Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-07-13
N W0ntN'S BEHALF.
BUSINESS INDEPENDENCE.
Young Women Tried It-AThIng Of Their
Tmaa-fpaffoO only lsf

I aud, IN writing of thebr Hslsll have al
/ least the satisfaction of showing
whereof ] speak, and in this respect il
seems not unlikely that | differ from
some who write and speakun this top
/ ie | think know something of what
q young woman hourly and daily suf-
| fers who must earn her livelihood. The
/ privilege has been given me 10 contrib
ute, in part, to the support of several
| hundred of the bravest and incest little
women whom God ever ordained should
toll for their own bread and butter.
And have been allowed, too, to enter
into thir lives and been given their con-
| fidences. Scores Of self-supporting girls
and women are my personal friends,
and it is they, and not !, who speak
these words. l am simply their mouth
| piece when l counsel every woman,
| young or ola, to keep miles and miles
away from the business world, unless
| actual necessity drives her to its bor-
ders. Believe me, my young woman,
when say that there is no independ-
ence in the business world for any liv-
ing woman. \ business career means
drudgery to which home duties are a
perfect elysium of leisure There are
no such disappointments to experience,
no such pains to bear, no such blight
ed hopes to suff err, no such indignities
to be compelled to accept, no such
heart-breaks or mental anguishes IN the
hardest kind of domestic work. as there
are in even the easiest positions in the
business world The poorest, hardest
working woman in her home is queen
OF independence compared to the won-
an in business, whether She be employee
or employer
NJ person, however favorably he or
She may desire to view the matter Of
business life for a girl can honestly
say to her that in such a career She viii
find the key OF her own independ-
ence. On the contrary, it means alb
solute dependence. and not only that
but the severest kind of trials and pri-
vations. In her home She may have
been under orders but the orders came
from her mother: in the Office or store
she is under the orders of 4 stranger.
who to put truth quite plainly, cares
nothing for her save the amount Of
work that can be gotten out of her 1t
is useless to deny that business is built
upon selfish lines. This must be SO.
The sole object Of business is to make
money. Methods of attaining that end
may differ, but the purpose is the same.
Hence everything and every body that
comes within the attainment of that
end is judged purely upon selfish lines,
and measured by cold and calculating
standards. The sensitive womanly ma
ture never wants for respect, but it
may at times be forgotten. Tho man
in business is an entirely different ami
NAL from the same man met socially
at the home of a friend, or when seen
in his home | do not say by this that a
gentleman ever forgetS the respect due
to women in or out of business, but the
manner in which man at his ease,
and a man overcharged with business
perpleXities and worries shows that re-
spect may be widely different. ] have
known women in home life to suppose
that allowances are made for their sex
in business life. This is not SO for the
reason that it could not be so. No bust
ness could exist if conducted on such
lines.
i young woman faces succession of
hard trials when she turns to a business
career. 1t is easier for her to think
that she can do what she sees Others
doing than it is for her to do it. 1t is not
so easy to be compelled to rise at GER
tain hour day after day whether one
feels like it or not; to eat hasty break
fast or let me say rather to bolt it; to
go out into the biting frosts of the win
ter and the torrid heats of the summer;
to leave the comforts of home behind
and those dearest and nearest to us; to
be compelled to write when the eyes
will scarcely keep open from the ache
in the head; to eat either a cold lunch
spread on the knee or mingle with the
elements in cheap restaurant; to see
the wardrobe running behind with no
time to sew or replenish it, to go
through the strain of long day work
only toreturn home at eventide often too
tired to eat; to feel too exhausted to do
aught in the evening but to remain
home and seek early rest to gain
strength for the morrow, to go through
the same routine of mental and phys
ical anguish. Win any one call this a
life of independence? And yet this is
what thousands Of girls 60 through day
after day, year in and year out untilat
twenty-five they look thirty. Enough
is it that such life should be led by
those whose circumstances demand IT,
know that hundreds Of young wom-
en- are attracted to a business life by
the reports which we meet 50 frequent
lv in print as to the number Of success
ful women in business. and the large
income, earned By them. These stories
are made very attractive and I know
how apt these things are to influence
the pnbnoWing. But | happen to per
sonally know something Of many Of the
women whose incomes are made the ba-
SIS for writer's and speakers to urge
other women into business careers.
Often have I wished that ! might feel
privileged to tell in print the actual
truth about these reports as it has been
told me by some Of these successful
women. We have read of them earn
ing all the way from two to twenty
Thousand dollars uer wear b1lt some