El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-14
The UnwelcOme Wife = By Dorothy Dix


After relating these Insults, and
telling how they are neglected and
mistreated by their husbands. these
women wind up their letters by say
ing What shall I do2 Shall 1 leave
my husband or nOt?'
What She Should Do.
That depends on whether a woman
has the soul Of an outstanding human
with one drop of free, independent
blood in her veins, or one shred OF
self respect in her character there
should be no such question. she would
have packed her trunk and left at the
very first intimatlOn that her husband
no longer wanted her and felt her
understand a woman lingering along
as a palpably unWelcOme wife than
one can understand a woman cOnJlnu-
ing TO remain at a place where she
knows herself TO be an unWelcome
guest
That a wife would stay on with a
husband who is tired of her and who
wants to be rid of her IS the m re
strange, because she is in such a bad
situation that nothing could be Orse.
Whatever ills she might fly to Ould
be more endurable than those she SUI
fers.
Certainly to a sensitive woman there
can be no torture worse than TO live
i'm the close relationship OF marriage
with a man who hates her; to be forced
TO note his ayerted glancess to know
that he begTudges her even the very
bread she eats and the clothes upon her
Her only chance for happiness, or
even peace Of mind under such Gil cum
stances is to 60 away where her heart
will not be stabbed daily by cold looks,
where she Will be free of insults and
reproaches, and where she can live
her life in quiet and self respect as
she cannot do as an undeSlred WIFE
The Wise Woman.
If a man has money the law VIII
force him to provide for the wlre ne
wishes to discard AS a matter OF IacI;
he viii be wiling to pay out good
money to get rid of her, and if the
woman is wise she viii put aside sentl-
ment and come down to brass tacks and
drive a hard bargain with him. II
he is poor and has no money with
which to pay for his freedom, she does
well to go anyway, for there IS no
other labOrer on earth who works so
hard and gets so little pay as a poor
mans wife. Her only reward is the
love and appreciation of her husband,
and If she doesn't get these her LABOR
is prOfiUess indeed
There is no woman of ordinary. sense
and health who can't make living IN
these days and be treated decently
in the bargain, and so there IS no rea-
son for a wife remaining with nus
band who tells her how tired ne is Of
her and reprOaches her with being
alive, except that she wants to stay.
Unfortunately there are plenty OF
women who justify the old adages "a
woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the
/
he" Such women simply thrive on Ill
treatment, and the more they are
kicked and insulted, the tighter they
cling TO a man.
Nobody need waste any sympathy on
them, for they are having the time OF
their lives when they are believing
your parlOr carpet with tears, and tax
ing up your time telling how their
husbands neglect and i'll use them.
They are spaniels that crawl back to
the hand that strikes them and they
are subjects for our contempt rather
than our pity.
Enjoy Their Misery.
Nothing can be done for these women
except to leave them to enjoy their
misery and to revel IN whining They
are spineless creatures, worms of the
dust without enough backbone in them
even to turn, but the woman who has
a few sections Of vertebrae, enough to
make her resent being an unWelcOme
wife, has just one chance to get back
her lost happeniness-
And that is by leaving her husband,
and giving him a chance to find Ou-
IAaU tne DIeaSihS ne mas GesI.'seG IS
more necessary To lls wei being than
he has realized. Nothing makes
woman of suca value in a mans eyes
as to be unattainable. Also nothing
makes a man 81 Indifferent to { wOmac
as fer her to be always Sally-On-the-
spot The chief reason that men
make negligent husbands is because
they cherish the idea that wife is
something you can't lose.
Therefore, a wifes one and only
chance to win back the husband who
frankly tells her he is weary of her
and sorry he married her, is to 20
away and leave him, and give him the
opportunity to find out how much he
misses her, and how much she is
necessary to his happiness. II he
cares for her at all, absence will
quicken love. and he will come back
10 her a repentan1 and a chastened
husband.
IF he doesn't come back, If he really
does loathe her. as he says, then the
sooner she knows it, and can set about
making a life of her own, the better
for her.