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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (April 11, 1907)
13 APRIL 11, 1907. THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT an early marriage and a large family. When, as so often in these days of anti-child labor laws and protracted schooling, the additional child la a drag on the social advancement of the fam ily, that child is not likely to be born. With the wiping out of sharp class lines inherited standards of living lose their grip. Wants and tastes once con fined to the social elite spread restst lessiy downward and infect the masse3. Tidal waves of imitation carry the craving for luxuries, hitherto locked upon as the prerogative of the rich, among millions of people of limited means, and these, in their endeavor to gratify their newly awakened wants, learn, to economize in offspring. The little stranger trenches on raiment, bric-a-brac, upholstery, travel, enter? tainment. Here the decencies, there the comforts, yonder the refinements and vanities of life compete with the possible child and bar it from exist ence. ' Another factor is the emancipation of women. Every child taxes the father's purse, but the mother's body. A re puted inferiority of women, as in the Orient or eastern Europe, degrades her to. a passive Instrument of man, sub ordinates her entirely to wifely func tions, so that her birth pangs do not count. The great movement that has burst the fetters on woman's mind and opened to her so many professional and Industrial careers raises her value and weight In the marriage partnership and causes the heavy physiological and per sonal cost of excessive maternity to be more considered by husband as wed as by wife. When the size of the fam ily is determined from the man's view point alone the controlling considera tion is pecuniary; and hence Mai thus drew his pessimistic conclusion to de feat itself by stimulating the growth of numbers until poverty again reigns. But when spouses come to the woman's nt vi7 the naln-and-worrv cost of enlarging the family remains a bar even when the money cost wu no longer be considered. Not All Heaven-Sent. Something, too, must be said of the ip-iniis heliefs. Parents who "trust in Providence" and hold with Luther that "God makes children and He will provide for them," are rare Tinivarinvs. Mnffi and more the age chimes in with Matthew Arnold when he pays: " a man r-hlldren are not-really sent any more than the pictures upon hi? wall or the horses in nis staoie a.ie fetjlll, ClIHl MltfS I'VVjiv ... - M fieri nne cannot afford to keep them and oneself decently and not too precariously is " Dy no means an accomplishment of the di vine will or a fulfilment of nature's simplest laws, but is contrary in runcnn nml UlP will of Ood. p;mv. moreover, nromoted parentage by reconciling woman to her lot as mother and drudge. The struggle of woman to realize an individuality has obliged her to rebel against her biblical itnhiq ami t snurn the counsel of sub mission to the curse of Eve; so that the progress of unbelief is not witnout a bearing on the decline or me Dinn rntr. Powerful as are the motives arrayed np-aimt Rimer-feeunditv. thev operate only in so far as they are coupled with foresight and .self-control, in ine mou nrltl ljjrents may not rid them selves of the unwelcome child, so that it is nnlv bv beinc foreseen and anticl nutnri h:it the ever more acutely felt burden of that child can limit the size of the family. Every intluence, mere !7.r ihat enlightens or enthrones roa son over impulse helps to break "he sceptre of Ishtar the cruel goddess mat has so unspeakably tormented mankind. Tn thin dir.etion work the universal in struction, iluap press, free libraries and voluntary associations that are ir radiating the social deep; Moreover, imiimtrlnlism. with its enormous pres sure and harsh penalties, is compelling the ignorant, the t art less and the am m:.i tr. think- K(t that, in fact, the tnia clpa.l features of the life of today are accomplices in the resttictloii of fe rn ml it v. What, now, are the effects of reduc lng the av.c or the average family Some of llic nfrect. One effect U Hint diffusion of econ omic welib'iug uh'uh it-L-UiM itnelf and a wkl.r diffusion of ownership. Striking, indeed. Is the contrast in con dition between the prudent French peasantry and the mklss mining or factory town" -of ("Mitral Europe or th- KpiiAtdng rural t onnnunllti's In Pu.odi and Kouiuanl.i. Air.oag the west 1M ruKUii u-.pli-:( not only Is th- m-.tn duration of lire rapidly riv.lng. but fu; Increasing proportion of IUm L round id out '' l''1'1 allotted by th" pi.alioM. Tiu K-!n In longevity l,i partly due in the l-''Mr support and Pr .r the ..! .. who no longer ll'e.l rott p te.i.-i -i't 1 ei ulth an uvert.ir-j brood i f vvat. Ui,; .e("d . Ak ilu, a de rlint' in f ou.t lity U m Inl.'.'it mnr tality, for 'ft n l'"' ,u'' '' 1 "( Itfl.aVy In to fill the cemetery with tiny gtuve. Afu-r nil. bowevtr. tan master en Nlii,i.fH ni . r..irUted birth nte, th .n result ihat, 'iw&rf nil others, h llml with lb Pit-l!l? nt nd,ipl.iton ef nuiiibt r. t rop. t reawe popu lation H " ui f. the principal cu of war, mass poverty, wolfish competition j and class conflict. Once it seemed aa If man's propensity to multiply foredoomed the race to live ever in the presence of vast, Immedi cable want and woe. However smiling the gardens of Daphne, they had al ways to slope down into a nuge malo dorous quagmire of wretchedness. The wheel of Ixon, the cup or uamaius, symbolized humanity striving ever by labor and Ingenuity to relieve itself of a painful burden, only to have that burden inexorably rolled back upon it by its own fatal fecundity, tne un looked for promptness with which, un der the influence of democracy and public education, the masses have ac miirrH n sense of resnonslbilitv In the matter of family, bids us look for a time when the spectre of overpopula tion, with strife, misery ana ramine in its ghastly train, will be finally laid, and society will for the first time be come master of Its destiny. Hut there are disquieting eneew which mu&t be taken into account. Tii Bwnv nf the will in a matter hitherto left to blind Instinct works a veritable revolution ruid cannot but hrfi.i rertaln harms of its own. At first the new foresight is used wanton ly and destructively. The same m iivMiiaiipfner influences that have gen erally tempered the general fecundity prompt some couples to a scinsn eva sion of all duties to the race. Salutary is restriction so far as it springs from a wise solicitude for the true welfare of offspring; but when it springs rrom personal cravings and ambitions it may go too far. No one can tell where it will stop. The refusal to oe encum bered in the pursuit of vanities might, if it became general, cause population to dwindle in the midst of an Eden. The fall of the birth rate in roomy New South Wales from 37 to 27 in four teen years is a portent. Shall we live to see the mother of more than three regarded as a public benefactor and placed on the payroll of the state? This exaggerated individualism, that avoids marriage or else dodges its natural consequences, forebodes the extinction of the class, the people, or the race thritenlng frivolity need to ne com bated in the name of real values. iNor mo winfc the fact that in order to control the size of the family some have resorted to means rraurnT wun grave and insidious injury to neann. The Ideal Family. in th matter of reproduction it is not yet possible to substitute intelli gence for instinct without creating a mental attitude responsible for num erous one child or two child families, where both parents and children miss rvmnv nf tii best lessons of life. 'Ine children reared in such stunted fam ilies, instead of surpassing tne stam ina and character, fall below the av erage. The type to be standardized is not" the family of one to three, but tvm fnmiiv nf four to six. The one child or two child Ileal growing In favor with the middle class would, u popularized, hurry us to extinction. In puch families prodigious pains are taken to keep breath in defective or sickly children. Instead of being weeded out in infancy by natural pro cess, the weaklings are kept alive by lavish care, arid the national vitality is lowered. . , Since it is the rising that first feel the individualizing influences, these check their increase while yet the stocks, below them breed at the old reckless rate. The outcome is num erical gain of rnedioeres over capables, threatening an eventual dearth of ability in the race thus impoverished at the top. This untotv-ard phenomenon is, however, but a passing phase. The lAwcv ctnitfi are euminc or may be brought within reach of' the inllui-mces that moderate multiplication. If we speed up th Individualizing agencies till the unthinking and brutish have become a mere remnant the danger will disappear. Furthermore, the closer legal restriction of child labor, by making , offspring expensive, in stead of profitable, may chock the free propagation of stocks deficient in ca pacity or parental altruism. The revolt against senseless par entage Is a colossal recuiar pnenom enon of varied aspects, and few of Its appraisers are competent to judge more than the one or two aspects that appeal to them. No one who envis ages all the aspects of this pregnant thing, who KiieciK'ds la seeing it stead ily and seeing It vvholo, will laud or condemn It In unqualified terms, (ir.iiited; but the question forces lts. If: H the core of the thing good or bad? If the dethronement of Ishtar us mistress of social destiny u ble in;f with Incidental berietlt? So pressed I would unswer: Khtrlctim In a moveim nt at bottom lulutary, and the undoubted fviis in its train appear lo bo minor, or truiuimit, or self-limit- ri if, r . uiblo. I r.hall have against iiirt my files, clerics, a priori mortUiHts. M-r.!l!ienUllU. aHthetUii, militarist. apiUlit nd politicians; but nsvsr-th'-Uss, 1 tke my stand with thos who bate famlti". war, sbrtootti cutiip.'tllon, claa snUjonlnni, thu d. Krad.ttb'ii of th1! masses, the watlne of children, th dwnrilnK if wouhjIi and tho chr-diLD: uf men. J, - SHOES FOR HEN WJ . Tti tiSrrtiM Amm it Ktvlf. (it nd arnrkman hip are embodied in these splendid shoes.! :- , ! ere ere nsnc ium ci(si iacm in (ipcuriiaui k- ad wearing qualify ai the price. They are! k BUILT ON HONOR That's what the name means. That' what a trial will prove. Dyl I all means wear "Oaaorbul ' shoes. Demand them of your dealer INSIST. Sold everywhere. If you cannot get them writo to us. We also make the "Western Lady," and the I Martha Wasklnqtea" comfort iboes and a full line of men's, women'a and children's ahoes. Our trade mark is stamped on every sole. 1 F. Mayer Boot & Shoe Co., . . i Milwaukee, Wis. 1 . I MS THE NEW HILLINERY New York Times: The woman who can purchase few hats only will do well to avoid those with very narrow front brims and extremely wide back brims This fashion Is ephemeral, is trying' to most people, and Is also con spicuous. in. Many of the spring hats are quite fiat, and are trimmed with wings flatly arranged, Many have flat loops of vel vet filling in under the brim at the back. When the hat lfl light, the wings of medium shades, and the velvet loops much darker, the effect is excellent. The passing fancy of baring ribbons drooping below the back brim almost t,. nniini' ia tv nn means. an attrac- tivc one. One's coiffure well arranged is far prettier than any back drapery, and the effect of drooping loops Is a bit dowdyish unless everything about the wearer is spick and span and she carries herself erect. As a matter of fact, in Paris the hair Is getting lower and lowr in tho back, while it is still full about the forehead and ears, and much less is left on the top of the head. This a return to sound prin ciples. The brushing of the hair up and at the back no matter If it la marcelled and its concealment by the hat by no means add to a woman's appearance. Carefully kept, well groomed, glossy hair of whatever color Is attractive in itself, and is the per fect adornment of any head. This lowering of the coiffure presupposes a lowering, at the rear anyway, of the hat brim, for the French are too ar tistic to have a hat slant upward and outward, with no arrangement for the eiiinc in nf an otherwise awkward empty space between the coiffure and hat, which would certainly follow un less the hair were done hl&n. tvio no nt veils, as mentioned some time ago, has practically passed in iariu -irwi ihfl naonuon or nair neis. made of the finest human hair and practically Invisible, keep the coiffure In place and do away with the disease breeding veil, that also Injures the eyea. One might be pardoned for vio lently Inveighin against the curse of veils. As a rule they are not properly adjusted, and a veil once worn in the street is full of germs, and theso are brought directly over the eyes, mouth and nose, so that If the soil bo ripe for the germs they will grow and breed. Tho hideous net veils with sprawling patterns that were arraneed over the face suggest skin disease, having dis figured more than a few women thl winter, and have been also too often Improperly adjusted by being dragged In at the base of the neck and fas tened with some sort of supposed or ris mental pin. in Bll inrmn cases inm veils should have -been drawn In and fastened at the edre of the back brim. Hu ftuurn-3, and with the far portion flung back of the hat or draped around Us edges, as was the fashion several years ag't, them veil ar decoratlva. Ths realty hygienic vil, It n mnst WRr on, fa the pure white or cream colored lar appihpie, which may b ii.:h1 vry time It is worn, or cleaned. Mcwt of these, If of fin blonde, well md, nvy be laundered like a fine handkerchief and rrr4 Utwseu cJoUut, Uie lowsr ouo txtai made of several folds of soft flannel, so that the pattern of the vol), tuni'-d downward, may.be raised a bit by the pressing of the not too hot Iron. A good maid can cleanse them in twenty minutes and have them ready to wear, while the woman without a maid can do It herself, If she pleases. The Ig norant maid or person often ruins line veils and laces, so that tho mistress often does these little things better. The wealthy woman of -fashion, how ever, has her skilled maid adept in tho arts of cleansing and freshening. Metallic, effects. are seen in the mil linery, but Jess of them. ?' Gold lace over black tulle, and also over white, is effective. . Ilibbons will be much used as hat trimmings, and often these are so ar ranged as to take the place of feath eers. In some Instances as many as three different shades are wound around a hat crown, each tied In a bow. The ribbons themselves are chiefly taffeta, and two-toned ribbons In this silk are smart. Many of them are shot with contrasting colors. Rich ribbons showing velvet "' flowers are bordered with either silver or gold gauze and other altogether new rib bons Khow gold or silver spots, but no metallic threads are woven In them. Silvery white or golden threads are used. There are ateo pastel plaids, ribbons in light, pale tones, and stripes in the same delicate shades. Ribbons are used In all sorts of ways. Sometimes they form sharp spikes, and these are often twisted. Then ther are stiff loops standing up from the hat, or soft loops flatitened-agains't the brim or drooping dejectedly from th rear. Streamers of black velvet ribbon, starting from a small knot of the same ribbon, fastened in flower-laden hats of the broad brimmed variety, will be worn with dressy light organ dies and other materials, and right here I may say that the Parisians are now using little knots of cluster bows of narrow black velvet ribbons on light straws and lace hats and among flowers, and often a uingle knot, a many-looped bow, and perhaps a pip ing or a twist of black velvet Is the oniy biack or dark tone in th hat, and sometimes there Is nothing but th bow. ' Many of the so-called Leghorn hats are of fine Tuscan straw, the former not I ling as popular. In Mowers there are many novelties. A number of the quaint, old tlm flowers wen In our grandmothers;' &ur dens are revived, and by no means al ways In the colorings of her day. Pan slcfl, geraniums, fluid flowers. k1h k.t, cyclajuien, and wild flower f many nrtM and with tnanr tints In th mhih bunch are sren. In fruit. Including small apph vul berrtas ami rhrrVw. may be .n tlvst i In gold an1 silver, sometime dull, at aiso In iii-lallie surface, but ?Ii.tdc4 In color Cherries are to b worn, as alwaya. Oti charming hat la On black straw Is trimmed with a foH of dull red vel vet rlbbm about th brim and tlutr of shaded r4 obrrl droop o3 th