The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1884-03-05
Tho Destitute Rich.

BY one Of those common impulses thai
weep periodically over the face OF So
cIety every one with taste for phllan'
ihropy is turning TO do something for
tho destitute poor. The bitter cry Of
outoast London has rouscd tho good
men aud women OF the city TO united Of
tort 10 provide beltor homes for their
poor. The recent publication OF the
state OF things IN tho Nowsboys' Home
\ OF this city, compared with what Is done
4, In New rsrk by the Children's Aid So
clety, has had tic good result OF lnduc,
Ing q number OF our noble'hearted
women 10 undertake TO establish
home for tho wallis OF our streets,
Misunderstanding schools aro being
started all over che country 10 teach tho
boys how TO earn tholr living II need bo
by honest toll,
There IA ono class whose sore needs
are completely overlooked by this out
burst Of philanthropy, and yet II Is tho
class ol all most helpless and most
needing hand TO b0 outstretched In its
behalf IL Is not 10 DO found among
the poor Thia class belongs 10 the
destitute r'oh, and II Is the most dest,
lute part OF tho destitute rlch-the
daughters OF the well-todo and wealthy
How destitute these girls are They
have money, good clothes, few smat.
terlngs OF things In books and music,
but OF the real acquisitions that make
woman help TO he rself and 10 those
about her--ablo to do little things In tho
kitchen or great things in tho sick.room
how little Ihoy havol
These girls are most OF them destined
10 matrlmony, aud yet they arc almost
utterly ignorant Of MI tho details oil
housekeeping, Their education has not,
as Chinese education does, cramped the
feet with which thGy promenade the
sidewalk, pass from counter 10 counter
OF tho fashionable dry-goods and mil
llnoly and Iewery stores, or thread tho
mazGs OF he waltz, assuming that they
belong u tho comparatively rude
arlstocracy that has not yet Leen re.
fined 10 tho point OF 70 ocling the dance
as being too much like fun and TOO
physical 20 bo really in "good torm,"
but II has dwared their other means OF
locomotOn,
:, hese girls have no feet that can takO
them 10 the bread.pan, or cook.stoye,
or the broom, orthe vegetable or meat
market, or the sowlng-room, and,
worst Of oil, the nursery. They eXpeat
their fathers 10 understand thoroughly
the business that supplies tho bank aC.
count that ena1les them 10 have done
Tor them all the things not one OF which
they can do for themselves, Still more,
they insist that the young men they
marry shall know all the details OF
their business, This demand that the
husband shall DO an expert In the bust.
nesS from which runs tho golden spring
that nourlshes tho elegant incAiciency
OF the fashionable wife OF the period Is
not 20 be condemned. II 10 tho dc.
mand OF self-proseryation. II both par
tics 10 high-llfe marriage were rs use.
less and dependent and destitute OF all
that makes human being Independent
and strong rs the gilded girls are, II
would bU but few brief moons before
tho entire establishment would come
down with u run.
There Is something amazing IN the
selfish Gompacency With which these
girls nestle down In tho great palm OF
society, confident that II will always bo
glad and content 10 carry Them In easo
and Incidence over all the rough pieces
OF life without troubling them even TO
look over tho edge and see the perllous
and dilllcult places II " lifting them
90 Ioss. William Morris, tho English
poet, whose sympathoto heart has becn
50 affected by the misery Of tho poor
overgrowlng the prosperity OF England
rs tho mlstletoe covers and kills lts oaks, |
lha' no has abandoned the luxury OF |
vorso.mNkng Tor the stornor work Of
reform agitation, declares that the mod
cru wel-to.do classes, reposing as they |
10 on the labor OF the workers beneath |
thom, arc sinking INTO u condition OF
helplos'noss moro dangerous and more
dlshonorable than even that OF tho
Roman patricRns or the French nobll-
~ before the French Revolution. Grant.
cd that this Is the exaggeration OF an
eSclablo poetic sonslbIlity, 1t will DO
hard for our girls TO deny that II Is truo
OF them, even II II bo not truo OF thor
brothers and fathers, who do perform |
some OF the world 3 work.
II Ia time that sympathy for the holp. |
loss aud The philanthropy that Ia stir. |
ring In behalf Of the destitute should
do something for tho destitute rich |
Girl Of our American civilization. |
Though they have good looks and dnO
clothes, yet they aro poor. Thoy nro |
ushered into womanhood without being |
given the resources OF womanhood |
thoy arc biddon 10 make homes for their |
husbands without tho training Of head |
or hand, by which alono homo can bO
made. - Chicago tribune.