Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-09-13
20 WIVES LIKE TO EARN MON
EYp

TIE number Of wives and mother,
Sbo fulnll their duties in their homes,
and yet take up aome employment by
which thay also become wxgs-earnsru,
is steadily increa.ing. This Stats of
Affairs say, Agnes Bailey, In Fdshion
gives rise to constantly increasing dis
cuss!on, most OF which groups Itself
un lsr three heads, n2nsly: Do wives
lle t. earn money! DO Husbands like
to have them? And does tie prsctics
militsc against the chivalr!c spirit OF
men toward women ?
AS TO tho first, there ara hardly two
sides to the question. Women, both
wage earrsrs In small ard great
amounts, and women In homes, receiv.
ing no monsy save from their hus-
bands, almost Invariably answer thn
question In the affirmative. NJ woman
no has received an absolutely ince-
pendent income, be It ever so small
relinQuIshes It without sigh or at least
a smothered regret, She may give up
the independence for something more
pr cious, or she may abandon 1t at the
call of higher duty, but there Will al
ways be times when che will think
lorGingly Of the money she used to earn.
There are many reasons FOR the gene
raj desire TO earn money among women,
happily placed in homes OF their own.
Ihs first and usual impulse IS unselish.
Life has be,0me such a struggle ard
men, int nl.igent, loving, devoted 10
their families, wish 10 do so much FOR
their comfort, education and the eStrb-
lishment in the world, that they wear
themselves out in .he { # Jrt.
The old way of obtaining money by
the wife, that OF small domestic savings,
is p!tifully inadequate to her desire,
and there IS scarcely any sweetcr plea
ure for a good wife than the supply
ing some homely need with money Of
her own earning.
Then the sense of power which the
ability to earn money on even terms
with all the world gives a woman, car.
ries with Il \ subtle fattery, and, better
than the hstte'y, there CONES feeling
Of ,elf-Ieliance from the fact that the
business world sets money value on
nor work, which makes simpls wom-
an brave and weak woman strong.
or course, the woman who earns money
meets annoy Cos and dIscOuragenents,
liable 10 wound her ,eif-loye and her
disasreeable things are incident to all
human relations. A wi'e woman re
members this, and is thankful for the
hems-li'e and love which partially
shield and sooths hsr-a support wholly
lacking to many women workers. A
woman thus encouraged is not liksly ~
meet a business man who will prove
more annoying or make her feel more
indignant or more vretches than an
Incompetent or imyerti9eny servant
st home.
There Is yet another reason why wives
Ike to earn money, and this is power
ful Argument IN Its favor, to thought
fll women. Many and many sorowful
times has been repeated the story OF the
cultured, noms-loving woman sudden
ly bereft Of the home aud the love that
has 50 gladly protected her. She has
Lot bean an idle woman as the orderlN
house, the healthful family testify, and
she may even have had a training in
some art fer seli-support In her youth,
or practiced some trade before her mar
r!agc. But the years of wirehoCd have
inevitably VIC; ksaed her grasp, her
technical dexterlty, and the business
Instinct that she must put into her
bread-winnlng pursuit, and when the
day OF need con- es she finds herself be.
hind tho requirements OF her time, and
her services not commercially valuable.
1t is the knowledge of this painful
possibility which makes tie modern
married woman slow TO relinquish the
exercise OF her wage e-earnlng power,
IL she had any, and glad to try to ac-
quira moiety Of it IL pos ible. The
regular, though small, amount Of work
that she may be able to do keeps her in
touch with the business worli, and more
than double her opportunities for work
If the sad unexpected crosses her
threshold.