Give a description of Lima, the quaint city which dates from the time of Pizarro, show pictures of the old cathedral and the plaza of infamous memories of persecutions, existing from 1573 until 1813. Contrast this simple, and by no means wealthy, city with those of the Plate country.
Close with a sketch of Cuzco, the capital of the old Inca empire, built almost twelve thousandfeet high on a mountain top, and speak of the railroad which goes there, and of the wonderful mountain bridges.
Ecuador, the smallest of the mountain republics, is a land of contrasts: of volcanoes, mountain gorges, tropical forests and snowfields, bleak plains and fertile valleys. Its chief city, Quito, lies exactly on the Equator; it is a city built in the old Moorish style, with red-tiled roofs and narrow streets. The character of its people is interesting, for picturesque Indians in native dress throng the town on feast days, mingling with the very poor natives and the richer class who wear Paris costumes. The republic is not in a high state of development, but the Panama Canal is expected to bring prosperity to it.
Bolivia is a place of great possibilities; its mineral wealth, its commerce, its forests, all mean that sooner or later it will be developed. To-day it is much like its neighbor, Ecuador. One of its chief interests lies in its history.Read of Simon Bolivar and what he did for his country; he is often called the Washington of South America.
Chili is the most progressive of the mountain republics; the people call themselves the "British," or the "Americans" of their continent. It is the most united of the South American republics, with a strong patriotic feeling. The education, the customs, even the navy, are all on European lines. Unfortunately, it is held back in every way by an enormous illiterate and very poor class, the bulk of the population. Describe Valparaiso. Read of its early history, and of Drake and Hawkins. Speak briefly also of the suburb which has gardens, casinos, concert halls and all the effect of European life, and the sea-side resort near it, Vina del Mar.
Colombia and Venezuela are of great importance, far more so commercially than the republics of the Andes. Notice their commanding position, and describe Bogota, with its university, its mint, library, and botanical gardens,and Caracas in Venezuela, even more modern in every way, and more beautifully situated. The story of Bolivar is closely connected with Caracas. The wealth of both these northern states, however, lies largely in pastoral industries and the great river which waters the country will mean much when its powers are developed. But economically and in point of education, neither yet are what one would expect from their situation and opportunities.
Brazil is a land associated with romance; one of great rivers and mighty forests, of wealth, of slavery, of misery and of progress. It is larger than the United States (not including Alaska), and its future must be of immense importance. Its history includes that of its empire, which should make the topic of one meeting, for it is of great interest. The early struggles of the republic, the abolishment of slavery, and the establishment of a government founded on our own, may all be studied.
The influence of the Portuguese in Brazil has been marked, especially in its literature, music and art. Notice how beautiful the situation isof the city of Rio Janeiro, and show pictures of its streets and great buildings, with their over-ornamentation.
Study the River Amazon in one meeting; the coffee plantations, and the cotton and rubber industries in another.
Follow these meetings with one on the Guianas, another on the various islands which lie along the coast, especially the Falkland Islands and Tierra del Fuego.
Among the many topics which will suggest themselves for discussion are these: What can be said of education in Latin America? What is the percentage of those who can read and write, and why is it so low? What of higher education? What is the relation between church and state and what has the church done for education? What can be said of the morals of the Latin Americans? What is the position of woman? How is she educated and trained? What is her home efficiency? Compare South American cities with those of France, England and America and point out the great differences.
What can be said of literature, art, music and science? Where does South America show her strength, and where her weakness?
Among the many excellent reference books these are suggested: "The Republics of Central and South America," by C. Reginald Enock (Scribner). "Panama, the Creation, Destruction and Resurrection," by Philippe Bunau-Varilla (Constable and Sons, London). "Panama and the Canal To-day," by Forbes Lindsay (The Page Company). "The Panama Canal," by J. Saxon Mills (Thomas Nelson, London and New York). "South America," by James Bryce (Macmillan). "Conquest of Peru," by W. H. Prescott (Lippincott).
Letters have come from the Far West, from Nova Scotia, from remote districts in the South, and from ranches in Canada asking much the same question: "Is it possible to carry on a women's club when we are far away from any public library and have few books, if any, in the community?"
If any group of women need a club it is the women on farms and ranches and in little villages, whose lives are monotonous, who have no lectures or concerts to attend and few magazines or new books to read. They, above all the rest of us, need intellectual stimulus. And their question may be answered with a positive affirmative: Yes; it is perfectly possible to have a club, one doing excellent work, with no library at hand. Many examples of what can be done might be given, but one will stand for them all: In a singularly isolated spot in NewEngland a club was began ten years ago with a handful of farmers' wives and daughters living within an area of a dozen miles. They used what material they had at hand; they added to it; they studied simple things at first, and later took up more difficult subjects; and then they did practical work for their community. To-day that club is made up of many well-read women of all ages who have acquired what may truly be called a liberal education, and the whole neighborhood has been raised and enlightened by what they have done for it in a hundred ways. And they had nothing more to begin with than any group of women has under similar conditions. Any woman who feels the need of a club can start one, and once started it will grow of its own volition and justify its existence.
Let us suppose that some country woman decides to start a club. She is not quite sure what steps to take, but she invites some of her neighbors to meet with her and talk it over. Probably they will agree to begin very simply, merely meeting once a week or so and reading aloud—feeling their way to other things. Thisis the right sort of a beginning, for in a very short time they will have gained sufficient confidence in themselves to plan something better. At this point some one may suggest that at the next meeting each woman shall bring in a written list of the books she owns. When this is done it will probably be found that there are many good ones to use. There will probably be a set of Dickens, volumes of Longfellow, Tennyson, and Whittier, a few biographies, including one of General Grant, a book or two of travel and scattered volumes of all kinds, novels, histories, and school books, and possibly an encyclopedia.
This list has great possibilities for club study, especially if there is the encyclopedia, so essential for reference. With a very small membership fee, perhaps five cents a month, one new book may be bought every three months; with ten club members this can be done.
When the club is fairly going it may decide to select Dickens's novels to study, as a sort of popular beginning; a simple plan of work would be as follows:
Divide the club into committees of two, and to each give one novel to read and thoroughlymaster. Meanwhile the president may study the life of Dickens. If she has no book to use she should write to the State Librarian and try to secure a traveling library with this and other needed books in it; or at least she may get, if not a library, one or two volumes, sent by mail. At the first regular meeting she should give a sketch of Dickens's life and show any pictures of the author in the book. She should also try to find in an English history pictures of Canterbury, London, and other places associated with his life, and Westminster Abbey, where he is buried.
By the next meeting the first committee should be ready to give an afternoon program on one novel, say "David Copperfield." One member may tell the story of the book, mentioning the various characters; another may take these up in part and describe them. Then there should be readings, not only by these two members but by others to whom they have been given, illustrating the main points of the story. After the meeting the book should be loaned to some one who will read it and pass it on to the rest. And so with each novel in turn. There should be a discussion at each meeting, andmembers should tell why they admire or dislike this character or that, and what great moral lesson Dickens points out in each book, and so on. Such a study might well occupy an entire year and be extremely interesting.
Or suppose the club decided to study Longfellow's poems. Again the first meeting is to be on the life of the poet; the second will take up the first of the group of American poems, "Hiawatha," and have it read aloud; the discussion following may be on the types of Indians drawn by Longfellow and inquire: Are they true to life? The next meeting will be on "Miles Standish," with a paper or talk on the Puritans in England and America, and a description of the first winter in the colony.
The third meeting will take "Evangeline," with a paper on the Acadians. Later should come other poems of our own country, on slavery, and on village life, with readings from these, and from "The Wayside Inn." Later still, his translations should be read and discussed, and his little dramas. The season should close with an afternoon in which each club member should read her favorite poem. If clubs can buy one book it will be found delightfulat this point to read aloud "A Sister to Evangeline," by Chas. G. D. Roberts (The Page Company).
Or, if the autobiography of General Grant were to be studied, a committee should go over the table of contents and divide it up into several parts; his early life; his experiences at West Point; the years between that and the Civil War; the great campaigns and battles in which he took part, and the great men on both sides with whom he came in contact, especially Lincoln and Lee; his Presidency; his trip around the world; his business venture, its ending; the writing of his book; his death and burial. All of these points should be illustrated with pictures where that is possible, and each meeting should have a discussion on the period presented. The one copy of the book must of course be loaned in turn to the different committees, but each one is not to read it all but only the part assigned, so there would be plenty of time for preparation. Such a study would open many different topics, especially those bearing on the war and on Grant's trip, and would be of a definitely educational nature.
Of course every magazine the club can getshould be searched for articles of value for reference. One member might make it her work to go over them each month and make out a list, copying the titles on a large sheet of paper, which could be hung up on a door at each club meeting; or a card catalogue might be kept. In a short time this would make a real, if small, reference library. History, essays, articles on science, sketches of travel, and poems would all be of some use sooner or later.
Other subjects may be treated in the same way as those suggested. History, especially different periods in English history, makes delightful study, and books on nature, and travel, and phases of woman's life and work are easy to get and interesting. Nature study, gardening, bee raising, the care of poultry and other practical subjects may be introduced with the other work.
And then, aside from working for their own development, there is the other work a club can undertake, that for the community, which is of immense value. The newly coined phrase one hears to-day in connection with farm life is:Better farming, better business, better living. How to help bring about these three great ends is one of the best things a club can study.
The first subject which will come up will be: What are the principal difficulties we have to meet in our homes, and how can we overcome them?
At this point a book should be read aloud in the club, a chapter at a meeting, with discussion afterward; it is, "The Report of the Commission on Country Life," and is a presentation first, of the farm problems, and, second, of how to meet them. The chapters on the work of the farmer's wife, with its difficulties, will be of especial interest, but all of it is important to read, for hygiene in the home, gardening, the school and church, social life, and many other topics of practical interest are dealt with there and will suggest lines of study for the club.
The first topic to treat is that of home hygiene: discussion of how better ventilation of sleeping rooms, better protection from flies, better cooking, better sanitation can be secured. This will probably occupy several meetings. Then will come the topic of beautifying the home, and this will suggest the cleaning up ofthe farm yard as the first step to take. Later on, when community work is begun, this will lead to a house-to-house visitation with the request that all the neighborhood should make their premises more inviting in the same way.
After this the public school will be studied. The building may need repairs and modernizing, especially the outbuildings, the playground and the surroundings of the schoolhouse. A chapter in the Report will be of inestimable value next, for it points out the need of a redirected education, one which will give the child of the farm some study of nature, of agriculture, health, sanitation, domestic science and similar subjects which fit his life. It suggests that the school-teacher and district superintendent should be called to conferences on this subject and asked to help in carrying out plans for the betterment of the school.
The next thing for the club to do is to make a social center of the schoolhouse. The crying need of farmers' families is for social life. True, the grange tries to supply this, but the women's club can also help by having lecturesand concerts and addresses at the schoolhouse, with stereopticon shows, dances, tableaux, and whatever will make the community happier and better. They may also carry out the suggestion of the Commission that the school should be brought into direct contact with the State Agricultural College, and professors should come to give demonstrations on farms, and traveling lectures on orchards, dairies, farm pests and other topics should be given.
When the time for the county fair comes the club may have, as one Illinois club did, a series of talks on all sorts of live topics, given by experts to all who would come, the men as well as the women. Farm Life in the Old World, The Farm Boy and the Farm Problem, Bringing Home and School Together, Home-Making for Men and Women, were given, and also practical demonstrations on preserving, bread and butter making, and other domestic subjects. Besides these there was a fruit and vegetable show with prizes, given by the children.
Then there is the beautifying of the little village.The club may clean it up, plant shade trees and shrubbery, freshen up the paint of the railroad station and make its driveway attractive, take charge of the cemetery lots which are neglected, make a common in the middle of the town if possible, and have flowers and trees there, and, most important of all, create a sentiment among the people which will lead to abolishing the loafing places about town.
The club may also help the village church or, rather, churches. These are a problem in every farming community, for there are usually too many for the population, and no one of them is well supported. It may be that some clubs may be successful in having a union church; but, if not that, at least they can frown on the spirit of jealousy between the churches and establish coöperation. The buildings may be freed from their mortgages, the interiors freshened, the choirs improved, the minister's house papered, the Sunday school modernized, the women's societies assisted. There is always plenty to be done to help a struggling country church.
A town library may be started by the gift of one book by each family, and club women maytake turns in giving out the books one day a week and providing entertainments to raise money to buy more.
Clubs may also help the town celebrate fête days: Arbor Day, the Fourth of July, Harvest Home, and the birthdays of local celebrities or of Washington and Lincoln. The schoolhouse may be used for such meetings.
The motto of every rural club should be: Coöperation. As one kind of work is taken up after another it will soon be seen how much women can do if they work together for the good of all. The little club nucleus may draw to itself the men of the community, the young people, and even the children, and together they may build up something fine, something of substantial value. Country life has its problems, but far more, it has its great, glorious opportunities.
These are some of the helpful books to be bought, or borrowed from the State Library:
"The Report of the Commission on Country Life." (Sturges and Walton.) "Coöperation Among Farmers," John Lee Coulter. (Sturgis and Walton.) "The Rural Problem in the United States," Sir Horace Plunkett.(Macmillan.) "How to Live in the Country." E. P. Powell (Outing Publishing Co.) "A Self-Supporting Home" and "The Earth's Bounty." Kate V. St Maur. (Macmillan.)
In studying the subject presented, for general reference use "The Short History of England" by E. P. Cheney (Ginn & Co.), and Halleck's "English Literature" (American Book Company). All topics can also be looked up in the Encyclopædia Britannica.
Begin with some idea of the prehistoric conditions in Great Britain, and have a map study. Follow with a sketch of the Druids, the Celts and their folk lore and the Arthurian legends.
The Roman conquest comes next. Read Tennyson's "Boadicea." Discuss: What did Rome give England of permanent value?
The early Saxons will bring in the coming of St. Augustine to England and the history of early Christianity there. Read of Cædmon at Whitby and the Venerable Bede, as the beginnings of English literature.
Following this will be the stories of Alfred and his reforms, of Edward the Confessor, and Harold. Read from the "Death of Columba" (Bede's Ecclesiastical History, Bohn's Library), Bulwer's "Harold," and "Beowulf" (translation in Riverside Literary Series, Houghton Mifflin & Co.).
The economic and political changes of this time should be especially emphasized. Domesday Book, Magna Charta, the development of the feudal system, chivalry, the rise in power of the nobles, the hardships of the poor, the Normans on the Continent, and the Crusaders, with their effect on commerce, are all to be taken up. Have readings from Charles Kingsley's "Hereward the Wake," Scott's "Talisman," and Maurice Hewlett's "Richard Yea-and-Nay."
The list of the Plantagenet kings is long and their reigns are full of interest, but the main emphasis here, as under the Normans, belongs to the development of the nation. Take the subjects of the building of universities; the growth of Parliament; the increase of learning among the people; and Chaucer, with the"Canterbury Tales" as pictures of the life of the times.
In studying Edward III read of his relations with Scotland and France, and give an account of his famous battles. With the reign of Richard II comes the Peasants' Revolt. Discuss: How did it represent the spirit of the age?
An interesting account may be given of Henry IV and Henry V. Give some idea of the Wars of the Roses, and close the period with an account of the Princes in the Tower, Caxton and printing, and the English Bible. Read from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, and Richard III; also Stevenson's "The Black Arrow," Rossetti's "The King's Tragedy," De Quincey's "Joan of Arc."
At this point the story of Modern England begins. Under Henry VII notice the attempts of pretenders to the throne. Read of some of the famous men of the time.
Henry VIII is one of the best known characters in history. Speak of his tyrannical rule, his matrimonial ventures, his quarrel with the Pope and its results; the Field of the Cloth ofGold; of the English Reformation, Tyndale's New Testament and More's "Utopia." Tell of the brief reign of Edward VI.
Mary and the terrible persecutions follow this, with the connection of England and Spain. Notice the fate of Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer; read the tragic story of Lady Jane Grey.
The reign of Elizabeth is one of the wonderful periods of history. Have papers on her religious and political policies; her relations with Mary, Queen of Scots; the war with Spain; relations with Holland; the Invincible Armada, and kindred subjects. From a literary standpoint the age is of supreme importance, with Shakespeare heading a long list of famous names. Discuss the Elizabethan stage. Have brief sketches of Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Bacon, and Spenser, with readings.
The study of the Stuarts begins with James I.
When studying Charles I, take up the struggle of the King with Parliament, the "forced loans," the King's favorites, and the beginning of the Civil War.
At this time Cromwell becomes the most conspicuous figure in European history. Have several meetings on the Commonwealth, and a study of Cromwell as a man and a leader. Notice that Home Rule in Ireland first comes into prominence. Subjects for papers may be: Milton and his influence; Lovelace and his verses; The Women of the Civil War (see Traill's "Social England"). Read also from Carlyle's "Cromwell," "Evelyn's Diary" and Browning's "Strafford."
With Charles II disaster came again to England. Read from "Old St. Paul" by Wm. Harrison Ainsworth (Everyman's Library). Have a paper on James II and another on the coming to England of William and Mary, the Battle of the Boyne and the new régime. Read from Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," Dryden's "Annus Mirabilis," Scott's "Peveril of the Peak," Blackmore's "Lorna Doone."
The time between this period and that of the Victorian Age should have several meetings. Study the Bill of Rights and its effect; also the reign of Queen Anne, the writers and the politics of the day.
Then turn to the Georges and give an account of their curious court life.
The reign of George III touches on our own history. Take up our Revolution and that of France. Notice the great industrial changes in England, and read from Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations." Napoleon, the war in Spain, Wellington and Waterloo, England and the Slave Trade, and Lord Nelson, should all be emphasized.
Study among others, the painters Gainsborough, Romney, and Reynolds; have one meeting on these and another on the furniture of the times and its famous makers, and Wedgwood china. See "The Secret History of the Court of England," by Lady Hamilton (The Page Company).
Several meetings must certainly be given to the reign of Victoria, one of the most celebrated in history. The first paper may deal with her as a woman in her home. Then take up the politics of the times. Have papers on the differentwars: the opium war in China, that in Afghanistan, the Crimea, the Sepoy rebellion, General Gordon and his work.
Add to these, papers on the expansion of England's colonies and their development; social and moral progress; the Reform Bill; the growth of democracy; the increase of industry through invention, and the great expansion in scientific fields, physics, biology, botany, medicine, and sociology.
The Victorian period is remarkable for its writers. Trace the development of the novel as shown in the works of Thackeray, Dickens, and George Eliot, with readings. The trend of poetry and the influence of Tennyson, Browning, and Swinburne may follow this, and then have the Pre-Raphaelite movement with its ideals of art and poetry, and a study of the Rossettis. The essayists must be noticed, especially Macaulay, Carlyle, Ruskin, and Pater, and the subject of painting and music studied with its various exponents.
Last of all comes the study of England in our own time. Begin with papers on Edward VIIand George V, and their ministers, especially noticing Lloyd-George and Asquith; speak of the Welsh Disestablishment Bill, the Education Bill, and the Ulster Question. Notice the English laws concerning women and children; speak also of suffrage. Close with the great war which began in 1914, its causes, leading men and principal events.
Have several meetings on the novelists, poets, playwrights, and artists of to-day. A special study might also be made of the cathedrals of England. See "The Cathedrals of England," by Mary J. Tabor (The Page Company).
The outline given here may be amplified by taking up in the same general way the conditions of life of women in several representative countries, both the rich and poor, the workers and the women of leisure, closing the year with an outlook on the whole woman question of the world.
The first point to be taken up is the life of the primitive woman. She was the great laborer. The man hunted and fished and fought, and the woman sowed and reaped, did the drudgery of the home, made clothing, prepared food, and bore the responsibility. As civilization slowly crept in she relinquished many of her out-of-door tasks and developed greater ability to meet the steadily increasing problems within doors.
Notice where savagery still persists, women remain in the same condition as in primitivetimes. Read of the African women, and the Bushmen of Australia.
The study of the Hebrew women is the next point, for they advanced from a comparatively obscure position to one of honor. The Greek women may be compared with them. Read of the life of the Roman women. Next will come the study of the Anglo-Saxon women, working with their hands, but intelligent and forceful. Study the women of the next period, that of the Crusades. Read of the romantic lives of some, and follow with a paper on the women in convents and their occupations. From this point on, women's work remained much the same for the leisure class; but as life grew socially more complex, work became more intricate and varied.
The study of cottage industries may be mentioned here. Have several papers showing the life of the time our own colonies were established, and the work done by women. The important thing to be noticed is that all women worked; idleness was not in fashion. They spun and wove, they knitted and dyed, they made candles and table linen, and cotton and woolen clothing. Some few still carried on cottageindustries or taught dames' schools, and a few managed farms or kept shops or taverns; but most of them were employed in the home exclusively.
About the middle of the nineteenth century came the great world-wide industrial revolution which forever changed women's work, and for a time the work of men. Read of the introduction of machines into the English districts where the hand looms had been in use. Have papers or talks on conditions everywhere in this transition period. This was the beginning of the great work of women in factories. Especially in New England, factory work became a large part of life. Daughters of farmers, of shop-keepers, of the owners of the mills themselves, and many school-teachers in vacation, were employed from five o'clock in the morning until seven o'clock in the evening. There was no social stigma put upon them. Read from the early history of Mount Holyoke.
Mill towns were considered models of quietness and morality because of the presence of hundreds of women. Their life was full of intellectual stimulation; lyceums brought the best lecturers: Emerson, Lowell, and other greatwriters and orators often spoke; the women edited and published little newspapers of their own. Lucy Larcom was a mill girl; read her poem called "An Idyl of Work," and her paper published in theAtlantic Monthly, volume 48, called "Mill Girls' Magazines."
But the hours of work were too long, the boarding houses too poor, the pay too meager. Gradually the American girl was replaced by the foreigner, and this period of work was at an end.
From this point factory work, as we know it, will open before the club. Study it especially in relation to cigar and cigarette and candy making, and in clothing industries of all sorts. Describe conditions as factory inspection has discovered them; notice the unsafe buildings, the long hours, heavy fines, and low pay. Discuss what should be done to remedy such evils. Have some of these questions taken up: Should Women Enter Trade Unions, or Is Organization Unnecessary? Do Strikes Pay? Should Women Insist on Compensation for Injuries and Old-Age Pensions? Can a Woman Work All Day and Still Bear Healthy Children and Bring Them Up Properly? Should ThereBe Mothers' Pensions? What of Night Work for Women? Describe the life of the night scrub-woman in a city. Read "The Long Day."
Turning to the work of women in shops, notice that it was about 1859 when the first women took this up. Compare the conditions then with conditions to-day. Describe welfare work. Discuss the "living wage," and question whether this should not depend on competence. What of lack of recreation and social life? Does the low wage drive girls to immorality? What can be done locally to better conditions in our shops?
This all leads up to the enormous subject of women's work to-day. It is said that three hundred lines of work are open to them, and clubs should select what they prefer to study. Among the many books of reference to be found on these and similar topics are: "Woman and Labor," Olive Schreiner (F. A. Stokes Co.); "Women and Economics," Charlotte Perkins Stetson (Small, Maynard); "Women in Industry," Edith Abbott (D. Appleton & Co.); "The American Business Woman," J. H. Cromwell (G. P. Putnam's Sons); "Women's Share in Social Culture," Anna G. Spencer (Mitchell Kennerley);"The Long Day," D. Richardson (Century Co.); "Woman and Social Progress," Scott and Nellie Nearing (The Macmillan Co.); "The Girl Who Earns Her Own Living," Anna Steese Richardson (Dodge); "How Women May Earn a Living," Helen C. Candee (The Macmillan Co.); "The Business of Being a Woman," Ida M. Tarbell (The Macmillan Co.); "Mrs. Julia Ward Howe and the Suffrage Movement," by Florence Howe Hall (The Page Company).
Clubs may begin this study with the problems of the woman in the tenement. There is the home itself. She is hampered by a small, crowded space in which to bring up the family; there is insufficient light and air, it is too cold in winter and too hot in summer; there are few conveniences for washing or cooking; beds are generally uncomfortable, the walls are cumbered with clothing, there is no space for the children to play and no privacy.
The first paper may describe the home in detail and be followed with a reading from "How the Other Half Lives," by Jacob Riis.
The next paper may take up certain difficulties of management the woman in the tenement must contend with. If she takes in work, tailoring, or flower making, or anything of the kind, space is even less than before. If she goes outto work, the care of the house falls on the children, who are overworked and neglected. She seldom knows how to buy economically, or cook appetizingly, or make clothing for her family. If the husband loses work, she must feel the stress of need. All the tenement life tends to send the children to the streets for amusement and air, the husband to the saloon for entertainment. The boys are apt to grow up without the instincts of home, and the girls often become immoral.
The third paper may present some solutions of her various problems. There are laws requiring space and air in tenements, and landlords who neglect their buildings may be made to better them; the work of the Legal Aid Association in these and other respects is to be studied.
Then women of the tenements should be brought into touch with Friendly Visitors and settlements, taught to clean up, to sew, to buy, to cook, to make home attractive. The children must be put into day nurseries if the mother goes out; the school teacher must come in to advise about the growing children; the music settlement may possibly give a hand; certainlythe classes for boys and girls in the settlements, and the libraries, and evenings of recreation there may help them. The Little Mothers' Aid Association, and the fresh air work, the recreation piers, the small parks, and many other helps may be drawn upon. All these and others should be described.
Read from the report of the "Housing Reform," published by the Charities Publication Committee at 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York; also from the pamphlet on "Remedial Loans," National Federation of Remedial Loan Associations, 31 Union Square, New York, and the report of the Little Mothers' Aid Association, 236 Second Avenue, New York, and from material from the National Federation of Settlements, 20 Union Park, Boston.
The second meeting may be on the subject of the sick poor, in country and city. One paper may be on personal experiences among the poor in country districts—what their conditions are, what is lacking, how to help them without injuring their pride. Discuss how relief can be given without pauperization. If possible havesome one speak of the work in the country, such as is done by the neighborly settlement of Keene Valley, New York.
The state of things among the city poor is even worse than in the country. Mention the trouble if the man of the house is sick and out of work, and there is no other wage earner. Speak of the state of things when there is a new-born baby; describe the sick child alone all day with few toys or none, and the chronic invalid in the slums. Read "The Lady of Shallott," by Elizabeth Phelps Ward in Little Classics.
The third paper or talk may present the brighter side of the picture. It may tell of what individuals have done in great gifts for hospitals, clinics, and work for cripples and babies, of pure milk and free ice, of dispensaries, of food for convalescents, of floating hospitals, and parties of mothers and babies at the seashore. Read from descriptions of these and other helpful society work.
Notice also what is being done in teaching consumptives to live on the roof, in keeping babies safely on the fire escape, in the work of the visiting nurse, the care of the cancerous poor,and the general wave of helpfulness going out in every quarter. Information on all these points and others may be had by writing to the charity organization of any large city, or to a settlement. Club women should make practical these two subjects—of the tenement-house woman and the sick poor—by discussing what the club can do to help.
The third problem for study is that of the woman who works for pay in the home. This naturally falls into two divisions:
There is first the woman who takes in sewing, either by the piece or by wholesale, making trousers or cloaks, or artificial flowers, or conducting any of the home trades. Have a presentation of each of these, with the hours spent on the work, the pay, the effect on health, and the lack of care the children receive.
The second part of the subject is that of domestic service. One paper should be on employment bureaus, their worth, the morals of many of them, and the laws governing them.
A second brief paper may be on referencesand their ethics. The subjects of the supply and demand of servants, of the relation of mistress and maid, of the hours of work, of wages, of the maid's room, her time off, her friends, the care of sick and old servants, may all follow. Discuss: What can be done to give us better servants? Do servants' unions help matters or make them worse? Are clubs for servants desirable? Can employers combine to make relations between mistresses and maids better?
Work in the factory is the problem which follows next. The sweatshop work is of great importance. Note how many women are away from home all day; how there is a season of overwork and a dull season without pay; the steady use of the sewing machine, with or without power; the poor ventilation and sanitation of the shops; the dim light, causing loss of eyesight; the fines; the effect of noise and confusion on the nerves of the women; all these are of deep interest. Read from the reports of the National Consumers' League, to be obtained by writing to Mrs. Florence Kelley, 106 East Nineteenth Street, New York, and let the club womendecide to insist on the use of the white label on the garments they buy.
The work of manufactories and mills may be divided into as many papers as there is time; there is the work of women in the canneries with its hours of labor and often with night work; the work in mills, the danger from machinery, and the impaired health of employees. Read from "Woman and the Trades" by Elizabeth B. Butler, published by the Russell Sage Foundation, 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York. Discuss the condition of women workers in mills and manufactories, and the strength of their children. Where mills are near at hand clubs may find out if the machinery is protected, if there is accident insurance or an employers' liability, and whether there are pensions.
There may be a paper, to close the subject, on strikes of women workers and how much they have accomplished. Read from "Fatigue and Efficiency," by Josephine Goldmark.
The problem of child labor properly comes under the problems of women, for the mother isresponsible for the child's health and development. The first topic is that of the child at home who must take the mother's place, do the housework, care for the children, assume the responsibility. What of her health and schooling?
Then there is the child who does paid work at home, extracts nut meats, makes artificial flowers and the like. What of its pay? Is it a fair one? What of the effect of long hours of confinement?
Street occupations come next; these are largely taken by boys, and the work of the newspaper seller, the district messenger, the boot-black, the errand boy, should all be studied. Is their health impaired? Are their morals endangered? Are the boys educated?
The work of children in mills and factories is often most distressing. Conditions in glass factories, mines, canneries, silk mills, in the shrimp industry, and in the Southern cotton mills are all to be studied. Note the great numbers of children so employed: in Pennsylvania in 1914, 33,000; in Massachusetts, 12,000; in North Carolina, 10,000, and in other States large numbers. Discuss the future of such children.Compare the work of bound-out children on farms and in the country generally. Read Mrs. Browning's "Cry of the Children" and E. K. Coulter's "Children in the Shadow."
One meeting should take up the laws of the State on child labor. See "Some Ethical Gains Through Legislation," by Mrs. Florence Kelley, which gives valuable material on this point, and a pamphlet by Josephine Goldmark, called "Child Labor Legislation," published by the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia. The Child Labor Committee at 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York, will send pamphlets free of charge.
The next great problem of woman's work to-day is that of the workers in retail shops. This may be made extremely interesting if the chairman of the program will arrange to have the club members interview in advance a number of shop girls, and find out something of the conditions under which they work, of their pay, their home life and other points, and give personal reports.
One paper or talk may be on the usual hoursof work, the kind of work done, the hours of overwork, the pay, the prospect of advancement. A second paper may be on the rest-room, the noon hour, the luncheon provided for pay, and especially on what is known as "welfare work," which many large shops do.
A third paper may discuss the relation of the girls to their employers, or to the floor walker; telling of care or tyranny, of fines, of the sanitary conditions of cloak rooms, of the effect on health of long standing.
This may be followed by a third paper on the cost of a shop girl's living; of room rent, food, clothing, car fares and recreation; how does the result compare with her pay? Discuss the minimum wage. Is it fair to pay alike the competent and incompetent? Is immorality due to a low living wage? Can a girl save for illness? Read "An Unfinished Story," by O. Henry, in "The Four Million." (Doubleday.)
Have different women suggest what can be done to help the shop girl. Describe what is called "preventive work," done largely by girls from college in the evening, and the work of the Y. W. C. A., and settlements. What can club women do by way of personal acquaintance andinterest? What of short shopping hours and early Christmas shopping?
Read from a paper called "The Club Worker," published by the National League of Women Workers; address, Hotel Savoy, New York; and from "Saleswomen in Mercantile Stores," by Elizabeth B. Butler, published at 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York.
The problems of the business woman in a larger way will naturally follow this. One paper may speak of women who are managing farms and ranches, others who have become the heads of business houses or real estate offices; some who are chemists, or designers or decorators; those who have tea rooms, who buy for importing houses or engage in catering. The work of the great army of stenographers and private secretaries would also come under this topic.
Present the different fields of work, and illustrate with examples as far as possible, and then discuss these and similar questions: Do women naturally incline to business? Is their home training at fault for the many mistakesof the average woman? Should fathers see that their daughters understand something of banking, of keeping accounts, of investments, of managing an income? How much should a girl know of business? Should every girl be able to earn a living?
The problems of a professional woman may be made the subject of several meetings. Present the lives of the doctor, the nurse, the lawyer, the professor, the school teacher, the writer, the artist, the musician, and discuss in each case the difficulties she has to contend with.
Such questions as these may follow: Should professional women marry? Are their home lives well developed? Are they fitted for the career of the law? Do writers and artists tend to become bohemians? What are the relations of men and women in the same profession?
The last subject for the year's study is the relation of women and the State. One paper may take up some of the laws which govern her,concerning property; a second may speak of divorce, and show the diversity of the laws of different States; a third may tell of the influence of women on legislation, of lobbying and appearing before committees. The desirability of placing women on certain state and municipal boards such as health, sanitation, care of defectives, vice commissions, reformatories, and schools should be fully presented.
The subject of equal suffrage will develop from this last topic of the year and both sides should be taken up as fully or as slightly as the club desires. Reports of the progress of suffrage in different States, what has been accomplished where it is established, and kindred themes, will suggest themselves. Read from Olive Schreiner's "Woman and Labor" (Stokes); Ellen Key's "The Woman Movement" (Putnam); and Ida Tarbell's "The Business of Being a Woman" (Macmillan).
Ten club meetings are planned here, but as many more may be arranged by taking up the work of other men along the same lines as those mentioned.
The great sculptor of our day is Auguste Rodin. He was born in Paris in 1840, studied at the Petit École and later with Barye. From the latter he gained the double idea that statuary should suggest action and be literally life-like. Some of his statues are "St. John the Baptist," "The Hand of God," "The Thinker," "Adam and Eve." "The Bronze Age," now in the Luxembourg, caused a heated controversy, the charge being made that a plaster cast of the model had been used. Rodin is a pronounced realist and his figures are filled with force. He has inspired this generation of sculptors with a new conception of their work.
Read from "The Life and Work of Rodin," by Frederick Lawton (Scribner). For other meetings on modern sculpture study the work of St. Gaudens, Lorado Taft, MacMonnies, Niehaus, Mrs. Vonnoh, Miss Yandell, Mrs. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and others.
Edmond Rostand, the dramatist, represents the literary playwright. He was born in 1869, and educated in Paris. His first play, "Les Romanesques," was staged in 1894. The next year came "La Princesse Lointaine," and two years later "La Samaritaine." But the height of Rostand's brilliant career was reached when he presented "Cyrano de Bergerac," a heroic comedy which took the artistic and literary world by storm. "L'Aiglon" followed this, and Rostand was then honored with an election to the French Academy.
"Chantecler" appeared in 1910; it was an attempt to imitate Aristophanes by putting birds and animals on the stage, but though largely advertised it was not a success.
Read from the study of Rostand in E. E. Hale's "Dramatists of To-day" (Holt). Havea number of selections read from "Cyrano" and "L'Aiglon." A meeting on Maeterlinck should follow this, and another on Ibsen, with criticism, comparisons, and readings.
The man who has made philosophy popular to-day is William James. He was born in New York City, educated in London, Paris, Boulogne, and Geneva, and then in the scientific and medical schools of Harvard; he became professor of psychology and philosophy there. His chief books are "Principles of Psychology," "The Will to Believe," "Human Immortality," "Varieties of Religious Experience," "Pragmatism," and "A Pluralistic Universe." He died in 1910.
Professor James, like his brother, Henry James the novelist, was a man of letters. He dealt with the fundamental problems of human life in a distinctly fresh way and wrote of them in a style of singular clearness, vivacity, and humor. His philosophy is based on the idea that truth is that which has the value of truth to us.
Many clubs would enjoy a whole year of studyof James's books. At least there should be several meetings for readings from "The Will to Believe," and "Pragmatism," and from the biography, "William James," by Emile Boutroux (Longmans).
Study also the work of the French philosopher, Bergson, and that of the German, Eucken, recent visitors to America.
Gen. William Booth was, religiously, one of the notable figures of our times; but aside from that he was one of the greatest organizers of his generation. Born in Nottingham, England, in 1829, he early became a Wesleyan Methodist, but later independent. He founded the society which developed into the great Salvation Army, modeled after the English Army, but involving a discipline even more strict.
At first Booth met bitter opposition: churches where he had preached formerly were closed to him; he was called a mountebank and accused of having brought religion into contempt; but he steadily won favor for obviously great good done. In 1890 he published his book, "In Darkest England and the Way Out," suggesting socialand religious methods of helping the very poor. This book made his work respected by intelligent men everywhere. He died in 1912. Telegrams of sympathy were sent to his family by kings and emperors, presidents, governors, and great men of all nations. His funeral was a wonderful spectacle.
Read from the "Life of General William Booth," by G. S. Bailton, published by Doran, and have several papers written on different phases of the work of the Army. Read the poem: "General William Booth enters Heaven," by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay (Mitchell Kennerley).
Another great religious leader of the times was Dwight L. Moody; have a meeting on his evangelistic work and the Northfield schools.
Clubs will be interested to follow this study with one of a man who inspired as great a work as Booth, and founded as important an institution—Arnold Toynbee, the originator of the social settlement.
Toynbee was born in London in 1852. He spent ten years at Oxford as undergraduate,tutor and lecturer, and there came under the influence of Buskin's social teachings. He took a deep interest in trades unions, and worked for better hours, more sanitary homes, open spaces in cities, and free libraries.
In 1875 he took lodgings in Whitechapel, one of London's worst slums, in order to live among the poor and help them in a neighborly way. On account of his delicate health he was unable to continue there long; but his example brought other Oxford men, and when he died in 1883 they organized a social university settlement and called it Toynbee Hall. This was the first fully equipped institution of the kind, and at once it attracted attention everywhere and was immediately followed by the establishment of others in England and America, and later in all lands. To-day in the United States alone there are more than five hundred such settlements.
Read "Arnold Toynbee," by F. C. Montague, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, and see the "Handbook of Settlements," by R. A. Woods, published by the Sage Foundation, New York. Clubs may also have a meeting on Jane Addams and Hull House, and readchapters from the book, "Twenty Years at Hull House," by Miss Addams (Macmillan).
Thomas Edison is one of the greatest inventive mechanical geniuses who ever lived. His life story is outwardly uneventful. He was born in Ohio in 1847, and at twelve became a train boy; he took advantage of an empty express room in a car and printed a little newspaper calledThe Grand Trunk Herald, and also carried on chemical and electrical experiments there. These came to an end when he set fire to the car accidentally, and was dismissed by the angry conductor.
He learned telegraphy and practiced it in several cities, coming after a time to New York. There he invented a printing telegraph machine, known as "the ticker," to record stock quotations. This brought him in forty thousand dollars and enabled him to set up his famous laboratory at Menlo Park, in New Jersey.
His first really great invention was the quadruplex telegraph, which makes it possible to send four messages over one wire at the same time. Next came the carbon transmitter. Edison'sthird great work was the discovery of the carbon filament for the incandescent light, and his next the phonograph, which has developed into extended and various use. His work on the cinematograph has brought moving pictures into a conspicuous place not only for amusement but for education.
Read from "Edison—His Life and Inventions," by F. L. Dyer (Harper). Clubs interested in modern discoveries, should take up in this connection the work of Marconi and the Wright brothers; there is material here for several meetings.
No study of the men of our time would be complete without considering one of the famous financiers of the present age of wealth. Among a group of several, J. Pierpont Morgan stands easily first as the greatest organizer.
Born in Connecticut in 1837, he studied in Boston and later in Germany, and at the age of twenty became a banker. His first large business deal, however, was in the acquisition of a railroad, taking it from the hands of an infamous ring who controlled it and reorganizingit. After this he adopted the syndicate method for floating bonds.
He financed many trunk lines of railway, the ocean steamship business, the coal and railway business of Pennsylvania, the Guarantee Trust Company, with a capital of $150,000,000, and the United States Steel Corporation, with a capital of $1,400,000,000. It is said that he controlled three billion dollars of railway properties.
The secret of Morgan's success lay in his skill in estimating railway values, his unerring memory, and his extraordinary genius for detail. He had immense determination and force hidden behind a profound reticence. His aims were broad and his outlook was over the country as a whole. His fame rests on his ability both as a financier and as a great collector, for he used much of his enormous wealth in building up one of the world's great collections of books, manuscripts, pictures, and curios.
Read from "The Life Story of Pierpont Morgan," by Carl Hovey (Sturgis and Walton). Study the lives of other financiers of our time, comparing and contrasting them, taking especiallythe two men of great wealth, Rockefeller and Carnegie.
William Thomson, later Sir William, and later still Baron Kelvin, the greatest exponent of physical science in our age, was born in Belfast in 1824, the son of a teacher of mathematics. At twenty-two he was made professor of natural philosophy at Glasgow, and he held this position for more than fifty years.
In 1851 he read his first paper before the Royal Society; its subject was "The Dissipation of Energy," and it was the original statement of the law now universally accepted. He made many leading discoveries concerning elasticity, electricity, heat, vortex motion, and magnetism, and was recognized as the leading authority upon them. He was also a practical inventor, with fifty-six patents to his credit. He devised the instrument which made ocean telegraphy practical, the device now universally used for measuring electricity, the present form of the marine compass, the tide gauge, and the deep sea sounding apparatus. He was knighted for his work in 1866 and made Lord Kelvin in1892, besides receiving countless honors from universities, academies, and governments. He died in 1907.
Read from "Lord Kelvin," by Andrew Gray, in the English Men of Science series. Clubs may also study the work of Sir William Ramsay and the Curies.
The finding of the North and South Poles is among the great events of our times. The discoverer of the former was Robert E. Peary, who was born in 1856 in Pennsylvania, was educated at Bowdoin College, and became an engineer in the United States Navy, ranking as lieutenant. In 1886 he explored Greenland and five years later headed an expedition to that country and proved that it is an island.
Four northern trips succeeded this, the latter two under the auspices of the specially formed Peary Arctic Club. He was then given the rank of commander and was made president of the American Geographical Society. In 1905 and 1908 he went north in the shipRoosevelt, and on the latter trip the Pole was reached April 6, 1909.
Clubs should read Peary's own book, "The North Pole," published by Stokes, and also the book written by his wife, "The Snow Baby," the story of the little daughter who was born in the Far North. Read also the account of the claims of Doctor Cook to have found the Pole.
The South Pole was discovered by Roald Amundsen, who was born in Norway in 1872. Like Peary, he became a naval lieutenant. In 1891 he made observations of the East Greenland currents, and two years later he gave nineteen months to observations connected with the magnetic pole. In 1904 he made the Northwest Passage.
In 1910 there was a race to discover the South Pole, between the British, led by Scott, who perished after reaching the goal, and the Danish, led by Amundsen. The latter sailed in the little shipFram, landed on the Great Ice Barrier, marched rapidly on more than eight hundred miles and, December 16, 1911, reached the South Pole.
Read the discoverer's own account: "The South Pole," published by Keedick. Clubs may make a serious study of polar expeditions, which have been many, and of their stories ofbravery and tragedy. Read the books of Sven Hedin.
The construction of the Panama Canal is one of the striking engineering feats of to-day, and its success is owing mainly to George W. Goethals. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1858, was graduated at West Point, and began his career as a second lieutenant of engineers. He taught at West Point for a time, and was chief of engineers during the Spanish-American War and also a member of the Board of Fortifications. After 1907 he was chief engineer of the Panama Canal, and it is his work here that has made him famous. To secure efficiency great power was placed in his hands. He was chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, president of the Panama Railway, and governor of the Canal Zone. He had forty thousand men working under him in different departments.
The completed canal cost $375,000,000 and is one of the most colossal engineering achievements of history.
Read "Panama, Past and Present," by FarnhamBishop (The Century Company), "Panama and the Canal To-day," by Forbes Lindsay (The Page Company), and "Old Panama," by C. L. G. Anderson (The Page Company). Clubs should study also the history of the canal in past years and especially the story of De Lesseps.