Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-25
CLAIMS FAMILY
CEASING TO BE
SOCIETYS UNIT
NOTED DOCTOR MAKES START
LING STATEMENT
SAYS HOME DOES NOT EXERT
oLDaTlME INFLUENCE
In Address to Audience at Teachers
Institute Director of Child Hy-
giene of Sage Foundation
Talks Plainly

That the family is ceasing to be the
social unit is the opinion expressed
yesterday afternoon by Dr. Luther
Halsey Gulick, director of the depart
ment Of child hygiene of the Russell
Sage Foundation, New York city, in
his address at a section meeting Of the
Southern California Teachers associa-
tion held in the Polytechnic high
school auditorium.
1.-THE family hitherto always has
been the chief unit of society" said
DR.. Gulick. mo one disputes that. The
relation of family to society has with
in a century, however, changed pro-
foundly in all civilized communities.
The family is ceasing to be the social
unit. The community is no longer an
aggregate of complete and separate
family units. Many functions of the
old family unit are now being per-
formed by the community in other and
mainly better ways.
"The first important change has ref
erence to work This change is most
noticeable in New England. Here the
home used to be the center, the place
where the work of the world was done.
All the industries which were carried
on here by the father, mother and
children-all these have gone forever
to your memory the history of perhaps
your fathers, certainly your great
grandfathers Nearly all Of them lived
on farms and each farm was COM
plete unit, making clothing from the
backs of the sheep, performing all the
tasks involved in providing the food
supply and getting but little from
abroad. They not only furnished their
own meat and vegetables, but they
made their own tools and their own
harnesses. They shod their own horses
and put UP their own buildings. They
did themselves nearly all the things
that needed to be done around the
farm"
Creates Sensation
DR.. Gulick was lecturing on the sub
ject of Moral Education Of Children"
This is the third lecture he had given
before various meetings of the South
ern California Teachers association
His statement that the family was no
longer the chief unit of society created
a profound Impression. In explaining
this statement DR.. Gulick said
Everywhere the family Is rapidly
ceasing to be the center Of the indus
tries Of the world. Walking behind one
of these steam gang plows drawing
sixteen plows, each cutting three inches
deep ana sixteen lnCQeS Wlue5 one CdI
see that there is no place here for the
boy to take the lines of the horses and
cooperate with his father and thus
come into that character broadening
and strengthening process Of work-ii
is gone. The girl can no longer, a:
formerly, be prepared for woman:
work by cooperating with her mother
because the chances are that her moth
er's duties, whether in the city, village
or country, have changed.
"The industries by which the chill.
dren Of the world have come into that
moral development we call character
have been taken from the home Moth
ing In the world can take the place
of work, straightforward, hard work
and, while / do not consider that worl
transcends all other moral agencies,
do believe that work of a stable quail
ity pursued hour after hour and day
after day, whether pleasant or un
pleasant, whether easy or hard, is one
of the essential elements in the devel
opment of strong, solid and wholesome
character. The opportunity for this il
fast leaving the home, whether W.