The daily commonwealth. (Greenwood, Leflore Co., Miss.) 1916-1919, 1917-01-08
AN APPEAL TO THE WOMEN.

Central Committee of Women's Or.
carnations Ask for Help. with
Prayers and influence.
Greenwood, Miss, Jan. 4, 1917.
To the Women of Mississippi:
The Central Committee of Woman's
Organizations in Mississippi comes to
you again for help, with prayers and
influence.
Those things which it has stressed
in its work it has gotten, and it
knows that only through the strength
given it by the knowledge that the
good women of the State were praying
for its success, and the united work
and influence Of these women toward
that success, could have brought the
great power of God himself to its as
~sistance. The members of this Com
mittee believe in the power of united
prayer, along with united effort, for it
is very sure that God will not do,
what we can do ourselves.
So we are again asking for your
prayers and your help. And the com
mittee asks that the women in each
community in the State meet Sunday
afternoon, January 14th,' and pray for
the Committee to be given the wisdom
and strength and unselfishness neces-
sary for the accomplishment of its
objects which it has decided to bring
before the Legislature at it's next ses-
sion. Then use all the influence you
can bring to bear on the MEMBERS in
your County to vote for those OBJ
jects.
At its meeting in November last, it
seemed that the time is ripe for
bringing forward one of it's first OBJ
jects-compulsory education. For, since
the showing made by the "~Illiteracy
Commission" that there are 10000
white men and women in the state
who cannot read or write, it would
seem that no who has even the
smallest amount of education can fail
to see that it is the States business
to prevent another generation from
coming to maturity harboring such ig-
norance in its midst. We are not 60
ing to ask that even one extra school
be established, but we are going to
ask that the law force parents and
guardians to send all the children to
those schools which are already in ex-
istence. A wise man said to me "Be-
mighty careful about what you are
doing. Many a poor widow is en-
abled to keep her little country home,
because of the assistance she gets
from her children in working the lit
tie farm" And l asked, if it was not
a fact that the country schools are
now kept open during the time of the
year when the farm work is lightest
so that the children can go to school,
if they want to do SO? He replied
that that was a fact.
But laying that, aside, was any !
good eve done to humanity which
was not paid for by the sacrifice Of
somebody? And whose business is it
to pay the price-in self sacrifice-for
the betterment and uplife of children,
if not the mothers mad fathers?
Then some have said I am opposed
to it because it is undemocratic. l
ask you, it is undemocratic to say to
parents you shall not cripple your
children physically, you shall not kill
your children's bodies? Will any one
say it is!
Then why is it ~undemocratic to see
to it that these children are not Grip
pied mentally, r not dwarfed into
nothingness mentally and morally. To
my mind it is better to starve the body
than the mind, to death.
am the daughter of a man whose
guardian kept him blowing when he
should have been in school, until when
he was IA years of age, he took his
mule out and left his pillow in the
middle Of the row, and took his stand
that he would 60 to school and would
not pillow another foot. He lived to
serve Mississippi greatly, most of you
think. Suppose Jas. z. George had
not had the ambition and the will to
DO that thing, could he have ever
prepared himself to serve his State
as he did? There are many children
with bright minds who need to be led
to an education, who need a stimulant
to their ambition. And with ignorant
or selfish or u%nambitious parents,
these grow up in ignorance, unless the
state sees to it that they are educat-
ed.
Oh! women of Mississippi, help us
to see to it that this illiteracy blot is
taken from the name of Mississippi;
that all her children shall go to the
schools she already has provided for
them. :
The other object l mean to get be-
fore you in full at a later date. It
is known as the Abatement and In
junction Act" But this is an addi-
ton to the Cimmittee's objects and
will have to be approved by all the
organizations before the Committee
as such, a work for it.
ask you for myself and for the
Committee that you pray for US in
nl1hlin an fhn A.4 - [