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Show I; . "HOME IS A WONDROUS INSTITUTION,4' SAYS MRS. REED SHOOT, WIFE OF THE SENATOR FROM UTAH I 'Hi 1. . I HI i -, ' nJB 1 Is a Good Housekeeper and the m I Mother of Seven Children. M I Talks With Pride of Her ; ( Native State. Defends Mor- j I I 'monism. ; s ' I I The homo, as a center of culture j I and comfort, with little 'children and j J 1 healthy fun. as lti chief enllvenments ' j Is to me the solution of hi most every j j civic and social problem whose ad j I Justment menaces the happiness and ill j prosperity of the people today,' said' 1 I , Mrs. Reed Smoot, wife of Senator f, I Smoot of Utah. M ! f "And woman, as executive head of i , j j e home," sho continued, "has it lu 1 j her power to oxert a moro tremen- . ! : dous Influenco on tho futuro of this 'I g - i , country through this one- medium '. l J'J than over before In history. 1 -- i- "The woman who builds up a happy hap-py home, brings her children into the world, rears them wltn love and tenderness ten-derness and gives to the world noble women and courageous men to carry car-ry on Its 'work has done tho greatest work a human being could do. Growing Grow-ing with one's children making companions com-panions and friends of them Instill-ting Instill-ting in them a love of the wholesomo-ness wholesomo-ness of home these are requirements that a motfier must five up loT "It is not enough that she fetfds and clothes her children. Life and happiness mean more than that. There is a sweet sympathy mothers may awake In their children that continues an ennobling influence all through their lives. To cultivate this Is to render tho state a service. "Home, today, Is such n wondrous institution! Novcr did we havo at our command so many attractions to adorn and beautify it. Sanitary ap; pllanccs and modern conveniences make housekeeping a Joy. Beautiful .fabrics, frunlture, colors, may bo bought for tho smallest sums. It is no strain upon a woman's phtlenco to koep bouso theso days. It is rather rath-er a privilege to live In this age when air and sunshine contribute to one's happiness moro than wealth and pomp." Mrs. Smoot puts a high valuation upon the home, but she la no mere visionary. Every Idea that she seta forth Is built upon the rock fit her own personal experience. She has been married thirty years, has seven splendid children, and two beautiful homes. Furthermore, she prides herself upon being a good cook, an interested housekeeper and fond of swooping -and cleaning. "Women," sho declared, "say that thoy want to get out in tho world and do some of tho world's work find an outlet for ticlr business ability , as tbey put it. Show mo 'a Well managed manag-ed home and I will tcjl you that the mother in that home hair'as gb business ability as any woman who goes downtown to work 'every day Housekeeping Is a test of business ef-.flcleney ef-.flcleney and gives scope for tha application ap-plication of a woman's artistic tad practical tastes as bo other fstagle profession In the. world does." In Washington, the Smoot home Is sltuatod In one "of the city's most beautiful residential sections the vicinity of Rock Creek bridge. The Interior of tho house, at this summer season, presents a most livltlng appearance. ap-pearance. Tho floor plan of the house admits of an open space on the entire first floor, slnco the rooms can be thrown almost Into one by the opening of the largo doorways between. be-tween. Tho chairs and dlvaas are covered with flowered cretonnes, after af-ter "tho fashion of English country houses. With h few antique colonial-tables colonial-tables holding great vases of fresh odorous flowers, the entire effect Is charmingly cool and restful. ' Mrs. Smoot's boudoir Is also transformed trans-formed by cretonne furniture covers into a bower of springlike beauty. The walls are hung with photographs of tho, Smoot. family. The children are singularly handsome1 large eyed and strong. Mrs. Smoot asked the interviewer If It was any wonder that she should be proud of her children and want every other-woman to taste of slmilan Joys. Here, with the breezes of Rock Creek Park blowing through the windows, Mrs. Smoot talked of her state, Utah and its claims to eminence. emi-nence. "Wo are principally an agricultural hnd mining country," she said, settling settl-ing down into one of tho spaclons rose covered chairs, "and much of our riches remains undeveloped. Wo have many mines that have never been worked. On my last trip home the peach 'blossoms were out, I passed miles and miles of orchards with trees and blossoms ranging In colour from deep to faintest Pjak.' Toil can imagine what a sight Usat'waaL And we have accomplished-all 4t this hV irrigation. "When the pioneers west to Utah ,they found a dry, saady' desert. One of the first things they did was to start a scheme of Irrigation. It was (to the fall September that our family"-went to this state. My mother is living now upon the farm that my grandfather cleared and cultivated. Utah, at the present time, stands equal with any other state in the. west, as far as progress and accom plishment go, though we as a people have been much misunderstood. "Our people own their homes. We have no poor In Utah. By that, you understand, I mean we have no slums We have a wonderful system of schools and a fine state college, beautifully beau-tifully situated overlooking Salt Lake with new buildings being added constantly. con-stantly. "" "I said that we were misunderstood. It is our religion that makes people misunderstand us. People take Mor-monism Mor-monism to be synonymous with polygamy. poly-gamy. This, of course, la not true. Only the people who are ignorant of the teachings of our religion today could ever say that. Some early members of the church practiced and believed in polygamy. But they were sincere in their belief and found the example for their practice In the OJd Testament of the Bible, in Abraham and the other patriarchs. Today polygamy. poly-gamy. Is no longer condoned In our church. We live by faith and preach morality. We have a basis of science, sci-ence, because wo advocate progression progres-sion of the human race by abstinence from liquors and tobacco. "When It Is said that Mormoai'sm ! detriment to our progress, 1 have only to think, of the eoantry and people peo-ple as Itaow taea to realise how false'is wen a statement. I think of the happy little homes scattered about the state;,, tie tore of music la which evea the pearett families in-dulge; in-dulge; the upright staaents1 which represent us la colleges all over the World, and the Suceessfal. buataess men ot which our cities can boast. These are the evidences 'of success and progress, and. of such Utah has ber full share." ' It was as a lioness fighting for her cubs that Mrs. Smoot spbke. She was touching upon the. most delicate point ot a human being's life his religionand re-ligionand from her words, her es timate of Mormontsm, her own and her family's religion, could never be mistaken. To watch any woman uphold up-hold that which sho claims for her own Is a lesson In sincerity and allegiance. alle-giance. Mrs. Snioot possesses both of these qualities to a marked 'degree. Her blue eyes flash, and her entire expression, ex-pression, facial and physical, becomes be-comes charged with forco. She is it large woman .strong of, physique and trenchant ot personality; so, the force which she can summon into action is not to be withstood or disparaged. "For that part," she said": lapsing Into an attitude of repose again, "the value 'of the whole west is underestimated underesti-mated by easterners .V It is said that we are crude lacking in culture. But-let But-let me say that while easterners were reading and studying, writing and painting, western pioneers were building build-ing roads .and houses and making farms for the generations to come. Tho culture came rapidly and in duo time. The women vote in Utah, and Mrs. Smoot has voted with them. She j -n , m ' pa has been president of TwiT" I Republican Club of the state- I Ueal club for the study o Xi 2 I national politics-, and I. mil d of the Relief. Society of her "w I It is to the eeru of this I the-absenc. ot.poverty ia uS I S-8v F"d" oti y0 cItJr I church fund, provide the ncccssittea J of life to, the nesdy poor who uTa or W temporarily reside In these districts But Mrs. Smoot Is not a club om! h?'n, uhf !ng? t0 tho CoiKreSSlon. I al Club In Washington and as prom- I Inent la the literary activities of the I political club during the years be- I tween elections. Yet this Is tho ex- tent ot her club Ufo. Sho Is against H what she calls "a butterfly life ia 0. men." . H When she was asked what her hob- H bles were'she replied that after her H home she loved young pople nnd flow H ers. But she added that sho did not H like -to get out In tho garden and H dig. "I make It a rule," jihe said, "to H havo young people around me always. H I want to grow old gracefully and re- H tain my youthful point of view. Then H I shan't mind the gray hairs or tho H wrinkles. I shall have an inner hap- H plness, and there is no plan so effec- H tive for Increasing this fund of inner H happiness than to associate with H young boy8nd girls." H Baa With Mrs. Smoot such an ardent H advocate 'of the worth of the homo H and lts influence and also a voter, the H Interviewer could not suppress a H query as to her plan for compromls- H Ing the two things, which bo frequent- H ly lead In opposite paths. It was H found that Mrs. Smoot, after all, v,aa H more tho wife and mother than the I club woman. Washington Star. H |
