Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-08-31
support and that of her children.
Causes so Per Cent. of Divorces


Causes so Per Cent. of Divorces
1t is claimed that fully so per cent.
of the divorces of the United States
are due to the fact that the wife has
no allowance, no definite amount of
money she can call her own. No mat
ter how fervently a woman loves
man, If she has been accustomed to
her own income before marriage, her
affection is apt to diminish when she
has to beg for the means to supply
her own necessities. Men who have
been lavish in supplying candy and
flowers during the courtship some
times supply hats and dresses grudg-
ingly after the honeymoon has waned.
Sociologists have been deploring the
fact that educated women are fire.
quently so loath to marry. This leaves
the responsibility for the future ma
ton in the hands of women who are
less qualified to bear 1t. The definite
allowance for married women is be-
ing recognized as a factor in over
coming this difficulty. Professional
economists are now advocating it and
are giving scientific study to the
proportion it should hold to the total
family income.
The allowance subject has been pre-
sented in various phases in connec-
ton with the domestic economy
courses which have become so nu-
merous within the past ten years. AL
though in most of these studies, the
allowance has been for general house
hold administration rather than the
personal expenses of the wife, 1t is a
distinct gain over having her COM
PEELED to ask for money for each sepa-
rate item as is customary in many
households Unfortunately such
courses have until recently been at
tended only by girls who will have no
power in the matter and must accept
whatever provision their future hus-
bands can be influenced to make.
Boys Should Be Trained, Too
The superintendent of schools in
North Dakota has recently recognized
the fact that boys as we'll as girls
should receive certain training in
home administration. The domestic
science teachers of the rural schools
have been directed to indicate the
work which men should be expected
to perform for the comfort of the
home. In Bismarck, courses in do
mestic economy have been provided
for the boys and girls in the high
school. During the present year lee
lures have been given upon the ap-
portionment of the family income.
The wife's personal allowance has
been feature strongly advocated SO
that the Bismarck boys may be rea-
sonably expected to become model
husbands or the future.
A club of Seattle High School girls
several years ago made a compact
not to marry without having a definite
allowance pledged to them before
hand. Two years later one of them
who had decided to marry a man of
considerable means, said to him
frankly, Il am worth SIS week to
my employers. l pay my mother S.
for my board which leaves me $40 for
xHyilli 70 eyi1,
me that much after i am married
without my having to ask you for 1t ?"
The man made the usual protestations
about all he had being hers but she
waived them and insisted upon a def
mite allowance which added materially
to his respect for her good judgment.
All Do Not Want Allowances
It is a remarkable fact that all
women do not wish an allowance. Ac-
cepting it places one under the re-
sponsibility of keeping within it, an
achievement not easy for all women
Many women prefer to buy what they
please and send the bills to their hus-
bands. Others with eXtravagant tastes
prefer to wheedle their husbands out
of much larger sums than the allow
ance in keeping with their incomes.
In many families the income fluc-
tuateS and the setting aside of definite
allowances would be difficult although
sticklers for the percentage allowance
claim to overcome that difficulty.
While the need of a married woman's
allowance, in lieu of the marriage set
Elements of other nations, is frequently
urged. fixing it by law would be re-
sented even by many women who need
1t. 1t would be construed as a ty-
rannic interference with private af-
fairs which the majority of married
people must work out for themselves.
There are those who say of the
10 per cent. allowance that it would
be of vast economical benefit to the
majority of husbands because it may
be much less than the share of the
family income which the wife ordinar-
lily spends for personal purposes.
While giving a woman a measure of
independence 1t might also thrust
upon her the necessity of economy
HTTV tn DE nj Hrn AAY