The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-09-01
THE REASON WHY.

lily provable. Now, when we see an
effect, we know certainly that there is
a cause, and, as women labOrers who
are wives and mothers-and their name
is legion-are almost universally eco
nomical even to parsimony, and in
dustrious even to slavishness, and yet
impecunious even to beggary, we know
there must be a cause that produces so
universal a result. We must thank our
masculine friends for occasional, al
belt unwilling, admissions that throw
light upon the subject. For instance:
We find in a recent exchange an ac-
count of the editors visit to a large
fruit farm, and he grows eloquent over
the profusiOn and variety of fruits there
grown, supplementing this with the in
formation that the wife of the owner of
the farm-not the joint owner, mind
you-was busily employed in preserv-
ing, canning, and drying fruits; that
she had several Cinnamon and one In
dian employed in gathering the fruits,
and aiding her in preparing them for
the market, and the belief was expressed
that the husband would certainly make
money out of it. Now comes the ques-
tion, why not the a0Je "make money
out of ?" If she were in the condition
of the Cinnamon or Indian, she would
be sure of her wages. So much, at
] = Dat I1y. FniI nd
thrift and good management, her hus-
band receives the reward. Think of a
woman working like this and never
owning dollar.
We think of another case that will
serve to show how women are defrauded
Of their own earnings. This time the
husband is postmaster of thriving vii
lage, and, being something of a politi-
clan, is frequently away from home,
so much so that the wife takes sole
charge of the post Office. She does all
the work, and runs to the beck and call
of every person; answers the questions
of those who, if they do not receive
a letter, regard the woman at the de-
livery window with suspicion, and i'm
pertinently ask for the postmaster;
leaves her work at all stages and at al
most all hours to hand out mail, and
for all of this her husband receives be-
tween S4OO and $500 per year from gov
ernment, and she never sees a cent of
! it. He claims to make the living, and
doles out to his wife the money she has
earned. One day, becoming tired of
her pauper's lot, she ventured to ask
| the postmaster to allow her to retain
one-half of the emOney the Office brought
in, promising Herewith to supply all of
her own needs. What, think you, was
his reply? "Humph If I have to
hire clerk, I'll get man." This was
his answer Uer6atinl. She would have
been less than a woman had she not
thought of some way to help him along;
so, as he was so fond of hiring men, she
sent her washing regularly thereafter to
| the heather Chinee, and his own and
the boys clothes to the tailor; gave
vagabond voter the job of splitting
the stove-wood and wedding the garden,
and, to give her further time to attend
to the office, let the calf do the milking.
But all of this, though very human,
did not raise her above a pauper's con-
ditiOn, and to-day she trudges back and
forth from kitchen to post Office, earn
ing a salary that is paid to her husband.
If any man, knowing his own disposi-
tion to deal justly by his wife, doubts
the assertion that nine-tenths of the
married women of this State are pau
pers, let him take literary magazine,
or the NEW NORTHWEST and a polit-
ical journal, and go out into the rural
districts to procure subscribers for them.
Present yourself, (as you are only doing
this for experiment., first at the door OF
the house, and give to the woman who
answers your summons the first-named
journal. She will wipe her hands upon
her apron, look wistfully at this and
that, fold it up, saying, regretfully, that
she would like to have it, but he don't
approve of it, and she has no money.
Present yourself now at the barn door.
Descant upon political matters awhile,
and see if either plea above given is
here urged. No, indeed. After a few
admiring glances, down goes the hand
into the pocket, up comes the buckskiu
pnrse, and the required amount is paid
over.
The husband himself will not prob
ably claim that he has worked harder
through the harvest just past than has
his wife, yet the proceeds of the same
are in his pocket, and she has "nC
money" Make the circuit of a thriv.
ing neighborhood, and see if this is not
a true picture. Now, we ask in all
candor, what incentive have women tc
industry, thrift and economy, wheu
they are so defrauded during their wife.
hood by custom, and their widowhooC
by law of the control of even a portion
of their own earnings? And what rea.
son can possibly or plausibly be urgeC
in favor of the continuance of such in,
justice? The custom itself was founded
upon physical force, and is pampereC
by selfishness, and would, in many in.
stances, be easily vanquished if mar