Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-11-18
ENGLISH WIVES.
The. Arc L~amentably Ignorant of Their
Husbands' INCOMES.

Husbands Incomes.
It Is cl ear that the point in which the
English middle class marriage most differs
from the French marriage of the same
class is the unwillingness Of the English
husband to sink any of his own individu-
ality in the union and to make his wife a
real partner. For example, some writer's
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
as to what is the pecuniary position of the
family. She knows that her husband is
sometimes willing to spend, sometimes un-
willing; that is ALL,
The French wife, on the other hand, if
we are to believe competent writers on
France, habitually understands her hus-
bands pecuniary position, and would con-
slider herself grossly sighted if she did not
enjoy his confidence in this respect. She
is as often as not indeed the family chan
cellor of the eXchequer and knows more
exactly how things stand than does her
husband. The Englishman's habit of Sc
cretiveness is, we cannot help thinking. eX-
tremely unfortunate, n to it may be
attributed a great deal of the extravaganza
and want of knowledge as to the value Of
money northumberland we fear rightly at
tributed-to English wives.
English husbands too often tell their
wives nothing definite us to their incomes,
and thus the wife has no means of know
ing whether she must keep rigidly to her
housekeeping allowance, or whether she
may occasionally go a little beyond. A
proof of the commences of the practice is
to be found in the fact that the manuals
on housekeeping always assume that the
wife'is quite ignorant of her husbands in
come and has no responsibilityin regard to
expenditures outside her own departments.
Another bad result of this system is the
complete ignorance of money matters dis
played by most English widows. 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 con-
ception of what is a good and what a bad
investment. How should she know? Her
husband has been at no pains to explain
things to her, and she has lived on the
principle enunciated by the old gentleman
in the Knight of the Burning Pestle."
She never wore out a dress without an
obliging 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 he average woman can learn to
understand money matters quite as we'll as
the average man. Unfortunately, the hus-
band is too jealous of his power to tell his
wife his exact financial position, while the
wife is too shy to insist On knowing, or very
possibly regards it as quite a virtue not to
interfere with such things. The consv.
quences are often disastrous. Many a
household would be thriftily instead OF
e~xtravagantly managed if only the wife
knew her husbands income, while hun
dreds 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 mys-
teries of the passbook.-London Spectator.