The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-02-15
The Care Of the Children
THE following letter has lain un-

pect ME 10 notice III. Ine suDJec'
matter is so painful that the com
would have been de-
stroycd long ago had not other let
ters and stories that have reached
me from various sources led me tc
believe that the case here given is
not so uncommon as I was at first
disposed to think and to hope.
Will parents whose children con.
tribute regularly to the family in.
come "read, mark and inwardly di.
gest" what this wage Garner has to
saya
Do you think, after a girl has
worked hard eight hours day
for six days that she should come
home on pay night and hand to
her mother every cent of her sal
ary2 Somehow there seems to be
something wrong, and l can't
think it quite just. A certain
mother / know expects her daugh-
ter to give her all her salary, and
then she grudges everything the
daughter asks for, even if it is a
few cents to buy some candy. Of
course, the girl gets all the clothes
and food she needs, but everything
is given SO grudgingly that she
hates to ask for anything. She is
anxious to save, but her mother
cannot spare her a dollar a week
to put away. Do you think this is
quite right2 I can't say that I
do. Anything that the girl does
get is never enjoyed, for her
mother gives it with a long ha-
rangue about her troubles, debts,
etc. The poor girl worries and
thinks about these troubles so
much that she cannot enjoy any
thing that costs money. Do you
think daughters should be told
everything about the family trou-
bles and affairs? Don't you think,
after a girl works hard all the
week, that she should have a little
spending money for herself2
Once girl told her mother she
would like to have a little money
every week, and the mother threw
up her hands and burst into tears,
called her daughter an "ungrate-
full girl" and ended by telling the
poor child to slook for a boarding
house just as soon as she could"
The father interfered, and ever
since the girl has been perfectly
miserable, for the mother keeps
throwing out hints about Gun
grateful children" and the "ser-
penis tooth" and boarding
houses, ETC., until the daughter is
almost tempted to look for a
boarding house where she can live
in peace. She is 1S years old.
What do you think? Yours most
sincerely, TROUBLED.
If this undisciplined and unjust
mother is a Bible reader, may I
SIX what she thinks Of the declara-
ion Of the Learned Apostle: "The
hildren ought not to lay up for the
arents, but the parents for the
Our laws oblige parents to make
for children until the lat
er are Of age. With this under
the wages Of a minor be-
ong to the father Of he chooses to
lain them. If, however, the father
annoS or will not maintain his
hildren, and these are compelled to
lbor to earn the food, lodgings and
lothing the law requires their nat
raj guardians to supply, common
ense and common justice decide
hat the parents lien upon the chill
Iren's wages should lapse and not
e alluded to.
This girl of Is makes her mother
gift of every cent which goes into
he family purse beyond what is
devoted to the daughters persona
expenses. After paying her board
he girl should have the manage
nent of the remainder of her earn
ings. Should she, Of her own fre
will, donate certain sum week.,
toward running the house, du
credit should be given her for tn
benefaction.
As to making toil-worn woma,
or man of any age who works on
of the house bear the burden o
troubles and affairs" it
unfair and cruel.
What the average shop girl O
or bookkceper has to er
dure in the form of privation of tn
shelter and comfort of home wa
brought very closely to my min
and laid heavily upon my heart fiji
teen or sixteen years ago. Bushes
connected with magazine in whie
j was Interested had kept me in tn
city, and---a very unusual occur