, 1890-09-11

lN''S"oi h'kBihsou iti hhuTptF DhLur
Is man to regard his wife, on
the business side, as partner, or a
salarled employe, or medlcant?
For II must be one or the other.
Perhaps she is regarded as a partner
In the domestic firm, having the
same right 10 draw her share Of its
profits MS the other partner, even II
he keep the books and has the
money pass through his hands. IL
Is very common thing In firms for
one partner to do the selling, or the
manufacturing, or whatever 1t is,
while the other acts MS treasurer and
cashier. But the latter does not, for
that reason, claim any superiority
over his associate. He does not,
merely because the money passes
through his hands, talk of "glvlng''
his partner what he pays him; he
knows that the money belongs to
his partner as much as to him.
This surely is the way in
which the marriage partnership
ought to be viewed, on
the business side. In the great ma
jority of cases the wife works as
hard rs the husband, though in u
different way. Her management Of
the household and children, II prop
erly done, is.usually to be set against
his work at his place of business; 1t
Is equally essential to the marriage
partnership, and though the money
passes through his hands, she has
really AS much right to II as he. OF
course, In cases where the wife has
no children, and lives at hotel or
boarding-house, and simply spends
the husbands money, while doing
little In return, Ii ls less of griev-
aiice 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 other extreme,
where the wife actually earns, or
owns, the money, and the husband
merely spends 1t. But neither Of
these Is the normal state of thlngs
the normal condition Is for the wife
to be as hard worked at home as Is
her husband abroad, and In this
case II is fair to regard 1t as al equal
partnership, in which both partners
have n right to share the profits, and
there Is no "givingn about II.
am satisfied that if there could
come sudden revelation of all
hearts, we should be astounded ut
the amount of soreness and chatting
and secret unhappiness which exists
beneath q multitude Of roofs in the
hearts Of seemingly happy wives,
.,1 ,sn1, II L>
moved by the certainty of even a
small income which they could
call their own. Either the wife
should be in the domestic establish
ment a recognized partner, with the
rights of a partner, or she should be
u salaried officer, with the rights
which that implies. In no case
should she be IA mendicant. One of
the best wives and mothers 1 ever
knew once said to me that she new
er should consent to the marriage of
her daughters without n perfectly
definite understanding that what
ever money they were to have from
their husbands should be paid to
them on definite days, as regularly
as II 1t were salary, without any
application on their part. mo man
can possibly understand" she said,
chow sensitive woman shrinks
from asking for money. If I can
help II, my daughters shall never
have to ask for it."
A Noble Woman.
At many times and in varying
circumstances of novelty and diff
Guilty has Mrs. Jessie Benton FIRE.
mont exhibited true bravery. Her
unhesitatlng self-adaptabillty to
quick-changing and often painful
conditions through her long consort-
ship with General Fremontis widely
known--lndeed for this no less than
for her social and literary gifts is she
justly famous among women. Her
praiseworthy readiness In all dark
crises 30 to meet adversely as to
mitigate its bitterness has been often
eXemplified, but never 80 notably as
in the hours when her recent terri
BILE afflictlon was new and well-nigh
overwhelming. After protracted
struggle, in which every member
of the Fremont family took part,
against absolute poverty, relief at
length came In the act of the pres
ent congress, by which the general
was reinstated In the army and re-
tired on half pay. In anticipation
of that legislation "a much needed
alteration in the programme of liv-
ing was made last spring Oh the
basis of freer expenditures. A bet
ter house in pieasanter street of
Los Angeles was rented and occu-
pied; in this pretty house, which
General Fremont did not live to see,
his devoted wife was fated to re-
ceive the unexpected intelligence Of
his death. Stunned at first, she
quickly rallied her faculties, and
toning up her spirits clearly saw
and said that to despOnd was idle
despondency could not help; sho
could and would face the new, and
forlorn, and dark situation. This
has been told before on the as-
thority Of her neighbors and
friends. And now, from q private
letter that we have seen, II may be
stated just how this courageous Wom-
an did face the obstacles to her
peace and comfort.
First, she resolved to sure nder
the better house she had but lately
taken; this she promptly did, after
securing one about half the size In a
street far less pleasant. To this in
ferior house she moved without n |
visible regret. Her pride was not In |
the least humbled--as IL was not
houses, or furniture, or lands. or