The Winslow mail., 1925-12-11
TALK BEFORE THE
MOTHERS CLUB AT
SESSION LAST WEEK

The children of today are the cit
liens of tomorrow, and if we take
pains to inculcate civic ideals now
the national life will be we'll cared
for in the next generation. We al
realize that an ideal is priceless
moulding the character, dominat-
ing thealife and determining its out
come. Children's ideals decide the
channels in which their life's pur-
poses shall flow, for they initiate
that which they admire. How I'M
portant that the good shall be high
for like the stream, the higher the
reservoir from which they drain,
the greater will be the pressure!
They often see things they can't
possess, but not so with an ideal.
We, Americans, are a very favor
ed people, probably the most favor
ed on the globe. We live where
religion is Christian, where the
: governed are the governing, where
an elementary education is compul-
sorry, where money per capita is the
greatest in the world, and where
automobiles, bath tubs and ice
cream abound Our heritage of re-
publican government, freedom of
speech, religion, and assembly, per-
sonal liberty, right of trial by jury,
protection as strong as the nation
has been bought and paid for by
pen and sword. Impassioned
speeches have been made and lives
have been given to create and per-
petuate the blessings and privi-
leges which you, and 1 enjoy. The
5nly way to show appreciation OF
our inheritance is to guard it .and
teach our children its value.
AS a nation, we lack self control
and because of that lack, all our
social ideals have been lowered in
the last generation. A nation like
an individual, is strong in proper
ton as it possesses integrity and
weak if it lacks it. Character is
the power of endurance in the
group, as well as in the person.
If the youth of the land haven't
learned self-control before matur-
ity. they aren't likely to develop 1t
in their later years. Our respon-
sibility, as parents, in this matter,
is great and we can't teach our
children respect for the law if we4
don't respect it ourselves. The
words of Emerson come to mind.
"What you are speaks so loudly,
l cannot hear what you say"
Many people think themselves
law-abiding, but very, very few are
they who won't break our law and
you and l are no exception. "A
great industrial leader in America,
sitting in his limousine on his way
to his country place condemns the
law-breakerS, but the limousine is
running ten miles an hour faster
than the law allows. Another in
stance, an old and famous lawyer,
on board ship, talked vehemently
about the decline of morals and in
tegrity in modern American youth,
but when he landed, he didn't say
anything to the custom officials
about a necklace he was bringing
as a present to his eighteen year.
old daughter"
We must strive to- make literal
obedience to the law, the social will.
It's hard to change the social will
of the matured, but what the social
will be of the immature will be,
rests largely with us parents. The
church and the school are factors,
but the home eXerts the greatest in
fiuence.
A recent series of articles in the
Saturday Evening Post by former
ambassador of ours to Italy, Mr.
Richard Washburn Child, have been
very startling in facts revealed. We
are being deluged with a crime tide
steadily mounting since 1900
it's our national disgrace and our
foreign humiliation. America is
called the Criminals paradise"
and the name doesn't lie. Ninety
odd per cent of willful murderers
in this country, walk out of the
courtroom to call taxi or receive
a short vacation in a comfortable
penitentiary. BY way of compari-
son, UlduSIduS SuLSIIuS III CiIiCeIeoO
and New York is going on little
faster than one a day, while in
London the rate is something like
one in a fortnight. The whole OF
England and Wales in one year
had less than 200 killings. st.
Louis, all alone, without help from
anyone, did better than that in the
same length of time. Philadelphia
has had a murder record far above
the figure for the whole of Can
ada.
In European countries, on the
whole the number of crimes of
violence, in proportion to the pop
ulation, is decreasing. Not so in
the United States; where crime
goes unpunished.
> In London in 1922, Is murders
were committed. Only two went
unsolved, and only one trial re-
suited in acquittal.
In the United States, however,
it is probably true that not more
than one murderer in a hundred
pays the extreme penalty. Our pub
lie is too lenient with malefactors,
sentimentalism capitalizes SYM
pathy, skilful lawyers pervert the
law. and Justice miscarries. Mr..