The Topeka state journal., 1918-07-13
DOROTHY DIX TALKS
BY DOROTHY DIX
Worlds Highest Paid Woman Writer.
Good Men Who Are Bad husbands

Good Men Who Are Bad Husbands
One of the difficulties that con-
fronts a woman who is picking out a
matrimonial partner is the fact that
a mans character and previous rec
ord give her no clue as to the kind
of a husband that he will make.
Frequently, bad men make the best
of husbands. Men who are flint and
steel to all the rest of the world are
often putty in the hands of the wom-
en- they love. History tells us that
some of the most relentless political
tyrants have been the most compla-
cent of husbands, and that one of the
cruelest and most bloodthirsty leaders
of the French Revolution was the
most domestic of men, and noted for
his devotion to his family.
There are plenty of men who
break every law of God and man, ex-
cept the law of love. We have all
known men who wrecked railroads
and looted banks, who brought misery
and suffering on thousands of other
people without feeling a pang of pity
for their victims. but who were the
tenderest and most sympathetic OF
husbands and the most loving of
parents.
We have known men who were
cruel to every one else except the
women they loved. We have seen men
grind down the faces of the poor
whom they employed in order to law
ish their ill-gotten wealth on the wives
thew adored, and we have known
drunkards who, when out OF theIr
cups, were simply models of all that
, husband should be.
The reverse of this Is equally true
Some of the best men in the world
men of the highest principle. exam :
the worst
husbands, altho they are far enough
from suspecting it.
Such a man considers that he is a
good husband If he gives his wife fooo
and clothes and shelter. IL ne can
add to these a reasonable amount OF
| luxuries he feels that he is super
excellent husband, and if he supple
ments these material comforts by
spending his evenings at home, by pc
| ing a teetotaller and by never look
] ing at another woman, he can't mag
| inc what else a woman could ask Tor
Lin a husband, and he feels that his
wife ought to spend her time on heI
| knees, thanking God for the domestic
| treasure that has been vouchsafed her
1t never occurs to these men thai
\ home virtues and outside virtues are
not identical, and that the qualities
that make a man respected among
! men do not necessarily endear him &c
his wife nor make him pleasing
companion with whom to spend heI
/ days For a man to be truthful, hon
est, honorable and moral may make
him a good man, but 1t does not neces-
sarily make him a good husband. And
| in any husband show where womer
were the judges, the chances are tina
| not he but some 1ovable scapegrace
would get the blue ribbon prize.
| This decision would be set down t.
woman's lack of judgment, but mas
much as women are the only human
| beings who have ever married men
they are the only properly qualified
experts on the husband question. The,
! have had experience with the crea
lures, and they knew.
There are. forI instance, plenty o
men who are shining examples of hon
esty in the community, and whit
would never cheat another man out o
a penny. yet who make their wive
live in perpetual misery by thei
stinginess- This kind of man woul'
scorn to oppress his employees or Il
withhold from a laborer his hire. bu
he has no conscience about holding
his wife in peonage- He takes tn
work of her hands, her ceaseless toll
her virtual slavery to her family 70