The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-04-01
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HOME
President Roosevelt's Address Upon
This Vital Topic to the Mothers of
America,

FIESlhEiA EAOOSCNNlS HhQIGSS UPON
This Vital Topic to the Mothers Of
America.
In our modern industrial civiliza-
ton there are many and grave dan
gers to countel'balance the splendors
and the triumphs. 1t is not a good
thing TO see cities grow at dispropor-
Tomato speed relatively to the country;
for the small land owners. the men
who till farms the men of the soil,
have hitherto made the foundation OF
lasting national life in every state;
and, if the foundation becomes either
too weak or too narrow, the super
structure, no matter how attractive, is
in imminent danger Of falling.
But far more important than the
question Of the occupation of our citi-
gems is the question of how their
family life is conducted. No matter
what that occupation may be, as long
as there is a real home and as long
as those who make up that hons, do
their duty to one another to their
neghbors and to the state, it is of
minor consequence whether the mans
trade is piled in the country or the
city, whether ii calls for the work Of
the hands or for the work of the head.
But the nation is in bad way if
is not Of the right kind; if the man
is not a good husband and fathsr. if
he is brutal or cowardly or selfish,
j. the woman has lost her sense of
duty. if she is sunk in -vapid self
Indulgence or has let her nature be
twisted so that she prefers a sterile
pseudo-intellectuality to that great
and beautiful development Of char
acter which comes only to those whose
fr111 r,f sI,ATas
OF effort made and self-sacrifice I'M
dergone.
In the last analysis the welfare Of
the state depends absolutely upon
whether or not the average family,
the average man and woman and their
children, represent the kind of citi-
zenship fit for the foundation of a
great nation; and if we fail to APP
preciatg this we fail to appreciate the
root morality upon which all healthy
civilization is based.
No piled-up wealth, no splendor of
material growth, no brilliance of ar
tistic development, will permanently
avail any people unless its home life
is healthy, unless the average man
possesses honesty. courage, common
sense and decency, unless he works
hard and is willing at need to fight
hard; unless the average woman is a
willing TO perform the first and great
est duty of womanhood, able and will
ling to bear, and to bring up as they
should be brought up, healthy chill
dren. sound i'm body, mind and char
aCter, and numerous enough so that the
race shall increase and not decrease
There are certain old truths which
WI be true as long as this world
endureS and which no amount of pro-
gress can alter. One of these is the
truth that the primary duty of the
husband is TO be home-maker. the
bi ead-winner for his wife and children,
and that the primary duty of the wo-
man is to be the helpmeet, the house
wife and mother The woman should
have ample educational advantages,
but save in exceptional cases she must
De- and she need not be and generally
ought not to be, trained for life
long career as the family bread-winner;
and therefore. after a certain point, the
training of the two must normally be
different. because the duties of the two
are normally different. This does not
mean inequality of function. On the
whole I thiuk the duty of the woman
the more important the more difficult,
and the more honorable of the two; on
The who'll ] respect the woman who
does her duty even more than L
respect the man who does his.
Into the Womans keeping is COM
united the destiny of the generations
10 come after US. In bringing up your
children you mothers must remember
mat while il is essential to be loving
and tender, it is no less essential to
DEE wise and firm. Foolishness and
affection must not be treated as IN
ierchangedblc terms; and besides train
ing y0ur sons and daughters in the
softer and milder virtues, you must
seek 10 give them those stern and
hardy qualities which in after life they
win sur=ly need Some children viii
~ wrong IN spite of the best train
ing. and some will go right even when
lhDlt Surroundings are most undortun-
ate, nevertheless an immense amount
dep ndS upon the family training. IL
Foa mothers through weakness bring
up your sons to be selfish and TO
mink only Of themselves. you Will De
responsible for much sadness among
u" women who are to be thsir wives
i the future If you let your daught-
rrs grow up idle. perhaps under the
mistaken impression that as you your
selves have had TO work hard th5y
shall know only enjoyment, you arr
preparing them to be useless to others
and burdens to themselves. Teach boys
and girls aIik= that they are not to
look forward to lives spent in avoid
Ing difficulties, but to lives spent IN
overcoming difficulties. Teach them
that work for themselves and also Tor
oilers. lis not a curse, but blessing:
seek TO make them happy, to make
them enjoy life, but seek also TO make
them face life with the steadfast reso-
luton to wrest success from labor ana
diversity, and TO do th9ir whole duty
before God and to man. Surely she
who can thus train her sons ana
daughters is thrice fortunate among
women
To sum up. then. the whole matter
is simple enough II either a race or
am individual prefers the pleasures OF
more effortless east, Of self-indulgence,
90 the infinitely deeper, the infinitely
higher pleasures that come to those
who know the toll and the WEAKNESS,
but also the joy, of hard duty Wen
done. why, that race or that individual
must inevitably in the end pay the
penalty of leading life both vapld ana
ignoble No man and no woman reaiiy
worthy the name can care for the ire
spent solely or chiefly in the aHoldahee
Of risk and trouble and labor. save
I'm exceptional cases the prizes worth
having i'm life must be paid for ana the
life worth living must be a life o. %effS
for a worthy end, and oralnaIhy u