Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-05-01
THE wlFE's WAGES.
sbeIs Often More Poorly Paid than tho
Servants.

She Is Often More Poorly Paid than tho
Servants.
Twas asked to speak at farmers III
s4;tnte the other evening on the subject
of the wife's share. This is talk" OF
which never tire, says I. d. Berry. in
R,l,n1 Neay YORKER. In it I took coca
sion to speak of the grumbilns way III
which some farmers dole out money TO
their wives; how the vie often has to
ask and almost be for what is simply
her own in iusti, 9. The next day 1
was talking with :. well-known manu-
facturer and a;cEant in the town on
the SUBJECT. lie thought l did not
overstate .le matter. He said that
farmer and his W; y were in his store
trading. No, ! II can that the man was
trading, AID the wife, or servant, or
slave, was standing by. While doing
this, size picked out three or four little
articles on the 5 cent counter, (only
costing 5 cents each) and asked her
husband to let her have them. She
pleaded that she would like them so
much. He answered, with an oath,
No, by---, you can't have any money
to spead on such tom-toolery." Web
ster defines slavery as having ones
will under the control of another. Isn't
that woman slave? Are there not
great many farmers wives, and town
mems wives too, who are slaves to q
greater or less extent? And still L
suspect that even the man spoken
OF above was not really as bad as his
words might indicate. Let us in
charity, while condemning the deed
in stronge language, think as we'll OF
the man as possible. Doubtless money
came slowly and hardly to him. Per-
la,ps he was brought up by lord and
master father; or little by little he had
come to lord it ovel his mate, until
thoughtlessly, let us hope, not inten-
tionally, he had become veritable
tyrant.
In regard to town wives, have it di-
rectiy from lady living in the city that
she is. unknown to her husband
serinlping their living expenses and
laying up small sums IRON time to time
in the savings bank to her credit. This
is saved from money grudgingly given
her, oftentimes, for household ex-
penses. And she says she knows a
neighbor's wife who has quite little
money in the savings bank, which she
has from time to time taken out of the
money drawer at her husbands store
when she could do it unseen. At
another time when her husband was
called down stairs at night she took
some money from his pocket-book. The
remark was made that she had got
through begging for what was her own;
ho hoe
These cases / can vouch for.
A lady says on this point, in recent
number Of the World: Husbands sell
dom pay their wives the compliment of
thinking they can manage bank &C.
count What is the result? The wife
grows cunning and underhanded, and
condones the ways and means she en-
ploys to get money from her husband
as legitimate self-defense. She en-
ters into unholy alliances with her
dressmaker and milliner to send in bills
for larger amounts than she really
owes, and through their conniyance re.
celves the difference. She resorts to
coaxing and all the pretty Juggling a
woman possesses-nay, she even picks
her husbands pockets at night"
think it was Beecher who said that
if you wanted man born right you
must begin with his grandmother. ]
would like to know what sort OF men
/. we are likely to have in the future from
such grandmothers as the above men.
toned women? 1 hope every man who
reads The Rural will do what he can tc
put an end to this terrible state of al
fairs. If he isn't yet prepared to take
his wife in as full and trusted partner,
let him at least surprise her, beginning
the first of next month, by handing over
tc her reasonable amount of cash, &C.
cording to their circumstances, once a
month, to do as she pleases with. Let
this not be less, if possible, than she
could earn by doing homework fol
some one else. If it doesn't bring
tears of joy to her eyes and gladness tc
her heart in man cases, enough tc
we'll pay you, | miss my guess. But
do it because it is simple justice; be-
cause it is right. Do it for the good Of
future generations if you haven't any
love left for your patient, hard-work.
ing, faithful wife. Give her a little
taste Of the freedom you enjoy. But
for heavens sake! if you must continue
to be lord and master, and the head al
home in private, when you go to the
store to trade, and other people are
around, do not make your wife's LOT
doubly hard by showing up your true
character.
A Quandary.
l.