Washington Night High School - Annual Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

Page 39 text:

HOME EFFICIENCY HE home is an institution whase management must be carefully studied it there woulcl be efficiency. ll crop-raisihg and hog-raiging, machiue-building and houseebuiltling state- making and law making, medicine and theology 43$? must be formulated into sciences whcse laws must be caiefully obsewetl, how much mote must home-making be thus furiiiulated. As human character surpasses in importance every consideration of a mere material nature, so the home is pre-emincntly first as compared with all other institutions. Even the church whose function i9. avowedly epiritual primarily, must allow the interests of the home to determine largely its mode of procedure in Christiauizr ing society. Whatever is inimical to, 01' destructive of the home is anti-Christian, and therefore antirmoral anti ahti-Social. VVheh an institution faces the test of efficiency one of the first essentials to be considered is, what is the product desired? The shoe establishment exists for the purpose of producing shoes. 01- at least ought to. There may be some such 1113111? dollars while shce-making is a mere incident in the process. But for sake of illustration we will suppose the case of an ideal shoe plant, Its chief business is to produce shoes. ment wishes to attain the highest efficiency possible consistent with honesty, justice and the best moral and physical interests It, therefore. studies every branch of the factories existing for the purpose of producing the The manage of its employes. business as it relates to the ultimate product, shoes. durable shoes, handsome shoes, comfortable shoes; shoes that will create a demand for themselves. Moreover, it wishes to produce such shoes at a minimum cost in harmony with fair wages. It wants 39 The extent to which that management succeeds in attaining its desired end determines the degree of efficiency the plant attains. What should be the goal of the home? Should it be the constructing of a mere brick and mortar house the family can call its own? Or an accumulated bank account Of considerable Or social rank as determined by mere wealth, which of Or should it he the rearing ol' Rize? course involves the foregoing? men and women who shall he presented to society strong in large in Vision, determined in with 3 maximum ability for useful service? Numerous examples might be given of Iamil'es who started life with the primary character. purpose, and ultimate purpose of buying their own house and getting a large bank account. Every effert was bent toward the reach- All else was made secondary. The children Books and magazines were listed among things which it would he 21 waste The young people were deprived of a proper money expenditure: ing of that goal, were early taken out of school and put to work. of money to buy. social life because it involved a possible while the shortest of vacation trips were prohibited for the same reason. The struggle covered the very period in which the children should have gotten their best mental and moral development. The family did hnally realize the owner ship of their own house and the possession of a large bank account. but at what a cost! Here. indeed, there was efficiency as it related to the goal, but who would say that the goal was a worthy one? The chief object of the home should he to contribute to society the highest type of men and women; any consideration of home efficiency should x: vitally related to that object. Yes. there should be care and system in the expenditure of money:

Page 38 text:

COMMISSION FORM OF GOVERNMENTeConIinued for what is done, and knows that everybody else in the city, knows it too. Under the Commission Plan there is not much talk 01' heated debate. but statistics have shown there is niueh action. The Old system was awkward, cumbersome, and slow. A complaint sent into the Council of Houston about the unsanitary conditions Of a street. was referred by the Council to the stiltnetintendent of the street cleaning department: he in turn referred it to one of his assistants. The last man investigated as he found time, and reported to the superintendent, who in turn forwarded the report to the Council This took considerable time. and the investigation being accomplished by a number of men could not be so accurate as under the new system, where the Commissioner investigates all such complaints personally. Under the old system Houston paid an exorbitant price for paving bricks to a brielc trust. The Commission refused to pay this price, and finally brought shiploads of brick from New York at a much lower price. The old system was well characterized as one ill-suited to the task. inefficient, irresponsible. cumbersome, and careless, In 1907', the Commission Plan of Government was in opera- tion in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. 1a.; Lewix'ton. Idaho, and had been adopted by the states of Kansas and North and South Dakota In 1911 it had Spread from gulf to lakes, and from ocean to ocean. On March 10, 1913. there were recorded by the National Short Ballot organizatisn in New York City, two hundred and thirty-hve cities. representing thirty-tive states, using the Commission Plan of Govermnent. Close observation has shown that these cities have better governments. more efficiency, and greater prosperity. than similar cities under the old system. Since the application of the Commission has succeeded where tried, the people of Cincinnati should grasp eagerly the oppore tunity of adopting it when offered. This opportunity will be presented this coming June, when a charter providing for such a government will he submitted to popular vote. The prof posed Charter would place Cincinnati on a business basis. The functions of various departments of city government are matters Of business. such as buying and selling commodities. In paving a street, or laying a SEWER the raw material i3: purchased by the City and sold to the citizens in the form of taxes, Since the city buys and sells commodities. makes contracts. and in every respect is an administrative unit, it should be administered as any other corporation Under this eharten the city would become. in fact as well as in name, an administrative unit. Because of the small number of Commissioners and the direct responsibility of each member for the department of which he would have control, work would he carried out with greater rapidity and efficiency The Plan proposed would induce good men to enter the city service because, unlike the present System. there would be no possibility of shifting the blame for municipal errors. There would be an assurance of rightly placed credit. The Commis- sioners would not have to stoop to ward deals. They would be free from any sense of responsibility to any particular ward. Power of accomplishment would be given the individual; this would attract the best men to municipal offices, Are you interested in the welfare of our city? Do the words. ltFor the Honor and Glory of Cincinnati? produce any thrill? Since these statistics I have presented are correct, civic success and Commission Government must be synonomous termsz, and inasmuch as. we have eivie pride, so let our votes speak, Waiter Eugene Moesta.

Page 40 text:

HOME EFFICIENCY - Continued the housewife ought to know about how much is required to provide for the material side of the home in a week 01- month 01' year. However, a healthful home atmosphere with intelligent parents presiding, is what chiefly challenges our attention just now. able attention to this aspect of the question and have doubtless Our schools and mother's societieS have given consider- done much good. XYise mothers are in these days utilizing their- opportunities for securing such information as makea possihle a more intelligent conduct of the domestic life. But right here thei'e is a danger. It seems difficult to center one's activities mlnewliere near the golden mean. Friom the old fashioned practice of always staying at home and living the life of a recluse. some women have swung all the way over to the Other extreme of scarcely ever being at home. Between alwaya' being in or always being out there is but little choice. When motherls societies and women's clubs occupy so much of the mother's time that She has none to spare for her children. she allows those organizations to defeat the very purpose for which they were instituted. It is very well for the soldier to study his manual of arms, but if he should thus devote all Of his time he is not likely to aseist much in the winning of battles. The mother who gives the major portion of her time to the mere getting of information must not be surprised if her children get farther and farther away from her, in spite of the fact that She knows better how to hold them than ever. But do not mistake the thought here. There is no desire to disparage mothers' societies and Wonieuls clubs as such; on the contrary we believe in them and helieve their advent marks the dawning of a better day. The thing feared is. that the real object of thee organizations will be so far forgotten that weIl-meaning mothers will devote so much time to them a: to 40 gradually cause an extinction of the domestic life; this, of course. would he a calamity to society. Mothers need expert training and carefully wrought-out information for theirs is a task that requires tact and skill of a brand that no other work demands. But the getting of these aids should be limited to certain days so that ample time may be had to practically apply the principles acquired. Parents ought to make it their aim to be their Children's companions. and in order to do this they must at least keep up with them in their progress, if not ahead. That in many instances parents have lost control of their children is not in the. least surprising, Children cannot be controlled by parents whom they do not respect. and they cannot respect tlehcient or unreasonable parents or those whose inconsistency of conduct resolves them into a farce in the presence of sagaeious childhood whose eyes quickly penetrate any veneerng of sham 0r pretense. Parents cannot exact respect that their own conduct does not merit. The ease of the boy who, when he was reproved for certain conduct simply replied. Papa. does it, illustrates the point. It always strikes one rather strangely when he sees a parent so very careful about the conduct of her Child and so careless about her own. Children are naturally imi- tative. and will more readily do what the parent does than what is merely asked to be done. It is more effective to set the proper example and say nothing them to give explicit directions and do nothing. Respect is not inspired by law but by merit A pErROH with some mentality and moral excellence does not have to demand respect: he has it. Perhaps it seems rather harsh to say so, but doubtless it is fortunate for some children that they do not obey their parents for by them they would simply he hampered. Does it not seem a real tragedy to see bright children who would make a mark in the world if they were