This editorial is not written for women. It is written for MEN,
and for boys; for the millions who fail to appreciate the work
that mothers do, for the millions that ignore the self-sacrifice
and devotion upon which society is based.
On a hot night, in the dusty streets of a dirty city, you see
hundreds of women sitting in the doorways, TAKING CARE OF BABIES.
In lonesome farm houses, far out on monotonous plains, with the
late sun setting on a long day of hard work, you find women,
cheerful and persevering, TAKING CARE OF BABIES.
In the middle of the night, in earliest morning, when MEN sleep,
all over the world, in ice huts North, in southern tents, in big
houses and in dingy tenements, you find women awake, cheerfully
and gladly TAKING CARE OF BABIES. ----
We respect and praise the man selfishly working for himself.
If he builds up a great industry and a great personal fortune, we
praise him.
If he risks his life for personal glory and for praise, we praise
him.
If he shows courage even in saving his own carcass from
destruction, we praise him.
There was never a man whose courage, or devotion, could be
compared with that of a woman caring for her baby.
The mother's love is unselfish, and it has no limit this side of
the grave.
You will find ONE man in a thousand who will risk his life for a
cause.
You will find a THOUSAND women in a thousand who will risk their
lives for their babies.
Everything that a man has and is he owes to his mother. From her
he gets health, brain, encouragement, moral character, and ALL
his chances of success.
How poorly the mother's service is repaid by men individually,
and by society as a whole!
The individual man feels that he has done much if he gives
sufficient money and a LITTLE attention to her who brought him
from nothingness into life and sacrificed her sleep and youth and
strength for his sake.
Society, the aggregate of human beings, feels that its duty is
done when a few hospitals are opened for poor mothers, and a
little medicine doled out in cold-hearted fashion to the sick
child.
Fortunately, it may truly be said that the great man is almost
always appreciative of his greater mother.
Napoleon was cold, jealous of other men, monumentally egotistical
when comparing himself with other sons of women. But he
reverenced and appreciated the noble woman who bore him, lived
for him, and watched over him to the end. He said:
"It is to my mother, to her good principles, that I owe my
success and all I have that is worth while. I do not hesitate
to say that the future of the child depends on the mother."
----
The future of the individual child depends on the individual
mother, and the future of the race depends on the mothers of the
race.
Think what has been done for mankind by thousands of millions of
perfectly devoted mothers.
Every mother is entirely DEVOTED, entirely HOPEFUL, entirely
CONFIDENT that no future is too great for her baby's deserts.
The little head--often hopelessly ill-shaped--rolls about feebly
on the thin neck devoid of muscles. The toothless gums chew
whatever comes along. The wondering eyes look feebly, aimlessly
about, without focus or concentration. The future human being,
to the cold-blooded onlooker, is a useless little atom added to
the human sea of nonentity.
But to the mother that baby is the marvel of all time. There is
endless meaning in the first mumblings, endless soul in the
senile, baby smile, unlimited possibilities in the knobby
forehead and round, hairless head. She sees in the future of the
baby responsibilities of government, and feels that one so
perfectly lovely must eventually be acclaimed ruler by mankind.
As a result of perfect confidence in its future, the mother gives
to every baby perfect devotion, perfect and affectionate moral
education. Each child begins life inspired by the most beautiful
example of altruism and self-sacrifice.
Kindness has gradually taken the place of brutality among human
beings, because every baby at its birth has found itself
surrounded by absolute kindness.
The mother's kindness forms moral character.
The mother's confidence and encouragement stimulate ambition and
inspire courage.
The mother's patient watchfulness gives good health, and fights
disease when it comes.
The mother's wrathful protection shields the child from the stern
and dwarfing severity of fathers.
Truly, a man may and should be judged by his feeling toward his
own mother, and toward the mothers of other men--of ALL men.
In the character of Christ, whose last earthly thought on
Golgotha was for His Mother, as in the character of the
hard-working, ignorant man whose earnings go to make his mother
comfortable, the most beautiful trait is devotion to the mother
who suffers and works for her children, from the hours that
precede their birth through all the years that they spend on
earth together.
Honor thy father and THY MOTHER.
And honor the mothers of other men. Make their task easier
through fair payment of the men who support the children, through
good public schools for their children, through respectful
treatment of ALL women.
The mother is happy. For she knows "the deep joy of loving some
one else more than herself."
You honor yourself, and prove yourself worthy of a good mother
and of final success, when you do something for the mothers of
the world.