The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-11
ARE WOMAN STlNGY?

An English paper has recently been
devoting much space 20 discussion
of the question whether woman IS
stingy or not. and unfortunately. the
general ooncensus Of opinion seems 10
be that whatever her other and mani
fest virtues. when it comes TO money
matters she IS decidedly close and
mean Various things were brought
forth in support of this theorv-woul-
ans passion for the bargain counter
her inability 10 buy anything without
nrSt trying to beat down the price.
shs adamantine and unshakable atti-
sHde she takes towards the giving of
tips, and so on.
Every woman who reads this will
feel ike entering a vigorous protest
against such an un just accusation, and
Will deny the charge in toto. We are
not stingy, and II. rs a sex. we are less
free with our money. and more given
TO cheeseparing policy than men. it
is for the very sufficient reason that
We have less money 10 spend. Man,
as a general thing. is the money earn
er. He carries the pOcketbO and
may do as he pleases with his own,
without giving an account to anyone
Woman seldom has any money OF
Which she has absolute control. What
is given her for housekeeping. for
clothes and necessary expenses is the
very least with which the desired and
expected results can be accomplished
and she must needs look well to every
cent and see that she gets the worth
Of her money. Il is this necessity that
makes her the victim of the bargain
counter. and the trading stamp and
the fakirs who sell make believe goods,
where you get something for nothing.
She has literally nothing TO blow in
on things that are a mere temporary
qualification Of the moment.
AS a matter of fact. women are not
expected to spend much on purely per-
sonal indulgences, and so il seems dou-
bly, hard for them to be accused of
stinginess. A man thinks nothing Of
ordering a lunch that will cost dol
lar or two. His wife may be just as
hungry. and would enjoy it just as
much as he does. but she hesitates
before she treats herself to a glass of
5-cent soda. No intelligent female
stomach bankers for cream puffs and
pie, as many seem TO suppose. Women
Simply order them because they are
satisfying and cheap. and that not be-
cause of stinginess, but because Ii was
all they felt they could afford. If any
woman spent as much money on the
qualification Of a purely individual
taste as a man does on cigars she
would be held UP as a warning TO
young men about to commit matri-
mony. Nobody would speak of her as
liberal woman. They would say she
was recklessly, ruinOusly extravagant
1t cannot be denied that men and
women look at money from different
points Of view, and that men do spend
more freely than women. Take the
matter Of treating. for instance. A
friends, and set up the drinks, or the
cigars, even though he is behind with
his rent and owes the butcher, and
baker, and candle-stick maker He
must do it to maintain his character
of liberality. and so it often happens
that he is generous before he Is Just
or honest. He will give though he will
never pay. A woman reverses the pro-
cess. She viii pay. even If she never
gives. Col. Buster always heads the
published subscription list of all the
Booriboola Cha charities in town; he is
liberal man and he throws a s. bill
down on the bar and invites all the
loafers present to come UP and take a
drink; he contributes to the campaign
fund, and spends money like water to
elect his candidate from the 'Steenth
ward, even If his family have TO 90
on short rations, and inch and pinch to
pay for it. Mrs. Col. Buster is ac-
counted close woman. She takes no
stock in any such liberality. An I'M
paid bill is to her like a nightmare;
Mrs. Jones might go without soda wa
ter forever If she waited for her to
treat her while Mary needed new
frock or Johnny lacked shoes, and if
candidates election to Office in a
woTnan's club depended on her friends
putting up money for ii, she would
never get into the presidents chair in
the world.
The truth of the matter is that
whether liberality is a crime or a vir-
tue depends altogether on circumstan-
ces. How often do we celebrate
the generosity of this or that young
man? He never asks the price of
things, he never neglects to send flow
ers to his hostess or bonbons to the
debutantes, and he insists on paying
everybody's way on an excursion. How
parsimonious beside him appears his
sister, who counts every penny, and
washes her handkerchiefs in her room
and dries them on the mirror. and who
let's her friend pay her own street car
farel But then some day we hear that
in his expansive way of doing things
the open-hearted young man has en-
braced the contents OF his employers
cash drawer, and is a fugitive from
Justice. and then we wonder II there
are not times when honesty is as good
as liberality. -
When it comes to real generosity
the generosity that means self-denial
and sacrifice-the very finest flow
er Of It may be found among women.
a woman may insist on having the
worth Of her money, she may refuse TO
treat or pay the way OF those who are
perfectly able to pay for themselves.
but when ii comes to a question of
real want her hand is the first and
quickest to give. II is the mites that
women save by scrimping here and
pinchlng there that build the churches
and sustain the charities and send mis-
sionaries to the heather.
Among the women against whom this
charge is oftenest brought up is the
woman who keeps a boarding house.
Mrs. Slimdiet's stingihess has been the
subject Of the cheap wits for genera
lions. who have rung the changes on
ancient butter and the centipede legs
Of the boarding house chicken ad
nauseam We have seen her pathetic
striving held up to ridicule. her eco
Monies made mean and sordid, but