The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-01-01
WON
Is She Mean or
Generous
WITH HER MONEY?
A Symposium on An Inter-
esting Question.

I In money matters than women of the
old world; there is far more money in
circulation in the United States. and
they are given more to spend, writes
Gertrude Atherton, in the American
Queen. Still, it varies even here. The
Yankees, i. e., the people of the New
England states, are VIGOROUSLY close
"tight-fisted''; they keep up the tradi-
tons of the thrifty Puritans, and their
district, dramatically and agricultural
ly, does not conduce to the luxurious
living which is the basis of extrava-
giant expenditure.
The southerners are just making en-
relaxing olimate) an effort to shake
Off the effects of generations OF hlxll-
ry and open-handed hospitality. In
the west money is easily made and
easily lost, therefore lightly considered
In New York the upper classes spend
with o. large, aristocratic hand. and the
middle classes know the value OF
money too well not to spend IL freely
when they have it. Callforniana have
almost no idea of its value. On the
one hand, living is cheap and the sun
SHINES for eight months of the yeaR
ana on the other their smallest coin 10
the nVe-cent piece. A. newspaper coats
nat, also car fare the length and
breadth of the city,
IL Is this matter OF small coins
fancy, which really makes all the dlf-
ference and causes American yvor,,a1 -
appear more generous than E1ropeana
SatoteoVer, the women of the United
States are much in the habit of ''traat
ing each other after the fashion oe
men They take their friends to err
penslVe restaurants to lunch. to tha
lllatlhee' 10 the many charming rooms
where only ice cream and calras are
served at high prices ana wbera a..
UPS must be in proportion. When thew
sehd christmas cards or presents. they
usually do so on q liberal SCALE On
the other hand. I have observed whnn
traVellng that women do not tin an
Ilperally as men, They give a dime. a
Quarter or dollar according to the
mood they are in, not from the aanrs
OF noblesse oblige which aninoaten
men. i1@""
This is natural enough, for their life
does not develop anything like the same
sense of responsibility, nor do thew
handle such large sums of money.
sometimes they have curious alternate
altacks OF meanness and liberality.
both to servants and to those who need
broadly, | think it is safe TO assert
that when an American woman Is NOT
Tree with money, It is because her
common sense reminds her4that she has
too little to be free with.
Inc woman of the newly ACQUIRED
fortunes are almost always an excep
ton to the rule. Shopkeepers hate the
sight of them, and they travel from
one end of the United States to the
other without giving Q tip. though de-
Inandlng every attention Probably the
ohly pelng who is equal to this type
IS the negro, who has left his native
south and found his value in the north
anu west. dis air o. plying scorn
upon receiving q small tin. or No fin
at all is really Overwhelming. More
over he passes on the word and tho
next porter am referring now to
overland traVel-iustead OF being mo-
hteliy eXpectant, is ihsolent and con-
temptuous. Perhaps this singular prod.
uct OF American civilization trains the
lungi IN time, and who knows but that
he is responsible for the national dis
regard for small coins? He certainly
would not receive them. and in due
course one would lose the habit of Of
fering them.
am afraid that women have a bad
reputation on this score and / am nor
sure that3it is undeseryed. Women are
100 often mean In money matters and
their meanness may sometimes be call
ed by even an uglier name, writes Ade-
line Sargent, on the other side Of the
Question, in the American Queen.
A woman may be stingy in giving.
but this is her least common form OK
meanness. As a rule woman like to
give, and If her affections, her SYM
pathy, her interests be once aroused.
che is more likely to give laYishly and
with wisdom than to withhold But
the same woman will show absolute
meanness in other ways, perhaps. in
reluctance to pay a fair wage for SER
vice rendered or work done; perhaps in
a tendency to overreach others: to
drive bargain" and to get full val
ue" for her money.
We all know instances of this sort
of thing. | have heard a woman Of
many thousands a year congratulate
herself she had found girl to do work
for her at less than a living wage; and
another who mixed in good society,
boast Of the small amount she paid her
maid.
OF course I speak only of women who
are able TO afford proper wages to their
servants or employees, but who delight
in taking advantage Of another wom-
ans needs in order to get her services
for less than market price This is what
/ call meanness, and IL obtains more
largely among women than among
men.
It is quite evident that women like
bargains" They run to cheap shops
and sales, without giving much thought
TO the salesWomen or seamstresses But
it is to be feared that women carry
their love Of bargaining and cheapening
into other relations OF life There are
some who do not hesitate TO carry
meaUuegs a little over the bordprz ~