, 1872-12-15
THE VEXED QUESTION Ui.c5 :EGRE.

oiA: IL uaS UeEoule quite CuulmOQ 1Or NTllers
upon American domestic ills to bestow much
pity On the suffering mistresses OF house eholds,
! eud to suggest means whereby they may be
emancipated from toll and anxiety, and allowed
boundless rest and leisure. That woman ia q
sorelyabuscd creature, is readily taken for grant
ed; and, When any oua is go daring as 10 say
that she needs more labor and responsibility,
not less, he is sure to be met b- i stormy out
break of repr oof and contradiction; and he is
brave indeed if he be not giad to abandon the
subject.
Would you have women become elayes to do
mestic cares; narrow their lives down to the
dull routine Of housc-drudgery; leave them no
leisure for culture and recreation? :? Shameful! !!
cry wom2ns best friends.
Such defenders of the sex seem incapable OF
discerning that there is a medium between
- drudgery" and sloth, and that Intelligent gu
perVision Of household affairs is as far removed
from the one as from the other.
There is 10 wish on the Part Of those who re-
prove the Incidence and incapacity Of American
women, to mako slaves Of them; on the contra
r., they seek but to emancipatc them from the
tyranny of self-lovo, which is 1narring ell that
is noblest aud best in their natures.
It has been said d hundred times that the
blame Of woman's Sortlleaanees lies with man !;
that, by their Choice OF wivcs, they put pre-
MUM On feminine incornpeteucy. ''Who ever
heard OF man selecting wife because
OF her careful domestic training?" eaid maga-
zine writer, not long since. s'A
pretty face, q. sweet voice, winsono
ways, touch q mans heart Or capt;yaie lis
fancy; and, knowing this, . girl makes no ct
tempt to become proficient in tho knowledge
which, aB wife and tho mistress Of a house
hold she Will find necdful. The remedy is in
the hands Of msn. Whenever they choose their
wives for their useful qualities, woaaen will be-
ell which now they arc not"
It is to be hoped that the dag will never come
when men shall bocon,a go grossly material as to
choose wives as they would dray-horscs, for
''their useful qualities" It is to be inferred
from the satisfactory manner in which mott
husbands and fathers perform the duties which
fall to their LOS, that women are guided in their
choice by common sense and reason,
instead Of untlinking affection. Such an in
ference certainly ecems the only natural one,
Does girl love man because of his manhood,
his truth, his tenderness Or does she simply
consider his income, his b ank-account, his busi-
ness-facu1ty? /? For the salke Of the argument,
let us grant her to bo equally as disnterested as
her loTcr. Do her faith, her untlinEing anec-
tl0n, make IL 4eG9 1DcG1UDeAL upon l11n TO Iae
his talent, skill, and industry to provide for her
wants when che has become his wife Does d
man stand excused for winning wife whom he
has neither ability nor desire to maintain be-
cause, before marriage, she did not consider the
question Of income aud spending g-monoy?
None would be found willing to exonerate him
from blame, even among the persons who hold
that mans neglect to ascertain the extent OF a
giria domestic knowledge is sufficient excuse
for the ignorance and Incidence of wife.
Haf0rA f0mnSf1c hAru1npgE fe Nffa
woman must acquire g finer sense Of Justice
than she now has. She must learn to feel that
she is not merely to be the passive recipient OF
the good things which mans generous affection
bestoW upon her, but that 1t is incumbent on
her to give OF her time to sacrifice somewhat Of
her case and comfort, in order to contribute to
his happiness.
=, 4 material view Of the matter, perhaps; but
this is practical world Of ours; and, after all,
the 1u1urles and delights with which a man
strives to SURROUND the woman he loves are also
material; though not the less are they sign and
token Of an affection which is above and Beyond
all material things.
Womans work is not pleasurable, e,-neither is
mans. It is not agreeable to her to oversee af-
fairs in the kitchen, and laundry, and nursery;
but it is just as far from agreeable to man to
so through the routine Of work in office, store,
or ,shop. The question OF agreeableness has
nothing to do with the matter, however.
Man and woman are not placed here to dis
cover the way to get through life with the least
possible toll and Inconvenience. They are here
rather to accomplish some good results, to add
something to the comfort and wel1-being Of
others; and woman has no right to lose sig ght OF
this fact.
In spite Of the combined e1oquence Of Mrs.
Stanton and Misses Anthony and Dickinson"
says . writer gleefully, "Woman has shown
that she has no desire to do mans work." He
should have added, "nor her own work
either.''
How not to do it, s the chief study OF her life,
and the results which ahe accomplishes are sur
priaing, il not gratifying. As there can be no
good thing. without it's corresponding i'll. 60,
doubtless, the chiyelric tenderness Of the Ameri-
can man toward woman has been in part the
cause Of her ihcompetenoy and eelfshness. It
appears to be part Of the nature Of the Ameri~
can man to submit patiently to snubbing and
imposition.
He does not like to find fault, either at home
or abroad, and would be surprised, were he told
thnt he has perfect right to insist that his
home should be pleasant, orderly, and well man
aged the same right which his wife has to de-
uand that she shall be sheltered and provided
for in that home. In the endeavor to make her
home al that it should be. By the exercise Of