e will have developed an enormous composite woman's brain which,
combining superior powers of intuition and sympathy with that high
intellectual development the modern conditions so generously permit,
added to their increasing knowledge of and interest in the social,
economic, and political problems, will make them a factor in the
future development of the race, gradually bring about a state of real
civilization which twenty generations of men have failed to
accomplish.

But that is not yet, and we may all be dead before its heyday. The
questions of the moment absorb us. We must take them as they arise and
do the best we can with existing conditions. The world is terribly
conservative. Look at the European War.

II

Nowhere are fortunes so insecure as in the United States. The phrase,
"Three generations from shirt-sleeves to shirt-sleeves," was not
coined in Europe. But neither does it embrace a great American truth
Many a fortune rises and falls within the span of one generation. Many
a girl reared in luxury, or what passes in her class for luxury, is
suddenly forced out into the economic world with no preparation
whatever. It would be interesting to gather the statistics of men who,
with a large salary, or a fair practice, and indulged family, and a
certain social position to keep up, either vaguely intend to save and
invest one of these days--perhaps when the children are educated--or
carry a large life insurance which they would find too heavy a tax at
the moment.

Often, indeed, a man does insure his life, and then in some year of
panic or depression is forced to sell the policy or go under. Or he
insures in firms that fail. My father insured in three companies and
all failed before he died. In San Francisco the "earthquake clause"
prevented many men from recovering a penny on their merchandise or
investments swept away by the fire. Even a large number of the rich
were embarrassed by that fire, for, having invested millions in Class
A buildings, which were fire-proof, they saw no necessity for
expending huge sums annually in premiums. They never thought of a
general conflagration whose momentum would carry the flames across the
street and into their buildings through the windows, eating up the
interiors and leaving the fire-proof shell. One family lost six
million dollars in a few hours, and emigrated to one of the Swiss
lakes in order to be able to educate their children while their
fortunes slowly recov