Omaha daily bee., 1914-07-04

she became the little k4} 1k5# AL /
house mother 10 the - AL I
family. she was N(~ Nv
only sixteen then
She is but twenty now. at the very age |
when a girl should be most carefree and .
happy, for these few years are the play |
time in the average woman's life, and |
the only playtime she ever knows
Instead OF that, this girl has cooked, /
and cleaned, and washed, and mended, 1
and served for her father and four husky /
brothers and little sister only a year
younger than herself She IL the most /
industrious little creature in the world, |
and the best manager and a real genius |
in one Of the finest of the arts-cooking. !
The father, the four big brothers and |
the sister all go to work TO earn good !
salaries, but the girl who stays at home /
and slaves from morning till night to |
make the balance OF them comfortable |
and give them just the sort Of things 1
they want to eat. is paid not one cent !
for her labor.
Furthermore the wage earners of the !
family have figured down her housekeep-
ing expenses to the last possible penny,
and she Is not given one cent more than Z
the actual cost OF food and fuel and rent
on which 20 run the place. And, as II !,
this wasn't enough tyranny and stingl- |
ness. they complain bitterly when she !
doesn't set tenderIoin steak table on n
stew meat income and when II isn't I
forthcoming the gir is blamed for not
making one dollar do the work OF five
Nothing coud be graved or more forlorn !
than this little housewives life. and II
offers no prospect OF Improvement. She
can never save up any money because
she has none TO save. She cannot dress
prettilly and go to places OF amusement |
as does her sister who has her own pay |
envelope. She cannot even look forward |
60 marrying, because her family cannily |
discourage men callers because they don't 1
want to lose their cook.
Besides which Cinderella in the kitchen |
hasn't got as good a chance as the wicked |
sister in the parlor. no matter what the
fairy tales say. 50 all that this girl sees !
in the way OF a future Is shaving for her
family until her brothers and sisters got !
married and she Is old. and will have to
go and be a dependent on some in-law |
who doesn't want her.
She's a domestic martyr II there ever
was one, but there isn't particle OF use
!n her being roasted at the stake. She's
got the remedy In her hands II she'll only |
use II. SO has every other domestic wo.
man who is misused, and put upon In her
own family.
And the remedy Is just TO 80 on a strike. !
II this girl would turn out her gas range |
and go sit herself down IN her parlor and
present an ultimatum to her family TO
the effect that there would not be an
other meal cooked In that house nor an
other bed made nor another floor swept
nor another button sewed on until justice
was done her ana satisfactory financial
arrangement made she could get out OF
the martyr class before you could say
scat.
She should demand fair housekeeping
allowance TO be made her else she should
turn in her butcher book and grocery
book and expense accounts to the family, |
and let them divide II out among them
selves.
And above all. she should demand an
adequate salary for her own services.
We talk a lot about family affection.
but as a matter Of fact there are no other
people in the world who impose on US 40
ruthlessly as our own. II 10 only his own
wife. or daughter that man expects
to slave in a kitchen eight or ten hours
day for her board and whatever clothes
he chooses 70 give her. Strangers have
some regard for q woman's Individual
rights but N she gets them In the family
circle, she's got TO stand up and fight
for them
Heretofore women have regarded them
selves as helpless They have felt that
they had 20 submit TO any treatment that
their menkind accorded them.
What am 1 to do?' one will ask. II
work harder than any slave. l eoonomize
and pinch until | get the last squeai'out
OF every nickel but my husband never
gives me a penny OF my own. l have 90
20 to him like a beggar every time l
want q spool Of thread or carfare, and
before / get II have 70 tell what l ex-
pect 20 do with Il, and after have spent
il / have 10 tell what I did do with II.
realize that this isn't fair. ! do just as
much work as my husband does, and am
just as much a factor In his prosperity,
but how am ! TO collect what is due meg
I'd be glad and thankful to get the wages
OF q cook paid me as wages, for my very
own 10 spend as l like"
To this woman I say also: Go out on
strike, madam. Don't do another lick OF
work. Don't turn another domestic wheel
until you force a fair settlement out OF
your husband. Just one day Of the con-
fusion worse confounded of a home In
which nobody has washed the baby nor
dressed the children or cleared the table
or swept the floors or provided any food
or done any OF the other millions Of
things that a housewife attends 10 every
day. will convince husband that the
'aborer Is worthy OF her hire even n she
Is his wife.
So / repeat again that there is no reason
for a woman 10 be domestic martyr un-
less she really enjoys martyrdom. You
can bring any man 10 terms by interfer-
ina with his conduct