The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1911-04-09
nOte$ and neW$
Of Interest
**&* BY m. +. ". $3.50

the 9th inst. Mrs. Porter is a woman
of great ability and her activities have
reached out over helpful lines. She is
eminently practical, having learned that
in the school room at the State Normal,
where for a number of years she was
beloved and valued member of the
normal school faculty, As charming
Miss Lucia Lawless, she drew devoted
friends to her among pupils and patrons.
Her residence in Louisiana became per-
manent when, a few years ago, she be
came the bride Of Judge Charles Yer
non Porter, an esteemed and honored
citizen of Natchitoches.
The address follows:
To the Members Of the Louisiana
Federation of Women's Clubs One of
the most interestingly had almost said
startling-facts to the observant student
of modern history is the extent to which
the women of this country have been
forced from the seclusion of the home
into the activities of our present day life.
Within less than half a century the
rapid changes in economic conditions
have thrust women into industrial life
to an extent greater than in all the years
of the past.
She is present in every line Of work,
in the industries, in the fields of science
and art, and in the learned professions.
In some of them Educational work for
instance) she largely outnumbers the
men.
This extensive enlargement of wom-
ems sphere, with its tremendous increase
of responsibilities, is perhaps the chief
cause of the equally rapid growth and
development of the club spirit, and the
countless organizations known as wom-
ems clubs in this country.
Compelled as she has been to leave
the peace of the home for the hustle
and strife of the struggle for existence,
the primitive law of self-preservation
has taught her the necessity of strength
and wisdom for the conflict, and inspired
her to strive for the knowledge of
things which will fit her to bear her
larger responsibilities Of the present and
the future.
Some conception of the growth of
women's clubs can be had when we con-
slider that the general federation of such
clubs was organized in 1890, twenty
years ago.
The federation then consisted of six
ty clubs, representing seventeen states.
Now it has more than thousand from
forty-eight states, with a membership in
the general federation and affiliated or
CARNATIONS of more than 100000.
The work of the clubs was, generally
speaking, at first narrow and superficial;
but growth in this regard has kept pace
with the increase in membership, until
all Of the vital problems which SO pro-
foundry affect our social system are be-
ing studied and discussed by earnest
women all over the land.
But more than this. The womens
clubs are not merely studying, but they
are actively and in many localities sue
cessfully working to secure reforms on
such great subjects as civic improve
ment, child labor laws, the preservation
of the public health, the conservation of
our natural resources.
State and national, the better protec-
ton of the health and morals of chill
dren in city and country, and in short
all Of those thigs which pertain to the
moral and physical welfare of the home
and the state.
To illustrate how much broader the
work has become since the organization
of the general federation, | notice a
statement in most brilliant address by
Mrs. Mumford of Pennsylvania that at
enc of the early biennials the following
subjects were assigned for discussion:
Comparative value Of oral and written
addresses. How far should home talent
be cultivated in clubs? Should we own
club houses? Should we engage in phi
lanthropic work? Should clubs become
so expensive that women of small means
be obliged to retire from them What IS
the best hour for meeting, ten in the
morning or three in the afternoon?
Compare these with the topics studied
last year by the current history class of
the Chicago Woman's Club eunder the
auspices of the philosophic and scientific
department They were taken up and
discussed because at that time they were
burning questions in legislative cham
lbers. The topics are The United States
Congress, independence of legislative.
Executive and judicial departments OF
the government Capitalization of power
versus state rights; anti-Cannonism; the
Payne-Aldrich tariff conservation Of
natural resources the Pinchot-B allinger
controversy; postal savings banks; the
Sherman antitrust law and control Of
a