was quoted, seem ingly with approval, as expressing the general Am erican when he said that the ambition Ot any save a very rich man should be to rear two child ren only, so as to give his children an opportunity ito taste few of the good things of life
 The way to give a child a fair chance in life is not O bring it up in luxury, but to see that it has the kind of training tha.. will give it strength of charaotefY
 To sum up, then, the whole matter is simple enough. If either d race or an individual prefers the pleasures of mere effortless ease, of self-indulg- ence, to the infinitely deeper, the in- tinitely higher pleasures that come | to those who know the toll and weari- | ness, but also the joy, of hard duty | well done. that race or that indi- | vidual must inevitably in the end pay the penalty of leading a life both vapid and ignOble. No man and no | woman really worthy of the name can care for the avoidance of risk and trouble and labor. Save in ex- ceptional cases the prizes worth liv ing must be a life of work for a end, and ordinarily of work more for others than for ones self.
 The man is but poor creature whose effort is rather for the better ment of his wife and children than for himself: and as for the mother, her very name stands for loving un- Selfishness and self-abnegation, and. in any society fit to exist, is fraught with associations which rend it holy.
 The womans task is not easy-no task worth doing is easy-but in do- ng it, and when she has done it, there shall come to her the highest md holiest of joy known to mankind: md having done it, she shall have the -eward prophesied in Scripture: for ler husband and her children, yes. md all the people who realize that Ter work lies at the foundation of all national happiness and greatness shall rise up and call her blessed.