Politicians are interested in acquiring and holding power, in war appliances and armies. They give some assistance in the development and care of vegetables, fruits, trees, and the flora in general. They are also interested in the development of all domesticated animals, the preservation of the birds, forests and natural parks, the protection of the fish. They have game-laws which are wise and whose results are beneficial. And the state hires and pays people to take care of all these interests. It also hires and pays people who see that the laws are respected which have been made for the protection and perpetuity of flora and fauna. But as yet, lawmakers, politicians, reformers, and influential citizens have not made provision for the development of citizens, except as the institution of the school system assists in this work. ENFORCED DEPENDENCE _Thou givest man bread. Let my aim be to give man himself.--Froebel._ There was a time when women, like statesmen, were economically free. They spun and wove, manufactured, planted, harvested, cooked. Land was cheap and needs were few. The women gave a part of their time to the state in rearing citizens, but they did not give all. They were self-supporting, in great measure; therefore, self-respecting and capable. But women lost their economic independence when industries were taken from the home. Farming, dairying, spinning, weaving, tailoring, laundering, baking, dressmaking, millinery, building, carpentering, are all done on a big scale, outside of the home, where the women, because they were mothers, could not follow their industries. Women are left with the dependent occupations of working for the state and working for their husbands, for neither of which can they collect money. Husbands' policy is: Where the treasury is, there will the wives' hearts be also. The welfare of the women who give their time--twenty-four hours of the day, and for twenty-five or thirty years of their lives, their prime--for the development of citizens has been left to chance. The state has made no provision whereby potential citizens shall be assured of the proper care. The mother's time has been considered of no value, that is, her service is not paid for in money. If, in her youth, a woman married a man who was able to make money, she might be assured of food, clothing and shelter for her children unless or until Fortune frowned and the property was lost. Any woman, whose husband dies, gives her time to the care of her children, no matter how poorly equipped she may be to earn a living for them in the world. She tries to do her own work, and besides that, what her husband did--maintain the family. The state has made no provision for the care of potential citizens whose father has died, thereby cutting off the income which was once theirs. We say that the purpose of the home is to develop children, that the home is established for children.