St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-10-31
"Pecuniary Dependents"

We heard bright and beautiful
woman lecture the other evening.
Whatever might hc the preferences of
some with regard To the place where
woman may most pleasantly lecture.
whether rs in old-tashi"ncd days i'll the
parlol or ~ in fashioned times ON
the platform, there could hc but one
opinion concerning this particular lee
tIrcr. She was fair Is a lily and rs
modest, and from her lips dropped
pearls and diamonds of wisdom. Bat
She sand Incidentally thing that WAS
neither wise nor true. She spoke of
wives ~ "prcuniary dependents"
y dependent i a person VIII" re
ccivc~ a bounty without making an adj
cqIatr return. No wife does this II
She I'LL the h"morrd place of wife and
mother, She as truly and ~ really earns
her living rs if She went ont to Labor
III the field OF in the shop. She earns
very much more too than her mere liv-
ing. She is equally with her husband
Il partner i'll the profits of his daily la
h"r, and has equally with him right
tn say how they shall hc spent. or to
advise IL To them investment. 1t may
we'll toe that She may not insist upon
this hight. pctcrring in her Wifcll love
to trust to her husband. who has the
edge of affairs, the care of their com
mon fund. This is entirely right. But
ii Is Il common fund, and not the phi
waite property Of either. The wife
who hlu~hcS i'll Il >hanIc-l,lccd WAY cV-
cry time She asks her husband for mon
cN. and who feels that She must rive an
account of her stewardship every time
that her purse Is empty. is in a falls,
position. The husband who gives
grudgngly and as for charity, money
to his wife which Is to 90. I~ it usual
~ does. to pay household bills and
clothc the children, is in Il false posi-
ton. Hers Is undignird his is uu-
manly.
OF course there are hundreds OF
homes in which this money question
never comes up at all. for the reason
that from the beginning there has been
confidence and regard and justice ON
both sides. There has been no thought
OF donor "r duncc. But there are
tl,,,tr-.,,,,l. % I'll Il
question IL Il source of continual pain.
The wife has only ii vague notion OF
what the yearly income is. The hls-
band with careful rrticcncc keeps his
affairs to himself. Under these condi-
tionS she is working i'll the dark, and
has no means of measuring her cXpcm-
ScS, OF OF knowing whether she NAV ho
lavish OF must he frugal. Thus she i,
Wr"ngcd, since she certainly has hen
She, in rearing the children, in manag-
ing the house, i'll making the home {;
place where good men and good wonl-
en- are being trained and developed ont
of the crude material of boys and girls
is doing a very. noble work. Sh,
could not do it alone so well. Hel
husband, as he praises her i'll the gates
rs the way of good husbands is. say.
that he could not do it alone at all
BY virtue of her title and office of wife
and mother she holds hrevet rank
among women, and is entitled to tn,
highest honors. She can not be Il pc
cuniary dependent, if words mean any
thing. HedrH and Home.
Cost OF \ PET DOG.-Thc admins
traitor of Il New York estate received
among other bills, one from il man VIII,
had undertaken the care of dca,
mans pet dog. For this arduouS duty
he presented bill of five dollars fo
dog tax. twenty-five dollars for train
ing the dog. and two hundred and fort
dollars for boarding the animal, maxim!
Il total of two hundred and seventy dol
lars expenses of the dog. The cas-,
went to law, and the taxpayer, traine
and boardcr received Judgment for on,
hundred and thirty-tive dollars. Tn,
chief lesson seems to be that all persons
, about dying should kill their pet dog
first. And i'll this connection it Nigh
he well to recOllcct that we are all NOR
tails. and hat as far as dogs are con
l rcrned, there is no time like the pres