The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-02-23
MARRIED WOMEN AND WAGE
EARNING,

For generations the accepted condition.
among people of good breeding and re-
| tlnemcnt, was that the waEe-cnrnin:,
should be done by the husband, and the
administration of the domestic cXcheQuer
be left in the hands of the wife.
Among comfortably place and, to some
extent. luxuriously living, Americans,
there is Il remarkable change from for
mer opinions on this subject Of the wifc's
hrrad-winning. Especially among ar
fists. authors. journalists and people who
live Ivy the cNcrtion Of the intellect rather
than by mere manual labor, it is common
to find both wife and husband practicine
their speciality. whatever it is. and put
ting their earnings into Il more or less Co
| operative purse. The wife has II gift for
illustration, and her clever fingers exc
cut her good mans salary, 81 that lux.
urirS are possible which the two must
else forryo. She writes bright quipS and
jestS. or charming short stories, and the
crisp checks which come floating to her
dress, or pay the school bills IF I.addic,
who is growing stout and sturdy and
needs moro money spent on him every
year. | have heard Of an ardent lover,
who preferring his suit to Il gifted wom-
an. ventured to call her attention to the
fact that their combined salaries would
enable them to maintain very attrac-
tive home, quite overlooking the posi-
hility that as Il wife the lady of his choice
might prefer not directly to contribute
tc l:er own support.
The truth is that in many cases the
wife's ability to supplement the hus-
bands earnings relieves her of Il sort of
work for which she may have no pecul
lar aptitude or which she perhaps finds
distasteful. An extra maid may be at
forded to do various things about the
housekeeping. to wait upon the children.
to attend to the endless mcnding of small
garments and the sewing ON of buttons
in short. to carry part of the burden of
the everlasting little. which weighs heav-
lily on the house mistress, provided the
wife can earn enough to pay for the add
ed convenience. When the period ar
rives in which growing children take pre-
cedence in parental calculations of every
other necessity, when there are dancing
lessons. and music lessons, and oppor>
tunitleS for culture i'll endless variety for
which continual provision must be made,
the wifeS share in the payment of bills
may be no slight one. If she earn only
her pin money. she may thus acquire and
retain pleasing sense of INDEPENDENCE
ami nave an advantage over her opposite
nclghhcr. to whom pin money is an ever.
vanishing mirage on the horizon.
The difficulty about the matter is two
fold. In their youth. married people pre-
sunlably anticipate the coming of chill
drcn. For the sake Of unborn children,
1t Is usually better that Il mother should
not be taxed mentally or physically by
the relentless and impcriouS requirements
of wage-earning vocation. Even if she,
carry on her writing. or her painting, or
her exquisite needlecraft exclusively at
nome. the demands it must needs MAKE,
upon her will not tell favorably, as a
rule. on her offspring. In the second
place. Il husband is in peril of reversing
the position he ought to assume as the
protector of and provider for his wife.
and of leaning OH her, of suffering hep to
undertake tasks beyond her strength, and
Of accepting from her sacrifices which she
should never be allowed to make.
This, like many another problem, can
not he arbitrarily legislated upon by out
siders Each family must resolve upon
Its own course -of~action. Most of us
could get on very comfortably with a
simpler style of living, and would be bet
ter of III the end. if we acknowledged
fewer wants. Civilization creates many
artificial values. The life of towns pre-
sents occasions for spending on every
side. and necessarily hedges with thorns
the path of the frugal, who are anxious
to save. If married people are to get on,
to get ahead. they must economic in the
beginning. Whether or not the joint saw
ings are larger where both earn the in
come is an unsettled question:; in the
large, question to which different con-
piles may easily give different answers
Margaret E. Sangster in Golfers Week
ly.