Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1921-03-12
The HQski11 Letter . 'ss as:aaz
BISCUITS AND BARGAINS.
Washington, D. c., March g.
Whether soggy biscuits, unbalanced


dinners, and bad bargains can be legis-
lated out of existence is question
which the last congress smiled and
frowned over and finally passed TO its
successor The committee that investi-
gated the need for federal assistance
to train housewives was readily con-
vinced Of the worthiness Of the cause.
But the bill providing q government
fund for home economics courses got
pushed aside in the final rush Of i'm
peratively important legislation.
The bill is not lost however 1t is
sure to come up in the next congress.
possibly at the extra session which is
expected in April. 1t is not an expensive
measure as expenditures 60 in congress,
but it is bill Of far-reaching impor-
lance and one that offers an oppor-
tunity to every state, and it is being
urged by a dozen big national women's
organizations and any number Of state
organizations.
The foundation for the home eco
nomics bill is the old story-or several
of them:
Twenty six million Of the 10000. 900
| women and girls in the United States
keep house, and as home-makers these
2G0O0,O0O women constitute the largest
class Of workers in the country. 1t is
further estimated that more than nine
tenths of women keep house at some
time in their lives.
More than 80 per cent of the buying
for the home is done by women.
Nutritive food in the proper proper
tions, sanitary home conditions, econ
omy in the home, are the basis of
Americas, or any country's health,
wealth and happiness.
But there is a negative fact of equal
Importance: The housewife who is so
largely responsible for the American
digestion and bank account is for the
most part an unskilled laborer, whereas
with training she might properly class
her work among the professions.
Homes Badly Run.
The home has been called the most
costly institution in America, and it
might equally we'll be called the most
inefficient 1t is largely because of
unfortunate home conditions that we
have with us juvenile delinquency, NAL
nutrition, Indigestion, the grouchy
business man, and other problems"
Up to now it has been taken for
granted that the home maker got ade-
quate training as girl in her parents
home, or, failing that, she picked up
housekeeping naturally. by experience.
If girl elected to delve into the tech
nical bushes Of calories and budgets at
school, well and good. She was merely
rounding out her education with extra
| accom- lishments.
| This idea Of how housekeepers should
be made is losing credence partly be-
cause housekeeping has become a rec
/ fin1H
! because the home school Of household
training is practically extinct.
| Rarely is girl given the thorough
training in household affairs by her
mother, like the daughter of the house
a generation or two back. Mother is
generally too busy getting through with
homework so as to make time for clubs
and politics, and daughters well-mean-
| ing offers to help make the pies arc
apt to be met with a distracted II car
do it while I'm showing you how
Girls themselves. we are told, are
more interested in home economics now
than they have been for several years
Girls by the Thousand have deserted
| the kitchen range for the factory bench
and if they have to keep the home fires
burning too. they pick up something
/ sketchy on the way home and exc out
| the meal with canned goods and raw
i fruits.
Women Want to Learn.
! The greatest concern over house
! keeping. now being displayed. is attri
| buted to the wave of economy and the
i reduction of wages. 1t is not. however
return of the old housekeeper view.
| point of before the war. Women are
| beginning to accept what home econom
| les experts have so long and patienti,