Editorial from the
June 16, 1916 issue of The Monroe Journal.
Woman’s Club Staff
Editor, Mrs. J.
Frank Lancy
Associate Editor,
Mrs. Roscoe Phifer
Contributing
Editors, Mrs. W.J. Boger, Mrs. E.M. Griffin, Mrs. W.A. Lane, Mrs. F.B.
Ashcraft, Mrs. C.D. Meacham, Mrs. H.L. Laney, Mrs. Eugene Ashcraft, Mrs. R.W.
Allen, Miss Lottie May Blair, Miss Jean Ashcraft.
We wish to extend
our thanks to the Editor and Manager of this paper for their courtesy and
kindness in extending these columns to us and their interest in the work the
Woman’s Club is trying to accomplish.
Editorial
“O Woman, in our
hours of ease,
Uncertain, coy and
hard to please;
But let disaster
crown the brow,
A ministering
angel, thou.”
Fearing the
disaster which must befall our city through carelessness, indifference and poor
sanitation, the good women have organized themselves into a working band known
as the “Woman’s Club of Monroe.” The object of our club is the social, moral
and spiritual uplift of the people, and our slogan, “A cleaner, more sanitary,
more beautiful Monroe, a city of roses.”
No doubt, at one
time, in the dim, distant past, Monroe was a lovely spot, for as Pope says, “All
nature is art, unseen by us.”
God created all
things beautiful, clean and good, but man desecrates His forest temples, begins
his settlements, others are attracted either by family or business interests
and in a few months or year we have a town of several hundred or perhaps
thousands of human beings and the question of health and sanitation must be
considered.
No man can or does
live unto himself. We are all interdependent one upon the other. It is an
erroneous selfish notion to imagine that an unsanitary drain pipe, barn, stable
or ditch in one part of the tow does not effect the whole town, and no loyal,
Christian citizen will allow any condition to exist around his premises that
could prove a menace to his neighbors or town.
So few of us
realize the value of neatness. Neatness and cleanliness of person and
surroundings are aesthetically attractive. All progressive business men
appreciate this and make it a rule that everything shall have a place and be in
that place.
We have a very fine
set of rules or ordinances for governing our city of Monroe, but every one of
these ordinances is violated every day. Why is loafing allowed in and round our
station? Why are our alleys and sidewalks blocked with wagons, boxes, chicken
coops and barrels reeking with filth and maggots?
Why is the sewerage
law not enforced within the sewerage zone and the surface closets put out of
commission by being knocked down and burned for kindling wood?
Why are cigarettes
sold to minors? And on and on ad infintum
Why haven’t we more
sewerage and permanent paving and sanitary closets in our graded schools, and a
decent auditorium and a hotel building commensurate with the ability of the
fine lady and gentleman who manage it? You ask the city fathers WHY and they
tell you they haven’t the money.
I have been quoted
as saying I am not in favor of Foreign Missions. Let me correct this right here
by saying I am most emphatically in favor of both Home and Foreign Missions,
and if I had $50 million I’d send a teacher and build a sanitary school,
hospital, kindergarten and home in every heathen city and at home if I could.
But in the name of common sense, why do we send thousands of dollars out of
Monroe every year to China, Japan and South America for these purposes when we
haven’t money to build a decent toilet for our own little children at our own
little Graded School? What would the Japs and Chinks think of us if they could
take a walk not only through our back alleys where the kitchen drain pipes
empty and the flies hold high carnival, but down our main street, littered with
papers, stifling with dust and unmentionable odors permeating the atmosphere?
How could we explain that part of our blessed gospel which says, “He who
provides not for his own household has denied the faith and is worse than an
infidel?”
Wake up, fellow
citizens, bestir yourselves with us and clean up this town and help your health
officer keep it clean. If we want to have a genuine, old-time revival of
religion at our big tent meeting in July we must procure some means to keep
down the dust and get rid of the flies. We need a material “disinfecting” bath
in order to receive a spiritual bath. Let us get out from under our moral
umbrellas, catch the spirit of civic righteousness and boost our Chamber of
Commerce. This is the greatest agency for commercial development ever organized
in Monroe.
We have just as
fine people in Monroe as the Divine Creator ever made and I love my city not
because of what it is, but rather because of what it may become through our
concentrated efforts. Let us yield unto our city that same measure of affection
which the Hebrews of old yielded unto their Holy City, Jerusalem: “If I forget
thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember
thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem
above my chief joy.” It is because of this love and veneration for our homes
and city and the uplift of our children and community, that the good women
work, strive and pray for an awakening among our citizens.
My city, ‘tis of
thee,
Poor land of
slavery
To filth and flies.
I hate thy microbe
rills,
And they mosquito
stills.
My heart with
longing thrills
To clean thee up.
(Tune, “America.”
Everybody sing.)
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