Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1880-06-16
DaiIp Kfnnehtr .3ournaI.
fME GRIEVANCES or weAEs.

was making an insignificant Journey
in company with married pair, between
whom there was the most perfect under
standing and good intelligence. The lady
wore pair Of very shabby gloves. 20
which, BY some accident or other. atten-
ton was called. The husband was shock
ed and ashamed. Zone would think, -
he said. ''that ! could not afford to buy
you gloves Now. here were the facts
of this case. Both had little money, the
to her husbands. lie had been a Uni
vcrsity Don, and was then a Coach"
taking pupils. Some six or eight young
men were living in his house, and Of
course his wife had her cares Of house.
keeping so much enlarged as to make
them an engrossing and constant occupa-
ton. She had besides a large family Of
small children. If she did not. work rs
hard for her living as he did, then the
words have no meaning; but so little did
this good man suppose her exertions to
be worth. so little share had she. accord
ing to his ideas. in the actual business Of
life. that he spoke Of her want of gloves
as a reflection upon him, as he might have
spoken Of the neglected appearance Of a
child. lie had no wish to be illiberal-
he was fond Of his wife and proud of her.
and very willing to keep her in gloves
and anything else she wanted, but he had
no feeling Of right in the matter; no sense
that her position ought to be anything else
than that Of absolute dependency. Had
it been necessary to bring in a stranger
to do the wife's work. that stranger would
have been highly paid and a very indie
pendent person, indeed. But the work Of
the wife represented nothing to her hus-
band. and gave her, save by his grace and
bounty, no right to anything, not even to
her gloves and bonncts. her share Of the
living which she so largely helped to earn.
In this respect, however, the most liberal
and the most generous men are often rs
much at fault as the coarsest. They will
not allow the importance Of the second
part in the universal duet. They will give
liberally, and praise freely, but they will
not acknowledge MY wife hiss as much to
10 as | have. Without her work mine
would not have half its value we are part
ners in the toll of living. and she has
earned the recompense Of that toll rs well
as L. No one will say this. nor will tie
world acknowledge it. What the world
does say when a woman outside of the
bonds Of marriage claims 10 be allowed
to work for her bread as she best can is,
that she ought to go back 10 her proper
sphere, which is home, but IN that proper
sphere, and 1T her own individual work,
all credit is taken from her. her exertions
are denied, her labor is undervalued The
only chance for her to get her work ac
knowledged is TO do it very badly, when
there will be an cutlery. But when it is
well done it is ignored, it is taken as
matter Of course, il is never thought upon
ut all. Let this be contrastcd with the
reversed case-a case by no means unfre-
Iucni. though left out of account in all
popular calculations. When it happens
that the woman is the richest of the two
partners in life, when the lite comes from
her side, or when she earns il she is CON
sidercd bound to assert no consciousness
Of the fact. II is u horror and shame to
all spectators when she makes any stand
upon her moneyed superiority That she
should let it be seen that she is the sup
porter of the household. or remind her
husband that he is in any way indebted to
her. is piece Of bad taste and bad feel
ing for which no blame is too severe. And
the woman herself is the first to feel it So
But that which seems the depth of mean
ness and ungenerosity in woman is the
natural and every day attitude of the man.
II is point of honor on her part to ignore
to the length of ialsehood her husbands
inferiority to herself in this respect;
whereas the tact of her dependence upon
him is kept continually before her eyes.
and insisted upon. both seriously and joe
ularly. at every point Of her career
Mrs. OLphnnt in ErnScr'S Mann -inc