New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-02-07
WJVE.y UAGES.

Some members OF SOr0sls nave oeeh al gums
that wives should receive regular wages lor
their household labOrs and responsibilities
Undoubtedly the fair creatures richly deserve
CONDENSATION of the most generous sort
Nothing can be too good for them. But we
foresee boundless possibilities OF disagreement
and difficulty in any scheme to ADJUST their
remuneration on the cold, hard, unsentlmcntai
basis which is accepted in the ordinary business
world No laws laid down by Adam Smith or
John Stuart Mill would work satisfactorily In
such matters as these. The harsh, unsympa-
thetc theories and precepts OF polIicn
economy would be out of place here, and the
inexorable logic of the pitiless law OF supply
and demand must be rejected at once. C0uIu
Won expect the ardent young lover, who burns
to lay the whole world at the feet of the
uncomfortable object OF his alteration, to calcu-
late calmly the condition of the wife market,
and TO try to balance the inimitabe treasury of
graces and virtues which bis Chloe possesses,
against the common currency OF cold Cash
But il he were compelled 10 Ito it, II the system
which finds favor in the eyes OF some Thought
less and giddy members of Sorosis should
become the comm on law of society, think what
would be the consequences to the unhappy
young men OF course prospective mothers
in-law would conduct the negotiations, ana I'D
the flush and ardor of youthful passion the
impctuous Romeos would be eager to concede
everything The consequence would De ihaI
the rate of wages for the bride would be estaD-
lishcd on such a scale that the bridegroom
would speedily become bankrupt ana IN
pcnury and disgrace would be obliged to look
for the rest of his days for support at the
hands of the rapidly enriched partner oil MS
sorrows, who having earned her wealth by
her own eyertions would naturally look with
scorn and contempt on the wretched being who
was unable to emerge triumphantly from
brief struggle between capital and labor
Even if there were no mother-in-law in the
case. and the young ladys exactions at the
outset of married life were not extravagant IN
too many homes chickering's would surely arise.
After a year or two the husband would come
home from his days duties with the latest
onotations of wives wages, and insist that he
was paying more than his income or the state
of the market justified. Resentment on the
vifcs part would inevitably follow, and the
difference of opinion might ultimately result III
n strike or a lock -Out. Ii certainly would be
difficult to find a satisfactory board OF arbitra-
ton to settle the dispute without violence, Tor
in a matter which touches so intimately homes,
hrarths and pockets, neither party to the con-
troycrsy would be willing to accept decision
bv outsiders. Wives trade unions would
spring up all over the land. Concerted
attempts To raise the scale of wages would set
households in an upruar all over the Union,
and nurseries and TeceptiOn-rcOmS would DC
deserted by Sistcrhoods of Locomotive House
Keepers who would 90 to and fro stirring up
strife and dsscnsion in hitherto peaceful
families. Direful would be the conclayes OF
discontinued matrons and Woe and anguish
would fill the land. Marriage would 20 out OF
fashion in a generation or two and S0roSls
would pass away consumed by the flames Of
public indignation and wrath. This now
happy and hourishing Republic would DO
divided into two great hostile camps, one OF
trembling bachelors shrinking from the hated
bonds of wedlock, and the other of ferce-eyed
spinsters, resolute to encham tho melancholy
victims. Soon desOlation would cover the
earth rs a garment.
No. n thousand times no! This scheme OF
Sorosis is worse than Socaistic. 1t has oil the
dynamic tcrrors of a Nihilist uprising. We
hnye an infinitely better plan to propose. Let
every bridegroom on the wedding day settle all
his worldly goods on his wife and bind himself
by contract to turn over to her everything he
may thereafter become possessed of. Then let
him pass peaceful life. sustained and soothed
by an unfaltering trust in his wife,