The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-08-02
DOROTHY DIX TALKS
BY DOROTHY DIX
worlds Highest Paid woman Writer.
Just Suppose.
Suppose, Mr.. Man

Suppose, Mr.. Man
That you had q natural vocation for
some particular work, and that you
had spent years of time. and lots of
money preparing yourself to do this
especial labor efficiently. Suppose
there wasn't any detail of the profess
sion of law or medicine, or dentistry,
or merchandising, or acting, or edit
ing that wasn't just thrillingly inter-
esting to you. and that the very at
mosphere of a store or office was the
breath of life to you. whereas. you
couldn't abide the dull. flat monotony
of the country, and hated the hard
and uneongenial manual labor of
farming, altho you were perfectly
aware that agriculture was the great.
original occupation of all mankind,
and that the prosperity of the country
depends on the farmer.
And suppose. when you got mar
ried, public opinion forced you arbi-
| trarily to give up your practice of law,
or medicine, or dentistry or merchan-
dising, or acting, or editing, and be-
come a farmer, because it is held that
farming is a mans natural occupa-
! ton and 1t reflects on his wife some
how il he doesn't farm.
And suppose, you hated farming and
weren't trained to farm. and didn't
know how to farm, and you could
earn a big salary at the kind of work
*
could get somebody for a few dollars
a week to do your farming better than
you could do it. and you had to do
without many of the luxuries you had
been accustomed to, and could so
easily make the money to buy. but
your wife wouldn't think of allowing
you to go back to your old work for
fear of what people would say.
But that is what happens to the
professional women and business
women when. they get married.
Mr.. Man. just suppose
You went into partnership with an
other man, and you put into the BUSH
| ness every cent of money you had, and
you worked for the success Of the firm
tirelessly, and you conserved its re-
sources, and gave every energy of your
body and brain to pushing it on to
success. Suppose you got up an hour
or two before your partner in the
morning, and worked an hour or two
after he went to bed at night, and
you took on your shoulders the most
mental, and uninteresting branch of
| labor.
And suppose that your partner
never told you a word about how
things were going with the firm. or
consulted your opinion, and that when
he came to dividing the profits of the
| business, that all he gave you was just
your food and lodging. and that when
/ ever you wanted dollar, you had to
go to the senior member of the firm
and ask him for 1t as a favor, instead
of just taking 1t as your share to which
you had as much right as he had, and
that he always asked you what you
did with that quarter he gave you a
week before last. and reprimanded you
for your extravaganza.
Suppose the firm got rich largely
owing to your labor. and thrift, and
economy. yet you never realized on
any of the assets. you never had a
bank account of your own, or a single
dollar that you could do with as you
pleased.
Mr.. Man, these are the things that
happen to every woman. Suppose you
put yourself in a woman's place and
try to make life easier for her.