The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-02-11
A MATTER OF PIN MONEY.
Every Wife Should Have an ALLOWANCE
to BE Used at Discretion.

Every Wife Should Have an Allowance
to BE Used at Discretion.
The secret unhappiness which is caused
by the fact that wives are obliged to go to
their lords for whatever money they need.
instead of having 4 fixed allowance paid
them at stated times, is one of those things
which arise from the thoughtlessness OF
men, and yet it is one of the most fruitful
causes of disagreement which exists. The
lack of some such arrangement as this has
brought many a couple to the divorce
court; and it is to be questioned whether
it would not be well for moralists to make
a point of the establishment of fixed pro-
portion of husbands income as one of
the essentials of marriage.
There is in this country feeling-not as
rational as some popular ideas-that to
have marriage settlements is cold blooded
and argues a lack of sentiment Ameri-
cans are at once the most hard headed and
most sentimental people in the world, and
despite the prosaic tendencies of the age
we have in this country contrived to keep
a certain naive sentiment in regard to mar
riage. There is something of the simplici-
ty and sentiment of the peasant folk in the
way we look upon marriage. To have any
fOrethought in the matter is popularity
held to argue cold and calculating atti-
tude toward one who should be all or can
be nothing. The idea of the marriage set
Element is regarded with distruSt and with
sentimental horror
1t would perhaps be cynical to inquire
whether the masculine desire to hold the
purse strings has not consciously or uncon-
sciously increased this feeling It is suffi-
cient that it exists and that it is thorough
ly unfair. If women are to be slaves, after
the fashion general among some oriental
nations, it is Of course fitting that they
should not be intrusted with the funds of
their lord, except under the strictest re-
straints. The position would not in this
age and time be looked upon as an espe-
cially enlightened one, but it wOulu at
least be consistent. If on the other hand
it is fitting that the wife be looked upon as
partner with her husband, it is certainly
but reasonable to give her certain indie
pendence in the matter OF disposing of the
funds of the firm.
Either wife should be in the domestic
establishment a recognized partner, with
the rights of a partner, or she should be a
salaried officer, with the right which that
implies In no case should she be a mendi-
cant. There is, perhaps, no way of pre-
venting her being a mendicant if the hus-
band, who is generally the wage Garner
does not give ner at least a fixed portion of
his income. With people of fortune there
should be regular settlement, in the Eu-
ropean fashion. Sentiment is good, but if
sentiment can live through the social cere-
monies and obServanceS with which en-
gagement and marriage are already sur
there is little danger that it will
be crushed out by a reasonable business ar
for the future.
If there is little money in the family,
there should be a regular sum fixed which
should be regularly paid to the wife, to be
used at her own discretion, and for which
she is accountable to nobody If it is not
more than five cents a week, at least let
there be some fixed and uafailing sum
upon which she can always count. There
are some men who honestly believe them
selves to be generous to their wives, who
yet are unconsciously cruel in this matter.
Let them begin today, if they are in earn
est, to stop this cruelty, and give to their
wives whatever weekly amount they are
able to afford, to be used by the feminine
portion of the household At pleasure. The
result will be an astonishment, even to the
most sanguine; so much are we prepared
to risk in the way OF prediction.-Boston
Courier.