The Washington herald., 1920-10-11
PAYING THE PRICE.
BY DOROTHY DIX.

Among my acqusintances are a
young married couple whose mar
riaGe is a failure because both of
them welch on the price of matri-
mOny.
Their home is full OF unrest and
discomfort. They bicker and quar-
rel, and the domestic atmosphere
is charged with examinations and
recriminatiOns. They are misera-
BILE. and yet they have all the raw
materials for happiness in their
hands. For they have youth and
health. two beautiful children. and
the man earns enough money for
them to get along in moderate COM
fort if they were willing to make
the best of what they have.
But they are not They have
never been able to reconcile them
selves to the restraints and priva-
tions of domesticity.
The -ceues home at night
mourning about the boxing match
the boys in the ofice are going
to see. or the play they are going
TO attend. or the little game they
are going to have that he had to
foregO because he couldn't AFFORD
it, and had to punch the home time
clock, anyway. When summer
comes. he Eroans about the need
Of golf to keep him fit. and talks
A bout how well he used to play
before he was married. and the
good times he had then, and he
goes about looking like a martyr
because the only vacation that is
within the limit Of his salary is
to stay home and help nurse the
children.
The wife was a business woman
before she married, and earned
enough to support herself comfort
ably. dress we'll and enjoy the
pleasures Of theaters and concerts,
and little trips.
She sheds bitter tears over her
shabby clothes. and as she walks the
baby with collie. or stcws over the
kitchen stove, trying to accomplish
the impossible task OF CamOufaging
A chuck steak so II will taste as
good as a tenderloin. she thinks
enviousIy and rebelliously of the
good old days when she went to
balls at night. and kept her hands
manicured and her hair marCelled.
Now the trouble with these people,
and many others like them, is that
they want to eat their cake and
have il too. And that can't be done,
not even with angels food.
It is only in novels that marriage
becomes a beautiful annex to all
the pleasures OF life which one has
previously enjoyed. In reality. even
under the most auspiciOus Condi-
tions, il imposes penalties on both
men and women that are almost pro-
hibitivc. but that they must endure.
or else be cutters. Nose. which
they arc bound to meet Chserfully
for tho sake of their honor
No man, for instance, can be bond
and free at tbs same time. lie can
not have both the pcrQUisites of the
bachelor and the married man. As
long as he is single. he has a right
to stay out as long as he pleases OF
an evening. and 70 spend his money
upon such diversions as appeal to
him.
But he fOrfeits these rights at
the altar. When he vows to cher
ish a woman he undertakes to keep
her happy and COntented, and to
bear her company. Cherishing a
woman certainly doesn't mean leav-
ing her to spend lonely and anxious
evenings wondering where her
wandering nusDdnO IS ana suspect
ing the worst.
Also when a man endows his wife
with all his worldly goods he signs
away his income in favor OF his
family. He has no longer any right
10 blow in the money that should
go for groceries and rent. and
shoes. in a poker game. OF to spend
il for his own sole behoof and ben
eft.
Therefore, a man commits a grieY-
Gus wrong against any woman by
marrying her until he gets to the
place where he wants to settle
down and sit by his own fireside,
and where he bankers for the do
nestle hash instead Of the fIeshpots
Of Bohemia As long as he wants
to run around with the boys at
night, and prefers golf TO pushing
a baby carriage on his afternoons
OF. let him stay single. So shall
he escape curtain lectures, and keep
a monopoly on his own pocketbook'
and preserve some poor unfortunate
woman from being a neglected wife
who has TO put up with a grouchy
husband.
Exactly the same thing may be
said to women. The woman who
merely gets bill payer and a dane
ing partner and a fatterer and a
purveyor Of smusements when she
msrries Is a myth. There isn't any
such husband.
Marriage fer the average g1d