The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-08-22
.dgS .0F F.F7FEFFTI
In W0MAN'S BEHALF.
THE QUESTION OF HAPPINESS.

woman WIN ~ Ain II Lie. tEr
Are women happier for working, /,
spite of the ,hardships they encounter
/ often ask myself this question wheI
; talking to a weary working woman, ans
in some instances have put it to then
personally, and the. answer invariabl,
is "Yes.Y The world thinks that tn,
only way for woman to escape from
the drudgery Of works. to marry, and
that they are all glad enough to do 81
when they have an opportunity. 1t i:
sometimes way of escape that is oper
to all women, sooner or later. in the
course of their lives: but we all know
that every married woman does not gel
support from her husband. She /:
frequently obliged to support herself
and often the entrance into the mar
riage state is only change from one
drudgery TO another -
The brutality with which women fire.
quently ask each other why they do not
marry, is only one of the many brutal.
ties that they show to mem
bers of their own sex The
question is invariably put by a mar.
ried woman, who, having obtained the
legal right to be supported by man,
and thus escaped all necessity of work,
wonders why all other women who work
do not follow her example. / saw a
sensitive woman's face turn pale and
her eyes fill with tears the other
day when this question was put to her
by flippant, shallow acquaintance. 1t
was as impertinent as If the other wom-
an had asked her why she had ever
married her husband, perhaps she
! would not have had the wit to answer as
did Parepa Rosa to a similar question:
because he asked me-"
Truth to tell. the pale little woman
had often wondered why this woman
had married the man she did, and this
question revealed to her the reason
she married him for support and got
it.
| However, woman who could ask
such a question isnot the one to be made
| happier by work, nor is she one to under
stand how any woman can enjoy it, for
there is enjoyment in work in spite of
hardships.
But, in order to answer the question
at the top of this column, perhaps it will
be we'll to first ask and answer another
one: ~
What is happiness?
A fashionable woman, who has every
thing that the highest social position,
! devoted husband and wealth can give,
| tells me that she Graves literary fame
to make. her happiness complete. a
ba III uorEinr 1itar,ry pop,o-
ried, says that her idea of happiness is
home, with loving husband and chill
dren; poor but fashionable girl wants
rich husband and fine establishments;
rich girl desires to marry titled En-
glishman with large estates: city-bred
woman wants a country home to make
her happy; an artist longs for fame, and
journalist desires sufficient means to
enable her to travel, in comfort all over
the world,
What does this prove?
Simply that happiness is some thing
We have not got.
l claim that an object in life is the
next best thing to happiness, and this
object the working woman has. Her
work is an object, and whether it is
done for bread or for fame, it makes life
worth living. If she works for bread
the necessity is a spur. an incentive,
without which she probably would never
have attempted any work at all; it is,
also, an inducement to DO good work,
and the results are immediate, which is
most gratifying. II she works for fame
the result is distant, very far distant
perhaps, and the path may be rough
But WHAT is worth having is worth work
ing for, and the greater the obstacles to
be overcome, the dearer the reward.
Work is some thing to do, some thing to
think about some thing to live for.
And in speaking now of working wom-
en-, | do not mean so much the women
who are brought up to do work of vari-
Gus kinds, but those women who have
taken it up from necessity or from
choice. 1t is only the latter women who |
can appreciate the privilege of work, |
who can thoroughly enjoy the zest it
gives to life, and-where it is done as a |
means OF support-who can understand |
and rejoice in the independence, it gives |
That freedom, that independence, is in
tirely dependent all her life, and her |
appetite grows with what it feeds on.
When a woman who has been brought |
up conventionally and dependently,
steps into the arena of work-no matter
what the work is-she must throw aside |
certain conventionalities and dependent
ideas that have been instilled into her
mind from her earliest youth. The
novelty Of doing things that she has
hitherto been forbidden to do at all, or
forbidden to do alone-and harmless
enough things they are, tools de-
light to hear that other women, less
conventional, can not understand.
This diminishing in forbidden fields, the
novelty Of having an object in life, and
the independence that her work gives
her, are three things that remain joys
forever
That these women are happier for
working, and that they enjoy their
work, is proved by the fact that many Of
them continue to work after marriage,
many put aside excellent offers of mar
rage and offers from wealthy friends or
relatives of home and fortune.
That they sometimes break down in
health is not to be wondered at, for
women who work for bread must prac-
tiee economy, and they do it by burning
the candle at both ends. A seeming
paradox, but true. They economic in
food; something that a man never does.
But this is subject requiring chapter
Of its own, and / do not intend to enter
on it here; for it is not work that Stays,
but worry and improper care of the
health.
Work is tonic restorer. a life pre-