St. Tammany farmer., 1906-02-24
(Prosidsnt Of the wheaton Club" New
York city,

By KATE UPsoN CLARK.
(Pfosidsnt Of the wheaton Club" New
York city,
Copyright. 1906. BY Joseph b. Bowles.)
How the members Of your club
quarrel Of ,lats!" remarked . lady to
one Of her intimate friends. ''You
must have some vicious element there.
Cant you get rid Of it?''
mot ct ALL" returned her friend,
despairingly. I'VE used to be % hap.
py and peaceful - your x club until
-we grew rich! Now We have .
treasury full Of money, and before
We decide how to spend It We are
likely to be torn to pieces. One fac
ton wishes to furnish q room in the
hospital. Another wishes to put up
cottage for contagious diseases. A
third section IL for . kindergarten in
our poorest quarter. Another b for
setting up lunch-club for shop girls.
They are all good causes. myself
wish to put the whole sum out at In
terest until. cooperating with other
clubs, we may build . fine, substantial
clubhouse, where the dozen or more
clubs Of our city may have . homo.
Ono reason why womeos clubs have
seldom had the standing in the COM
munity that they ought to have is BE-
cause they have not had any prop
erty and they have not had perma-
nent homes. We do not thoroughly
respect individuals, a. q rule, until
they amass . decent property, and
It has always been counted . strong
argument for respectability to own
ones home. Stability, and . living In
come. with something laid mp to pro-
vide for future needs and contingen.
cies-those things our clubs have got
70 have, just - mons clubs have
them"
But how can things be permanent
when they are fashionable!" groaned
the first speaker. THE very essence
Of fashion II change. Our +. club
Il now is years old. It has been
most successful. Our waiting-list Is
large and the meetings are interest
ing, but can see that It is chang
ing its character. Tho fashionable
ones are dropping away. They are
tired Of 1t, and they ind the attend
anes irksome. They are generally the
ones who have tho money. and we have
depended on them for large subscrip-
tions when we had any special object
In view"
- $N 6A
scriptions. There ought always to be
full treasury from dues and fees"
"And yet your full treasury is split
ting up your club"
''That is because It Is new thing
for Us to have money. We have not
learned yet how to manage it. Our
treasurer was not the woman for. the
place. She knew nothing Of invest
ments nor Of any phase Of practical
finance beyond her own marketing.
We are going to pay our treasurer .
salary. One great fault Of all our
clubs has been that we have had to
select sur officers from among our
rich or wsll-to-do women. The poorer
ones, many Of whom were admirably
qualified. could not afford the time
for the exacting work. Some Of our
ofacers have been fine. but some have
not. It has been seriously proposed
that, with the increase Of wealth in
our club, we should pay our presi-
dent, treasurer and secretary each .
salary"
. "But will not this make the Office
holding craze more bitter than ever?
And will not ce-holding In our
clubs degenerate into mercenary
business?"
There will be those dangers, nat
urally. Self-sacrif1ce for . good cause
is rare, and to finds the devoted spirit
combined with clear head and good
Judgment is rarer still. These quail
ties are rather more apt to be found
together among women Of moderate
means than among the rich. As long
u we simply had literary and musical
programmes to prepare, all was easy.
Now that there must be large account.
ing and auditing and watchdog care
about expending and then getting back
our moneys worth, why We must
have almost the entire time Of one or
two or more very intelligent and
honest individuals. Our intention now
Is. in order to put an end to the dis
sensions which are racking our club
and making 1t byword among our
fellow-clubs. to lay the matter in the
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