Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-07-23
MAINE EDITORIAL COMMENT.
The Decline of Family Life.
(Turf, Farm and HON,

1
! (Turf. Farm and HOme)
You may recount all the dire dis
| asters by sea or land, that you car
recall. all the losses by fire or by flood
| and you cannot begin to estimate a
| loss equal to that of the family circle
Where shall we begin to figure the
| value of this great boon to American
| civilization that was handed down tC
us by our ancestors the fireSide circle
| that had meant SO much to New Eng
land for many generations. But alas!
| it's gone, leaving only here and there
| a remnant of what it once was
| scattered hither and yon over New
England.
With all due regards to the influence
| of the church and school life. the
social and moral effect of the old time
| family circle outranks them all. far
and away, but alas! it's gone, never
to be c-established-at least not in
| the memory of the present generation.
Do we hear some one say What Of il?
With it has gone the bulwark of our
time hOnored civilization, as it We're.
and its decadence explains that lower
tone of public and private life SO I'M
pleasantly discernable in the youth of
| our day, and too often noticed in
children of older growth"
What caused this decadence of what
all will admit was one of the grandest
| qualities of the early days of the proud
| Old New England days?
The whole matter of our home and
social life, the old idea of home and
| it's influence, responsibilities. its plea
Sures and its fond associations, have
all passed and gone, never to return,
we fear.
All! what hallowed memories. as
thoughts of the old family circle re-
call
1t. was here that the tired school
boy or girl was glad to pour out their
trials and sorrows to father and
mother and brothers and sisters. The
father told of the burdens of the day
passed, and sympathieS We're ex-
changed with mother, who had not
been without her veXatiOns, though
they might seem to the busy man but
trifies. But they We're not all mourn
full tales that We're here related. The
joys. pleasures and humors for the day
We're likewise exchanged and father
and mother and older brothers and
sisters delighted to listen to the prattle
of the little ones, for the day had not
been without incident even to the
smaller members of the family, no not
by any means. And so it went, and
when bedtime broke the circle all TOO
soon it seemed as though some prec-
ious influence. something almost divine
had permeated the entire household
and n rnfrncha1 p..h
for the labOrS of the future.
New in the average New England
home all this is changed today and
the reasons therefore are as varied as
are the communities or the people that
inhabit them.
To commence with, the large in
teresting families are no longer to be
found in any considerable numbers,
but this is but slight reason. The
daily life of the family has changed
entirely. The father has become 4
business man. and his home is but one
of the many places he resorts to
for food and refreshments, and he is
as much at home in the hotel or at
the quick lunch counter as he once
was at his own fireside. Numerous
pressing cares beset him on every side.
and his thoughts are too far from
home to be aware of the details of
home affairs, much less to participate
in them. 1t is not necessary for him
to tell his family that his thoughts are
not their thoughts. they one and all
breath it in the very atmosphere, and
feel ii the moment he enters the
house that was once his home. He
does not knowingly or purposely repel
those that should regard him init
matcly not to say lovingly but they
intuitively perceive that there is no
place for them in his time or his
thoughts, hence they seek the COM
panlonshIp OF the mother but this
quest is too often in vain also, for she,
weary OF trying to maintain the
famliy circle alone. is obliged, or at
least feels that she is, to seek COM
panionship elsewhere. and she perhaps
joins club, and what variety of
these organizations there are to
welcome her!
Unconsciously the mother SLOWLY but
surely is sooner or later found oc-
cunicd with a thousand and one things
outside OF the family and it's interests
ana then the much adored family
circle. the pride and boast of New
England civilization. is shattered and
gone. and no one has consciously or
Intentionally sinned
We often wonder why the young
people of today are loud and bolster
Gus. not to say irreverent, especially
to the aged. We wonder why students
OF both sexes i'm our best educational
institutions use language in their
every day conversation among them
selves that would cause the dismissal
OF clerks in any we'll regulated mer-
camille or industrial establishment
we wonder why students in so called
rehgious or secretarian colleges and