The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1915-07-22
Where a Man Counts Most.

peal almost wholly to the feminine mind. 1t
IS singular fact that men are at the head
OF nearly all Of the departments with the
possible exception Of these dealing exclu-
slyely with the s'truly feminine topics, such
as fashions and the kitchen.
In one of the successful. and really attrac-
tive magazines Of this class, there recently
was an article on "Man's Efficiency in the
Home" and it was really a solid argument
for the home which was presided over by
man, with, OF course-the cooperation of the
Woman-head. In dealing with the Children
the article was especially specific, dwelling on
the need of the firm, fair rule of the father,
to make fair, honest children. One Of the
cases. which showed conclusiveIv that bow
children are as quick to take advantage of
the recognized weakness Of the mother, and
OF the ease and success with which bows
played on" the mothers love and sympathy,
was given, in~this: the family had been a
large one, several boys in ages of from ten
to manhood comprising it. The father was
regarded as a stern man, was seldom at
home, and was never known to make dem
onstratlon OF any sort over the sons; yet the
boys were rather above the average; all of
them worked, the home was comfortable
one, and the father exacted duties of each
OF those under the parental roof. The wild
est imagination, nor the most charitable
could not class the man as ideal in any way;
1t was not known that he was particularly
devoted to either wife nor family, and yet,
after his death, the family as nearly event
to seed" as it is possible for a family to do.
A small amount of insurance was collected
by the widow, and IN one way and another,
the sons managed to get this from the
mother. There was no effort made on the
part of any Of them to carry on the bust
ness the father had left and up to the time
the author had written, there no change
IN the standing Of the family; what was to
become of the mother when the last of the
life insurance was spent, and the mortgage
foreclosed on the home, could only be sur
missed, and as the mother was too old to
take her place as bread-Winner, the out
look is certainly dready one for her. There
are no married daughters with whom she
might make a home, and the end Of the story
must necessarily be sad one.
The pity of it is, the mother herself was
to blame; when the boys were growing up,
she hid much that would have been better
told, to the father; on the idea that the
father was stern, cruel unsympathetic, and
at times unfair, the mother would shield her
sons In what was often downright dishon-
esty; she covered petty thefts from the faith
er's business, by making the small sums good,
herself.
The children have repaid this deception,
as deception is usually repaid; their own
sense of honor has been stultifed, and they
see nothing wrong, in the manner of living
on the mothers scanty income. And whether
she realizes this or not, will, of course, never
be known.
The basis of the average woman's sense
of honor and fairness is on a different foun-
dation from a mans; the father will click"
his son, when complaint has been made of
the boy to him, while the average mother
will deny, without investigating, the charge