Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-05-11

I ell away from the care oil their cnlIOren.
But whatever the cause, the conscious
supervision Of the morals training
of their children is o today what it
used to be.
1t is safe to say that the spread of
divorce Is due more than anything else
to the personal seliishness, the person
al extravaganza, inc the personal aver
sion to anything unpleasant of the
modern woman of the world. And her
example is of influence on the less we'll
to-do woman whose unhappy married
life is unrelieved by the distractions
open to the rich. In the main. the un-
restrained selfishness and the exagger-
atcd extravaganza leads many u rich
woman to ask: What am i getting
out OF it?'-not, What am I bringing
to it?" The willingness to control self
from Il sense of duty, a steady per-
Torrance of tasks for the sake of a
given object. the ability to sacrifice
some .s~atisfactions for the common
good. content with a limited income,
and rarer than they once were. The
forms taken by this selfishness are pro-
team; but the one which has a large
economic significance is that of nation
al extravaganza. Not having had to do
with the winning, but only with the
spending of the wealth, the rich wom-
crimina lust for riches which is now
cursing the nation. More than she can
possibly realize, his discomfort at not
having an expenditure equal to that of
others richer than herself is the cause
of the passion to get rich quickly.
More than h knows. h is at the
bottom of speculation and Of the
schemes of getting wealth other than
by saving in order that men may be
able to crafty her demands.
More than h knows, she is respon-
sible for the widespread disposition to
live beyond ones means; for the mort
mobiles. and the extravagant dresses
and entertainments which aim to ex-
press social superiority. 1t has not
passed unnoticed that diamonds to the
value OF $48,0 00. 900 were imported into
the United States last a Traced to
Its ultimate analysis, the uncontrolled
passion for pleasure and expensive
forms of qualification has caused the
living beyond u means in recent
years and influenced the extraordinary
reversal of late in the relation of the
imports to the exports of merchandise.
For this our rich and our would-be
rich women are in a degree responsible.
With low ideas additional income does
not mean more of higher satisfaction:
it means only more foolish. cumulative.
snowy expenditures: n in this COM
petition-as In the building of battle
ships-there is no place to stop: The
indictment runs correctly against q
large class of American women to
whom it has been given to spend swol-
len incomes. On the other hand, we,
recognize instinctively the existence OF
a numerous class of women-the Sound
remnant against whom this indict-
ment does not lie. Possibly, it may be
answered that those who are not rich
nave remained interrupted. Unfcr-
tunately such a statement cannot be
made safely. The danger is not con-
fined to those who have the means to
spead. The passion for social position
is almost universal: and the example
of the rich who nave low ideals is hum
grily followed by those who have low
incomes. 1t is the d%eteriorating exam
pie OF those who guide the expenditure
of the rich women that is spreading
widely and thoughtlessly over the
great class outside the w%ell-to-do. The
danger lies in the increasing adoption
of habits. social customs. and expendi-
ture based on low ideals-which at
tracts the weaker and poorer members
of the sex who are most influenced by
emulation.