The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-07-25
IN WOMAN'S BEHALF.
MENolcANT WIVES.
a Sensible Talk on Domestic Money Ma

3 To-
A Sensible Talk on Domestic Money Mat
ters.
Is a man to regard his wife, on the
business side, as partner, or salaried
employee. or mendicant3 For it must
be one or the other. Perhaps she is re-
garded as partner in the domestic firm,
having the same right to draw her share
of its profits as the other partner, even
II he keeps the books, and has the mon
ey pass through his hands. 1t is very
common thing in firms for one partner
to do the selling. or the manufacturing,
or whatever it is, while the other acts
as treasurer and cashier. But the latter
does not for that reason claim any supe-
riority over his associate. lie does not,
merely because the money passes
through his hands, talk of '.giving" his
partner what he pays him; he knows
that the money belongs to his partner
as much as to him. This is surely the
way in which the marriage partnership
ought to be viewed, on the business side.
In the great majority of cases the wife
works as hard as the husband, though in
q different way. Her management of the
household and the children, if properly
done, is usually to be set against his work
at his place of BUSINESS; it is equally es-
sential to the marriage partnership, and
though the money passes through his
hands, she has really as much right to
1t as he. OF course, in cases where the
wife has no children, and lives at a hotel
or clearinghouse, and simply spends
the husbands money, while doing little
in return, it is less of grievance to
talk of his giving" her money. Even
then, perhaps they live in this way by
his desire. There are such cases, no
doubt, just as there are cases at the 9TH
er extreme, where the wife actually
earns-or owns-thc money, and the
husband merely spends it. But neither
of these is the normal state OF things,
the normal condition is for the wife to
be as hard-worled at home as is her
husband abroad, and in this case 1t is
fair to regard it as an equal partner
ship, in which partners have right to
share the profits, and there is no ''giv-
ing about 1t.
But suppose that, for any reason. the
wife can not convince her husband that
this theory of an equal partnership is a
just one, she has perfect right to put
the matter in another way. IF am
not partner" she may fairly say, 81
have just right to be regarded as an
employe. II am not a partner, at
least render certain services to the
household, and can claim as of right
not by 'giving'-whatever compensation
you would pay to any third person for
the same services. Put it as matter Of
equal partnership or of employment,
whichever you please. only do not evade
the obligations of both" Surely this
demand at least is reasonable. II the
wife is simply an official, let her be paid
for the official work, and call the COM
pensation her own. II she keeps house,
she is at least entitled to what you
would pay ahousekeeper; il she does the
duty of q governess, let her have the
compensation of one; il she does the du-
ty of cook, she earns cooks wages.
Do not regard all these economies simply
as something saved to the husbands
pocket; the saving has no place in his
pocket, for it belongs in that OF his wife.
You do not expect any one else to keep
house, or teach the children, or cook the
dinner merely for her board or lodging;
why should you ask the wife to do it? II
a penny saved is as good as penny
earned, her saving should count as earn
ing. h. s.tr
1t is not enough to say, "But we do
not wish to complicate matters with
these technicalities. Observe, that it
is always technicality when it is a
question of moneys going to the wife,
but it is vast and simple business prin-
ciple whenever it goes to the husband.)
"When my wife asks me for money, /
give it to her." But is that the kind of
relation you.like to have with your own
employer-one of asking" and ''giy-
ing? You prefer to feel that you earn
it, and that the very moment payday
comes it is yours, and there is no .'giv-
ing" about it. From that moment the
law itself makes it yours. II men. who
are trained to rough it in the world. feel
this shrinking, women can not escape it.
Only long and patient observation, /
suppose, can enable any mere man to
the continual and unjust hui
undergone by multitudes OF
women-the pincbing and
and patient enduring they
will undergo first-because of this per-
petual ordeal Of asking" their husbands
for money. The husband may be the
man living: the wife may
know that asking means receiving; but
that which annoys her is the asking it.
self. in many cases the money is paid
without it, know, as an allowance;
but in that case the word is still one
which implies a favor given and re-
ceiyed; it is not an allowance" proper
ly speaking, but is simply her share Of
the income, if you regard her as part
ner; or her salary, if you view her as an
employee.
Why does she need this sense Of indie
pendence in her possession of what is
iue her? She needs it in many ways.
First, that she may feel that she is
woman, not child; that she Is OF age,
not under tutelage. Secondly, that she
may feel free, as her husband would
feel, to subscribe for such charities as
may seem to her desirable. As it is,
any subscription agent will tell you that
the husband puts down his dollar or his
ten dollars without hesitation, on his
own judgment; while the wife rarely
on subscription even to the
Society or the Seaside Home
Tor Sick Children, without requesting
the agent to call again, that she may
have had an opportunity to ask her hus-
band. Thirdly, that she may make pres
ents. and feel that they come from mon
~ that is justly hers, and which she is
Of rxal h