Denver labor bulletin., 1915-09-18


Margarate Moore Marshall writes in
New York letter as follows:
The old-fashioned mother is not yet
extinct, but she is an increasingly rare
specimen. With her, and because of
her, are disappearing the old fashioned
girl and the old fashioned boy And
the scarcity of the old fashioned mother
is not merely a domestic but a national
problem of the most intense gravity.
Those are the tenacious convictions of
Mrs. Amelia f. Barr, the dean of Amer
lean women writer's and the mother of
fifteen children.
In her newest novel. The Measure of
Man." the sixty-sixth book which she
has written, and which is published in
her Seth year. Mrs. Barr tells the story
OF woman who wishes to escape from
the role of an old fashioned mother with
an old fashioned family-fifteen. say.
The book is arousing wide discussion
amorg women. for after numerous tribu-
lations, all traced by the author to the
anti-stork policy, the heroine repents
herself and resolves to accept all the
children whom God sends to her.
"A home. however splendidly ap-
pointed Mrs. Barr writes in the preface
to ''The Measure of a Man." lis ill-fur-
voices and the patter of children's feet
IT Tay be strictly orderly. but it is
silent and forlorn, and has an air of
solitude Solitude is a great affliction
and domestic solicitude is one of its
hardest forms No number OF balls and
dinner parties can make up for the alb
sence OF sons and daughters around the
family table
And vet there are so many modern
women who won't have children,- sighed
the novelist. Crisp. white draperies float
ing all about her. a rosebud wreathed bit
OF lace on her crimply gray hair. she
sat in a wicker armchair in her Rich
mond Hill living room.
How in the first place. do you define
the old fashioned mother," L asked.
'-The old fashioned mother realizes
that being a mother is her highest duty
and her greatest joy. She wants all the
children whom God will send to her.
She tries to avoid neither their coming
nor their care after their arrival She
purses her own babies. as narure in
tended. cares for them herself. trains
them TO standards of right living.
This type of mother BY no means has
disappeared. l myself know some very
fine old fashioned mothers. But they
are much seancer than they used to be,
and study. OF the birth rate in this
country shows that the decrease in their
number Is the greatest danger confront
ing America today.
With the exception OF very few
genuine invalids the women who refuse
motherhood fall into two large groups
The first group consists OF those who
fear maternity, who fear suffering and
possible death This group NAV be sub
divided into the women who are pre-
vented by conscientious scruples from
using an opiate to alleviate pain at the
birth OF a child and the progressive
women who unfortunately cannot afford
such treatment as twilight sleep
There is one thing which ought to
be brought to the attention of all these
women Maternity is not a disease. 1t
is as natural process as going to sleep
at night and waking up in the morning.
Iii women would stop wearing cSfsets
and high heels. avoid athletics which do
them so much harm, eat sensibly and
keep regular hours their children would
be born with little suffering. With every
child that she brings into the world a
mother should renew her youth
The other large group of women who
refuse to he old fashioned mothers con-
sists of those who believe there are
more important interests for woman
than maternity They prefer bridge or
clubs, or the tango. or so-called self-im-
provement. to habies l consider that
women's clubs are largely responsible
for the scarcity OF the old fashioned
mother. Women who couldn't get into
society have gone into the club work.
where they have met and been flattered
by other women and where they actual
ly believe that they can accomplish