Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-01-17

professional or philanthropic work.
or when she is devoted to her club or
to bridge. But the higher education
of women and their demand for
larger independence have not made
wives and mothers neglectful Of their
duties. Mrs. Jellyby, as readers of
Bleak House well know, sacrificed
the comfort of her husband and chill.
dren to the interests of Borrio5oola
Cha long before Girton and Newman
were dreamed Of Card-playing and
ether dissipations have caused some
v ealthy women in all ages to leave
their families TO the care OF hired ser
wants. The more we know of the wo-
men Of The past, the less willing we
shall be to condemn the women Of the
present Tor their alleged failings.
Certain sections of society always
show the same vices But our gloom
lest correspondent have brought for
ward no evidence 10 prove tnat the
average modern woman is not as keen
IT. interest," ed in her home ami her chill
Gren as was the woman of similar
class in the good old days" that
never were
The debate has been ne the less
instructive and valuable. Il has
thrown into relief certain tendencies
which. if carried 100 far. would I'M
ouestionably affect the home and the
race for evil. The aid paternal
despotism. of which we read with
mingled wonder and regret in he
writings Of Jane Austen or Miss Else
worth. is no longer the rule in he
English home, Children arc rather
the companions than the slaves of
,aeir parents nowadays, and treat
them with more familiarity than our
forefarhers would have thought
seemIy. It would. however, be a pity
if this familiarity should breed con-
tempt, for in a septical age the steady
ing influence Of the home and the par
EMS is all to the good Several min
is ers Of religion have laid stress on
the growth of irreyerence to fathers
and mothers as a modern evil, and
there is a good deal Of truth in their
contentious. The increasing unwill-
inguess of husbands and wives to I'M
dertake the responsibilities of par
etage has also been noted by many
correspondents, The decline OF the
birthrate shows tha, the statement is
well founded, and it cannot be con
.lemplated without uneasiness. II the
thrifty and prudent classes should
limit their increase, while the reckless
and improvident classes 90 on multi
plying, the future of the nation would
give cause for anxiety, and the effect
upon the individual homes could not
be in all respects good. On the other
hand. we are bound to say that the
problem Of most urgency is to check
The heavy death-rate rather than to
increase the number of births. The
population would grow fast enough if
we could cut down the rate of child
mortality in our towns by one-half
The growth of luxury, the passion for
sport, the prevailing skepticism have
affected the home, as they have af-
fected other spheres of the national
life But a careful review of the
correspondence rejecting as i does
the opinions of men and women Of all
sections of the community, will, we
think, convince readers that despite
all changes the English home remains
essentially the same as it has always
been, that husbands and wives live as
happily together and that children are
as we'll brought up in the twentieth
century as in any preceding age.