South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-01-23

Love. the ability 10 "be young"
and that rugged optimism that /
won't take no from fate. life or the
gods for an answer.
Omar, the tentmaker, when ne
rang: Come and in the fire of
( Spring your Winter garment of re-
pentance fling" knew what he was
/ talking about We amateurs in
! life quote Omar. but al We seen
TO realize about Spring is that it is
time to buy straw hats. or if were
not careful about changing fan
nels were apt 20 get the grip.
The other day in Central Park
when there was "A hint OF Spring
in the air. out hoped q joyous
/ robin. who seemed 10 think of life
! in the terms of Omar. His cheer
| fully chirruped comments on things
! in general were very happily re-
ceived By the lady-rObin who con-
descended 10 share a worm with
him. from time 70 time. The thun
der and roar of the city could be
heard distinctly in the park. but it
did not trouble the robin and his
lady.
That's all man-made foolish
ness" he seemed to tell her as they
explored one nook after another.
in search of a suitable home. 'ell
that fuss and noise going on In
those piles Of brick and mortar
they call that living-but you and
/ know better"
Things That Count.
Those wise robins knew that
there are only few things that
make life worth living-love. little
robins in the nest, the blessed out
of-doors, and the chance 10 invite
ones soul. They didn't seem TO
think much of sky-scrapcrs, and
! limousines. and subways, and all
the other things. artificial struc-
lures would huild up and imagine
we'd die If we had to do without
Why couldn't the thing we call
"civilization"-and which certain
phases of the war prove is some
thing quite different-have left us
little bird-like simplicity?
What are our hest and strongest
emotions forever bound up with all
I sort of material things? The high
I cost of living, the difficulty of put
\ ting aside enough for old age. and
shall a girl give up a comfortable
sa larry when she marries?
These considerations. like giant
emery wheels. pass over our souls
and destroy our finer aspirations.
We are too worn with the struggle
to take the lesson Of the Spring and
the robin to heart. The seasons
come and go. and we wither away
| into sterile old age.
The Married Woman Teacher
We are likely, before the event
/ full year of 1913 is over TO have
1 the question OF the married woman
| school teacher. that was fought out
with such bitterness in the Metrop-
| Ole a year ago, revived and thresh-
| ed out on nationwide lines.
Why do we employ an army OF
statisticians oensus-ta kers, and en-
| dow research bureaus with huge
sums of money to prove that the
native-born population, has small
| families. or no families at all-and
| then raise insuperable barriers to
women. employed in gainful occu-
( pations. marrying?
That is part of our curiously
! oblique American philosophy. our
utter repugnance TO face facts. We
] complain of the dearth OF native
I born Americans. and then we pro-
coed TO do everything in our power
10 eliminate them.
1t is as much to the interest OF
/ this country that we have fine, clean
4 American marriages as that we build
ships or drill soldiers. Our vital
statistics are not sufficiently Ameri-
can: they are too often made up
from groups of people who make
! their money here. but leave their
/ deepest, patriotic feelings in the old
! er countries.
Must Resign When She MarriCs.
I II is understood, though there is
no actual law on the subject, that
when a girl marries a fellow-em-
4 plOye she must resign: in marrying
she automatically dismisses herself.
/ And yet the joint salaries Of these
Two young people would make
/ happy American home.
I never see pretty blooming girls
! sitting around boarding houses. or
/
| be. more and more, the custom Of
our country. without thinking OF
/ that line OF Bernard Shaw in his
play, "Misalliance. I may not quote
/ to the letter. as ] haven't the vol
ume handy. but the idea is: Girls.
girls. all over the country, wither-
/ ing away into ladies'"
He doesn't say anything about the
| fine young men whitening away into
j grim. old bachelors and imitation
! clubmen And yet their fate is the
more tragic, since a woman with a
bookshelf, a teapot and a spirit
| lamp may turn a hall bedroom into
a near home. but a man cannot.
No, he desiccates and withers
more pitifully than she does. while
together they might find happiness
and home. both of which are the
/ inalienable rights OF everyone.