Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-14
ADVOCATES SCHOOL
TO TEACH PARENTS
BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING IS
HER THEORY
President Of Mothers Congress Hopes
for University Where Parents
Can Learn to Bring Up
Children

Ten years OF earnest 1ar redcHihB
work was commemorated last night
when the National Congress Of Mothers
celebrated it's tenth anniversary in the
Ebell club house with a review OF the
things accomplished and glimpse into
Its possibilities.
Mrs. Frederick schoff, president OF
the National Congress of Mothers,
made an interesting and convincing
speech that went straight to the hearts
of her listeners, where its deep thought
and underlying principles mace
heavy imprint. She startled her hearers
with the declaration:
when 1 see these little boys sent 10
the reformatory for crap shooting ana
then I see the mothers of the land
playing bridge whist for money, Won
der who it is that taught those boys
to gamble and who it is that should
he sent to the reformatory.
The subject of her talk was "Fore-
word for the Coming Decade" and as
she said she thought her address should
deal with the present conditions and
that the betterment of those would
show the future, she would tell of the
things she saw around her.
Child the Central Thought
"All through the years of our con-
gress we have never diverged from our
central thought-the child. No matter
what we have taken up, 1t has always
been for the good of the child, and you
can trace all our thoughts back to the
home.
"I hope that ten years from now,
when we look upon the work accom-
plished, we shall see a parents UNI
yersity where fathers and mothers can
learn how to bring up their children.
If we could have small portion OF the
money given to the universities we
could spend it in studying the chlld, ms
nature and all his phases and turn tnat
knowledge into a practical course where
the people Of the country could learn,
so that the future generations would
not have to record their failure the re-
suit of ignorance ON the part OF their
forefathers.
"Think of the great mass of mothers
who do not want their children, the
unlighted candles whom 1 want you to
light; the dull, stolid women to Whom
the coming of a child has not brought a
raw of light, to whom a baby's birth
has not brought gleam OF happiness
into their tired eyes, who wish only TO
get rid of them. Those are the people
want you to help, SO that they may
learn and may be able to appreciate
their blessed and sacred privilege or
rearing child for the world.
1--WE want you to reach the mothers
who allow their tender boys and girls
to go out into life's battlefield and earn
money to support their mothers or
fathers in idleness. Many times the
parents are not even poor who do thls,
and we want you to try and prevent
these boys and girls from growing up
to be the same kind of parents.
Grand:r 5thers Made Mistake
1.-THE custom of our grandmothers in
thinking that all a girl, at least, should
know, was to read, write and spell,
think was the greatest mistake pos
sible. Children should know and be IN
terested in everything that concerns
or ever will concern their lives. Moth
ers should be interested in all the ques-
tions of the day, in politics, even, be-
cause the politics of our countries af-
fects our homes and we are the guar
dians of those. l am not saying that
women should go into politics, because
I do not think they should; they nave
a higher duty to perform-the care OF
the home: but they should talk to their
bows about political questions ana
should interest them because they must
have the love of their country In their
hearts when they are boys so that When
they come to manhood they may pc
able to solve it's great questions, the
duty of every man.
"Dishonesty is at the bottom of this
immense army of fallen children. A
race of people must be true in every
sense to keep down its criminals. whose
fault is this that our poor innocent
children should be dishonest? Are we
careful about our own lives or do we
slide over things and then expect our
children to follow in the paths tnat
we have never trod? Purity is every
thing, and the mothers must Dc lhe
ones to teach 1t.
"If the mothers could only see that
the work they are doing is not only for
this world, but above and beyond
thew would strive more to mold the
character of the children.
"When I see a woman Scoldlng
child for every little thing l often Won
der how they would like to have some
one continually nagging them.
experiment with Children
"Parents experiment with their first
children. and they often make such
mistakes that it is dreadful. In my
estimation there is no such thing
as a cross baby. There is something
physically wrong with them which the
parents should have been taught 10
prevent before they assumed the re-
sponsibility of motherhood and father
hood.
ST hope the time is coming when
our lawyers will have to take a course
in psychology, when they will have to
know something of the men and wo-
men before they can sit in Judgment
upon them.
1--WE must have truer ideal of
fatherhood and motherhood to give
them higher conception of marriage
We have the great divorce evil be-
cause we let our children enter into
marriage without knowing anything
about It's cares and duties, and I hope
within the next ten years that the
congress may take up the marriage
laws. That would be getting at the
root of it all. If we prevent our young