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THE SAI/r LAKE TRIBUNE, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 24, 1923. -CAN AMERICAN WOMEN AFFORD CHILDREN? .'. by kathleen norrisBootlegging Situation Prevalent RelativeTo Widely Discussed Birth Control StatusParis Sets Style,' Yer1^—— KWhen people speak of birth control in these days, they mean contraceptive devices.Birth control could be any one of several things. It could mean that atnan or woman deliberately did not marry to avoid parenthood. It could mean self-control in marriage. It could mean agreement, between man and wife, to observe long Intervals of self-denial between the births of children.Nobody has ever denied the perfect propriety o! these methods. The last-mentioned has always been the safe, the dignified, the fine way of meeting what is admittedly a most difficult situation.The row—the world-wide uproar— about birth control therefore, applies only to the use of contraceptive devices that prevents the spark of life’in its very beginning. It Is this that is agitating churchmensee the eventual destruction of tionsAdvocates of birth control In America are struggling just now to repeat the old Comstock law that makes it Illegal to send birth control literature and propaganda through the malls, and to give out the information to those who want it. As It is, no doctor may legally advise a patient on this point, although most doctors do. No drug store may handle the same contraceptive devices, although few drug stores thst did not handle them would remain In business.Find Ourselves in Sort Of Bootlegging Situation.So we find ourselves in a sort of bootlegging situation on the subject.and that the very women who need it most, the ignorant, crowded, overburdened, underpaid Blethers of the slums are refused the benefit of the one thing that would save them from Illness, despair and c Margaret Sanger, _ .—.— — gentle woman, whose name is always conneeted with this favorite cause of hers, has been talking In our town this'week, and pleading the cause of these mothers whose youth, beauty, energy—whose very lives are sacrificed to the relentless tide of babyhood. During Her talks she reads letters, heart-rending letters fromyoung women who .tie on the subject. „These letters come to me, too. There ne open before ______________my desk,„ I write. It Is from a woman of Jg, who has three small babies, » small house, a limited income—the huaband earns, at most, $135 per month, and not always ihat—and who has just discovered thst in September there will be a fourth ch St. She Is In a state of black rebellion‘sadrcadlngs, letters like these. And what’s the answer? For I don t see any solution in “contraceptive de-Th’e persons who preach birth control are genuinely hopeful of !m proying social conditions and de-crewing maternal suffering. But it seems to me that they make a Iunda-mental mistake in supposing that every women who knows about it wants to practise it. Mrs. Sanger taifci of the birth of the unfit, theThere is a letter from a woman of 28, who has three small babies, a small house, a limited income—the husband earns, at most, $135 per month, and not always that, and who has just discovered that In September there will be a fourth child.personally a dozen women who decided against motherhood when the income was only $1200 a year, and who cannot go back now, when it has increased to $12,000. And hundreds of others write me. Justifying themselves for that old thrifty and eminently practical decision—but heartsick and cheated Just the same.So that my own solution would have nothing to do with contraceptive devices. It would involve’ the teaching of self-control and consideration on the part of the prospec tlve father, from the time when he was only a little boy. It would mean trying to convince both girt and boy of the beauty and the richness of parenthood. It would attempt to destroy the social conditions that make for disease, vice, imbecility, overcrowding.Trying for All These Improvements Now.We are trying for all these improvements now. But we ought to try harder. Wc ought to see that every baby—every baby, is born royal, is bora welcomed into sunlight and health, however coarse the blanket that is ready for him, or however humble the nursery. There oughtn’t to be any such thing as a sunless, miikless, open-airless babyhood.We’ve got all our values mixed, that’s all. It seems to us. in our blindness, that there arc other things on earth as precious as babyhood.MRS. NORRIS SAYS—Advocates of birth control. In America, are struggling just now to-repeal the old Comstock law that makes it illegal to send birth control literature and propaganda through the malls. ,The persons who preach birth control are genuinely hopeful of improving social conditions and decreasing maternal suffering^ But It. seems to me that they make a fundamental mistake in supposing that every woman who knows about it wants to practice it.Birth control as practiced now—and, of course, it is widely practiced now, despite church and state—seems to me to be defeating Its own purpose. The intelligent, well-to-do masses confine their families to one or two, or more often no children at all. The swarming slums teem with children..te’ve got all our values mixed, that’s all. It seems to us, in our blindness, that there are other things aS precious as babyhood.talks' of the birth -....... .hideous waste of bringing diseased, imbecilic, defective children into the world 'But mere birth control will never rS 35™ basics. Their parensSSifJSiSSSSSfKSllSa:fouta their use, which is a differentP,£i3h!Snl as practised nowand. o[ course, it Is widely practised now, despite church and state—seems to me to be defeating its own pur-The intelligent, well-to-dosfs? ristSnSall. The swarming slums teem with children, in our small American towns, prosperous places with big Sis and libraries, theaters ga-rages, sunshine, the average family is less than one child. But there are crowded tenement districts where, among the foreign-born population, you could Still find an average of‘hSd‘0drnrotC«othcrs of theslums know about birth control? Of course, they dol They know everything! Those keen-eyed, screaming children, with the curly mops of black hair, do not miss much that USSr SSMTSSMsuggestions of the social settlement visitor only too well. And todays children are tomorrow’s fathers; and mothers. When you talk to those mothers, they don’t dust off a chair Sh an apron, and curtsey, and say that the great lady is only too kind.No they talk calories and vegetable Iron.’ milk values, tonsils, fresh air.They also talk about God. He figures largely in their plans. And the mailing of birth control literaturr could be made legal tomorrow without in the least affecting them.Real Problem of Birth Control Propagandists.That is the real problem of thebirth control propagandists. Not to ..... .. .....................make these women see birth control I bought since the war ! ink to P'ey—contraceptive devices, rather — as . These things, and our feverish pur- | stooped legal.- but to make them see them j suit of them, have raised our stand- |» doc. right. It cannot be dene. ' ard of living to the scale of national 1 ^ ou cAnd meanwhile, there is the other ; insanity Something has to be cut i when a side of the story, the tragedy o$ the down, and we are cutting down on I lookedfolios by Shakespeare and bits of sparkling carbon dust mere valuable than sweet, soft, priceless scraps of flesh and blood. Persons think they are doing the world a favor when they adopt a baby. But who ever heard of adopting a diamond or an ermine coat or a yacht? We pay for those—pay fortunes, every year, while the real, precious material of life, the living substance of the looks wistfully out of dirty slum windows. and shivers in its soggy little double-gowns.The wofld would be Just as well off without lots of things for which we all strain and struggle at the expense of our very souls. No. I don't mean the radio and the movies, or candy or electric light. These -Uge and permanents,why silk stockings and murderous high heels, why the idiocy of fashions that change every few weeks, and cost tis millions as wc scramble madly after the change? Why olives l maraschino cherries i ‘ *’little shop girls crowding each other out of the way at the counters where gossamer silk scarfs, underwear that will not stand one trip to the laundry, and such superfluities as bath salts, cocktail glasses, place cards, wrapping papers at 10 cents a sheet, giftThe world would be just as well off without lots of things for which we all strain and struggle at the expense of our very souls.• These things, and our feverish pursuit of them, have raised our standard of living to the scale of national insanity. SOMETHING has to be cut down, and we are cutting down on the babies.Making birth control illegal has not prevented it. Making it legal will not extend it noticeably. The women who want to practice it are practicing it now. The ones who have conscientious or religious scruples never will.Embarrassing MomentsBillie persisted.effect that college professorsmost preoccupied, absent-minded j ’‘Billie!'* cried people. Tls not true, lam! After a “leave the busy day as private secretary busy man. I stopped into a cafeteriafor dinner, I selected a comfortable small tabic and placed my dinner ready to enjoy.slight attention to her, being absorbed with my thoughts. Finally it dawned on me that the woman was looking at me,—in fact, was glaring at me. As I wondered vaguely if I could be right, she said in loud and tones. “Pardon me. miss, but y eating my butter.'’ M. C. M.justly father sternly And Billie left the room crying. “I,was only going to tell you that he had his anny suit on.A. W.* 70.000,000 purses andthe outlying suburbs. One day when I went to call on her I noticed adoor reading, “No Dogssign on the Allowed. When I (woman in the country had a stooped ovr; one. Hi ere are villages hi * Thinking it was my sisu Europe where a purse lias not been j Hwitercd tlitre was m but 1 noticed someone the back of the counter.THE AWFUL TRUTH.My husbands colleagues enjoy drawing our young son into conversation. for. though quite reserved, he i ready answer. / itrei 'the street lt;Donald and said, father^ getting along up at high.......discouraging. , ‘Oh. lie's getting alongfine, but he says there are a lot of saps teaching up there. M. E. N.I.EFT-HANDED COMPLIMENT.I experienced a most embarrassing moment at a family reunion. There I met an aunt whom I hadn't . . since I was in my teen age—fifteen years ago.When I shook hands with said. “If-m! You've changed. You grown pretty.” Pause, while 1cineood '’ ! triedat ion • blushed.* and i complimentlook duly modes)andi smiled at the dubioushundreds—the thousands of young wives who enter marriage well warned against the perils, expense and care of motherhood, and armed to prevent it. For these women the years go by **the right i.ithout bringing quite ........ ier,t in which to beginthe long, difficult business of childbearing, ar.d the car and the club, the beauty parlors and the bridge lunches seem to fill up the gap. and Jack praises the sensible little woman who won't risk having a baby until she can raise him and educate him decently.And then the empty forties, and Jack interested in a younger woman, ar.d nothing ahead but the increasing vears. and the silent house, and . atchlr.g of other women'd hap- jThen tthe babies We cannot have everv- ; char.c hine. so we deliberately decide to i rcnairs. ive at the expense of the coming s when on generation. dignity.Making birth control illegal has and sins not prevented it. Making it legal . bark at will not, extend it noticeablv. The women who want to nracticc it arc practicing it now. The ones who(, ltl .....,VW(... . added: “But maybehe an elcct'r ician making ' *Fs jW- J’m j™*1Having reached the ace !™n t see P.ainls- F.op! M smi e is expected to have a little turned arttflc.al and I was certainly embarrassed.! snickered, e then I am careful not to : For a moment Istranprr.-*. V. S.APPREHENSIVE.somebodytnbarra;then my sense of 1 junior came tc rescue, and my mast, embarrassing moment became “the best joke I chave conscientious or religion:' embarrassing moment oc- ■ heard. K. A. j ..... - s cunrd one day when my boy friend ! . vctrww.vr- e r.,.pies never will. It would be a great! was having dinner at my home. • ANSWERING CLT\ h CALL, thing if those of us who think chil- : While we were dining my brother ; Mine occurred on a street car. I dren not onlv the most interesting Billie said: “You ought to have seen .had had a difficult day. and. tiring of thing in life, but the onlv interesting Mr- Nader when he railed on Ar.n tmy newspaper, began to doze. Pres-thing. could work out some scheme the other night. He looked fine sit- • ently I was conscious of the sound of 1by which the ert.val of the little ting ‘.here alongside hrr with his a buzzer. Instantly I was on my:stranger could be made to seem what arm fee:, saying, and none too quietlyleast ss important as Paris' Billie!'' I cried, and I could feci “Yes. Mr. J.decisioniThis i:. the Dngth of r* flaming.• kepiTh* other rideiisped i3 exceptional cJ they 1not her. All ‘ iound that my boss's did ? uJJ
Newspaper Details
Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City, Utah, US
Sun, Feb 24, 1929
Page 32
Full Page
Clipped by
Evelyn W.
NA, 01 Oct 2024
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