The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-04-21
THE FARM PoCKETBooK.


From the number of letters I have
received from time to time, asking
my opinion concerning, the above
topic, 1 am persuaded that there is
considerable dicontent in the homes
about money matters, and that many
women are feeling themselves little
more than servants in the household,
as they have no voice in the manage
ment of the farm earnings. 1t seems
to be theirs to work and to save, and
mans to spend or trife away accord
ing to his own sweet will.
1 have long hesitated to write of
this ''bone of contention )" for if
women are not receiving the consid-
Grafton due them OH account of the
great service they render the business,
it is not likely that the voice of any
outsider could open the hearts of
such obtuse protectors CD to see their
folly, and give their wives the honor
ed positions they deserve. That man
who makes of the woman he has
promised to protect for life a mere
"hewer of wood and drawer for wa
ter" a servant to wait on his hired
man and himself, with no money to
use that does not come freighted with
the query, "Where is that fifty cents
l gave you last week ?" is almost too
small specimen of manhood to give
even passing notice. But there are
too many of them, if we can believe
half we hear, not to give them an oc
at making pigmies Of themselves.
That man who expects to grow rich,
and rise in esteem by belittling hi
wife, will find himself mistaken, ana
the quicker he catches that idea the
betttr for him. The institution of
1,ssrriage doesn't mean that the two
f.la.sll be one, and that one the man !;
but it does mean that they are to
stand side by side, that their interests
are mutual, and what is to the per-
manent good of one will be equally so
for the other.
| have no doubt but there are
many women not qualified to make
the best use of money. Women are
not trained as they should be; they
have had no experience in this line,
for most of them have had very little
to use or control but when such is
the case, if her husband be a wise
man, he will take her into his counsels,
and she will come to be his equal, and
possibly his superior in managing f.
nances; for there are many wives in
this country who could have saved
their husbands from bankruptcy and
ruin if they had been permitted to
know the state of the family purse,
and their admonitions had been
needed.
do not know single woman to
charge with desire to spend money
for feathers and fnery if she knew
the home was in peril but do know
those who have gone beyond their
means, not knowing what they could
afford until too late to avert wreck.
A man must be in a very unbalanced
state of mind who wishes to deceive
his wife and make her believe he has
plenty of means when in reality the
sheriff is pending I can think of no
smaller soul than that which impels
man to go on in reckless ventures
and expenditures without his wife's
knowledge until all is lost, and then,
before the outside world comes to
know the state of his affairs, makes
over some property to her to defraud
his creditors and secure himself a
home. If there is any cream of little
ness, that man has it who signs himself
agent for his wife. Very many women
make great mistake in handing over
the property they have heired from
their parents to their husbands to
manage. They should keep such
property in their names, and decide
for themselves, with such general in
formation as they can gather, how to
invest it. They are more cautious
than men, and more likely to make
safe investments more of an object
than high rates of interest. The
glamour of big dividends is not quite
SO binding to women. Of course
there are exceptions to all rules but
if woman lose her own money she
will not feel quite so badly about it
as if he lost it for her.
She had better be out of conceit
with herself than with her husband.
Young married women cannot see
this. Doting as they do on their
fresh husbands, they want to show
them whatentire confidence they have
in them, and SO place ali their posses
sions at their disposal. But the ques-
ton is not one of confidence in the
husband, but one of right and justice.
No uneasiness may occur for long
years, but very late in life, in the
many ups and downs of fortune, wo-
men have had cause to regret that
they had not kept their own property
in their own names, so that a home
for the family could honestly be theirs
the appearance of wronging
the husbands creditors.
That man who has the best inter-