The Florida agriculturist., 1907-07-10
The Wife's Pocketbook.

which she is accountable to no one
but herself What injustice to ex-
pect wife to work and econom1ze
and honestly earn her share of the
living, and then to be obliged to ask
her husband for every dollar she has,
and often be requested to give an
account of it's expenditures, at that;
for no matter how willingly he may
hand out the money, no one enjoys
making the request for it, nor is
cheerfulness on the part of the hus-
band in this matter a common virtue!
Seeing the humiliating position of
many matrons keeps some Of our
most capable and self-reliant girls
from matrimony, whereas we should
like to see the truest and brightest
Of our womenkind in the position of
wife or mother in Our homes.
This matter Of the wife's difficult
financial position is sometimes caused
by the penurious disposition of the
be it said to the credit of the hus
bands, it is due to thoughtlessness
and-yes, just a wee bit of selfish
ness, too! 'Why should woman
dislike to ask her husband for mon
ey?" he asks, and does not consider
how he should feel on such an oc-
casion at being asked what he had
done with "the three dollars | gave
you last week!
Within the past month three wo
men-all wives of well-todo men
have confded to me that the greatest
desire of their lives is to "earn mon
ey." This is not due to grasping dis
positions, but is rather a just1flable
desire Of an intelligent mind to govern
it's own affairs. Every year more
and more Of our homemakers who
have the opportunity are giving the
domestic reins to menlals' hands or
dropping them altogether for the al
Turing salary they can command, even
though they are nothing ahead at the
years end, nor was it a financial nee
essity at the beginning. In most in
stances these women would have been
perfectly contented to remain IN the
home if they knew that each month
they would receive an amount un-
questionably their own-even though
the amount were not great.
The fixed allowance has proved
beneficial alike to the extravagant
and the economical woman. She who
has always purchased whatever she
chose, trusting her husband could pay
for it somehow" will learn the true
value Of money when obliged to de-
pend strictly upon her allowance;
while the careful woman will take
the greatest comfort in laying away
part Of her income each month.
The husbands, too, are learning that
they can plan to better advantage
when they know just what amount
the wife will require.
Among no class Of men is it easier
to allow the good woman a personal
income than with the farmer. Let
there be something that shall be con
sidered her own. In one home half
the "butter money" is always the
mothers, in another, the wife has all
she makes from butter before and
after the cheese factory is in opera
ton; in yet another, half the eggs
belong to the wife. In all these IN
stances, of which I know pers sonally,
the women have not only clothed
themselves and contributed to Chart
able enterprises, but have saved a
goOdlv amount as we'll
Let there be some part Of the in
come that shall belong to the wife,
and there will be happy and con-
tented woman in the farm house;
any woman will be a more sympa
thetic and intelligent helpmate if she
feels she is a real partner in the