The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-12-18
WIVES, Be FREE!
Says Prof. Thomas of the Uni
yersity of Chicago.
WRONG FOR HUSBAND

10 Boss the Homes, He Says. H
Declared That Many Of the Wo
men Best Equipped for Mother
hood Were Shaving 1t in Thef
Pursuit Of Fashion to the Lowe
and Defective Glasses.
Suggestions for a declaration O.
independence among wives were
made Friday by Prof. William I
Thomas of the University of Chicago
socialogist and author Of sex and
Society"
He would have the women put
away the Id fashioned ideal of com.
plete devotion and Intellectual sur
render to their husbands interests,
think for themselves, and have some
Kind OF clearing in the jungle Of
conjugal responsibilities in which
they could stand on their own feet
and be mistresses Of all they sur
veyed.
Prof. Thomas expressed his idea
before the Chicago Woman's club, in
an address upon The Future Of
Marriage" The members listened
with obvious delight, and when the
professor had finished, one woman
arose to declare that it was "the
most gratifying paper ever read at
the club" while Rev. Celia Parker
Woodley, thanked the speaker by re-
marking that here was a specimen
Of mere man" who was doing more
to emancipate women that the women
themselves.
After touching upon race suicide,
woman's slavery to fashion, and the
like, Prof. homas sounded the liberty
bell for wives by saying: Still an
other ideal of marriage is a more
varied set Of interests for the wife.
With the household as it IS now made
up, it is not psychologically a good
thing for one person to be dependent
upon the will of another and solely
attached to his interests. No matter
how perfectly woman is educated
in the schools, she will not keep pace
with men unless she have some con-
Germs for which she is primarily re-
sponsible.
This does not amount to saying
that she must be financially indepen-
dent. or a bread winner, though |
there is no objection to that. But
her life demands some first hand re-
action to the world. for the sake of
her character and intelligence.
Under the pressure of national
selection man made tardy alliance
with woman and the home in primi-
tive times. He has used woman as
a lady figure On which to hang his
wealth; has bought her cheap and
bought her dear, but he has really
never associated with her.
Prof. Thomas declared that the
kind Of wives men liked were of the
house dog type, domestic animals,
''docile affectionate, friendly, un-
questioning. And in lending her
self to this disposition" he said.
woman has been plant
Woman likes leisure and luxury,
and to be grander than other women
She is eager to be the best of her
kind according to prevailing notions.
The smallest foot, the smallest
waist, the pinkest skin, the greatest
the greatest timidity, the
greatest helplessness; womans atti-
tude has been that if this is to be the
game, she will play it. both to be
petted by men and to excel other
Prof. Thomas declared many of
the women best equipped for mother
hood were leaving it, in their pursuit
of fashion, to the lower and defective
classes.
eff the fashionable women of Chi
cago, who are not at home to your
ring upon their door, he said, could
be located, where would they be
found?. In the Libraries? At the Art
Institute? At the Chicago Woman's
Club? Even engaged in entertaining
conversation, No, they would be
found in the department stores, the
milliners' shops, at the silent sacra-
ment Of bridge whist, in the beauty
bath; at the massage parlor, in the
apothecary's.