Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1910-09-01

pflSeS aHHNlln9 Hii the people.
am glad 60 see on such bodies tht
names that represent tnHncinI inter
estS. but those interests should no
have the right of way. ANA IN all enter
priSeS and movements in which the so
cai condition OF the country is in
VOWED the agricultural Countrywide
open country should be as we'll repre-
scented us the city
The man of the open country is apt
10 have certain qualities which the
city man has lost. These qualities off
set those which the city man has and
he himself has not. The two should
be put on equal terms and the coun
try talent be given the same oppor
tunity as the city talent to express ii
self and to contribute to the welfare
of the world in which we live.
The country church should be made
true social center. alive to every need
of the community. standing for Il
broad individual outlook and develop
ment. taking the lead in work and in
recreation. caring more for conduct
than for dogma. more for ethical. spir
itual. practical betterment than for
merely formal piety. The country fair
offers far greater possibilities for con
tinuous and healthy usefulness than
1t at present affords.
The country school should be made .
vital center for economic. social and
educational cooperation. 1t Is natural
ly fitted to ne such u center for those
engaged in commercial farming and
still more for those engaged in domes-
tic farming. for those who live on and
by the small farms they themselves
own. The problem Of the farm is real
ly the problem of the family that lives
on the farm. On all these questions
there is need of intelligent study. such
as marks the books of Professor Bal
ley of Cornell and of Horace Plum
kett's book on the Rural Life Prob
lens of the United States"
Laborers OF Farms.
One feature of the problem should
be recognized by the farmer at once
and an effort made to deal with it.
1t is our duty and our business to con
slider the farm laborer exactly as we
consider the farmer. No country life
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. it
cannot be really satisfactory when the
labor system is so managed that there
is for part Of the year demand for
labor which cannot be met and during
another part of the year no demand
for labor at all. so that the farmers
tend to rely on migratory laborers who
come out to work in the country with
no permanent interest in it and with
no prospect Of steady employment
1t is exceedingly difficult to make
good citizen out of man who can't
count upon some steadneSs and con-
tinuity in the work which means to
him his livelihood Economic condi-
tons on the farm-in variety and kind
of crop growing especially as distribut-
ed 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 I'M
der conditions which foster his self re-
spect and tend for his development
Above all. the conditions of farm life
must always be shaped with view to
the welfare of the farmers wife and
the farm laborers wife quite as much
as to the welfare Of the farmer and
the farm laborer. TO have the woman
a mere drudge is at least as bad as to
have the man mere drudge. 1t is ev
cry whit as important to introduce
new machines to economic her labor
within the house as it is to introduce
machinery to increase the effectiveness
of his labor outside the house
l haven't the slightest sympathy
with any movement which looks to cx-
cusing men and women for the non
performance of duty and fixes atten-
ton only on rights and not on duties.
The woman who Shirks her duty as
housewife. as mother. is a contempt-
bic creature. just as the corresponding
man is contemplate creature. But
the welfare Of the woman Is even more
important than the welfare of the man.
for the mother Is the real atlas who
bears aloft in her strong and tender
arms the destiny of the world.
She deserves honor and considera-
ton such as no man should receive.
She forfeits all claim to this honor
and consideration If she shirks her du-
ties.
But the average American woman
does not shirk them. and 1t is matter
Of the highest obligation for us to see
that they are performed under condi-
tons which make for her welfare and
happiness and for the welfare and
happiness of the children she brings
into the world.