Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-07
FINDS NEW REASON FOR
PRESENT HARD TIMES

Johdan of Stanford university said
yesterday in an address at the Hotel
Alexandria before the Audubon Club
Society of California that if women
must wear feathers on their hats let
let them wear the wings of turkeys
or chickens, not of singing birds; that
he hoped the time will come when 1t
will be declared a penitentiary offense
for the feathers of birds to be sold for
this, and also for women to wear them.
L think that in saying this President
Jordan stated what is in the minds of
most men in this and every other en-
lightened community. [ can only wish
that he had added to that humane
statement that the very matter he dis
cussed then and there is matter that
has more to do with the prevailing
hard times and scarcity of food and
the 'cost of living" than any other
one thing whatever. 1t is now become
question of extravaganza, with a
fancy hat for every woman, servant
girl or millionaire half a dozen times
year, together with other useless
expenditures and together with their
unproductiveness, more than any other
one thing whatever. IT is now ques-
ton of fancy feather hats, at $40 to $100
apiece, half a dozen times a year; of
fur muffs for hands that do not need
them, worn with open lace shirt waists
1t is the question of the decadence of
American women. "They toll not
neither do they spin, yet Solomon in
all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these"
| They bake no bread: the man baker
makes it and delivers it, at the cost of
the husband of the family. They milk
no COWS; the man milkman wilks the
cows and delivers the milk at the door
step. They churn no butter; the man
churner churns the butter. The man
| tailor makes the dresses; the man
| tailor cleans the dresses; the man mil
| liner makes the hats; the man sweeper
sweeps the rooms and cleans the win
| doWs; the man gardener mows the
lawn plants the roses, gathers the
| flowers, and makes and sells the bou-
| quets at the cost of the husband of
| the family. The man laundryman runs
| the laundry; the man knitter knits the
| stockings-the women do not even
mend them. The woman does not feed
the pig, or split the kindling, or build
the fire-eXcept occasionally to touch
match to the gas stove She does
| not clean the lamps, but touches a
button to light the electricity, or
| touches a match to the gas jet She
| does not make the apple butter, or lye
! soap, or rag carpet, or even clean the
| carpet. Whatever of service the man
does not do, in city or country
| whether trimming the lawn, gather
| ing the flowers, or picking the grapes
| is done by Jap, at the expense of
the husband of the family.
The woman monopolizes the gram
. mar schools and the high schools and
the normal schools and the colleges
and the universities; likewise the
street cars. after men have gone to
| work for the day.
| by telephone; and the grocer and the
/ wood man and the coal man likewise.
] She goes to the bargain store or the
| drug store or the cheap theater the
| balance of the day-and sues her
husband for divorce if he does not
bring home enough money to sup
| port her.
She keeps a drug store at home. she
brings up as few children as possible.
In a city like Los Angeles almost the
| entire frontage of the best streets, like
Broadway and Spring street, and the
cross streets between, are monopolized
| by shops at enormous rental and
where goods are sold at enormous
prices, almost exclusively for women's
! benefit.
The ancient seamstress, or little
| shop. or private room, where sewing
was done is a thing of the past. Much
| of the earnings of the husband is
spent on the man milliner or man
tailor. There are but few places in
city like Los Angeles where mems
clothing is kept. Women buy their
hats half a dozen times a year, as al
ready stated, and for $40, $40 $50, or
$780, or more than 500 apiece. Men
content themselves with about one
derby hat each year, at an average
cost of $3.50; and for their clothing
most of them buy their entire annual
outfit at few cheap Jew stores on
North Main street, at an annual ex-
pense of about $15 for hats, shoes and
| full outfit of clothing.
| This is the real cause of the prevail
| ing hard times-which began during
| the Roosevelt administration. The
women and the women's clubs talk of
| denying themselves and their families
the privilege of eating meat. The diff
| ference in the price of meat amounting
! to an average of two or three cents
pound would make difference of ten
or twenty dollars a year, perhaps, in
| the annual expense of the average
! family, which would be about half the
! price of the average feather hat made
| of some cheap colored feathers, or
about the fourth part of the price or
| the average tailored suit which the
| average woman wears.
| When the average woman does moth
ing but spend money which the hus-
band earns and which usually goes
into some kind of monopoly, and
when the average product that is
turned out of the schools universities
and colleges finally finds refuge in a
cheap clerkship in a dry goods store,
or. at best, operates typewriting ma
| chine and contributes practically Moth
ing else to the thought or wealth or
output of the industries of this world,
why should they grumble at the prices
which their husbands and fathers and
brothers pay for little beef? Like
wise. if this is a true statement OF
present conditions, why should they
desire to run the street cars and the
elections or attempt to blind the eyes
of thinking public to the real cause
of hard times, now prevailing in this
country more than in European coun-
| tries, where the women have not
changed so much from their former
good and economic habits and general
usefulness as a part of the commun-
nifty? EDWARD L: HUTCHINSON.
the places with the regulars by their
| side. The college men are given
4 kn4AI