The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-24
MOTHERS MILITANT
BY MARY INGE HoskINs

more clothes Whose fault is Ii that this
daughter and all other daughters appear
on the streets with insufficient underwear?
If a mother cannot dictate to her daughter
in matter of dress, ii is time for that
mother to step aside and permit some one
else to take the responsibility and authori-
ty of directing that childs future. There
are mothers who are as weak and fool
ish as the daughter in some ways and
IN this matter of dress and the modern
dance the mother Is wholly to blame, mas
much as she permits il.
A thoughtless girl, with her head full
of frivolous things, desiring to look pretty.
wear stylish clothes. and have a long
string of beaux, no other ambition in life
higher than is encompass ssed in these three.
can hardly be blamed for not knowing
the moral effect of exposing her form, in
all the suggestive outlines, to the curious
gaze of men, thus unleashing the hounds
of passion. that some weak men cannot
hold in check Is it the fault of the girl
with her head full of fashion and beaux?
No, it must fall on the mother in the home
and to her the whole nation is looking
to throttle this evil before an irreparable
sin become fastened like leech upon our
wcmanhood
You ask how 1t must be done. This is
not very easy for outsider to determine
but ''aut inyeniam viam aut faciam viam, -
and if the mother finds it beyond her
moral power to control the dress and
amusements of her daughter, she should
call into conference the male members of
the family, for they certainly lift their
voice In condemnation. even if they cannot
solve the problem Plain talk? Well, my
friend, we are dealing with something
that demands plain talk, and the pity of it
all is. that any kind of talk is needed, or
that such evil should exist, that should
call forth criticism [ dare say this article
itself will call forth criticism from some
weak mothers who see no harm in which
route her daughter takes toward perdic-
ton. Not long since a married woman
asked young lady of social prominence
to wear more underclothes, as she, by her
dress, or want of dress, was corrupting
the morals of her husband; smile if you
will, but this was tradegy to that young
wife, and 1t required courage %to make a
request of that kind.
Napoleon once said the need of France
was mothers. Is the time at hand when
the same will be said of our own nation
not If American mothers will get the vis-
ion of what means 1t ALL and will throw
their God-given energy to block the trend
of an evil that is gaining ground
The Catholic church has realized the
harm in the modern dance, and speaks out
In no uncertain sounds against Its con-
iiHudnce ne 9ToleSldnI CnurcneS nave
condemned il more or less ever since the
days of st. Paul, but the time is for ac-
tion and If the mothers of the land will
look to their own household and advise
with their own daughters and firmly de-
mand obedience, the situation would be
controlled with no outside interference
Old fashioned mothers, with old fashioned
IDEAS are relegated to the past, but only
tlrcse old fashioned ideas are going to
niaf.- int,
once more.
The young must have pleasure Tt is
theirs by divine right. They must have
downright fun, and if the mothers do not
look to it and see that these frivolous
creatures have the right sort of fun under
the right kind of environments. the world
viii, 1t behooves mothers to take away
that which is destroying the moral fibre
of her daughters, and sons, too. for that
matter and give them wholesome pleas
ture the pleasure that builds well for time
and eternity.