Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-31

problems are much the same for all Of US,
widely though they may differ in outward
manifestation. The most important condi-
tons that tell for happiness within the
home are the same for the town and the
country; and the relations beween employer
and employe are not always satisfactory
on the farm any more than in the factory,
All over the country there Is a constant
complaint of paucity of farm labor. With
out attempting to go into all the features Of
this question 1 would like to point out that
you can never get the right kind the best
kind, of labor If you offer employment only
for few months, for no man worth any.
thing will permanently accept system
which leaves him in idleness for half the
year. And most important of all, want to
say special word on behalf of the one who
Is too often the very hardest worked la
borer on the farm-the farmers wife. Re-
form. like charity, while it should not end
at home, should certainly begin there; and
the man, whether he lives on farm or In q
town, who Is anxious to see better social
and economic conditions prevail through
the country at large should be exceedingly
careful that they prevail first as regards
his own womankind. I emphatically be-
lieve that for the great majority Of women
the really indispensable industry in which
they should engage is the industry Of the
home. There are exceptions of course; but
exactly as the first duty Of the normal man
Is the duty of being the home maker so the
first duty of the normal woman Is to be the
home keeper; and exactly as no other learn
ing Is as important for the average man as
the learning which will teach him how to
make his livelihood, SO no other learning Is
as important for the average woman as the
learning which will make her a good house.
wife and mother. But this does not mean
that she should be an overworked drudge.
have hearty sympathy with the movement
to better the condition Of the average tiller
of the soil, of the average wageworker, and
l have an even heartier sympathy and ap-
plause for the movement which is to better
the condition Of their raSnactiya wives
There is plenty that Is hard and rough and
disagreeable in the necessary work of ac-
tual life: and under the best circumstances
and no matter how tender and considerate
the husband. the wife will have at least her
full share of work and worry and anxiety;
but if the man is worth his salt he will try
to take as much as possible of the burden
off the shoulders of his helpmate. There is
nothing Utopian in the movement: all that
Is necessary is to strive toward raising the
average both of men and women. to the
level on which the highest type of family
now stands, among American farmers,
among American skilled mechanics, among
American citizens generally; for In all the
world there is no better and healthier home
life, no finer factory of individual character.
nothing more representative of what is best
and most characteristic in American life
than that which exists in the higher type of
American family; and this higher type of
family is to be found everywhere among
us. and is the property of no special group
Of citizens.
The Best Crop.
The best crop is the crop Of children;
the best products of the farm are the men
and women raised thereon and the most
instructive and practical treatises on farm
ing, necessary though they be, are no more
necessary than the books which teach us
our duty to our neighbor, and above all to
the neighbor who is of our own house.
hold. You young men and women of the
agricultural and industrial colleges and
schools-and. for that matter, you who go
to any college school-must have some
time for light reading; and there is some
reading, provided Of course that you do
not read in a spirit of mere vacuity. Aside
from the great classics, and thinking only
of the many healthy and stimulating
many which can really serve as tracts, be-
cause they possess what many avowed
tracts and treatises do not, the prime quail
ity Of being interesting. You will learn the
root principles of self-help and helpful
ness toward others from Mrs. Wigs of
the Cabbage Patch" just much as
from any formal treatise charity; you
will learn as much sound social and in
dustrial doctrine from Octave Thanets
stories of farmers and wageworkers as
from avowed sociological and economic
studies; and I cordially recommend the
first chapter of aunt Jane of Kentucky
for a tract in all families where the
men folks tend to selfish or thoughtless or
overbearins disregard of the rights of their
womenkind.
Do not misunderstood me. I have not
the slightest sympathy with those hyster-
ical and foolish creatures who wish women
to attain to easy lives by shrinking their
duties. I have as hearty a contempt for
the woman who shirks her duty of bearing
and rearing the children, Of doing her full
housewives work, as / have for the man
who is an idler, who shrks his duty OF
earning a living for himself and for his
household, or who is selfish brutal to-
ward his wife and children. I believe in
Torrance of duty, not from the avoidance
Of duty. But believe also in trying, each
of us, as strength Is given us, to bear one
another's burdens; and this especially in
our own homes No outside training, no
cooperation, no government aid direc-
ton can take the place of a strong and up
right character; Of goodness of heart COM
bined with clearness Of head, and that
strength and toughness Of fiber necessary
world Nothing outside of home can take
the place of home. The school is an in
valuable adjunct to the home, but it is
Wretched substitute for 1t. The family re-
lation Is the most fundamental, the most
important of all relations. No leader in
church or state, in science or art or indus
try, however great his achievement, does
work which compares in Importance with
that of the father and the mother, who
are the first of soverelgns and the most
divine Of priests"
Secretary Wilson's Address.
Secretary Wilson also made an interesting
speech. In part he said:
If has heen said that the IInited States