The Republican journal., 1873-03-13
Written for the journal.
Register Studies. No. S.
WHAT'S TO BE DONE

WHAT'S TO BE DONE?
Firstly Regulate the money system IN
families. so that every wife shall know
lust how much she can afford to hire done,
and lust how much she must do herself
If the husbands means will permit
GORDON bleu, let the wife know it, so she
needn't burn her hands and spoil her tenn
per, striving to concoct wonderful dishes
fer her husband and friends If he can't
afford that. bnt can afford one green girl,
tell her that, and bring the entire domestic
don't Try to live in a brown stone front,
and keep open house, with a single ser
want; for il can't be done, without max
ING mere domestic drudge Of the wife
and mother, and even then not success
fully. Here comes in the Wretched uphill
business of American housekeeping. We
strive, after a fashion, to keep step with
our richer neighbors, who have an income
of as many thousands rs we have hun
dreds. and set up a style OF living, with
one servant, that in Europe no sane per-
son would attempt with less than three
With All due respect to Yankee skill and
ingenuity, ten dollars can by no possibili
ty, be made to 60 as tar as a hundred
ought to; and so its q IN serable failure
all the way through, Just for the want of
a little common sense.
Because kings and queens in the old
world, or upstart kings and queens in the
new world, dine comfortably off seven
teen courses every day, is no reason why
we should make gourmands OF ourselves
and bring financial ruin upon our families.
Secondly are better econo-
mists than men, and know how to make
thousand dollars 90 great deal farther
than men can Witness the od carpets
darned and turned as long As darnino and
turning are possible; then they are Gov
cred with spck and span new drugget,
that seems to give ynn SMILING welcome
every time YOU step your foot upon the
warm fabric Look at the thousands and
one make-shifts in dressing herself and
family; the husbands Old coats ripped up
and made into Jackets for the boys; her
own old dresses turned and twisted into
suits for the girls; aad so on ad infini-
tum.
Thirdly-W Women should be treated as
something better than mere dolls in money
matters, and household drudges in domes-
tic affairs In every other department of
business except housekeeping, the junior
member of the firm, has some fixed share
of the proceeds, however small, to have
and to hold, and spend as he pleases, and
no questions asked. But in the great
partnership for life American women
have absolutely no share in the business
profits Of the firm 'Tis trne the husband
maintains his wife (the town maintains
its paupeis) and intends III the kindness
of his heart that her every want shall be
it goes. The only trouble is, it don't 90
far. For that man was never created who
could Judge for n woman ht tier than
herself, what she most needs
American women have absolutely no
standard by which to regulate their house
hold expenses, and VET they are the most
pctted and indulced Of any class of women
in every thing save cash Send the bills
to patertamilias never any tiyei allow
ance; knowing next to nothing OF their
husbands affairs, stumble along, with no
lamp TO their feet OF guide to their path,
unless it be the regular January ~roWl,
that Just precedes the January thaW, and
makes one feel that earth and sky are
melting away into general bankruptcy
Fourthly-No woman should be driven
to the necessity of asking for what right,
fully belongs to her. This asking for
money, is a bitter pill to sensitive women.
| remember with what trepidation i friend
OF mine asked for money the first time
she had need Of more than her own purse
supplied After having said to her at the
altar-'With all my worldly goods thee
endow, ;" it took her three DAYS to oct her
courage up to the sticking point, and even
then, Il iirst-class criminal would have up-
peared better, and ielt not much worse
than she did And even now, after an
experience of twenty years, more or less
she can't ask for money without little
tremor in her voice, and feeling some
thing akin tc what an honest person would
entertain if discovered picking her neigh
bC.s garden strawberries without leave on
license
Now if patertamilias only would say
"My dear our (not my) average income
is about so much. You shah have one
third, for servants, dress, extra furniture,
pictures and hospitality; one third shall
pay the butcher, the baker and the candle
stick maker;' one sixth reserve for in
cidental expenses, including a trip to the
mountains, and an occasional airing in
our hired carriage the remaining sixth |
served for a rainy day"
| repeat, if pater only would say this,
what load Of doubt and uncertainty
would be lifted from the wite's shoulders.
Then, if she wanted a new bonnet she
would know Just how much she could af-
ford to pay for one. Or if she preferred
and had the skill to do it, she could make
her own bonnet, and have the satisfaction
of seeing the crisp new greenback re-
served for some other want, still dear to
the feminine heart. Then if she wished
to entertain her friends and do her part
in general society, she would know on
Just what scale to make the attempt, with
out embarrassment to herself or husband
The day that brings to women equal
rights with men in business matters, will
bring the era of easier housck eeping,
when people will no longer attempt i'm
possible displays on attenuated incomes