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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA WHAT DO GEORGIA CATHOLICS NEED MOST? By MARY HELEN HYNES This question which seems so very simple is really one that requires careful thought in answering. In contemplating any step of progress we must consider where we stand at present, and from whence we came; for these considerations will lend perspective to the picture of the ideal which we are striving to accom- plish. The Catholics of Georgia have made great strides of progress in the past four years, but this is no reason why we can afford to rest content. To do so would be to court disaster. We must continue to move forward. One great step of progress made by the Catholic Laymen’s Associations last year was in calling into the ranks of the active Workers the woman power of the state. It is, therefore, logical to believe that the responsibility for the next step of progress rests upon the women. The question is: What should that step be? Our parochial schools are being brought to the highest plane of accomplishment by the. untiring ef forts of our sisterhoods, and I believe that we are doing the maximum of educational work that it is necessary or advisable for us to attempt at the present time. Our hospitals, too, under the efficient management of a religious order, are acknowledged to be superior institutions. But what are our lay women doing? Through their club activities in the State Federation they have gained the respect of the other women of the state, and they have learned the definite value of co-opera tion and team work and it is here that we find the starting point for our new work! The crying need of the time is—organized recrea tional activities under Catholic auspices. The old adage: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” is full of truth. It applies also to a girl and this is what we can not have. There is no reason why a woman should be forced to be dull through lack of facilities to give vent to the play in stinct which Nature has provided as a safeguard to health and morality. Many persons deplore the lowered standards of the youth of today, and gloomily predict that they are bound on a downward path. Men’s standards are what women demand that they shall be; and if the girls of today have set lower standards the fault is not all theirs, but is in part to be found in the conditions that surround their train ing. If a pendulum while swinging is grasped arid held to one side, when it is released it will swing to the opposite side more violently than ever. So it is with present conditions. Force applied from without will only aggravate the evil we seek to remedy. We must supply a force within that will control and regulate if the effect is to be lasting. Much of this force can be developed through the proper direction of the play instinct. The hours of the day spent in school are com paratively few. What does the child do with the free hours? How and what does she play? Is the play constructive or destructive of health and body and soul? Then the school years are practically few, and after they are over what facilities for recreation do we provide? We all theoretically admit that women as mothers of the race should have every opportunity to develop and retain purity of mind and soul and health of body, and yet do we do everything to pro vide such opportunities? I am afraid this hris been one of our greatest lacks. We must have idealists to see the vision, but we must make the ideal practical before we achieve suc cess. In providing an organized recreational center it should be definitely planned and put upon sound financial basis, so that trained workers might be en gaged. This work is, 1 feel, the work ahead for our Catholic lay women. They know the social condi tions and realize the possibilities in such work, and from the financial point of view—I have yet to know the man who can make a dollar go as far and work as efficiently as the average woman can. There is no reason in the world why our Catholic women here in Georgia should not have an organiza tion devoted to providing recreational facilities. We have never failed yet in anything we set out to do, and the only reason we haven’t such an organization today is because we have not until the present real ized its need, so have not made a concerted effort in that direction. Some are skeptical of the success of a Catholic Recreational Association, but there is no need for such an attitude. The first essential, financing, may be easily met by using business methods of organiza tion, and we have many Catholic women in Georgia who are admirably adapted to this phase of the work. The second essential,. wise leadership, can be easily met also, for in the ranks of our Catholic woman hood of Georgia are to be found many who by nature, education and experience are adapted to this work. The third essential—enthusiasm among those who are to benefit by the organization will be easily achieved by wise leadership that will use ingenuity in provid ing recreational activities that will be beneficial and at the same time appeal to the varied tastes of our Catholic young people. The smallest Diocese in the United States is that of Baker City, which has 25 priests, 53 churches, 6 schools, 1,03 7 pupils and 6,817 Catholic popula tion. The largest is, of course, New York, with 1,110 clergy, 391 churches, 260 schools, 93,000 pupils and 1,400,000 Catholic population.