New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-10-10
NO IDEAL HOMES.
~There Meier VII Be 4my Unless
Conditions Change

..oivorce-the hisher education OF women is
sa,d to produce divorce. But what does the
lover education of men produce? If as much
.++ention were given in this connection to the
,otter as to the former, the actual home would
ennroxirnate more closely to the ideal"
Miss Harriette A. Keyser was the speaker at
30 Arothers' Club yesterday afternoon. and THE
ideal Home" afforded her opportunities-which
ehs embraced-to rap smartly the American
,,,ti-nillionaire, impelled by restlessness to a
,srnetual wandering, and the housekeeper. with
~ nose to the grindstone. who whines and
r,oans over the unhappy domestic situation,
-r;tbout ever trying through cooperation to bet
ter 1t.
Miss Keyser is the secretary of the Church
.ssociation for the Improvement Of Labor, and
its organizer.
ygishop Potter" said Mrs. Lille Devereux
make the president of the Mothers, in intro
ar,inr her. "once called her an angel"
.rlo he didn't muttered the angel" under
49, breath. he called me saint but that's all
nonsense"
angel or saint. Miss Keyser took active
mart in the recent campaign in behalf OF shorter
hours for the clerks Of Harlem. and last autumn
she spoke from the tail Of cart in 3d-ave. in
favor of early closing. So it was comparatively
sasy for her to face her expectant audience yes
telling them they could not expect ideal homes
of their own
"Under present conditions the ideal home can
not exist" she told them. I'VE can have happy
and contented homes, but account of the
irregularities that exist in our homes they can
never be ideal.
sFTor instance. you all love your children. and
you would not have passed the law or elected
the men who passed the law making the father
the sole guardian of the children.
And then think of the moral inequality IN
the home, with two codes of morality So long
as the man Of loose character is received social
ly, while the same kind OF woman IS NOT me
ideal home is far, far from realization
Then. turning to the lack OF simplicity, Wfich
she said made against the ideal home, Miss
Keyser protested against the reStleSsneSs ana
righteousness which mark many homes
(Cnly. the delight of some of ner hearers, she
owned up TO hating that phrase the simple
ufe"-"because I've heard so much about ii. ;
1T has been said that air. light and water are
all the essentials of life continued Miss Key
ser but see our i-milonaires-they have
them; yet, what good does 1t do them? They
are continually running about looking for other
air. light and water The SIMPLE life is impos-
sibe TO the very rich and the very poor. Give
me neither poverty nor riches.
Another thing that initiates against simplc-
fly is that we are so pretentfous- suppose we
ali know wealthy people who have simple char
sacters and simple manners. But simplicity Of
manners may 1T 90 any further. See how the
simple hammered .5-ople behave when they so
into the Waldorf-Astoria to order a dinner or to
the tailor's to order new clothes!
The fact Is, we've got to get down to hard
pan, and I've thought it might come in some
mild way-perhaps in a great financial crisis,
that would bring to simplicity and our
knees. hope not In such crisis the simple
must suffer as well those not simple"
Miss Keyser's parting word to the Mothers
was to cultivate the sense of humor and the
spiritual sense, (which are great helps toward
tie ideal home
A lively half hour was spent In attempting
to get the sense of the club on the trade school
question. for the purpose of instructing the dele
gates to BinghaTnton. Mrs. ]. H. Johnson
founder and honorary president Of the Little
Mothers Aid Association. bespoke the trade
school fund for her organization and was ap-
pointed to go a delegate to Binghamton to
lay her cause before the there. Mrs
John Crosby was the other delegate appointed
She declared stoutly that she should vote to eX-
pend the money its original purpose-not in
teaching little girls. Mrs Johnson then offered
70 tender her resignation as a delegate but her
resignation was not accepted.