The White Ribbon. For God and Home and Humanity. SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 1908. PARENTAL CONRTOL.

White Ribbon, Volume 13, Issue 158, 15 August 1908, Page 7

The White Ribbon. For God and Home and Humanity. SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 1908. PARENTAL CONRTOL.

Some very stringent remarks on this subject were recently made by M r K ettle, 8.M ., at a sitting of the Auckland Magistrate’s Court. Said Mr Kettle : —“ More and “ more I cau see, inside and outside of “ the Court, that the loose bringing up “of children, the absence of anything “ like true home influence, neglect to “ inculcate a proper appreciation and “ reverence of things holy, and the consequent ami deplorable disrespect of “children for their “lders, is a living “ scandal to our society, and is U nding “to undermine the whole moral and “ social fabric.’’

This is a strong indictment, and coming from such a quarter is worthy of the earnest consideration of every woman in the Dominion. No one will deny that there is a growing laxity of parental control over the younger generation today, and the problem is engaging the attention of thinking men and women the world over. What are the causes of this evil we may well ask. Some profess to see in it the fulfillment of prophecy “ that in the last days perilous times “shall come, Ac/’ Others will talk vaguely about the spirit of the age and the changing conditions of modern life. There may be a certain amount of truth in all of these reasons, but we believe that the solution of the problem lies largely with the mothers of the present generation. There is a tendency to-dav for woman to ignore the responsibilities and duties of home and child life in her

new found social, poetical, and business freedom. The changes during the last half century that have placed woman in a position she never before occupied, or sought to occu *y. have made great demands on the time previously given to the rearing and training of ehildren.

The danger lies in the fact that it may be difficult for the modern woman to arrive at the happy medium, wherein will be blended those traits of character which have made in times gone by England’s mothers justly famous, and the independence of thought and action allowed to the woman of to-day. The love of pleasure is growing stronger and stronger, and over-indulgence in this direction means loss of power in the home. The rapid increase of Associations, Couuails, Unions, and other organisations, however useful they may be. are becoming a menae * on account of the inroads they make upon the time a mother should devote to her family. The growing disinclination of woman to bear and rear children is making itself felt in a decreasing birthrate in most civilized countries.

President lioosevelt, in an address recently delivered before an International Congress in America on “ The Welfare “of the Child,” said:—“Unless the “ average woman is a good wife and good “mother, unless she bears a sufficient “number of children so that the race “ shall increase and not decrease, unless “ she brings up these children sound in “ soul, mind, and body,—unless this is “ true of the average woman, no brilli- “ ancy of genius, no material-prosperity, “ no triumph of science and industry, will “ save the race from ruin and death.” We must seriously consider our position !n the light of present day conditions, and see to it that we do not. in our zeal for the improvement of our sex, n gleet the second great principle of our motto : “For God. Home, and Humanity.'’ •r