River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-01-29

whose parents have sought carefully
to maintain their purity.
The parental duty of giving children
proper conceptions of the sanctity of
their bodies was set forth. The child
needs. not large instruction. but sim
ply confidence in the parent, and the
information that its body is sacred.
pure. holy, and belongs to God, and
that whoever violates its sanctity sins
against God. This much information
should be given to the child before it
enters the public school Indeed. first
lessons in vice are sometimes given in
the kindergarten. notwithstanding the
teachers watchful eye. The child
should have the assurance that the
parent viii give further instructions
later on: and should have such conf
dence in the parent that it would be
content to wait for the further infor
nation which every child's mind seeks
regarding itself and its origin.
1t was pointed out. however, that
comparatively few parents know how
to breach this subject in a profitable
manner. Alas, what have our schools
and churches done. or not done, for
these fathers and mothers! If they
had received useful information help
full to their lives. no doubt church at
tendance would be much larger than it
is today. Are we to see young boys
start in bad habits that will injure
their health and that of their posteri-
ty? The answer is, No! Yet great
care should be exercised that thorough
sex instruction be not given too early.
lest the very evil be encouraged which
it was sought to guard against
The age of thirteen to fifteen, ac-
cording to the child's intelligence,
seems to be the critical age when clear
knowledge is quite necessary to save
the child from the evil which has al
ready overtaken so many. Statistics
indicate that boys and girls are es-
pecially subject to temptation through
ignorance between the years Of thir-
teen and eighteen, when the forces of
nature are breaking forth, just as
trees bud in springtime. The parent
who rules his child with loving intel
ligence rather than brute force should
have the child's confidence at this age.
The parents are the God-given instruc-
tors and protectors of their families.
Nothing can excuse them from this,
either church work or slum work, or
even Bible study.
The Minimum of Wages.
1t was brought out that five of our
great states have already legislated
on the subject of the minimum wage
for female employees and Of the hours
during which they may be legally en-
ployed. Amongst these the three high
est in appreciation seem to be Oregon,
Iowa. and Minnesota, with evidences
that the laws of the last named state
represent the best features of all pre-
vious legislation on the subject.
The story of the battle to secure bet
| ter regulations of vice and better
hours and wages for female laborers
was told in detail. In various ways
the opponents of righteousness sought
to circumvent the legislation SO i'm
peratively needed by the people whom
| they represented. And so far as we
could learn, female suffrage and the
active and intelligent labOrs of self
sacrificing women have been largely
| influential in effecting the rectification
| of the laws. We surely did rejoice in
this. If the giving of the franchise to
women shall mean better laws. more
righteousness and purity in our nation.
we surely all would agree that female
suffrage could not come too sooh.
Our thought heretofore has been that
| in Gods order the family is unit, of
which the husband is the head; and
that the votes of these heads should
properly protect every family interest
There is another side to the ques
ton, however, we'll worthy of consid,
Grafton; namely, the fact that sin has
disordered all the affairs and interests
of life. 1t may be that under the stress
of present conditions no wiser thing
could be DONE than to give the ballot
| to women. The most powerful argu-
ment to the contrary is the conduct of
some extreme suffragettes who wait
neither for God, order and time, nor
for the ripening Of human thought on
the subject, but seem utterly reckless
as respects life. property and principles
of righteousness.
The White Slave Traffic.
Perhaps many Of us have consider
ed the expression white slave traffic
fiction of some over-zealous reform
er; but not so. On the very best au-
thority we learn that this immoral
traffic has its agents and operatives in