davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15
Totes for Women Made Necessary by Our Changng Family Lite

the popular wish for a time. And IL this be so.
he is certainly setting an example for what
craftsmanship should be.
But how will all this affect the family? Far
an answer we need only look at patent facts.
Already now the marriage rate is far below
what it was. This is the natural consequence
of the fact that marriage and family life are
on the one hand less necessary and offer, on
the other, more difficulties to us than they did
to those who went before us. 1t goes long
way to prove that family life, as we know and
love it, is a creation of circumstances different
to ours and that it cannot adapt itself to our
environment without everincreasing friction.
Far from me to see in marriage and family
nothing but bald economic necessity or to
overlook or underrate all their ideal values
But ideals are flowers which only blossom on
economic branches Without metaphor, every
ideal grows out of certain conditions Of life
and before It can be realized these conditions
must first be given. This does not mean that
:amily life will disappear right on. All we must
expect to see is that with the family ceasing
to be an economic necessity, the marriage rate
will decline still more and family life in our
sense Of the word will undoubtedly be exposed
to dangers which will grow as time wears on,
But this is no fault of the women or Of their
struggle for equality; 1t is simply the result
of those changes in the conditions Of our lives
which are the cause Of both that struggle and
that decline
We may be sorry that things should draw the
way they do But after all, we must not look at
the change as an unmixed evil. Married life,
freed from economic compulsion, may well be
expected to develop into something officially
nd fairpr a ac
survive For it will then have to stand on its
true merits and on what husband and wife are
personally to each other And there Is hardly
any reason to fear as many people DO, disas-
trous effects on morals.
On the contrary, morals will improve II any
thing and many glazing evils we suffer from
will be put a stop to. 1t really takes a lot OF
MISREPRESENTATION to impute to the modern trend
of things anything like an immoral tendency
Nor have religion or the social order anything
to fear.
The new order of things which may come
about will be new, but it will be an order all
the same, capable of rules as definite as any we
have now. But there is finally one comfort Tor
all those who dread the passing OF conditions.
which they feel happy in and with which all
that ia best in them IS associated, and that
comfort is, that all changes come about SLOWLY
step by step, and that family NE VIII NOT ule
as long as there is a strong wish 10 keep II up,
This work is even a symptom for the TACT LuaI
the fatal hour has not arrived YET. Anu 1t
would have to grow weaker and nnally 10 vail
ish before present conditions can wear away
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

as there Is between the Twentieth Century
Limited and saddle horse although our legal
definitions and our ideals of marriage have
changed much less rapidly and thoroughly
than the facts have. And there is some use in
gancing over the historical evolution Of the
position of women to see how the necessities
under which we have lived have shapened, to-
gether with everything else, also this particu'
lar element of our lives.
In primitive conditions the precariousnes5 Of
the existence of the small clans that roamed
about very much like herds of deer imposed
on them the necessity of the strongest mem
bers of the group being always ready to fight
an enemy or to hunt for food, specializing, as
it were, In the profession of warrior and
hunter and. leaving everything else to the
women.
This accounts for the position of women in
primitive times 1t is not quite exact to speak
of their "subiection" or to style them beasts
of burden" They simply had a sphere of
tivity cut out for them, from which men were
debarred just as much as they debarred
from joining his hunting expeditions The tie
of marriage was loose then, for the conditions
Of life were too unsettled to give it that sta
bility which we find later, and the members
Of the clan were too much thrown together to
admit of that strict privacy of family life which
has been so potent a factor in shaping our lives
in more civilized stages.
Still, mankind has always been more or less
mOnOgamic, and a very popular argument,
which is so singulary out of place now, was
quite true then--the argument that physical
force is the foundation of the very existence
of the social group and that it ought to give
precedence in the management of the group
Family life as we know 1t came into exis'
tence only much later, when people settled
down on the land. 1t owes its origin to the
fact that the house had become an economic
point and that the ties of clanship lost steadily
in Importance. This by the way, disposes OF
the argument that the family is the cell of
the social group The contrary is true The
family evolved out Of a bigger group, 1t ap-
peared comparatively late, and social groups
have been able to get along without 1t for
very long spell OF time. Well, when the fam
lily, in our sense of the word, did come into ex-
istence the place Of the wife was again deter
mined by memorable necessities. And this
meant, at that time, that the social position
of women in general was so determined, for
practically all of them were wives, a spinster
being just as exceptional a phenomenon as a
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15
Ry Mrs. John Adams.

Wrfe of the Distinguished British Scientist,
Prof. John Adams, MA, 5.Se, LID.
TTHE thing TINT struck me more than any
thing else in the States was the good
- behavior OF the children. have seen
the child Of wealthy and unimaginative Amer
lean parents In European hotels have watched
him with awe as he ordered his many-coursed
lunch. and l have seen him, heavy-eyed and
testy after a long days sightseeing. firmly re
fusing bed and bath and communicating the
undivided attention of a waiter while he planned
his evening meal.
Bui he il not the American child know and
love My little friends in the States are the
children Of professors professional men, Now.
living is a costly business over there aud the
professions sire badly paid these children
have 30 nurses. That means that their moth
erS loob after the babies, and these mothers
being as rule, extremely sensible wop'cu,
train their children wisely from the beginning.
Il is amazing how early the ordinary Amen
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

directions, take it out hours later and dish 1t
skilfuly Their brothers have daily Chores to
do, boots and knives to clean, and wood to chop,
and they are given full charge Of poultry COW
and pony at an age when our little lads would
not be trusted TO feed n rabbit regularly. This
responsibility tends to make them serious, but
il is excellent for them.
To tell the truth, the American child Is better
behaved at home than he is at school In class
he is a citizen among citizens of his own size
while in well conducted home le is Il subject
Things are made very pleasant for him at
school = he is allowed, and even urged. to give
his-sTinion on wars and airships and the tariff
commission. and he responds with boodCurdling
vgor. He Is invited to argue. and accepts the
invitation ioyously. Never will forget hearing
a certain little julius who Mt his fathers table
sits absolutely silent argue at his Montessori
school about the way a butterhys wing moves.
He was the most fluent and the most dogmatic
infant ever heard-but his teacher had TO adj
nit that nc was right
The children ! know best are seldom taken to
hotels; their holidays are usually spent, with
their parents camping out in the mountains.
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15
BY Paul RebOux.
The Distinguished French Novelist,
0n an Intsrvlrw)

,~u -rTp Parisans, you know, are always
oaoar for new sensations. IL mas Do
L coma very difficult to find them LOT We
-, -,,sen irving SO many Of them tor SUN
long time 81 =, g. ha hlnsbtnrly
,,,adast That. of course, is an ODD sehsaAlo l
for a Partisan OF the oldS type Sohls W 4; ou
most accomplished "bouleVarales,s miAN hov, "a
noiihstairesi are actually studying NO" ~
blush 49,, x,-.u ,..onv have
- st,,died Il myself, but believe 1t Ii some
thing like this They spend their DAYS entlIv
Il, in manly SPORTS and reading gooa' serious
rooks Then they take peep mo mas" d1a
zine devoted TO lauleS l"Nni"D'
able TO blush. ;t, .,nnve-
,nent In Frauce, both in art and hIer"Iul t
The consequence is that most OF our nov eI'
,odav are perfRctly fit for the young PERSON
,bo aieun, file" to read, but nm AFRAID lh4y
are not so interesting for older persons. "A
vorab1e leader in the new literary movement
va NJ Rene Balm, who has published sucn
admirably modest works as Inc lblIals ~
nm Old Maid and "My Aunt Glruh. -
al pa1ip,s work was entirely IN accord with
the NOW modest movement, and he has reapeu
rich reward lie has heen elected a meiiH
her OF Tie French Academy, and nus hnoAs
adoru every drawingruom. Other writers
have followed him and have sucCehdhu IN
bai,a even more perfectly chastB and modest
IMAM he is, and sometimes in being less
Interesting -
NJ Marcel Provost is a striking ILLUSTRATION
~ the prevailing tendency IN Frnnch liter-
rirp. You know he used to be everything that
an American tourist expects Parsian 10 be.
How can one say more than that2
In those naughty days hP Wrute MS BRIT
;iant and witty Love Letters OF a Chamber
maid" Then the movement pudiquH" al
tacited him-he had a change Of heart, you
sa,-and he produced his exquisite DIARY OF
a Baby
NJ Prevust's hast great success is Les
Angos Gardens" THE Guardian Angels" u
deals with the foreign goveruesses who, In 80
many cases. have the care oil our French chill
dren. Il breataes a must exquisite spirit OF
care for the moral training and education n
our little ones ] can safely recommend Amer
.can Young ladies' who are studying French
10 read this book.
We still have writer's who maintain the hes
traditions of the old Partisan manner Madam'
Colette willy Is one OF them. ] think she ia the
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

can child accepts responsibility. Till the age
of three 1t is up to his mother, as he himself
would say to keep him clean and daintier
morsel than the American baby have yet to
see He then forsakes frills and all Summer
faces the world in solitary garment-a kind
Of little bathing suit arrangement in striped
cotton. After that he is responsible for the
decency of his own hands, face and hair, and
nave hardly ever seen a really grubby child out
there--truly, America is the land of clean chill
dren.
The webred American child never speaks at
table unless he is spoken to- He has all his
meals with his elders-where else would he have
them in a land where this domestic problem has
almost ceased to exist? His parents are amaZ-
ingly hospitahe. and constantly have people
lunthing and dining. Brother sits on one side
Of his mother and Sister" sits opposite. They
are helped last, in the good old-fashioned way,
and their behavior would warm the heart of an
English nurse
Girls Of eight or nine can set the dinner table
daintily and noiselesSly: they sweep, dust and
polish: they approach terrifying looking fireless
cookers calmly put meat in according to printed
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15
An Englishwoman's Defense of the American Child

Even there young American does not get rid of
its responsibilities. The boys fetch wood for
the fire and water from the creek, the girls do
a good deal of the cooking. and the boys and
girls wash-up between them. The American
boy is chivalrous by nature and thoughtful by
training, and he never leaves "Sister" with the
big half of the work to DO and he is never
ashamed of being seen working.
There IS certainly reaction in America
among thoughtful people as to the proper place
for the child. | would not go so far as to say
that the age of the child Is past; but I do say
that new position has been found for him
that of a rational being, who is expected to be-
have as SUCH
| am sorry for little America. He has such
an unenviable reputation over here. People
sweepingy call him a vulgar, il-bred. noisy
pushing greedy child, and | confess. reluctantly
that in Europe very often "All this and more
is Alice" But Alice is a milonaires child: she
must be- or she would not be staying in a big
hotel My defense Is for the ordinary Ameri-
can child To be able to look at life through
the serious and shrewd eyes of one little
American is an enriching experience.
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

ors our men of fashion, 'dined there and en-
poyed the exquisite refinement of their taste
and intellect in compelling those restaurants
to produce the most perfectly cooked dishes.
It was an education in the art OF living to
hear the late Prince de Sagan explaining to
maitre d'hotel that a dish was not fit to be
served to him.
Then came the day of the gilded palace OF
noise The fashion began of eating to the ac'
compartment of bands of music, Of oriental
dances and acrobatic performances. | fear
that it was partly in Difference to the taste of
our enthusiastic youthful-minded visitors from
America that these establishments came into
existence.
Music in restaurants was invented to drown
the legitimate complaints of those who had
reason to be dissatisfied with the cooking. well
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

most entertaining, the most truly Partisan
writer OF the day. Her newest book is called
"I.'Envers du Musichall Behind the Scenes
of the Music Hail." suppose you would call
it ! do not recommend it as first exercise
in French for the American student. |
think it would be better to study more elemen-
tary work before starting upon this one.
The energies of Paris are now occupied In
three directions. First, as ! have said. there
is the great purity movement in art and liter
ature. In the second place, there is the re-
newed passion for the good cooking In the
third place there is the passion for the sport
1t is very wonderful how the interest in good
cooking has revived in France. We used to
have delightful old restaurants in Paris. quiet
modest places, where the good cooking was
the only object of life. Our authors our act
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15
Distinguished Austrian Political Economist Explains How Woman
Lesnng Industrial Importance and Fewer Children Cause the Unrest
That Makes the Granting of the Franchise to Her Imperative

bachelor then was. They were, indeed, most
unhappy exceptions because married life was
then the necessary basis of everything outside
the walls OF q convent In their homes wives
were supreme rulers.
They managed the whole of all those indus
trial functions which the rural household Of
the middle ages implied They did what manu-
facturegs and tradesmen do for them to-day.
They produced, or supervised the production OF
5lost Of what was consumed, of food. Of cloth
ing, In fact of everything from the raw material
mp to the final product. So their day was well
filled with work that had nothing trivial or
subordinate about IT, and if their husbands
managed public affairs and represented their
women folk in courts, they we're probably quite
pleased with it, locking at the arrangement
simply as one OF division of labor, and their adj
vice was often asked for even In councils of war.
Besides, there was another thing to take up
their energies Children were no economic
burden; on the contrary, they were an asset.
And the mortality in the first years OF life was
tremendous.
So it was nothing unusual for women to be
mothers of twenty or even thirty children,
which of course, made the whole of their lives
centre in their motherhood and its duties II
may be observed in passing, that in those
times that ideal was formed Of what woman
should be and of how she should think and be-
have, which still fingers in many minds and
which still many Of us want women to conform
to, in spite of all conditions having passed
away which created and justified that ideal.
For, needless to say, those conditions have
passed away or are passing away, and they will
never return. What have called their indus
trial function has been taken away from women
and has been reduced, or is being reduced, to
fussing about menus, table decorations and
similar problems. The peasants wife is hap
pier in this respect for she still lives, to some
extent, under those old conditions. The labor
ers wife has never had much of home. But
all those women who have not got to go out to
work now offer the most tragic case of unem-
ployment ever Witnessed with all its effects on
happiness and character.
And the folly of it! Whoever would think
of preventing the men who drove the stage
coaches and who have lost their jobs because
the railroads crushed them out of existence
from looking for other jobs? Yet this is all
that the hostility against the womens move
ment really amounts to. Here is perfect will
ingness to do useful work, and perfect ability
to do it-and no scope for it or very much less
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

scope than the biggest fool of asman has,
Future generations will, | believe smile at
our attempt to limit women to one profession.
and morfbund one at that, just as we wonder
at the frame of mind which in bygone ages led
people to arranging marriages without so much
as consulting the woman. Everyone knows the
state of things / am speaking Of though few
will admit it. Least of all, the women them
selves They struggle hard, ever since the
house ceased to be little selfcontaned indus
trial world. to kill their time by all those de-
work and all that sort of thing much of which
may be charming or useful as far as it goes,
vices of social and intellectual play, of charity
but is so pitifully poor a substitute for
strenuous, vigorous life.
But this is not even ALL | have emphasized
the fact that of old a large amount of energy
and vitality Of women has been absorbed by
collaborating. Now the birth rate having
steadily fallen for multitude Of causes, their
available energy and therefore their wish to be
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

paratiVeIy insignificant one. Yet II IS sIep
on a long road, a step which is absolutely I'M
avoidable. The more men fight the suffrage,
the better the cause will prosper. AZ the re-
sistance is good for is to show the power of
the trend of things and to make the victory
which is sure to eome-the more significant
and dramatic.
Why, then fight out losing battle? Why
not give in as long as it can be done with some
been rumors recently uf the Austrian Prime
Minister Count Sturgkh, intending to bring
bill granting the suffrage to women not indeed,
before the Austrian Parliament but at least
before the provincial Diet of the Kingdom OF
Bohemia. Now there is, owing to the prev
alence Of rural conditions, no strong movement
for the vote among the Austrian women. But
as it is sure to grow strong before long and
as there is really no good reason against it.
the Minister may think it the proper thing TO
do to avoid needless struggles by going beyond
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

-N~''''S
the University of Gratz.
MONG all the subjects have had the
"A pleasure to talk about before American
4 - audiences Of all kinds-and great
pleasure. indeed, It was-there are two which
seemed to follow me about everywhere, and
which have been suggested to me SO often that
have had to protest more than once. namely:
The Balkan situation and the women question.
Both very fascinating, no doubt; but mel
Their Of them hobby horse OF the economic
theorist Who had to speak about them and who
would, perhaps have preferred telling tne
people who listened to him with that courtesy
characteristic OF American audiences about
some point in some dark corner OF the theories
Of interest or of crises, for example Yet felt
there was some excuse for talking about the
nositiop and the aims of our ladies' as long as
there are people who steadfastly refuse 10 SEQ
that position and to recognize those aims anu
the stern necessities responsible for both.
If anv pubo question is In process or Delns
+hresbed out people soon cease to 90 any thlhh
ing of their own about 1t and nave Wdy os
settling down to repeating indefinitely sels OF
arguments which from the very fact OF thelI
logical weakness seem 10 derive an elhotionai
force This we can always observe Wnen large
issues are fought out What we think ABOUT
them is only handmade to what we feel about
them But this Is specially true In the partle
ular case of the gallant fight for equahty wnlon
our women are waging, for hardly anywheIe
olse IL there so much room for vague hopes
and fears, and hardly another issue mas 50
nasty spike for the feelings Of many OF Us; ;ao
Now, | do not wish to argue on either sue d
All want is to point out that an lucas az
rl instjtItions and habits which have any
Thing to do with the relations and relative po
sltons of the sexes are determined by, OF nave
i tendency to adapt themselves to- the genera Wa
conditions under which nation HveS,
cannot hope-much as we may Wanl ~
,,oan' anv social institutions-ma marriage, TOT IN
et ep it is at given point Of the long
road Of social evolution if those conditions
change AS a matter Of fact, though the na ln
NAV remain the same, the institution i ~ "a
riase and what il really means ana l iilnI
forever changing. There is as much dinere .hos
between what it is TO be married now ana " aao
,t was 10 be married a few hundred years "s'
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

doing something has been I'M
measurably increased. None
Of all these facts we can
hope to alter. We cannot re-
turn to medieval conditions
Of life. We cannot undo the
network Of industrialism.
The causes, therefore, OF this
movement are unalterable and
the unrest must last, until It's
objects are obtained.
Whatever our works and
ideals, It IS absurd to call the
women's movement a whim,
which will pass provided only
it is not taken seriously and
provided its symptoms are
sternly put down. There are,
and there always have been,
political and social move
ments, and this IS the right
way to look at It. But the
women's movement is not one
Of them; It is made of very
different stuff. The sooner we
recognize this the better. He
is no statesman who does not
see it and who does not know
how to distinguish the wo-
mems movement from political
bubbles.
1t is a movement which 1t
may be possible to guide, but
which 1t is imperative to guide
only toward its goal, for it
will get there anyway. Let
us apply this to the particular
case of dealing with the ques-
ton of suffrage, which is only
one element Of the much
broader problem I have been
speaking about and a COM
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

remember how one of our most distinguished
men about town, while pointing out that his
sole meuniere" was imperfectly cooked on
one side, was interrupted by the murder music
from Richard Strauss "Elektra,' performed
by an orchestra.
The taste of Paris has revolted against such
atrocities. Many of the dear old restaurants
and cafes-like the historic Cafe Anglais-have