Weekly journal-miner., 1911-05-10
INSPIRING PAPER IN
 COMMUNITY WELFARE

Welfare" which was so interesting that there were many requests made for its publication. Lack of space has prevented this until this issue and it is annexed herewith in full;
 esteem it a very great privilege indeed to have an opportunity of speaking to so representative a body of women as the members of the Mon day Club of Prescott. The Chairman of this section. in asking me to talk on Community Welfare" very kind iv gave me permission to refer to any or all of the many subjects embraced under that head To refer to them all is manifestly impossible, and I have naturally chosen those which ap peal most strongly to me, as being of supreme importance, not alone to all communities, but more especially to this community in which we live.
 In the very first place. the term E' community welfare is in itself sug gestive. reminding Us, as it does, that there are many interests which are common to us all. It has been truly said that no man lives unto himself. Each person is more or less dependent on all the others in his community. We sometimes speak of "the inde pendence of Americans but there IS no such a thing as personal independ- ence among civilized people. The only really independent American was the savage Indian, who formerly skulked through our Eastern forests or roamed over our Western plains.
 The red man made his own bow and arrow. and by his individual prOwess with this simple weapon, provided himself and his family with food and clothing. His squaw built the wickiup in whicn they lived, and prepared food and clothing for her ford and master from the proceeds of the hunt. When the surroundings of his camp became too filthy, he simply moved his home to another part of the cOun- ny. When a member of his family died the wickiup and its contents were burned. The young boy was early schOoled in hunting by his fath- CT. while the girl soon learned to be- come a bearer of burdens with her mother This was true independence. Community welfare did not interest lim
 The same was true to a lesser eN rent of the early settler along the Atlantic coast. The primitive farmer went into the primeval forest to hew out for himself home. With his axe he felled the giant trees and built himself a log cabin. Among the stumps he sOwed his crops of wheat,
 hn ha ground between two crude mill stones, furnishing his own flour and meal. His meats he supplied from ais own cattle sheep, swine and fowls. His sugar he prepared from the sap of Ehe maple. His wife assisted in grind lng the corn and other grains, and herself prepared their simple food, us ing water she had carried in buckets from a distant spring. The wool from their Own flock of sheep she washed, spun and wOve into cloth. from which sine made all the clothing for herself and her family. In the long winter evenings the mother, by the light of the tallow dip, taught her children to read and write. Their nearest neigh bOr was miles distant and could in no wise prove offensive to their taste ar a menace to their health. There the brave pioneer lived out his days m sturdy independence, literally mon arch of all he surveyed and acknOwl- edging no higher civil authority than his own strong right arm backed by his trusty musket. This, too, ap- preached very near to complete inde- pehdence. Community welfare was of little interest to them.
 How differently are we situated to- 2 day! We are dependent on the mer- chant for our flour, sugar, meal, vege- tables and other table supplies; on : the butcher for our meats; on the coal dealer for cur fuel and on the tailor, haberdasher, dressmaker and milliner for our clothing. In the building of 'aur homes we are dependent On the carpenter. mason. plumber and painter. All these are in turn dependent on the railway to transport their sup pines, and on the iObber, wholesaler. manufacturer and producer to furnish them. For our water we are depend 'eht on the city; for our light. on the electric power company. For our edu- cation we are dependent on schools; for protection, we depend on officers . of the law. From the cradle to the grave we sO-called civilized men and men are absolutely the most depend . ant of all God s creatures.
 IL naturally follows that just inas- much as we are dependent on one an other, just in so much are we inter- ested in community welfare Since we are all dependent on the merchant and the butcher for our food, our wei fare as a community rests largely on The kind of food supplied to us by these business interests. Since we are all dependent on the schools for our adueation, it is very vital matter to our community that our schools should he properly conducted And so on down the whole line of interests which | are common to all or a large portion 'f our people. The more advanced | and complicated becomes our eiviliza- Tlon, the more are we mutually de- | pendent on one another, and the more ! interested should we become in mat |