Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866, 1865-12-07
Misttllanu.
Prodigality Of the Present Times.

q An article was recently published
in New York paper entitled "The
Riot Of the Women" The article called
out a reply from lady, which we
copy below:
al have read with much interest the
article in the last number of your very
excellent paper entitled The Riot of
the Women" and fully indorse the SEN
timents which it inculcates. The ex-
travagance of the times is appalling.
Not day passes but that l see in
stances oft which forbode evil, par.
tieularly among those whose means
know to be inadequate to the full
qualification of their desires. do not
pretend to any knowledge of political
economy, but | cannot but think that
a day of reckoning is coming, when
thousands who are now making inor-
dinate display will find themselves
poorer than ever they were before, and
less able to regain the position that
they now revel in. You deserve the
thanks of every true man and woman
IN the land for your wholesome utter
ances.
{ Yet, while I thus speak, feel bound
to protest against your attaching the
whole culpability to the women. They
= are not nearly SO much to blame as
you allege. Of course there are wo.
men who will spend every cent they
can get to adorn themselves and their
households !; but they are exceptions.
The great majority of the women Of
America are not wholly given over to
prodigality and those that are do not
always deserve the blame that is often
visited upon them. The fault lies
quite as much with the men as with
the women. Every husband likes to
see his wife make at least as good an
appearance as her associates, and l
know of one who has more than once
surprised his wife with some elegant
article Of dress (Which she did not
need and did not care to have) just
because some lady whom he knew was
possessed of similar one. What is
the wife to do under such circumstan-
ces? She cannot refuse, still less re-
proach her husband So she accepts
the gift with smile, and is pronounc-
cd q very extravagant woman the FIRST
time she appears clad in the new gar
ment. Such instances as this are not
so rare as you may think.
IS Perhaps you do not know that the
better class of women make no display
at all now. The war brought wealth
to SO many common persons, who
made haste to bedeck themselves in a
profusion of finery, that the better
class Of people became Disguised
and, fearful Of being taken for what
they were not, RETAINED from making
the display to which their means and
position entitled them. And SO preva-
lent is this feeling Of disgust among
the better classes, that almost the only
women who make any great display in
public are either such as owe every
thing to greenbacks or belong to
that portion which is debarred from
every respectable circle. Believe me,
sir, 1t is true. For one am glad of
it. But why do the papers always de-
nounce tho women for extravaganza
and say SO little about the men! Our
sex does not recognize prodigality.
The money that man spends for luxu-
ries, such as dinners, wines, cigars,
horses, ETC., in the course of year,
would far exceed that expended by the
greatest spendthrift of woman that
/ ever saw. If you will examine this
subject more closely, l think you will
find that the men are more to blame
than the women. I am sure they are
Pray excuse me for troubling you
with this lstter but l wanted to
thank you for speaking out SO boldly,
and, at the same time, enter my feeble
protest against the wholesale condcm-
nation Of the sex which represent.
am, sir, very respectfully yours,