162 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



in this day and this enlightened age it is time for us to realize 

 that we are indeed "our brother's keeper." How often you 

 read in the glaring headlines of a newspaper of some poor, mis- 

 guided country youth that has committed some crime when 

 partly intoxicated; you talk about how heathenish it is, but if 

 you look back, nine times out of ten the responsibility lies with 

 his neighbors and surroundings. In this day and age we not 

 only owe it to ourselves as citizens, we not only owe it to our- 

 selves as members of the community, but we owe it to the mem- 

 bers of society and to the individual that every girl and every 

 boy in every community, both city and country, is taught a 

 vocation and given the necessary knowledge that will enable 

 them to earn an honest living. 



We also, as has been beautifully touched on today by one 

 of the speakers, owe it to the young people of this country that 

 we do something for their pleasure. If they don't get pleasure 

 of one kind they will of another. Now, let me appeal to the good 

 women of every community for the good of their own community. 

 Do you know that right in hearing of your telephone, as has 

 been so beautifully described, and perhaps on an adjoining farm, 

 is some poor girl aching for an opportunity to find her way in 

 life and prepare herself to make a respectable living, to become 

 a good cook and good housekeeper and a loving wife? And 

 do you know that they feel a delicacy in making those wants 

 known? Do you know that their souls are starving for some 

 good w^oman just like you, not to go to them in embarrassment 

 and say: "You are not up to the standard of what young 

 women should be in our community," but say, "We want you 

 and we want every other young woman of a certain age to 

 come and go into some society." What are our churches for? 

 Come to our church; come to our schoolhouse. Let us organize. 

 We are going to start a cooking club; going to teach every girl 

 in the community to sew; going to make it a matter of pride in 

 this community that when a young lady goes out of her home 

 she is prepared to take her place in the world and earn an honest 

 living, if need be, and she is prepared to make a dutiful wife and 

 good housekeeper. Now come. It is no reflection on you to 

 come; it is an opportunity and we want you to come. We 

 want you to do us good and we want to do you good." There 

 is the spirit of co-operation. 



Let me tell you an incident that occurred under my own 

 knowledge a few months ago, and I never had anything to touch 



