_Colonel Theodore Roosevelt_:
Dear Sir--I suppose you are willing to stand sponsor for the assertion
that the women of the country are not doing their duty unless they have
large families. I wonder if you know the real reason, after all. Society
and clubs are held largely to blame, but society really takes in so few
people, after all. I thought, when I got married at twenty, that it was
the proper thing to have a family, and, as we had very little of this
world's goods, also thought it the thing to do all the necessary work
for them. I have had nine children, did all my own work, including
washing, ironing, house-cleaning, and the care of the little ones as
they came along, which was about every two years; also sewed everything
they wore, including trousers for the boys and caps and jackets for the
girls while little. I also helped them all in their school work, and
started them in music, etc. But as they grew older I got behind the
times. I never belonged to a club or a society or lodge, nor went to any
one's house scarcely; there wasn't time. In consequence, I knew nothing
that was going on in the town, much less the events of the country, and
at the same time my husband kept growing in wisdom and knowledge,
from mixing with men and hearing topics of the times discussed.
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