The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-08
Business Woman's Effect on
 Home Life.

Rev. John sIa scudder. of New Jer- sey. is quoted as discoursing as fol- lows on the business woman and her ef- l feet on modern home life:
 There is much said these days about l the new woman,' but the newest | thing about the modern woman Is her | taking possession of the business world and becoming independent of 1 the sterner sex. Of these industrial women there are said to be between l fouF- million and five million in this | country. and, their passage from the domestic sphere to mercantile careers Is making changes in our social life. The business woman of today stands | out In bold relief. and forms a strong contrast to her sisters who have pre- ceded her. She believes in personal freedom and self-support, and refuses | to be a mere appendage to some man, q tender to a masculine steam engine. Today she Is her own locomotive, and if she marries she marries as Tn equal l and not q dependent. 8 The question of feminine support
 must be answered in one of two ways
 Either the woman must gain her own livelihood or become the beneficiary of
 man. Father and mother cannot last forever, and eventually support must come outside the ancestral home. The
 young miss of independent spirit looks
 at her ten fingers and says: T can use
 these and earn my own bread" or, if
 intellectually inclined, she gives toss
 to her head and says: Women have
 brains as well as men. I will try and
 see what pecuniary return the contents,
 of my cranium will bring me"
 Herein she differs from the maiden of
 past centuries, who tried to solve the
 problem by trying deliberately to
 capture a husband and make him pay
 "a Glaa gRtnH lad Ghn
 practically give up her liberty and too
 often she became the slave of man. for
 money is might. The ruler is usually
 the one that supplies the funds If
 she failed in her quest, she often felt
 as if her life was a failure and trem-
 bled lest she should be called an "old
 maid" During the long, dark centur-
 ies of the past woman has, generally
 speaking been subservient to man and
 her condition has been anything but
 enjoyable. Man has been the unit and
 woman the cipher. Behind us is bar
 harism, where woman has been the
 drudge of man. Even today in Tunis
 and Algiers. 8 wife can be bought for
 the price of a mule, and in India the Jaws Of Menu declare that the wife may
 be the slave of her eldest son. Even in England. less than twenty-five years ago, if man stole a knife and bunch Of keys he got five years of penal ser Vitude. but if he knocked his wife down and kicked her in the face he was only shut up for three months
 In ages past man has domineered over woman because might made right, and his strength compared with hers was in the ratio of 26 to 16. Woman has often sighed for freedom but not until this stage in human evolution has woman been able to secure it. In free America she now has unlimited opportunity to secure her independence. and, obtaining this. she Is not so anx- ious to marry as she was formerly. She certainly will not marry unless assured of conslderate treatment. She will not give up an $500 job for q $600 man" unless he Is kind and she is very much in love. This bachelor maid is proud of her ability to support herself, and refuses to be unequally yoked to any man. She insists upon the omission ceremony--in fact, l dropped that un- slightly word out of the rite of matri- mony many years ago.
 sympathize with this independent spirit of the modern woman, and be- lieve she is far happier than those of her sex who have preceded her. She feels herself to be something more than man trap. She stands erect in the consciousness of her industrial value and ability to paddle her own canoe. She is not cringing about and perpet- ualIy wailing for a partner.
 Under these circumstances. of course, we must expect fewer marriages in proportion to the population. The in- dustrial woman. leaptnE into the ranks of open competition, tends to reduce the wages of the men and so far forth incapncitates them for marriage. This is one sad feature of modern commer- cial life. It will reduce the number of homes. leaving camps of unmarried men on one side and spinsters on the other. But, although the weddings will be fewer, those couples who do marry will be happier because they stand on the same footing, and mutual affinity will be the basis of marriage in place of mercenary motive The bus mess woman to today refuses to be a moon, revoving around a masculine earth; she will be a twin star or noth- ing, believe her industrial training will make her a better wife, for she vii know the value of dollar and be able to sympathiZe with her husband in his daily toll. She will apply business methods to domestic economy. Should her husband attempt to maltreat her, she has courage enough to separate from him and return to self-support What she has done once she can do again. Being fearless and decided, she will be respected and well treated. The broader outlook she has acquired in the business world will make her 6 supe- rior wife and Q more capable mother The era of feminine imbecility and cowardice is fast passing away, and in its place we find the new age of well rounded, exalted Womanhood.