ve not taken the trouble to investigate
whether we are benefited or harmed. It may be that investigation will
show us that the pendulum has swung too far, and that, in spite of
factories mechanically equipped to serve us, some work may be done
much more advantageously at home. It is even possible, and in some
lines of work we know that it is a fact, that homes may be
mechanically equipped at very little cost to rival and even to
outclass the factory in producing certain kinds of products for home
consumption.

Spinning, weaving, and knitting are doubtless best left in the hands
of the factory worker. But, under present conditions, buying ready
made all the garments needed for a family may be an expensive and
unsatisfactory method if the elements of worth, wear, finish, and
individuality are worthy of consideration, just as buying practically
all foodstuffs "ready made" presents a complex and disturbing problem
to the fastidious and conscientious housewife. There is at least a
possibility that it would be as well for the home of to-day to retain
or resume, systematize, and perfect some of the industries that are
slipping or have already slipped from its grasp. It is possible to
reduce some processes to a too purely mechanical basis.

[Illustration: Keystone View Co.
Linen-mill workers. Spinning and weaving, whether of cotton, linen,
silk, or wool, are more satisfactorily done by factory workers than in
the home]

A woman lived in our town who wasn't very wise.
She had a reputation for making homemade pies.
And when she found her pies would sell, with all her might and main
She opened up a factory, and spoiled it all again.

Nonsense? Yes--but with a strong element of sense, nevertheless.

Entirely aside, however, from the industrial status of the home,
unless we are to see a practical cessation of childbearing and
rearing, homes must apparently continue to exist. No one has yet found
a substitute place for this particular industry. It is a commonly
accepted fact that young children do better, both mentally and
physically, in even rather poor homes than in a perfectly planned and
conducted institution. And we need go no farther than this in seeking
a sufficient reason for saving the home. This one is enough to enlist
our best service in aid of homemaking and home support.

From earliest ages woman has been the homemaker. No plan for the
preservation of the home or for its evolution into a satisfactory
s