The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-08-28
THE 10Th CENTURY HUSBAND.
His Education Should Have Begun Long
Ago.
.Susum B. .Anthouy, IN .Suuny Syu/h.

commenced In the eighteenth; indeed,
there should have been some prclimi-
nary training for several centuries
preceding that. With nincty-nin;
boys out Of hundred it is the pride
of their lives to initiate their fathers;
the hundrcdth boy may have discrim-
ipation enough TO look about for Il
hotter model. In the average family
the boy gauges the treatment OF his
sisters By the manner in which the
father treats the mother; and this at
titudc toward his sisters he is apt to
duplicate in that which he adopts to-
ward his wife. The women them
selves in all these eases may effect
some notifications, but they represent
the general practice of men. And
then comes the ss-inheritancc from
mothers, which influences in a vast
degree the characteristics of sons, but
even this carries with it the traits Of
the men in her family line. Every
boy, therefore, is a composite Of
multitude Of paternal and maternal
ancestors, and condensation of all
their good and baG qualities forms
the husband Of the twentieth cen
tury.
The memory Of man gocth not back
TO time when girls were not trained
for wives and mothers. Their first
plaything is doll and their second is
a set Of dishes. They are coddling
these dolls when the little boys are
making life miserable for the dogs and
cats in the ncighborhood, or they arc
peacefully playing at keeping house"
when the boys are banging away with
bat or shiny in blissful igno-
rance Of future domestic duties.
From childhood the girls put through
course of training with direct refer
ence to future wifehood. The train
ing CT The boy is exactly the same as
if there was no such relation us hus-
bsndhood. The girl is constantly ad
monished as to her duties when she
has home of her own. No such
contingency is suggested to the boy.
With the keen observation Of youth
the girl notices the dependent position
of the mother, while the boy just as
soon realizes the immense advantages
Of belonging to the sex Of his faith
er. The result Of this unavoidably
must be sense OF inferiority on the
part of the girls, and Of superiority on
the part Of the boys.
In olden times this distinction was
accepted as the decree of an inscruta-
BILE Providence, and, as the years went
on, the girl became the submissive
woman and the boy the asseFtive man.
This was inevitable 80 long as the wo.
man was denied education, travel,
business experience, knowledge of the
world-all that tends to develop and
strengthen men and fit them for tho
exercise Of authority. But when the
first rift was made in the rigid conser-
vatism which had dwarfed her powers,
then began the protest aud antagon-
ism against that submission which for
age had been exacted. It will require
several generations more to obliterate
this antagonism, which exists to q
greater or less degree in the business
world, the professions, the schools,
and even the home itself. So long as
women are continually challenged to
prove their fitness, and can do this
only by showing themselves superior
instead of equal, and so long as op-
portunities are grudgingly allowed by
men and the way impeded, just that
long will this antagonistic spirit sur
vive. If men would be just to women
the proverbial generosity and devotion
of the latter would yield more than
half the ground, but this is impossi-
BILE where they are kept constantly on
the defensive and fighting for life.
This is especially true in the home.
The average wife is willing to conccdc
to the husband the position as head
OF the family; it is her pleasure to
consult him, to defer to him, to give
him the most and best of her life, but
she demands that all this shall be q
free-will offering, and that he shall be
worthy of it. She desires that .his
Difference and devotion shall be recip-
rocal, that her place in the household
shall take equal rank with his; that
he shall repay faithfulness with fidel-
ity, and affection with love. There
are husbands who are deserving of all
the trust and honor rcposed in them,
and, with the CO. operation of the wife,
they illustrate the ideal family life.
Tboro ara o%1o.o xr1o 800