The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-05-03
DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP.
The Way Out of Very Disagreeabie Stat
of Affairs.

The Way Out of a Very Disagreeabie State
of Affairs.
However advanced the world may be
said 10 be, however quickly we may
grasp and adopt new fads, fancies and
notions, and however much we may
think we have improved upon old
times and former usages, there are yet
a great many things that are suscepti-
BILE of decided betterment.
Among these the management of
household affairs stands out promi-
nently, especially that phase of it that
involves the financial understanding
between the husband and the wife.
For a great many years it was
thought that women were not capable
of managing their domestic concerns
as far as money matters went. There
was, to an extent, some show of reason
in this idea, and in some instances
there is yet but, as rule, the existing
state of things is just about as bad as
civilized people are capable of making
it. A little analysis of the situation
will readily discover why this is So
A man of more or less mature years,
who has made Or is making a compe-
tence or a good living, marries young
woman, sometimes scarcely more than
a child She has been in school almost
all of her life, and has never assumed
any responsibility in money fs4ttsrs
| other than to be expected 70 make her
| allowance buy candy and other petty
Injuries If the money were all gone
she went without confectionery and
trinkets until the next time, and it
was just as well, perhaps better. This
constituted her limit of financial ex-
perience. Her bills were paid, her
necessities provided for, incidentals
We're looked after, and shortage was
made up. Whatever she wanted in ex-
cess of this she coaxed or cried for I'M
til she got it, or maybe was sulky,
sullen or disobliging until the coveted
article was forthcoming as the easiest
way out of the unpleasant state of af-
fairs.
Fairly launched upon the sea of mar
ried life, that condition in which young
people feel at liberty to do as they
like, her natural inclinations, I'M
trained and unguided in the bud,
blossom out into extravagant and I'M
reasonable demands, and feeling a per-
feet right to call for whatever she de-
SireS, trouble comes sometimes sudden
ly and without warning. 1t is safe 10
say that money matters are response
BILE for more domestic infelicities than
all other causes combined. The man
is not long IN discovering that his wife
manages badly, and he tightens the
purse-strings. Instead of carefully in
structing her in the use of this neces-
sity of life, he becomes arbitrary and
often unreasonable, insisting in many
cases, that all articles shall be bought
on credit and the bills sent to him to
overlook.
There are few things in the world
more annoying than a systematic es-
pionage of this sort, and the knowl-
edge that even the most trivial pur-
chase has to be accounted for. 1t is
humiliating and puts the mistress of
the house on the level of an irres6yansi-
BILE child. How much better it Would
be to arrange at the outset some fixed
method in which forbearance on both
sides form an important part. Hon
orable, straightforward, honest men
have very little reason to fear the
knowledge which their wives may
have of their business, 1t is only when
illegitimate pleasures and indulgences
are to be provided for that there is any
occasion for such secrecy.
A woman who is confded in and
trusted will, as rule, feel quite as
much pride in and interest for her hus-
bands prosperity as he himself does,
and it is almost always possible, when
business is depressed, for a well-in
formed woman to curtail expenses and
suit her demands to the exigencies of
the situation. But where there is no
understanding or confidence, where
money is literally doled out, and that,
too, in the most grudging manner,
feeling of resentment springs up and
the idea prevails that there must be
just 50 much contention anyway in
order to get what is required. Under
such circumstances there is no wonder
if the demands are excessive and infe-
licities follow fast upon one another's
heels.
The money question, more than any
other, is responsible for the reluctance
of women to marry and their ambition
to provide competence for themselves.
N. 5. Stowell, in n. Y. Ledger.