The times dispatch., May 12, 1912, Page 10, Image 14

About The times dispatch. (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

Because of the Increasing Volume of Work)
Miss Anna T. Jarvis Has Founded an Inter?
national Association to Carry on the Work
She Began
? ? ? .V HONOR of the best mother who
a ever lived?) our mother."
-* Simple words, coined by a
woman. Who would have prophesied, four
years ago, the effect that sentence would have
on the entire nation?
Mother's day has become, in practice, a
national holy day, if not a holiday; for ("very
governor in the land has issued proclamations
calling upon the people to spend one day at
least in especially honoring their mothers, or
paying a tribute to their memories.
This year of iqu will go down in his?
tory as one of the most important periods in
the movement. Recognizing the north of the
American mother and vJial the nation owes to
her, a number of influential clergymen and
laymen, including governors and former
governors of the various states, have banded
together into an association, of which every
man, woman and child is invited to become a
member. Its purpose is a simple yet a beau?
tiful one. It is to make holy the memory of
their mothers to the people of the land. This
includes the mother of every type?thi
mothers who gave up their sons that they
might serve their country in battle; those who
haze given the land its leading statesmen, law?
yers and physicians, and the immigrant
mother, who left the place of her birth that
her children might have the advantages of
the more progressive country.
All mothers are holy, poor as well as rich;
and the new movement means that all the
world, which knows it, shall now rejoice to
show it.
fl^O FOSTEK i better and higher love for the
I American mother, to raise iho day set aside.
_|_ In her Honor from one of Idle sentimentallam
to ono of allegiance to tho highest ideals of
womanhood, and tin n to perpetuate and protect this
true .Mothers day?that, in a nutshell, is tho purpose
of this, the youngest of our national organizations.
From all appearances. It is destined In time to become
one of the strongest in the land. This is one of the ex?
ceptional "mothers' societies" in which the men are the
chief factoVs*.'- WjUh tho exception of Miss Anna. Jarvls.
l!ie fouvfdef of .the movement, all of the officers are
men. and In th'e list arc to be found the leading citi?
zens of the nation.
The plan of starting the organization was the idea
ef Miss Jarvls. The movement has grown to such
mammoth proportions that, although she wished to
continue her personal interest in it, the Ilm? must
come when she would no long? r be able to eontinuo
the work; other hands must be at the helm if it Wore
to live on forever, as she hoped.
So many beautiful sentiments tiad been spoken by
men in all walks of life, in referring to the love thoy
held for their mothers, that Miss Jarvls d|d not think
those eloquent words should be lost, She believed
they should be preserved for the benefit. of futuro
generations, She spoke of her plan to foine prom?
inent supporters, and they were only too glad to assist
her, The Mother's Day International Association was
formed.
At present. Itr officers are Americans; but before
r.nothe-r twelve months roll by it is hoped to have tho
rulers and leaders of thought and action In other
nations enrolled in its ranks.
Tho organisation has been planned in such a way I
that every one can join. Special arrangements havo
also been made for enrollment of the members of all
religious and benevolent organizations, and ihelr chief
Officers h.ive been placed on the various committees.
The principal body is the national advisory commi'
tcc. which has for its members men well known In tho
religious life of the country.
CITY COMMITTEES
There art; local committees in every city and com?
munity. There are also vice presidents in every state,
consisting of the governors and other well-known men
who have been Interested In the movement. That
j.ioper observance may be held In the schools of the
country, un educational committee lias also been ap?
pointed.
The two heartiest champions the Molhcr'H day has
had since it was founded. President Taft and former
President Roosevelt, are the only honorary members,
being honorary president and honorary vleo president
respectively. President Roosevelt, who was in office
when Mother's day saw Its birth, lost no time la
giving it his stamp of approval. He said:
"Mothers are more important to tho country than
the soldier, the literary man the man Of science."
The acti\e Officers, In addition to Miss Jarvls. who
ts the president, are Dr. c. .:. jlcxsmer, vice president;
the Rev. Dr R B. L. Jarvis, pastor of Bethany Presby?
terian Church, Philadelphia, treasurer; Charles .-el?
der., superintendent of the Baltimore and Ohio Teh
' graph Company, secretary, and c. L, Marsden. secre?
tary of the Naval V. M. C. A., corresponding secretary.
Francis G. Gallugtr. of Philadelphia, Is the attorney,
snd Drexcl ? Co.'s bank Is the depository ...f funds.
The national committee is headed by Cardinal Gib*
bens, with whim are associated the Rov. Dr. <.;..
W. Bailey, president of the World's Sunday Si hi I
Association; the Rev. Dr. W. II. Roberts, chairman i i
the Federal Council Of the Churches of An,. 'i
Bishop William A. Qusyle, president of the Epv
League; the Rev. Dr. Francis E. Clark, president of
the Untied Society of Christian Endeavor; Riebard C.
Morse, general secretary of the international commit?
tee of the V. M. C. A.; and the ltev. Dr. Mark
Matthews, of Seattle. Wash., one of the le.-.ding clergy?
men of the west. The late Genera! Frederick L>. Grant
was a member of the committee, and was actively
interested in thi? work of national organization.
Through the efforts of the educational committee,
special exercises were held in many of the schools of
the United States last Friday. The governor's procla?
mation was read to the children; prominent speakers
addressed them on the value of paying the proper
respect to their mothers and of showing their mothers
how they appreciate mother's love. The members ot
this committee arc A. S. Draper, commissioner of edu?
cation of New York, and the following state superin?
tendents of education: Frank G. Blair. Illinois; C. A.
.?.house. Indiana; 11. .). Wllltngham, Alabama: J. K.
Swearlngen, South Carolina; Ellsworth Regenateln,
Kentucky; M, Bates Stephens. Maryland; M. P. Shaw.
key. West Virginia; J. D. FKgleston. Jr.. Virginia;
C. P, Cary. Wisconsin. R. II. Wilson; Oklahoma; V- M.
Bralley, Texas; K. J. Taylor. North Dakota.
The workings of tue association In the various
states will be direct'..: by the vice presidents. Some
States have one?the governors?others have two; and
Nebraska, where the movement 1ms particularly
nourished, has four. They are William .1. Bryan.
Govern..: C. II Aldrlch, A. C. Shcllenberger. and A. R.
Talbot. The vice presidents in other slates Include:
Governor Jidton Harmon, of Ohio: Governor C S.
Pfnipn, Illinois: Oovernor J. K- Toner. Pennsylvania;
Governoi Wood row Wilson, New Jersey; Oovernor J',hn
A Dlx. r.f New York Governor J. B. Mc>"r< ary. K-n
tu'ekv. Governor Kok. Smith, ut G?-ors!a. former Gov?
ernor A I. Crother?, ?:' Maiylanri; Governor B. W.
Hooper, T-nmssee; Governor A W. Ollehrlst, Florida:
Oovernor U. B. <o:i..- of Alabama; Governor Edmond
P Noel. "I if.rt islppl Governor J. V. Sanders. I.oul.o
nna: Oovernor Wlltlar II. Mann, Virginia: Oovernor
Wll Km K Glass tu \: West Vlrelnl?: M F. Ansel. Sou 111
Carolina: Oovernor Robert P. Bass. New Hampshire;
II,.. \v??Si?_._- Mnesacliusctte; Governor M E
^^^^^^^^^
lioiim^"- *nd Cu"u lt' ???OolP?. lh. district of
No pains have been spared by the governors of the
states in proclaiming Mother's Jay. Some reminded
ETWEES the laws of man and the law? of
nature stands the child of today, a help?
less pawn in the conflicting interests of
parted couples, with one potent authority
rding him to his father, nhd another urging the
-other's claims for the child's sake, if hot for hers.
It happens often that the old principle of tho
aw, that where >io grave fault attaches to cither
arty in divorce, the mother receives infant ehil
ren and the father those beyond the earlier age,"
'..?< rved in practice. Seven years hits long been
egarded is the extreme duration of the ?'infancy."
l,nl the wider latitude assumed by the courts,
).(? increasing prevalence of divorce, the infinite
variety of complications attending these partings?
all, iak<n together, seem to have left no rule 113
to which parent has the better right to the child.
ONl.Y 3 years old, Ler?y Thompson, In Brook
lyn, stood before Justice Marean. <.t the su?
preme court, and declared that be wanted to
stay with his lather. Ills parents have been
separated for five years. William !:. Thompson
divorced his wife in ISOI and married agtiin. Tho
wife became Mrs. ?eorge a. W'yre, of Nyack. So little
l.croy got a new mother, and his own mother had to
be content with occasions, specified by the courts,
when Bh<-. might visit him at his new mother's homo.
But the time came, not very long ago. when the
real mother v.aH a wholly Unwelcome KU?.;', and I.o
roy's father declared that her visits were annoying
and embarrassing to the hoy himself. She took her
1: alert.al grid to the supreme c,,urt. In Brooklyn; and
there, with tears and SObS, the pleaded for the en?
forcement of her right to lavish on her son the a(f?c>
tlon' she bore hlrn, brief as wan the time allowed her
by the Hern and jealous law. Her plea was In vain;
tho law, in judge Marean's; person, no' only denied
her, but asserted that no r;,lld really needs Its
molht r'? care,
"Children grow Just as well without tn>ir mothers, ?
declared the justice. "A mother is not necesstry ti
her children; *ho affects their \\:t-* ?,'.ly nn sh< can
serve'them. All children are selfish; tbey think
themselves r.r?Iy; th?-|r minds *ro '?< their own pisas.
tires. One* away fr'.m rinir mother, ua/ speedily for
gel her"
That rvnlCSl derision v/*? ?ijhrr.l 11 ? d u, tir .1. M?td
t?on Taylor, of Philadelphia, >m? '<f the recognised
authorities In the United States on the caro of chil?
dren Ha represented tho lore of child growth and
health, physical, mental and moral, ua It Is observed
ihc authorities who behold childhood, not from the
:ar perspective of the bench, but In the most familiar.
.'? crlse or their lives. It was thu shocked, tne
?? Ph; Iclan ........ studying the sweeping, gen
assertion made ? , the pitiless law, asserted that
it was utterly false.
"Tin inothet Is the rnost necessary agent for the
? '? ol a child tin i it ran possibly possess and for
' .: ? Ilm Ii .. ... ran be maintained. No other
no oihoi I once can replace tho mothers
1 I ? I n , when no food can so nourish
body .,, ,,,, mother's-?the own mother's?milk. t.?
no power for honor and virtue can so
ar hers protect the spirit, the mother Is needed
1 ?'? indi ., other conditions are children
.,/a with so tittle- Injury than
u? the lili/hei , ;,l classes In Kngland. Stations
.h. men's tlmo. to th? ex< |iinioii of
i..i/o brought about conditions
? ' ? the children t- lie. win. a
Illinium of motlierlnir ~ '-<??????
f i on. th? system or "i,t
? competent govei
vi ??alnsi harm t
0? I ?. ., l|on.
Hut ?very possible substitute,
nursing that obtains to the
..-<. ?<n,-:i available, to employed
to the offspring becaueo of the
"But all those substitutes combined lulled to take
the place of ono real, loving mother. No hirelings,
however willing and capable, can ever bo what she Is.
"Omitting the exceptional instances in which there
may bo evidence that a woman Is distinctly unfit tor
the mother s duties, and still dealing with the broad
assertion that mothers ure not needed for their chil?
dren's welfare, a striking contrast Is presented in all
that should How from the devotion of the woman who
has best reason to cherish and guide. In the child's
eyes, the mother represents concrete ideals of the
social status belonging to her family. They are as?
sumed. In every Instance, to be a trifle higher than Is
actually the ease. None the less, every mother, es?
pecially In America, feels that she owes to her child
the opportunity to rise to some higher plane, or to
maintain at least the level to which she has attained.
"Even the nervous mother?the woman who Is In
continual terror for the solely of her children, who
worrits them as well as herself by her needless alarms
and superfluous precautions?Is better for them than
any substitute that can be found.
"All the most competent nursery governess can do
Is to accomplish the best within the power of a fairly
qualified agent. No matter how conscientious she may
be. her reuse of responsibility Is much lower than
that Which the mother feels. The governess may be
the better educated woman as u teacher; but wo can
secure that factor of the child's training In the kinder?
garten. Valuable as It is, such teaching remains sup?
plemental still Nothing can compensate'f?o- the lack
of mother love, solicitude and personal attention until
the child is S or *J years of age.
"At that age. what hireling Is competent to maln
laln lbe.se Ideals, those Standards, whose Inculcation
flXCS youth's sense of responsibility to the home circle,
to tho family? Especially is this true of a glil. to
whose period of adoli scence her mother Is enormously
Important; why. with a girl, she shoulil have her
mother's care and counsel until she becomes a mother
herself.
"What." Doctor Taylor demanded, "Is our strongest
rnfcfcunrd In the many exigencies of a complex life?
livery man, and every woman, will answer In hut ono
way?It Is the kind and quality of Influence which tho
mother has exerted in all phases of mental and moral
development. Where the mother's Influence has been
lacking, there exists countless llttlo bitternesses,
false impressions, the absence of line niceties In Ideals
and standards. All theso are either Irretrievably miss?
ing, or are only fairly well simulated, In any one who
nas been so unfortunate as to bo bereft of maternal
care during the formative years of life. Such a child,
growing up. has learned Its relations with Its fellows
through tin: bead, not the heart.
"gome presumptuous critics of life may undertake
to decide when the mother ran be dispensed with."
concluded Doctor Taylor. "I can't. I.lfe Is a process
of continuous devolopmont; and the finest influence for
the welfare of any human being Is the fond, anxious
rare of a mother. Thosn are lilted for their life under
the best auspices who longest enjoy their mother's
cure and counsel, however many years she may live to
bless them."
b people that the day was approaching several
mo itba ubo, and since then have been continually
working that the festival might bo generally cele?
brated. In tan beautiful sentiments that they ex?
pressed and lr. tho elaborate form In which tho docu
InentS were made, every governor vied with the others
that his paper might be the best In the country. And
indeed some of tho proclamations aro of such a beau?
tiful design, and the object of tho day is so well ox
pressed, that it would bo hard to tell which Is superior
to the rest.
Some have even expressed their thought In verse.
Governor O. B. Colqultt. of Texas, Is among that num
bei. Pari of his proclamation reads as follows;
"I adjure all the men. women and children In
Texas to recognize tho debt of gratitude, wo owe to
our mothers by rendering to them obedience, respect
and lovingly observe the duties due them, throughout
the entire year, and that all Join In paying them on*
fraud tribute on Mother's day. It has teen said that
the best preacher Is the heart; that the best leuchef
Is time, that the bust book is the world, and 111 at the
best friend Is God?and all these may be Summed up
In one word, "mother."
Mother's love Is our best friendship, and Is
lake mafic heard on lh? mill water.
Like pines when lbs wind by.
I.Ike pearls li. U.e depth of the ocean.
Like >i.i> that enamel He- ?ky.
lake Jui.e and th.- Odor of roses,
i.tke dew and thi freshness ot morn.
Like sunlight that kirrt? the clover.
Like larsels of -Ilk on the corn.
I.Ike notes of the thrush In the woodland,
lake hi ><>1vj> v. here the violets jiow,
l.ik* rainbows that nrch the bill* heavens.
I.ike clouds when the nut. dlppcth low.
Like ein ains of Arcadian pleasures,
Like eolors that gratefully blend.
I.Ike iviiytnlhg Lreuthlist of puieness,
I.Iks thi.BC Is the luve of our mother? friend.
Governor Oolejutlt personally observes the day b>
rardonlng ten criminals whose mothers pload to hint
for mercy. He has recelvctl appeals from heartbroken
mothers, and will carry out his promise today, as be did
twelve months ago.
Another governor whose trlbuto to mothers ban at?
tracted attention is Joseph M. Carey, of Wyoming.
He says. In his document this year;
The sweel-st word In our language Is "mother." Un?
fortunate is the man or woman who cannot say from
the bottom of his or her heart, "The Lest woman who
h\n Is my mother," or. If ehe has parsed to tho great
unknown world. "The best woman that ever lived woa
lay mother." Not enough van be. said or written of her;
fer whatever of good Is within u:.. w? inherited from her
er we caught the Inspiration for it from her teachings.
In all creutton.H the mother is and must be the most
linpoitaiit factor. Nature Intended her so, for even
among the lout*, animals the male will flee from danger,
v the mother will remain to buttlu In defetiac of
her young, it has ; e. n ,,ald by one of iha Ert?test men
of our day. that "Mothers are more Important lo tb??
reuntry ihun the aoldl-.r. the literary man or the man
of science." Such 'comparisons are idle, for there ta
nothing In the wotld that may be ilghliy compared
ulth her.
GOVERNOR BURKE'S TRIBUTE
Governor Burke, of North Dakota, In asking tha
people of bis state to honor their mothers on this on*
day in the year, says:
Amid the stern realities of life theic roine to us all,
will' the recurring rprlngtrrne, lender emotions of .vadneas
or of joy evolved fiom the very essence ot -our bring.
It refreshes the best that la In US when tho blossoming
>'ui revives Hie memory of lo..g ago, and touches with
either tear or smile u live chord of other days.
No man can be Wholly tad who sometimes inverts la
memory to his mother, for he knoivs thai her luvo Is
unselfish aid sternal, and that whether she Is here or
elsewhere, her spirit Is watching over t.lm, and tha
thuughi has a gcntlu running influence.
One of tho most touching proclamations was
penned by 10-year-old l.ortuu Cruce, for her father.
Governor Cruce, of Oklahoma. Tho young girl's
mother died two years ago. and that she was thinking
of her Is shown In every line.
The sweetest treasure that life contains Is your mother,
who, dwelling here on earth, Is more a pint of heaven?
but, whether with you or above with Ihu angels, she
Is your muih'-r atlll. Your mother's lu\e Is eternal,
living on when youth hus faded, whin other love has
withered and been forgotten, and when the leaves of
11 lel.ilt.hlp have IhIIiii.
Nothing tha: wo can ever do can remove the debt of
gratitude we owe our mother*; nothing can repay thcra
fur their patience, purity and loving Itindnesr, but a
this day. dedicated lo them. Wo can. in a small yut
sincere way show our thoughtfuiiubs of und gratftudu
lu thim to whom It Is given "To garden tho earth with
the roi.es of heaven."
It Is lilting that we as a nation and as a Mate honor
thise Hue workers of Hod. though they aspire not to
fame; though ihcy seek not popular applause, yet la
thill worth recognised and admitted by all who ara
tapuMt if appreciating truth and excellence.
In striking contrast to these beautiful words Is
the simple mai.ner In which Mrs. ltoudebush, 92 years
old. of Blooming Valley, Pa., celebrates tho day. This
aged woman was ono of tho nation's pioneer observers
of the day. When she tlrst read of Miss Jarvls' plan,
she wrote to her and promised to support tho move?
ment. When the tlrst Mother's day arrived Mrs.
ltoudebush found that thcro was not a carnation to
be found In the lutie village. But she was not to be
balked, and went home and made artificial tlowors out
of white ribbon. Then she proceeded to tho little
-ountry cemetery and placed them on her mother's
grave. She has continued to do the samo every year
since. i
Furthermore. Mrs. Boudebush has found new Joy
In Mother's day. for her children and grandchildren
are making It a practice of gathering at her homa
each year.
Many other mothers have written to Miss Jarvls
telling her the debt of iirutltudo they owe to her. She
tald that she had seven sons, who wero ministers,
scattered in various parts of the country. Not only
docs every oho write to her, but they all likewise
send orders for white carnations, so that tho nearby
florists do a thriving business right ahead of UM
second Sunday of May.