Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-10-13
True Interviews With Life's Workers
Miss Margaret Ste Prominent Boston Writer Suggests Remedy For
the Troubles Which Pepex the American Girl

| In her pleasant hotel sitting room last
night, before going forth to address the
! great mass-meeting in the Y. w. G. A.
| Miss Slattery, associate editor of the
! Congregational Publishing Society," Bos-
ton. chatted on the subject that she has
made her life's work.
Il am tremendously interested in girls
and all their Problems" said she in her
delightful, kindly voice. ~ came here to
Philadelphia so very huriedly today that
l am not quite sure on what exact sub
ject l am scheduled to speak. The Rights
of n Girl did you say? Why. yes, that
exactly suits mel"
Miss slattery leaned back in her chair
and smiled. You want to know If the
woman-worker is the happest of all?
Only II she works under really good sani-
tary conditions. I think that the menace
so far as girls are concerned comes from
two sources First, it comes from the girls
who have too much to do, who have too
hard work and insufficient money; and
secondly, from the girl who has too little
to do and too much money. The latter
leads an artificial, abnormal life as much
as the former"
You think the middle-class girl has
the best time of it. then?"
Most certainly 1 do" said Miss Slat-
terry. she has work to do, enjoys II, and
is fairly we'll paid for 1t, although" smi-
ing hopefully, mot as well paid as she
is going to be-"
When l began this work" continued
she, my first lecture was about boys, and
then I wrote Girls in Their Teens In
writing this book could find no refer
ences TO help me on the subject of girls
and their problems, excepting those two
magazines the Delneator and the Ladies'
Home Journal, which to some extent
dealt with the topic.
Il have discovered that the girl problem
is at bottom the boy problem too. One
bad girl can easily make ten bad boys!
Also. wherever the standards of Erlhood
are high. the boys standards will be
high. too. think that very frequently
people get hysterical over present condi-
tons but, OF course, We all know the
menace of the city streets. Just so long
as girls make the city streets their place
OF amusement and recreation, so long
will there be these dreadful problems"
You believe in girls having plenty of
enjoyment
with all my heart" replied Miss Slat-
terry eagerly, Il love 10 see girls having
a good time and prettily dressed and |
firmly believe that pretty clothes and good
times are the rights of every girl in
America. But / do think there is TOO
much over-dressing here! The passion
for clothes among the women OF America
Is out OF all proportion
do you think that girls ideals are
high at the present day?"
Miss Slattery shook her head mo, I
am afraid that they are not" she said
earnestly, lit seems 10 me that the Ameri-
can girl has very low ideals! She gathers
them from the cheap theatres, the lower
class Of movng-picture show, and from
poor novels. I sent out QUESTIONABLE
through the whole country TO different
high schools in the form of a list of the
names of famous women. 1 asked the
teachers 10 give this list to all the girls
in the schools, and the latter were to say
what they knew about each woman. The