The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1910-08-25

lnalnes that represent financial inter
ests, but those Interests should MOI
lhave the right-of- way, and In all en-
Serprlses and movements in which the
social condition OF the country IS sn.
yolyet, the agricultural countryside
Il open country-shouId be as well rep
resented as the city. The man Of the
.oPen country is apt TO have contain
4 Qualities which the city man has lost.
These qualities onset those which the
city man has and he himself has not.
The two should be put on equal terms,
ana the country talent be given the
same opportunity az the city talent to
express Itself and to contribute 10 the
welfare OF the world in which we live.
1 True Social Center.
The country church should be
/ made a true social center. alive to
every need u the community, stand
ling for broad individual develop
ment' taking the lead in work and in
recreation, caring more for conduct
than for dogma, more for ethical
spiritual, practical betterment than for
merely formal piety The country fair
offers far greater possibilities for con-
tiuhous and healthy usefulness than ii
at present affords. The country school.
should be made vital center for eco
monte, social. and educational co-op-
ieration; 1t is naturally fitted to be
such a center for those engaged in
| cotmmerclal farming, for those who
!, live on and by the small farms they
themselves own. The problem Of the
farm is really the problem Of the fam
lily that lives on the farm. on ali
these questions there IS need of intel
iligent study, such as marks the books
of Professor Bailey of Cornell. and of
Horace Plunkett's book on the 'Ru-
raj Life Problems Of the United
States
'one feature OF the problem should
be recognized by the farmer at once.
and an effort made to deal with IT. It
is our duty and our business to COM
slider the farm laborer exactly as we
consider the farmer. No country llf-
can be satisfactory when the owners
Of farms tend. for whatever reason,
to go away TO live in cities Instead of
working their farms; and, moreover,
lit cannot be really satisfactory when
the labor system is so managed that
there is for part of the year demand
! for labor which cannot he met, and
during another part Of the year no
demand for labor at all, so that the
farmers tend to rely on migratory la
horers who come oIt to work in the
country with no permanent interest
in 1t and with no prospect OF steady
employment. It is exceedingly diff
cult 10 make good citizen out of a
imam who can't count upon some
steadiness and continuity in the work
which means to him his livelihood.
Economic conditions on the farm-in
variety and kind OF crop growing. es-
1 pecially as distributed in time, and in
housing for the men-must be so
shaped as to render it possible for the
man who labors for the farmer to be
steadily employed under conditions
which foster his self-respect and tend
for his development.
Welfare of Wives.
/ above all, the conditions Of farm
life mus; always be shaped with a
view to the welfare Of the farmers
wife, and the farm laborer's wife,
quite as much as the welfare of the
farmer and farm laborer To have
the woman a mere drudge is at least
as bad as to have the man a mere
drudge 1t Is every whit as important
to Introduce new machines to econo-
mize her labor within the house, as 1t
!, is 10 introduce machinery to increase
the effectiveness of his labor outside
the house. I haven't the slightest
sympathy with any movement which
/ LOOKS to excusIng men and women for
! the non-perfornance OF duty and fixes
] lattenticn only on right and not on
, duties. The woman who shirks her
duty as housewife, as mother, is a con-
/ temptible creature; just as the cor
responding man is contemplate
: creature. But the welfare of the wom-
$ an is even more Important than the
( welfare Of the man: for the mother Is
the real Atlas, who bears aloft IN hei
, strong an dtender arms the destin.
!. OF the world. She deserves honor ana
i consideration such as no man should
n receive. She forfeits all claim to thi
n honor and consideration II she shirk
n her duties, But the average Ameri
e can woman does not shirk them. an;
/ 1t is matter of the highest obliga
y ton for us to see that they are per
: formed under conditions which max
e for her welfare and happiness and TO
: the welfare and happiness Of tn
/ children she brings into the world"
: LNllHER Crime