The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1905-07-21
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.

your own dear home
The Hand That Rocks tho Cradle.
Read by MIS-. Jennie r. Hess OF Lawrence at the
county federation of womens clubs at Lake Cora
IT'S the voice of the bugler,
We hear him complain,
"These clubs are a menace
To mans domain"
So he lays down his rod
And taxes up his pen,
And reels off a discourse
To save the poor men.
Like a bomb in our midst
He hurls his effasion.
There's little com motion,
A bit of confusion.
No lives are lost,
No homes overthrown;
With the refuse of earth
The bomb has been blown!
Doubtless all club women throughout
the breadth of the land are familiar
with the incident to which I have lust
alluded.
Whenever an episode of interest or
Importance occurs, the proper thing
to do is to consider its cause and
effect.
With Mrs. Sewall I agree that the
article in question is hardly what we
would expect from the pen of our ex-
president. Then wherefore such a
screed?
1t is certainly difficulty to credit
Mr.. Cleveland with such sincerity in
the matter; it really would be easier
to imagine him, fishing-rod in hand,
chuckling 70 himself and saying,
"Well, l stirred up a hornets nest
that time" Which leads Us 70 con-
slider the effect.
Any kind of an attack is likely to
make weak points apparent; and
surely this one has set us to critically
inspecting orr foundations.
Women's clubs have come to stay;
so strongly have they taken their posi-
ton, and so practically have they
proved their worth and influence, that
they need no defense
AS no individual person is perfect,
so is no organization of individuals
infallible. The point to be considered
in each case is the underlying motive
and the sincerity of effort in progress.
The goal to be obtained is equilib-
rum. The mere thought of gaining
balance brings to mind the picture of
the inevitable lurches in wrong direc-
tons which must always precede the
final adjustment.
1t is possible that the zeal begotten
of our enthusiasm may lead us into
some errors, and such an attack as
Mr.. Cleveland's would have the effect
of increasing both our enthusiasm
and our caution, as we'll as leading
others into a more serious considera
ton of our aims and efforts. We
would merely request that we, as a
whole, are not to be judged by the
eccentricities and weaknesses of any
individual mem bers.
We are earnestly endeavoring to
make this world a better place to live
in; the little ones about US to-day are
the generation of tomorrow. What
the world needs is not only better
mothers but better fathers as well.
The women's clubs are trying to up
lift and instruct motherhood. Are
the mems clubs doing as much for
the fathers?
We teach our children ideals; our
girls absorb them to the extent that
they see the mothers trying to live
them; but our boys look to the fathers
for an example, and what do most of
them see?
Are our girls to be blamed for not
caring to marry men who fall so far
short of their ideals? Just one
precious thought should be planted in
each baby soul and nourished there
until it is an integral part of the life,
the determination that this should be
better world because he or she had
lived in it. That one thought in
wolves all else.
And so it seems to ME that Mr..
Cleveland's article is more likely to
help our cause than to hinder it; our
wouldbe enemies sometimes prove
themselves to be unwittingly our best
friends. We can scarcely blame him
for feeling a little CONSERVATION when
he contemplated the possibility of a
modern rendering of his favorite
question which would read thus: The
hand that rocks the cradle is the hand
that yields the club.