The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-01-08
In WOMAN'S BEHALF.
WOMEN AS FiNANclERS.
Their Peculiar and Excellent uualifica
tioiia fnr TLiA Particular WnrlR

Vo"EN ~ VIlNNiVSIGUSs
Their Peculiar and Excellent 0uaIiHca-
tious for This Particular Worte
The ability TO make much OF little
will be an inestimable advantage to
women when they come to take that
place in the larger affairs Of the world.
to which they shall be ultimately called.
They have been accustomed. with few
exceptions to earn small wages, and to
live on small ~alaries--those who sup
port themselves.
1t requires immense patience and in
genuity. and success here is as much
triumph as when genius discovers some
new application Of force destined to nit
igate the drudgery of daily toll. The
woman clerk receiving SO week lives
decerily and even comfortably, and, in
the ~, probably gets more solid and
perm ,nent good out OF life than her
masculine colaborer who earns twice as
much. 1t is an advantage, to begin
with. that she has no fancy for expen-
sive indulgence. like smoking and
drinking and card-playing, and if she is
forced to do her own mending and wash
ing. after business hours. her independ-
ence, integrity and her moral cleanli-
ness are source Of consolation and self
respect She may do her own market
ing. (prepare her own meals. and though
the expenditure be trifiing. yet her daily
food is appetizing and dainty beyond
any thing possible 70 the habitue Of the
restaurant or the secondrate boarding
house.
She has cultivated. with this knowledge
of living. a faculty for keeping herself
respectfully clad upon the small income
by the exercise Of taste in selection and
the ability to perceive and avail herself
of what she knows is "a bargain"
Then she knows how to keep what she
gets in good order by little deft repair
ing and making over, which man can
never do. however skillful he may be-
! When the mechanics coat begins to
fray out along the edges and the lining
drops into holes he is helpless victim
To wear and tear. lie sees himself grow
ing shabbier day by day. and knows OF
no remedy. But the clever little stenog-
rapher or milliner whips out her needle
and thimble, and in half an hour makes
the old gown just as presentable as ever.
/ The penny thus earned is dropped into
I the savings bank. and helps to swell the
sum accumulated by similar means.
Many women-elder sisters or widows
/ with children, have educated families,
/ bought and paid for homes and have
| provided competence for old age by
| just such means. Women who have
/ married men with small incomes have
I proved themselves equal to even greater
emergencies Thousands Of men admit
/ that all they have and all that they are
4 they owe to the careful, proyident,
I economizing wife. who enables him to
have comforts unknown to his bachelor
hood, and who. at the same time. sees
that there is balance at the bank, and
that the payments on the home are reg
nlarly met until the last dollar is paid
This genius for economy. which is econ
omy allied to comfort and responsibility,
Is the peculiar gift of women. Men do
not possess it. They must have an i'm
mense amount OF material with which to
carry out their plans and leave margin
for waste and experiment.
1t is this faculty which the woman
citizen will apply to those departments
OF the government which in time will be
wholly turned over to her.
In that day superfluous employees will
not be appointed TO places they are in
capable Of filling for political ends
There will be a general wedding out Of
the incompetent and unnecessary In
that millennium, which will dawn in the
next quarter Of a century. We will have
clean streets. proper drainage, penal
and benevolent institutions taken out
of politics, the cost of maintaing them
cut down one-thrd. and the work done.
and properly done, fo: which public en-
ployes are paid All this will result be-
cause taking tLeir training into con-
sideration. women can manage in nc
other way. This is not mere assertion.
There are thousands of illustrations to
fe had everywhere to-day. 1t is only
necessary 10 look ut the institutions
over which women have unhampered
control. There are never any official
investigation with sustained charges oil
corruption and incompetency
The money women raise and expend
annually in church work and club work
affords another illustration 1t will ag
gregate millions of dollars all accumu
lated by the needle, by cooking, by dec
Grafton work. and other small means, 81
improbable. considered in tho abstract
that men would regard them wholly un
practicable. Yet the funds SO slowl,
and perseveringly increased grow amaz
ingly and are expended in manner cor
r. -
we'll considered. And here particular,
is where womcn have had the trainin,
that has given them comprehension 0
the real value Of money and it is her,
that they have cultivated their wisdom
and forethought in the graver matter 0
expenditure. Chicago Inter Ocean