4H 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



to the common domestic welfare. But 

 the relation of woman throughout has 

 not only been non-competitive, but the 

 fundamental fact in the case is that it 

 has been a relation of protection. Not 

 more in the predatory life of the sav- 

 age than in the highest civilized life, 

 woman has been the protected sex. 

 Her security, and through it the main- 

 tenance of the social order, and the 

 progress that has resulted, have not 

 arisen from the independent competi- 

 tive struggles of woman, but from the 

 identification of her interests with those 

 of man, through the division of their 

 spheres of action. "We await the rea- 

 sons which are to convince us that 

 these deeply-grounded relations must 

 not continue throughout the future of 

 humanity. The precipitation of woman 

 into the outer world of conflicts, where 

 the strongest have their way, would in- 

 volve a dissolution of human society, 

 and is not even possible as an experi- 

 ment. Granting that the protection of 

 woman has always been, and is still, 

 very imperfect, progress must consist 

 in making it more perfect, and not in 

 subverting the order of which it is a 

 natural and necessary part. 



And now let us note the correlative 

 effect upon the home of Dr. Blackwell's 

 thorough-going social reform, and point 

 out its radical error. She says : " There 

 is no reason why what is now done by 

 domestic service should always continue 

 to be so done. As weaving and tailor- 

 ing have gone, so the making of wom- 

 en's and children's clothing is now go- 

 ing. There is no reason inherent in the 

 nature of things why washing, cooking, 

 mending, etc., should not go also, and 

 be done by business organizations from 

 outside, instead of by domestic service. 

 Thus domestic work will be reduced to 

 the minimum, to that part most inti- 

 mately connected with the personal life 

 of the family. The need of domestic 

 service will diminish in the same pro- 

 portion, and the problem it presents 

 will be solved by its diminution or grad- 



ual disappearance." But this process 

 of the "gradual disappearance" of do- 

 mestic activities and their relegation 

 to outside organization is to be carried 

 still further, so as to remove from the 

 home the nurture of even "very young 

 children." " There is nothing which 

 would seem more absolutely dependent 

 upon the mother than the care and 

 training of very young children. Yet 

 the careful study of the best modes of 

 training these early years, which has 

 come in with the Kindergarten, shows 

 how far the nursery alone is from meet- 

 ing their needs; how early and how 

 much skilled teachers, other children, 

 a variety of apparatus that is, outside 

 help are desirable for the best inter- 

 ests of the child, as well as for the as- 

 sistance of the mother." 



It is not surprising that Dr. Black- 

 well should anticipate the very natural 

 objection " that so radical a change in 

 the conditions of household work must 

 imply the destruction of the home as 

 we at present understand it." She in- 

 timates that the dread is illusive, but 

 she by no means replies to the objec- 

 tion. And that the logic of her posi- 

 tion leads inevitably to this result is 

 undeniable. For, when the process of 

 removing all that can be removed from 

 the domestic sphere, and handing it 

 over to outside organization, is com- 

 pleted, not a remnant of family life " as 

 we at present understand it" can re- 

 main. As spinning and weaving, brew- 

 ing and drying fruits, tailoring and 

 knitting, butter and cheese making, 

 have gone, so washing, mending, sew- 

 ing, and cooking can go also in the same 

 way, and the sick can be sent out to the 

 hospitals. And when the Kindergar- 

 ten becomes a state institution, and 

 "compulsory education" takes away 

 the " very youug children " to be cared 

 for by outside arrangements, and all 

 kinds of domestic occupation are thus 

 eliminated, it might appear that the 

 home has been reduced to its mini- 

 mum as a place for the bare organic 



