The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-08-20
HUSBANDS ARE
TOO LEN|ENT
RUSSIAN COUNTESS GAYS THE
LOT OF THE RUSSIAN sERF Is
PREFERABLE TO THE AMERI.
CAN HUSBAND - AMERICAN
WOMEN SAY NOT.
special to the Journal.

New York, Aug. 1s.-The structures
on American women by the Countess
Alexandrine wilsehorst Corsini, who
says that the average American hus-
band Is too good for bis wife, has
stirred up a merry tempest in a tea
pot here. Those club and society wo-
men who are in town during the heat
ed spell OF the last couple of weeks
resent her criticims of their sex and in
reply suggest that the countess is med
ding in things from which she should
keep aloof. What caused the rumpus
was this:
"The lot of a Russian serf is comfort
compared with that of the American
husband. Self sacrifice is an un-
known quality in the American wom-
an. Catering to her whims and her
desires il her one law. American
men make good husbands, too good, in
fact They should be master in the
home as well as in business.
ct perplexes Europeans 70 find
Americans so aggressive In everything
pertaining to business, and then see
them take a back seat when they en-
ter the doors of their homes.
'sThe American husband is good, but
not too good" declared Mrs. Arthur
Alfred Brooks. president Of the Gotham
club, the other day in reply to the
structures of the countess. His most
exasperating faults are narrow mind
edness and conversational stupidity.
Until he learns that tooccata OF
Galupprs is not the newest thing in
entrees, and that Michelangelo is at
least as great a person as Morgan, he
will not die an untimely death because
of this virtue. In the eyes OF the mod
ern woman, man who bores her Is al
most as bad as one who beats her.
The countess is simply trying to
At the American family to the conti-
mental measure, and it can't be done.
Over there the husband is the lord and
master, and when he opens his mouth
to speak, let no dog bark. His wife
is either his chattle or his plaything.
In the one case he regards her as
q necessary convenience for the per-
petuation of his house. In the other.
she is his birdie, his baby, and, like
other birds and babies. she must en-
dure being shut up in the cage or
spanked when It is her masters pleas
ure. That's the European marriage.
The great fault in this criticism by
the countess, and in most of the criti-
cisms made by foreigners on our mari
tai relations, is that they adopt the
wrong perspective. They direct their
gaze at only very small portion OF
the surface of American life. They
come over here with letters Of intro
duction to leading society women In
New York and elsewhere; they are
Immediately overwhelmed with invi-
tations and attentions; they are caught
in the social whirl, and they have no
chance to observe any other part of
American life.
The American woman Is not typif-
ed by the women OF the -Four Hun
bred. The real American woman is a
- els 49,
of her. including many wives, are
shown by statistics to be economically
self supporting.
"Uncounted other millions are sup
porting themselves and presenting to
their husbands an .unearned increment
every year through their labor in and
economical management Of the home"