WOMAN'S PART IN THE WORK 321 



the public-house, which undermines character and shortens life, 

 breeding mischief and loss, sought after as an escape from dulness 

 and wearisome monotony, but also " stem the insane rush after 

 pleasure," which, most deceptive as are its fruits, naturally leads to 

 improvidence and diverts people's thoughts from their more serious 

 duties and better interests. A comfortable home is felt to stand for 

 happiness, contentment and concentration of attention and effort 

 on " things which really matter." Study of home life in itself means 

 a good deal — not merely the creation of a comfortable home, such 

 as indeed only love of " home life " will make people exert themselves 

 to acquire and to deck out with whatever tends to make it comfort- 

 able. It means attention to the kitchen, of course — a very weak 

 point in our rural domestic economy. It also means sanitation, 

 proper organisation of home labour distributed among the several 

 inmates, to ensure economy and efficiency, means for collective or 

 separate mind or health improving occupations, care for the garden, 

 which in the country is, or should be, an unfailing companion piece 

 to the house, family life, common interests, care for one another. 

 In all these matters woman is supreme. She has the making and 

 unmaking of them in her hand. To endow her with the necessary 

 ability to ensure what she is out for, to train her to the fulfilment of 

 her duties and to the proper use of her position and influence is one 

 of the first objects of women's institutes. Above all things, they 

 seek to educate women to be good mothers. It is on good mothers 

 that the nation depends. It was Napoleon's complaint that the 

 thing that France most lacked was " mothers." Women's institutes 

 take care that the countries in which they work shall not suffer from 

 the same want. To women is committed the care of children, that 

 is, of the making or unmaking of the future generation of citizens, 

 upon whose character the welfare of the community altogether 

 depends. Accordingly, to the care of children, their proper bringing 

 up, physically as well as morally and intellectually, is very groat 

 attention devoted, and results show that it is so directed efficiently 

 and well. But there is nothing in home life, as there is nothing in 

 education, nothing more particularly in judiciously " rural ised " 

 education — teaching young folk how to manage their garden, how 

 to deal with poultry, with dairy management, and whatever pertains 

 particularly to the province of woman — that is neglected. 



Once they were started, the development of women's institutes 

 was rapid. In Canada, their native home, the Agricultural Instruc- 

 tion Act, passed in 1913, helped. That Act specifies as one of its 

 distinctive objects "Amelioration of the conditions of rural life," 



B.R. v 



