The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1905-03-22
ROOSEVELT TO THE WOMEN.
Most Sensible Talk Congress Of Mothers
Ever Heard

feature Of the evening session of the
National Congress of Mothers now
holding its triennial Convention at
the Metropolitan NJ. Il. Church.
There was an immense attendance.
The President was formally introdu-
ced to the audience by Mrs. Frederic
Schotf, of Philadelphia. the president
Of the Congress. He read his speech
but occasionally interjccted some ex-
temporancous remarks to emphasize
point. The President spoke as fol-
lows:
In our modern industrial civilization
there arc many and grave dangers to
counterbalance the splendors and the
triumphs. 1t is not good thing to
see cities grow at disproportionatc
speed relatively to the country: for
the small land owners. the man who
own their little homes, and, therefore,
to very large extent the men who
till farms, the men Of the soil, have
hitherto made the foundation Of last
ing national life in every State;
and if the foundation becomes either
too weak or two narrow, the super
structure, no matter how attractive,
is in eminent danger of falling,
But far more important than the
question Of the occupation Of our citi-
zens is the question Of how their
family life is conducted. No matter
what that occupation may be, as lorg
as there is real home and as long as
those who make up that home do their
duty to one another, to their neigh
bors and to the State, it is Of minor
consequences whether the man s trade
is piled in the country or the city, or
whether it calls for the work of the
hands or for the work Of the head.
But the nation is in bad way if
there is no real home, if the family is
not of the right kind; if the man is
not good husband and father, if he
is brutal or cowardly or selfish, if the
woman has lost her sense of duty, if
she is sunk in vnpid self.indnlgence
or has let her nature be twisted so
that she prefers n sterile nseudc-;ntel-
lectuality to that great and beautiful
development Of character which
comes only to those whose lives know
the fullness Of duty done, of effort
made and self.sacrifce undergone.
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 oiti-
zenship fit for the foundation of o
great nation, and if we fail to appre-
oiate 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 rs homo liss
is healthy, unless the average man
possesses 'honesty, courage, common
sense, and deoency, unless he works
ha:d and is willing at need to fight
hard; aud unless tho average woman
is a good wife, good mother, able
and willing to perform the first and
greatest duty of womanhood, able and
willing to bear and to bring up as
they should be brought up, healthy
children, sound in body, mind and
character, and numerous enough so
that the race shall increase and not
decrease.
There are certain old truths which
will be true as long as the world en-.
dures, and which no amount of pro-
gress can alter. c One of these is the
truth that the primary duty of the
husband is to be the home maker, the
bread. winner for his wife and ohil.
dren and that the primary duty of the
woman is to be the helpmeet, the
housewife and mother. The woman
should have ample educational advan-
tages; but save in exceptional cases,
the man must be, and she need not
be, and generally ought not to be,
trained for lifelong career as the
family bread-winner; and therefore,
after certain point the training Of
the two must normally be different
because the duties Of the two are nor
mally differently. This does not mean
inequality Of function, but it does
mean that normally there must be
dissimilari.y Of function. On the
whole, l think the duty Of the woman |
the more important, the more difficult,
and the moreshonorable Of the two; on |
the whole / respect the woman who
dnea her dntv even ynnra shan 80