If these books lead to the study of others, the following are among the best to select: Daudet"s "The Nabob;" Goethe"s "The Sorrows of Werther;"
in connection with Don Quixote, Le Sage"s "Gil Blas;" Tourguenieff"s "Smoke;" Thackeray"s "Henry Esmond;" and in our own literature of the present time, Edith Wharton"s "House of Mirth," and Margaret Deland"s "Iron Woman."
PART II
A STUDY OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
Among the live questions of the day marriage and divorce are conspicuous. Our ideas, as well as our laws, are undergoing radical changes. Women should certainly be intelligent upon this great subject, and this outline will give them material for at least six meetings upon it.
Begin with an account of marriage in ancient times; follow with the customs of different countries down to the present day. Notice that marriage is distinctly a social inst.i.tution.
One meeting should raise the question, Upon what should marriage be based? Among other things these three points should be emphasized: it must be based on love; on physical and mental fitness; and upon mutual interests, especially those which center in the children. Negatively, it should not be based upon mere emotion nor upon a desire for wealth or social advantages.
Discuss the relation between grown children and parents in making a marriage-choice; the age for marriage; the so-called international marriages; frivolous marriages, and other points which will readily suggest themselves. Have club members speak of what they consider the conditions for a happy marriage, and the necessity to-day of training all young men and young women for marriage. Notice that as marriage is a social inst.i.tution, society is bound to safeguard it in every possible way.
Turning to divorce, begin this with a study of its history down to the present time. Follow with a resume of the laws of divorce in the different countries. Note that America leads the world in the number of its divorces, which are two hundred a day. Give the laws in some of the states; point out that South Carolina gives no divorces, that New York gives them for one cause only; that Indiana gives most of all. Mention some of the evils which arise from the difference of state laws.
One meeting should take the subject of the changing sentiment toward divorce. Ellen Key significantly says that one reason for it is our weak moral fiber, which avoids all unpleasantness. Another cause is undoubtedly the tendency toward individualism. Ill.u.s.trate with readings from Ibsen"s "A Doll"s House" at this point. A third cause is the increasing desire for ease and luxury and pleasure of all kinds, which makes a man or woman leave one environment for another which promises more. Have papers or talks on these themes:
Shall divorce be free where love has gone? Read from Ellen Key.
Should divorce be given on other than statutory cause? If so, on what?
Does separation take the place of divorce in most cases?
Would the addition of a civil ceremony to the religious make divorces less frequent?
Would the att.i.tude of society toward hasty marriages, should they be discountenanced, be helpful?
What should be the proper att.i.tude of the State toward divorce? Are the Courts of Domestic Relations of value in preventing them?
Would Divorce Courts, dealing with this whole matter intelligently, be helpful?
What should be the att.i.tude of the church toward divorce?
What is the effect of divorce on children in the home? Has the child a right to one father and one mother even though their att.i.tude toward each other is strained? What is the moral effect on a child in the latter case?
Especially make a point of the question: How much should the individual sacrifice for the good of society? Here read "The Iron Woman" (latter part), by Margaret Deland.
Among the many books on these two subjects read these especially: "Love and Marriage," by Ellen Key (Putnam); "Marriage and Divorce," by Rev.
J. H. Holmes (B. W. Huebsch); "Woman and the Law," by G. J. Bayles (Century Co.); "Marriage as a Trade," Hamilton (Moffat, Yard & Co.); "Women and To-morrow," George (Appleton).
Have reviews also of "Together," by Herrick (Grosset), and "Marriage,"
by Wells (Duffield).
PART III
CHILD LABOR
The subject of Child Labor is one of the vital questions of to-day, and every woman should study and know the conditions, particularly in her own State. Begin with an introductory paper on child labor in the mills of England in the nineteenth century. Read from Mrs. Browning"s "Cry of the Children."
Study the present conditions in America; the mining, canning, gla.s.s-blowing, and factory work occupations, particularly in the South; the tenement-house trades, such as nut-sh.e.l.ling and the making of artificial flowers. Discuss the many evils to which the children are exposed, the lack of rest and exercise, the unsanitary surroundings.
Study the street trades; boot-blacking, newspaper selling, peddling, and the work of the messenger boy; also that of the child on the stage, the conditions under which he must work; the legislation governing these, and the enforcement of the laws.
Take up the causes of child labor, the poverty, and the need to increase the family income; the employer"s att.i.tude toward child labor; the indifference to school. Discuss, How can the school obtain and hold the child? and the vital importance of education. Find out whether the compulsory education law is enforced in your own locality. Speak of the teaching of trades in schools; industrial education by the State; the economic value of education. Read and discuss the state laws on child labor. Are they enforced? Should public opinion against child labor be aroused? Read the reports of exhibitions: Could the club have some sort of an exhibit?
I--THE FAR-REACHING EFFECTS
The effects of child labor are of far-reaching importance. Read the statistics of accident and disease, the stunting of growth, the effect on the child"s mentality and morals from articles in Survey. What percentage of child criminals come from the laboring cla.s.ses? The effect of child labor on the home should be discussed, its tendency to disintegrate; note the physical deterioration, and the unfitness for parenthood in the child who has labored, the loss of vital force in the children mentally and physically in the following generations, and the lowering of standards of American citizenship which must follow.
On each point have readings from pamphlets published by the National Child Labor Committee, 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York City, which will be sent to any one who writes and asks for them. The following will be especially helpful: Child Employing Industries, Child Labor, Child Problems, Child Workers of the Nation, Compulsory Education in the South.
The _Survey_ has quant.i.ties of articles on all the topics. In addition, read from these books:
"Child Labor in City Streets," E. N. Clopper. (Macmillan.) "The Cry of the Children," Mrs. B. Van Vorst. (Moffat, Yard.) "Solution of the Child Labor Problem," S. Nearing. (Moffat, Yard.) "The Children in the Shadow," E. K. Coulter. (McBride, Nast & Co.) "Through the Mill," F. K.
Brown. (Pilgrim Press, Boston.) "Juvenile Offenders," W. D. Morrison.
(Appleton.)
PART IV
AMERICAN NATURE WRITERS
Toward spring clubs which have taken a heavy subject all winter will enjoy a program of ten meetings on our own writers about nature. The life of each should first be fully studied, and there may be many readings from books.
The story of John James Audubon is as interesting as the most romantic novel. Study this in full and describe his great book, "Birds of America"; read from his granddaughter"s (Maria B. Audubon) "Life of Audubon" (Scribner).
Henry David Th.o.r.eau is a unique figure in our literary history. Read some of his poems; also Stevenson"s sketch in "Familiar Studies;" and from "Th.o.r.eau," by F. B. Sanborn (Houghton Mifflin Co.).
John Burroughs is the most popular of our nature writers. Read "Wake Robin," "Birds and Poets," and "Indoor Studies" (Houghton Mifflin Co.).
John Muir though not an American by birth, was our chief scientific writer about nature. Read from "The Mountains of California" (Century Co.); "Our National Parks" (Houghton Mifflin Co.).
Stewart Edward White writes of the mountains and forests. Read: "The Forest" (Doubleday, Page), and "The Pa.s.s" (Outing Co.).
Select chapters from Ernest Thompson Seton"s "The Biography of a Grizzly" (Century Co.), "Lives of the Hunted" (Scribner).
Read from Theodore Roosevelt"s "The Hunting Trips of a Ranchman,"
"Hunting the Grizzly" (Putnam), and "Good Hunting" (Harper).
Read briefly of Henry C. McCook"s life, and then from "Nature"s Craftsmen" (Harper), and "Tenants of an Old Farm" (Jacobs).
Read selections from the books of Mabel Osgood Wright and Olive Thorne Miller.
Have readings from "The Nature Lovers" Treasury," by Carrie T. Lowell (The Page Company).