Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1871-05-03
Quail ilcations for Housewives.

What are "sordid cares2" A French
lady, in q letter, having called attention
TO what she considers the deficiencies of our
countrywomen, some Of the latter have
gracefully kissed the rod, while ono OF
tn EN- retorts, in q letter, that "wives of
the middle and upper classes aspire to be
their husbands companions and intelligent
frends-not household drudgcs full of sor-
did cares" We are indebted to this writer
for putting succinctly, and in language it
is not easy to mistake, the views of those
Of her sex who feel it to be their mission
to elevate, to sOothe, and to refine, but who
shrink from what they consider derogatory
forms Of usefulness. We submit, however
that her ingenious implication entirely
begs the question. The statement was that
domestic arrangements are faulty in this
country, that culinary proficiency is want
ing among our womenfolk, and that in
comes are frittered away without adequate
result for lack of the administrative capac.
ity and technical skill possessed and prac-
tised by their French sisters.
Marriage is partnership, in which the
members of the firm should each promote
the common interest, bringing to it what
capital they can, and using it for the com
mon good. Does complete knowledge Of
the multifarious duties comprised in the
phrase housekeeping" interfere with this
Are the women of France less agreeable
companions, or less valuable friends, than
those of America? Does an unlimited ca.
pacity for the production Of Unsolicited, i'll
cooked, and ill-served dinners, n devotion
to dowdiness in costume, or a profound ig
noranCe of marketing, necessarily make
woman's society pleasant? The evil and
discomfort arising from the qualities named
are patent and unmistakable. Most of our
malo readers have experienced or heard of
them, and it would be national solace If
we could be convinced that the correspond
ing advantages are equally assured. "The
wealth of America" we are informed by
the authority we have already quoted, chap
PLY permits" the abnegation of sordid
cares, Except in few unfortunate cases."
and the French critic Is entirely mistaken
in supposing that any of the evils she as
sumes are due to the shortcomings Of the
American housewife.
frhu On "A tl,inor xuo n tipCr 70 t1ia ,uaurnnCa
is the endorsement Of the American hus-
band. We invite the evidence OF that
worthy representative, Is he satisfied with
his home arrangements Docs he con
slider that he, in his station, obtains an ade
quate return for his annual expenditure ?
Is it, or is it not, fact that the dinners
men have sat down to on the gala days of
the Christmas week have been lamentably
deficient in variety and that the repast at
one middle class mansion is so like that of
its neighbors that if the dinner could be
transferred from banquet to banquet be-
tween the courses, he would find the rou-
tine of indigestibility unaltered, and that
his dinuerhad begun, continued, and ended
pretty much as II he had never left his
first seat If this be the case whore means
are ample, and where the element of cost
is rarely considered when friends are to be
entertained, what is the everyday story of
households in which the butchers bill is a
matter for serious consideration, and where
the weekly expenses must be rigidly kept
down? 1t is the daily household routine
of the people with small incomes that we
understand our French correspondent to be
dcsirous of ameliorating; and, in spite of
comforting generalities concerning the
wealth Of this country, we are far from sure
that ignorant mismanagemcnt furnishes
as complete an escape from sordid cares
as her American critic assumes. Same
ness is the worst charge which can be
brought against the style Of living in we'll
appointed wealthy American households ;
but, as many q struggling clerk and young
tradcsman or professional man could tell,
there are far greater evils to be endured
In connection with American housekeeping.
Waste, not wilful, but stupid and blunder-
ing, aggravates half the genteel" poverty
one hears of and this is the more melan-
choly from the fact that those guilty of it
ore capable of the purest self-denial, and
do their best according to their lights.