The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-07-13

| eral effort to improve its sanitary as
| pect and the domestic woman, taken
as class, is a largely neglected social
unit Heretofore she has dumbly en-
| dured, so far as VOicing her domestic
/ wrongs in public is concerned, and has
| listened the while with amused toler-
ance to the platitudes of the men lead
ers on rOstrum and in the pulpit whose
wont it is to prate about homemaking
as the only vocation that makes her
truly happy.
However, women themselves are
taking hand in educating the public
| in regard to the value Of their work,
and although their methods of educa-
ton are usually instances of individual
revolt rather than of concerted move
ment, sometimes they combine eff
fectively. A case in point is that of the
farmers wives in Indiana who recently
organized and gave demonstration of
the economic value of one aspect of
their labor by refusing to furnish big
dinners for the threshing hands
If the wife struck in other
lines of work some one else would have
to do it at an enhanced cost.
Other woman are teaching the world
the value of their home service by de-
Ginning longer to perform it, the drift of
those of the middle classes to hotels
boarding houses and small apartments
In the cities being so considerable that
In many instances the husband has to
work much harder to support his fam
lily than he did when on the farm or
In the home town or village when he
had the industrial aid of his wife, and
whatever judges, writer's on economic
subjects and census directors may
think it would be difficult to persuade
these husbands that the home work of
wives is negligible factor in eco
Monies. Both here and in Great
Britain the number of married women
of the poorer classes who enter the in
dustries is increasing rapidly, even in
cases where the husbands are making
good wages, for they frankly admit
that they prefer factory work to do
nestle labor in spite of the fact that
they have children. Ask the husbands
of these rebelliOus wives whether the
manufacture of food the making and
mending of clothes, the laundry, the
care of children and the other indus
tries that used to be carried on at
home are as efficiently and as econom-
ically done as in the old days. Ask the
inspectors to tell you of the tragedies
of neglected children and i'll kept
homes.
Domestic conditions became so in
tolerable that first the daughters re-
volted, and now the wives are declin-
ing the Onerous services demanded of
them and are going into lines of indus
try where their work is recognized and
paid for exactly as mems work is &C
knowledged and remunerated. A pa
thetic manifestation of this latter day
service yoke is shown among poor
mothers in the cities who deliberately
keep their daughters in ignorance of
household operations, and pay to have
them taught stenography, so that they
may be saved the experience of beconl-
ing domestic slaves"
Contrast the work. the correspond
ent goes on to say, of my husbands
stenographer and of myself. The
stenographer goes to work at half after
nie tnTn
five. She works steadily and faithfully
all that time except for an hour al
luncheon, but when she leaves the Of
fee her work is over until she returns
She has no further responsibility and
can dismiss it entirely from her mind
She may dine where she pleases. spend
the evening to suit herself and when
she goes to bed she sleeps uninter-
ficient salary to spend with no one to
question her extravaganza or penuri-
BUSINESS.
"On the other hand although I like
the Rebellious Wife. am provided for
generously as to my material wants,
and keep servants l am obliged, as a
mother to work day and night and am
never free from care and responsibility
ty. Even if I go away for vacation
and leave my children behind me they
are on my mind night and day. I can
never really get away from my work. |
When I am at home arise at 5 in
the morning and am busy all day long |
household affairs, planning !
and ordering the kitchen and wardrobe
supplies If not actually preparing them ]
with my own hands, as is often neces- |
sary when the servants leave before |
can replace them. settling a thousand |
questions of domestic economy, bath |
ing and dressing the children, answer
ing their questions. deciding their diff
ferences. training and directing their
studies and their play. kissing their
bumps, never for one second during the
whole day free from their society, from
their nerve racking noise. from the in
tense strain of a mothers responsib bill !