NOTES AND ABSTRACTS 143
of the interest of others, adjustment of the human life to the life of the cosmos. — Henry W, Wright, Phil. Rev., November, 1908. J. T. H.
The Feminist Movement and the Birth-Rate. — The philosophical radi- cal has no argument against the feminist movement, but the average person is unconvinced. Alarm over the decline of the birth-rate has created a demand for discrimination as to proper forms of education for the sexes. Stanley Hall's suggestion of education for motherhood ignores the possibility that the girl so educated may never have opportunity to marry. Much of the revolt has come from the position of women no longer young. A woman with a high sense of the duties of motherhood is likely to be unattractive to men. The attitude of men toward marriage places women in an impossible position. Marriage between fellow-workers in professions do occur but are hindered by the woman's dislike of economic dependence and the man's inability to support a wife, meanwhile the state needs the children they could rear. State endow- ment of motherhood would solve the problem. — "B," Albany Review, April, 1908.
J. T. H.
The Use and Misuse of Statistics in Social Work.' — ^As a rule the in- vestigation is not wide enough to admit of safe generalization, yet generalizations are made. The report of the New York Committee on Physical Welfare of Children largely failed to reach definite conclusions because no standard of comparison was adopted. The budget inquiry of the New York Conference which sought to determine the family income necessary for normal life failed to distinguish the fundamental necessaries of different race-groups. Misinformation in the guise of information does hann. A false generalization supported by a statistical table has tremendous authority with the mass of people. The invasion of the homes of the poor by the curious investigator is objectionable. It would be better not to publish so much that is of indeterminate value. There is need of better technique in publishing. There is also need of a new variety of expert, one who has at the same time sense of numbers and sense of social values. — Kate Holladay Claghorn, Proc. Am. Statistical Assoc, June, 1908. J. T. H.
Feminism in Politics. — If feminism means the introduction into politics of wholly new forces, that would substitute feeling for conviction, enthusiasm for argument, we need not dread any revolution ; no other state of affairs has ever existed. In general, man's education has little effect on his opinions ; his qualities as a citizen depend much more on his heart than on his bead. He does not furnish a contrast to woman in this respect. A study of the genesis of men's political opinions, shows them to be based also, not on reason and con- viction, but on feeling and sentiment. The admission of women into politics, then, would involve no great change in political methods ; but it would mean that their admission to a share of social responsibility and their moral education would be reflected in the general tone of civic life, in the family, and in men. — W. M. Lightbody, Westminster Review, October, 1908. F. F.
The Mind of Woman. — The fact that our modern progress is mainly the accomplishment of the white man is no proof that he is superior to woman or to the lower races because of inborn psychological capacity. He has simply entered a field of experience, interest, and practice, into which woman and the lower races have not yet followed him ; he is not a superior creature, but merely a specialist. The differences in mental expression between the lower and higher races is mostly due to differences of attention and practice, to the development of different habits in different regions. Certain organic conditions and historical incidents have inclosed woman in habits which she cannot fracture, and also given man an attitude toward her which renders her alien to his interests and practices. She exists in man's world of practical and scientific activity but is excluded from full participation in it. It is not that she cannot accomplish men's feats, but that as yet, she has not the practice. — W. I. Thomas, American Magazine, December, 1908. F. F.
