Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-10-12
Woman's Place in the Human Famiy---By Hall

Motherhood is, beyond question, the most Vital
fact of human life and the mother is the hrsl'
the most important agent in the operatloh oA
natural law. In the relative functions OF HAio
and female It is not possible for the Ho''
learned to say which of the two sexes Is the
dominant partner, but there can De no que9
ton which is the more necessary 10 the Wei
fare Of the human family. Man, the laIhe''
has always acted as if he thought MS "oEA II.
life was the one thing that carried Ine "ol'0
along But is It in making laws anu nsn'iNe
battles or buying and selling, in plougnlhs anu
reaping, in preaching and teaching OF ID si'iNs
birth to children, In nursing and nurturlAs anu
tr-Ining them that the essential business u
human life consists? Surely 1t Is woman. inc
mother. who is doing the real work on winch
God depends to carry on His world. And De-
voud his functional part the work OF man IN
the scheme Of life seems almost accidental.
And has not nature, in It's divine ana III
scrutable wisdom justified woman in this SOW
ereign position over the human race Dy gLViHs
her the mightiest passions to support II! nina
of mother-love, the strongest, most unseIhSL,
most beautiful most enduring OF all forms OIL
affection so powerful that there is no seh-SaC
ri6ce of which It is not capable, so pure anu
exalted that when man, in the person Oh tno
Psalmist, tries to convey sense OF ulNIle lo0'
the love of God for His children, IL Is not 10 Ine
poblest love of the human father ne can coni
mare IT, but TO the unforgetting, unsearchaOle,
undyinE unrewarded and unrewardaDle love Vi
the human mother with the babe at her breast
And has not nature justified woman IN the
supremacy of her motherhood by binding her
child to her by bond that Is equAHy HS'
terious and unbeatable?
That is what Nature, in It's laundering ana
almighty voice. says about Motherhood anu
the place of the mother IN the human lalHlly'
What does man say-man and custom anu Id"
and religion and the morality of the clVlIzeu
world? Exactly the opposite. They say that
not the mother but the father is the first agent
in human life From the earliest recorded
days In which the desert chieftain IN NUMBER
ing his children did not count his daughters
through the times Of the Israeltish LaWgiver,
when no woman had property in her offspring
down to our own age, when woman
may not in most countries, inherit land
ed possessions, except by WILL or utIe
unless by special patent, or marry WITH
out being given away by her owner or the
representative of her owner the female has
been without any legal or religious rights IN
her children by virtue Of motherhood, except
the right that is Of the essence of her duty
to care for her child while it is too young to
care for itself After the early years Of infancy
her son may be taken away from her by the
law, and when she carries her daughter to
church to be married she must failing
father find some male proxy to play the farce
of giving her to her husband.
Such is her bad position in relation to her
child when it is born within the pale of the
law, and has received the benedictlon OF the
church; but II It has been born outside we'd
lock her position is many degrees worse. She
may not give the child its fathers name, and II
she attempts to do so she is guilty Of crlrni-
nal offense. She may not call upon the father
for any help for his offspring other than
pecunlary help, and no more of that than Ia
necessary to keep its body and soul together.
AS an unmarried mother of an unwanted child
she is treated by the law woman who has
forfeited certain of a mothers rights and
her child as illegitimate is treated by the law
OF most Of the nations as a human being that
has no claim to Inheritance, and no heirs ex-
cept those of its own body.
do not know what the public may think OF
these facts-I think them unutterably inhuman.
They are part (perhaps not the worst part)
OF the Infinite legacy OF wrongdoing to woman
which has robbed her for thousands of years,
and is still robbing her Of her rightful place
in the human family. Save the child? Yes
but save the mother first Don't separate them.
Don't let the clumsy foot of custom, Of law or
of philanthropy come between the mother and
the child, whom nature so clearly meant to
keep together for the physical and spiritual
good of both. That was one of the messages
my book was meant to convey, and 1t has
served its purpose and been reward enough
to me II 1t has driven this message homo.
Some people, especially In the United States
(where, however, have received some Of the
best-considered appreciation have complained
that my book has no moral and that stating
many problems It solves none Let us see 1t
Is the story of pure-minded girl, a Catholic
who. IN early youth and In ignorance OF her sep
arate rights as human being, married by her
fathers wish to debased and bankrupt noble
man, Protestant Not loving him she rejects
and repels the physical approaches that are
only justified by spiritual affection, but con-
ttnues to live under the same roof with the
man she has married in order to avoid scandal
He breaks his marriage vows on their honey.
moon and fsunts his inf1delities in her face
She wishes to be rid Of her filthy burden, but