Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-12-01
ENGLISH WIVES.
ihey Are l.amentabiy Ignorant OF Their
Husbands Incomes.

ihey Are l-amentabiy Ignorant OF Their
Husbands Incomes.
1t is clear that the point in which
the English middle class marriage
most differs from the French marriage
OF the same class is the unwillinpness
OF the English husband to sink any of
his own individuality in the union and
& to make his wife real partner. For
example, some writers seem to hold
That husbands do not and ought not to
tell their wives their incomes This is,
we believe, in accordance with the
facts The middle class English wife
KNOWS very little, often nothing. of her
husbands affairs. and is quite in the
DARK Is to what is the pecuniary posi-
ton OF the family. She knows that
her husband is sometimes willing to
spend, sometimes unwilling; that is all.
The French wife, on the other hand,
If we are to believe competent writer's
on France, habitually understands her
husbands pecuniary position, and
would consider herself grossly sighted
II she did not enjoy his confidence in
this respect. She is as often as not in
deed the family exchequer and knows
moro exactly how things stand than
does her husband. The Englishman's
habit of secretiveness. is, we cannot
help thinking, extremely unfortunate,
and to it may be attributed great
deal OF the extravaganza and want of
knowledge as to the value of money at
tributed-and we fear rightly attrib-
uted-to English wives.
English husbands to often tell their
wives nothing definite as to their in
comes, and thus the wife has no means
of knowing whether she must keep rig
idly to her housekeeping allowance, or
whether she may occasionally go lit
tie beyond. A proof of the common
ness of the practice is to be found in
the fact that the manuals on house
keeping always assume that the wife
is quite ignorant of her husbands in
come and has no responsibility in re-
gard TO expenditures outside her own
departments.
Another bad result of this system is
the complete ignorance of money mat
tiers displayed by most English Wild
ows. When the husband dies the
ordinary wife finds herself utterly
at sea. She does not even
know how to draw a check. She does
not understand why, when or how
dividends are paid, and she has not the
remotest conception of what is n good
and what bad investment. How
should she know? Her husband has
been 1t no pains to explain things to
her, and she has lived on the principle
enumerated by the old gentleman in the
knight of the Burning Pestle'' She
never wore out dress without an
obiiginE dressmaker bringing another
and as for food of all kinds, it flowed
into the house just as if it was laid on
like gas and water.
Yet the average woman can learn to
understand money matters quite as
well as the average man. Unfortu-
nately, the husband is too Jealous of his
power TO tell his wife his exact finan-
cial position, while the wife is too shy
to insist on knowing. or very possibly
regards 1t as quite virture not to in
terfere with such things. The conse-
quences are often disastrous. Many a
household would be thriftily instead of
extravagantly managed if only the
wife knew her husbands income, while
hundreds of widows would be saved
from countless worries and impositions
if they realized more of the ways of
money.
English wives will not be perfect till
their husbands share with them the
mysteries of the passbook.