p. 432 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 27. (7/14/1914)

Earlier text: The Great Federation of Catholics

Responsibility of Motherhood

By Eulalia S. Richards, M. D.

A Threefold Charge — Time Must Be Found for the Most Needful Thing in Training the Child

By Eulalia S. Richards, M. D.

Of all the blessings bestowed upon the human race by an all-wise Father, none is more precious than parenthood.

The little child brings to his parents a wealth of love and joy, but he also brings a sacred and solemn responsibility. This responsibility is threefold in its character; for has not the babe a body, a mind, and a soul, each of which should be trained for God, who is the giver of the child life?

The Little Body of Helplessness

There is a little body to be cared for during a long period of helplessness, to be nourished with the purest food, to be clothed and washed, to be guarded from physical harm, to be cherished in health and nursed in sickness. There are little feet to be guided in life’s pathway, and small hands which must be taught to perform their share of the world’s work.

There is a young mind to be stored with whatsoever things are pure, true, honest, just, lovely, and of good report, so that there shall be no room for that which is evil. There is a little soul to be guarded from the corrupting influences that are in the world, so that a noble Christian character may be developed.

The Mother’s Responsibility

Such is the responsibility that the little child brings to his parents. While this responsibility should be shared by the parents, the heavier burden, as a rule, must be carried by the mother. The father whose business takes him away from home during the greater part of the day, sees but little of his children, and consequently has less opportunity to influence their lives than has the mother. She is with the little ones from dawn until dark, day after day, month after month, year after year. During these years of intimate association with her children, the mother has many precious opportunities to mold their characters not only for time but for eternity.

What a pity that we mothers become so absorbed in keeping our houses in order, preparing the meals, making, washing, ironing, and mending innumerable little garments, blacking small boots, and washing little hands and faces, that we find no time for the culture of our children’s minds and souls!

Food and Clothing a Part Only

When we have provided our little ones with a clean and comfortable home, with wholesome food and suitable clothing, we have performed but a part of our duty. We have merely provided for their physical development. We need also to give earnest thought to their mental and spiritual growth. The words of our Master might well be applied to us, “These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

But we hear the cry from many weary, overburdened mothers: “How can we do more than we are doing? We are busy from early morning till late at night. How can we find time for companionship with our children?”

We realize the difficulties these busy mothers experience, for we know how much work is entailed in the making of a home and the rearing of a family. But surely, by the help of Him who has promised, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be,” we may each one be enabled to perform rightly our whole duty to our children.

Recognize the Most Important Duty

In many cases, the difficulty lies in the mother’s failure to recognize her most important duty. As mothers we need to learn what are the really big things in life, the things that are worth while. We need to learn how to let slip those things which are of no vital importance to the welfare of our children.

“There is a little soul to be guarded from the corrupting influences that are in the world.”

How pathetic to see a frail mother spending weary hours needlessly decorating her child’s frock or bonnet, when instead she might be adorning the little one’s mind and heart! A clean, healthy child is the most beautiful thing in God’s world, and needs no elaborately decorated garments to enhance its charms. But, O, let us do more than this! Let us each one endeavor to make our home the happiest place on earth for those who have been entrusted to our care. Let us so simplify the routine of our daily domestic life that we shall find time for the helpful word and the kindly deed,—time to live with our children.

Thus shall we bestow upon our children a priceless treasure, the cherished memory of a happy childhood. Thus shall we be enabled, by God’s help, to fit our children for the responsibilities of manhood and womanhood.

Receiving Better than Renouncing

It is better to make people desire the Christian life than to make them afraid of it. And they are more likely to desire it if our lives show them what Christ can bring to them, than if we are constantly telling them what He is going to take away from them.

The heart message of the gospel, after all, is what God gives us, not what we give Him. Some are doubtless antagonized and turned away from the real meaning of Christianity

by being told too insistently that they must surrender, and give up things that mean much to them, instead of being shown the delights and privileges and possessions and freedom and power of the Christian life.

A person whose whole life is a constant song of joy because of what Christ is to him, is a better “epistle” of Christ to the world than one who talks chiefly about what we must give up in order to have Christ in His fulness. It is easy to give up everything after we see that we are to receive more than we could ever give up.—Sunday School Times.

Parental Responsibility

By J. W. Lowe

The Law of Heredity

SOME one has said that the proper time to commence molding the character of a child is two hundred years before it is born. This may seem a very strange expression, but it is only a happy way of emphasizing the importance of a great law—the law of heredity.

Children ordinarily partake of the nature of their parents, but it is not an uncommon thing for a child to be almost a perfect reproduction of one of its grandparents or great grandparents. Ancestral traits of character often crop out in children.

It is declared that the most besotted drunkards have inherited a tendency to drunkenness, and that this inheritance often dates back as far as two or three generations. Then how important it is that men and women should be ever moral and exemplary, that they may not be responsible for wrecked lives in their children or other descendants!

Children have a right to be well born. But how can they be well born when their parents and grandparents and great grandparents have been violators of all that is good and pure? Many a child has been born mentally depraved or mentally unbalanced, because of its mother's mental state before its birth. O that parents would realize their responsibility in this matter! It is a terrible thing to bring a crippled character into this world.

J. W. Lowe.

TEMPERANCE

Here is a group of leaflets on temperance that is selling by the hundreds of thousands, and will exert a tremendous influence in the prohibition campaign now opening throughout the United States and Canada:

The Demons’ Council

A unique eight-page document, written in allegorical style. It shows how the liquor traffic has grown and fastened its hideous fangs on the souls of human beings, leaving wreck and ruin in its path.

Price a hundred, post-paid .........$ .50

Prohibition or the Liquor Traffic Which?

This tract in the main consists of admissions from the opponents of prohibition as to the evils growing out of the liquor traffic. Here is one of their admissions: “It deliberately aids the most corrupt political powers, and backs with all of its resources the most unworthy men, the most corrupt and recreant officials. It does not aid the purification of municipal, state, or national administration. Why?—Because it has to ask immunity for its own lawlessness.”

The terrible arraignment of the liquor interests by the liquor dealers themselves makes this one of the strongest documents produced in favor of prohibition.

Price a hundred, post-paid .........$ .50

Story of a Dry Town

Experience is the best teacher. This four-page leaflet tells an interesting story of a town as it was two years ago, with seven saloons, and the results two years after the saloons were closed.

Price a hundred, post-paid .........$ .25

Why Does the Saloon Exist?

The liquor dealer argues that from the standpoint of personal rights, he should be allowed to maintain and operate a saloon, and the only obligation is to meet the requirements of the state. Does he have this right? Read what Ex-Governor Patterson and others have to say on this question of personal rights, in this tract.

Price a hundred, post-paid ..........$1.00

Dark Valley Railroad

This document was prepared with special reference to temperance campaigns. Printed in two colors, in the form of a railroad timetable. It contains the names of stations, time of train arrival, and map of the route. It begins with Cigaretville. Some of the stations on the way are Mild Drink, Tipplersville, Bummer’s Roost, Hungry Hollow, Drunkard’s Curve, Deliriumville, Rattlesnake Swamp, and Prisonersburg, and it ends at Perdition. Price a hundred, post-paid. $1.50

It Doesn’t Pay

Does the liquor traffic pay? This is one of the most vital questions under discussion at the present time. If the individual who argues that it does pay, will read this tract, the candid, truthful answer will come back. No, it does not pay.

The tract contains 16 pages and is well illustrated. Price a hundred, post-paid. $1.00

The Wine Industry and Prohibition

An unanswerable reply to the claim that prohibition would throw 75,000 people out of employment in California and render valueless 170,000 acres of land.

Contains 16 pages, with illustrated heading. Price a hundred, post-paid .........$1.00

Pocket Package No. 4

Four hundred pages of the above tracts in a strong manila envelope, post-paid....$ .25

Address your tract society or

PACIFIC PRESS PUB. ASSN., Mountain View, Cal. Portland, Ore., Kansas City, Mo., Calgary, Alta., Can.

A New Book for Children

Gospel Primer No. 2 promises to be as popular with the boys and girls as is the first Gospel Primer, whose sale has already been upward of two million copies. This new book contains 76 Bible stories most interestingly told, each made very attractive by having with it a beautiful colored sketch showing the characters and main features of the story. These cover much of the Old Testament history, and the principal events in the life of Christ. A pleasing and instructive opening feature is an illustrated Bible alphabet. The book has 96 pages, and is bound in durable and attractive cloth. Price, post-paid, 50 cents. (10% higher in Canada.)

Pacific Press Publishing Association Mountain View, California Portland, Ore. Calgary, Alta. Kansas City, Mo.

WANTED

Two thousand dollars for three to five years (on or before), with interest. Security, first mortgage on $100,000 worth of property.

Garden City Sanitarium, San Jose, California.

Sanitarium Cooking Oil

“THE OIL OF QUALITY”

Pure Cotton Seed Oil direct from refinery. Sweet, wholesome, and delicious. 4 1-gallon cans, $3.60; 5-gallon can, $3.90; 2 5-gallon cans, $7.70; 30-gallon barrel, $20.80; 50-gallon barrel, $32.75. Cash with order. Sanitarium Cooking Oil Co., Louisville, Kentucky.

August SIGNS MAGAZINE

By Editor

THE POWER OF A MESSAGE

A truth that produces the same sanctifying effects upon every people of the world. A. G. Daniells

THE WORD OF GOD THE UPLIFTING AGENCY

The Bible to the world — Its influence. I. H. Evans

PROVIDENTIAL AGENCIES FOR A QUICK WORK

To be finished in this generation — Intercommunication, transportation, transmission — Their real significance. W. A. Spicer

LOVE THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF GOD’S RULE

Revealed at crucifixion — The true nature of Satan’s kingdom also revealed. R. C. Porter

WALKING IN THE LIGHT

A work of reform in this generation — God’s word the test — Our relation to God depends upon our obedience. Mrs. E. G. White

THE SINNER’S FATE

What will it be? — A fair question and a clear answer — What the Bible says. William Covert

SPIRITISM

Its nature — Some interesting facts regarding it. Jean Vuilleumier

GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE IN CHRIST

The one foundation — Testing truths for every age — The test for our time. T. E. Bowen

REASON OR REVELATION

Modern thought and where it leads — Three centuries of progress — What is it leading to? George McCready Price

CURRENT EVENTS

Relating strongly to Christian freedom and Sabbath observance — A valuable selection. Well illustrated.

A real message number. The clear note of gospel triumph in every article. Be sure to get a copy for yourself and a few for your neighbors.

Single copies ten cents.

Five to forty copies, five cents each.

Address our depository for your state or SIGNS OF THE TIMES MAGAZINE, Mountain View, California

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Labor-Union Problems in Russia

In special correspondence published in the San Jose Mercury Herald, a European author, after calling attention to the hundred and thirty thousand men in St. Petersburg alone who went on strike on May-day, tells of the excessive quantity of liquor in which they had indulged. He says: “Such wide-spread drunkenness has never before been observed among the working men. Apparently the constant strikes are exercising a demoralizing influence.”

Character of the Labor Movement

He states that in the discussions in the Duma, regarding the labor movement, “a striking speech was delivered by M. Purishkevitch,” in which “he produced documents disclosing the character of the labor movement.” Among the things he presented “was a letter from one of the labor leaders, outlining a plan for capturing naval shipyards and war-ships.” Another document was in the form of “an appeal from the Polish socialists in Galicia to their countrymen within the Russian borders, issued in February, 1913, calling upon them to organize and direct all their energies against the Russian empire. The emancipation of the kingdom of Poland from the Russian yoke was to be their task in the event of war between Russia and her two neighbors. The Jews were promised that under the new dispensation they would enjoy the fullest freedom and equality.”

Keep Them Down with Iron Hand

In replying to this speech, the leader of the monarchist organizations said “that all labor organizations should be kept down by an iron hand, and that the monarchist organizations and their organs in the press should be supported out of the state treasury.”

A Secret Committee

The correspondent says that labor organizations in Russia are unable to exist openly, and that they have in consequence been thrown “under the sway of a secret committee, whose will is law.” “No man dares to dispute their orders. Short shrift is given to the recalcitrant ones, and vengeance pursues them, even if they choose to return to their villages. Attempts to disobey the committee are not numerous. Taken between the upper millstone of the secret committee, the Russian working man has very little choice except to obey the latter.”

Wide-Spread Influence of the Committee

The perfect control and the wide-spread influence of this secret committee were recently illustrated by an intimation made to the authorities that a certain casting pertaining to a battle-ship could not be produced. It was taken from one shop to another; and soon as it appeared, the men, without warning, went on strike. This secret committee is where the police can not get hold of it nor find out the persons that compose it. But its powerful hand is seen through the work it is performing.

Greed at the Bottom of It

Many people are disposed to blame the laboring man for such conditions; but the facts are that greed, not only in Russia, but in all the countries of the world, has continued to oppress labor until the laboring man is beginning to cry out. In saying this, it is not our purpose to endorse the many wrong things that are done by the great leaders in labor movements. But the oppression of the laborer is there, just the same, as is shown not only in Russia, but in our own beloved America, where ten million people are shown, by reliable statistics, to be living below the “bread line”—in other words, to be suffering want.

The reason we know for a certainty that the poor are oppressed and repressed in this time is because one of the prophecies of the divine Word, applying to these conditions, says, “Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.” James 5:4.

This whole world, through the oppressions that have been accumulating for nearly a generation, is facing conditions that may well make the stoutest hearts tremble. But there is a rift of light in the dark cloud; for in this same fifth chapter of James we read the divine statement, “Behold, the Judge standeth before the door.”

Eternal justice will soon be meted out by the great hand of the Omnipotent; and when that time comes, those who will stand under the protection of the Almighty will be those who are not a party to any of this strife, but who have clearly seen, through the prophecies, what it all portends.

Meat Eating and the Death-Rate

THE Health Department of New York City sends out the statement that “most Americans eat too much meat—a habit which is largely to blame, in the opinion of physicians, for the increased death-rate in persons over forty years old.”

Meat eating by human beings is as unnatural as it is unwholesome. Thousands of men can be found who are better nourished and in a far healthier condition while living on an exclusively vegetarian diet than are any of those whose dietary is largely made up of meat. The vegetarian has cleaner, better blood, and a better hold on life in every way, provided he is intelligent in his course of living, and follows the best light that may be had upon that subject.

Of course, there are many cranks who have made the cause of vegetarianism particularly obnoxious, but there is a strong foundation underlying it nevertheless.

To Be a World Power

THE editor of the Western Watchman, Catholic, in a recent issue, says that the editor of the Literary Digest, Mr. Joyce Kilmer, and his wife, have become Roman Catholics. He furthermore states that Mr. Kilmer is “a frequent contributor to the leading American periodicals. Mrs. Kilmer is a stepdaughter of Henry M. Alden, the author, and the editor of Harper’s Magazine.” Before joining the Catholic Church, Mr. Kilmer, says the Watchman, was an Episcopalian.

News items of this character are among the innumerable evidences of the growing strength of that ecclesiastical body. The prophecies have made it plain that the Catholic Church is again to become a world power, and that the climax of her assumption of power is to be met by the supreme climax of the second coming of Christ, who will meet in person the apostasy of the world that would make it possible for such an ecclesiastical tyranny to establish itself here. These are things that are just as important for Catholics to study as for Protestants themselves. The triumph of the papacy will be of but very short duration, and will end in utter destruction. No one can afford to go down with it. We should stand with God upon the solid foundation of His word. If ever there was a time when men needed to know the power of God’s word, and stand upon it, it is in this day of growing apostasy and of general tendency toward a world-wide church despotism.

From Some of the Best Families

GEORGE J. KNEELAND, in his address before the General Federation of Women's Clubs convened in Chicago, stated that in their investigations in connection with the white slave traffic, and girls who have gone astray, they have found that the most dangerous age is from fifteen to eighteen, and that the girls who have been decoyed away by the managers of commercialized vice, have often been secreted from the very best families.

Fathers and mothers and guardians of girls should take notice of the warnings that are sent out, and be vigilantly on the alert. Moreover, their daughters, and the girls under their care, should be carefully instructed in regard to all these evils. And above all, they should be taught the strong, pure principles of the gospel of Christ, so that their characters may be lifted above any sordid temptations of vice. They should be shown that which is far better than the ordinary and foolish pleasures and pastimes of the age. The cheap shows, the theaters, and other things of that sort, are traps of the devil to lead young people into positions where it is easy for them to compromise their morality and be led astray.

To “A Reader”

By Editor

It happens every once in a while that some well-minded individual becomes possessed with a strong desire to give the management of this office and the editors of our papers some good advice. But either through bashfulness or for some other reason, they do not see fit to sign their names to their communications. A very common signature to such letters is, “A Reader.”

For the benefit of persons sending such communications, it seems advisable to state to them that it is our invariable custom, on opening a letter, to look for the signature before beginning to read. When we find the letter signed “A Reader,” or in any other like manner, we save our time by throwing it into the waste-basket unread; for what is the advantage of reading a letter from an individual who will not sign his name?

We think that if the “A Readers” among our readers know of this custom, they may either desire to sign their names to what they write, or else save their time, stationery, and postage by not writing at all.

A Special Temperance Issue

By Editor

As is well known, California is to vote, this fall, on a constitutional amendment to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicants in the state. Virginia, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and possibly Texas will vote on the same question.

In view of the importance of this subject, our publishers have decided to devote one entire issue of this paper to the subject of temperance. We will have sample copies ready about July 15, but the paper will be dated September 1, and the plan is to circulate it vigorously and continually until the elections.

We have in hand a splendid list of articles from some of our best writers. The ground is covered in a strong manner.

The art work will present, among other things, some very striking diagrams that depict the story of the drink evil most impressively.

Elder M. C. Wilcox has been requested to take editorial charge of this special Temperance Number, and is devoting all his energies to making it one of the strongest documents that can be produced.

It will be of special service in the states where the people will vote on this question this fall, and it will help to create temperance sentiment in all the other states.

The prices will be: five cents a copy; five to thirty copies, three cents each; forty or more, two and one half cents each.

An Ancient Account of the Flood

Dr. Langdon, professor of Assyriology at Oxford, has recently translated a very interesting tablet, which was unearthed at Nippur, giving an account of the Flood. The tablet mentions Noah as having been saved from the Flood because of his piety; and while it presents some superstitions about Noah's having been translated to a place among the gods, yet the tablet is useful in that it shows that even just before the days of Abraham, the knowledge of the Flood was commonly held by all people.

Prohibition Reduces Distilling

DISTILLERS in Kentucky, are complaining that prohibition activity is causing a tremendous reduction in their output. It is our earnest hope that the good work may go on till their output is absolutely nothing. That is the specific object of prohibition.

Red Cross Disaster Relief

DURING the last nine years, the Red Cross Society has spent over twelve million dollars in aiding people who had been thrown into distress. Seventy-five conspicuous disasters have been encountered in that period.