The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1913-05-29
Back to Nature.

That witness before the Missouri
Senate Wage Commission who testified
he thought a young woman depending
upon her work for a livelihooq can live
on wage Of IS. rs a week said that
81. 90 week will rent furnished
room for her to live iu. Few young
women, however, have the philosophy
of Mr., Dick, in David Copperfeld."
One Of the London rooms looked into
by him and David was so small that
David said they could not swing cat
in it. We'll David" asked MIR. Dick,
we don't want to swing a cat, do we?"
The answer being that they didn't,
they took the room, and in its narrow
confines David found space to enlarge
their fortunes through stress Of hard
work and hard study.
Now, there is not a young woman
employed in St. Louis who wants TO
swing a cat. We're there one such a
dollar week room would not afford
needed space for such exercise. But
the fact that she has no wish for gym
nastics Of that kind is not an evidence
that dollar -a-week room is the right
sort Of home Tor the right sort Of girl.
There is, in the woman not inherently
vicious, a sense Of beauty, Of fitness,
and Of arrangement Of inanimate things
which dees not belong to man. A
bad woman's sense OF beauty in things
inanimate runs no farther than personal
adornments, but the natural woman's
beauty sense is infinitely mere inclus'
i've, taking in all her surroundings.
Crush this sense in her by immurina
her in walls so close set that she car
find no room for its expression, anC
and she may still lremain strong to re
sist the weakening influence OF an en-
vironment which is slowly undermining
ner womanhood. Let the girl dispose
OF her $5.75 as to her seems best
Ten to one, if she is OF the right sort
more than 81 Of it will 60 for room
rent.
This witness told OF how he hat
once supported family on Sl2 a weel
and now he is an employer 10 labor
None the less are we opposed 10 i'm
muring the right sort Of young girls ii
dollar week rooms. There may be al
economic necessity for it. Employer
will hire labor as cheap as they can &c
it. II they are forced, by artlfcia
means, to pay more than the nature
price, regulated by the natural law {
supply and demand, they will rein
burse themselves in marked up price
to the ultimate consumer" the goa
in every case. Such questions as thi
are not going to be settled until the
are settled right. And they can nC
be settled right until the home bt
comes again the unit Of organized 81
. ciely with the men again the on
mudsills on which the foundations
i that society can safely stand. WI
i are we investigating women, the
0 wages and their morality2 "
:. should be hot on the trial OF myriat
g OF worthless, trifling men, seeming
y increasing in numbers all the tim
r who fail in the duty Of shielding the
! women from the storms Of life. II '
+ could locate them, We would withdra
all objections TO narrow walls. In fac
u we would set them closer in than Il
y walls Of the dollar week room to
{ such as refuse playing a mans part
the world. Minimum wage. suffragettt
Il vice commissions, new industrialism
I what are they all but symptoms of
,s disease which will be cured when
Il get back TO nature?--Globe Democr
lie Probably the Standard Oil Compa
I'd Of Indiana will soon be doing busin
,e freely in Missouri but not in the old W