Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-25

Washington. D. c., Dec. 22.-In the
hubbub of voices raised to demand
women's rights in the home, an occa-
sional faint chirp from the mans side
may occasionally be heard.
Il believe in equal rights for Won
en-" says n brave but anonymous
husband, but if women are going to
claim economic equality in the home
they should accept q fair share OF the
responsibility and forego the outWorn
privileges that went with their old
status as dependent wives.
"The wife who makes her own mon
ey still thinks she has the right to go
through her husbands pockets for
change he added jokingly. And
where once a oma was dependent Oh
her husband for pin money and her
clothes, now in some eases the husband
has the worse of the deal. A wife who
works may even let her husband use
all of his salary to pay the living ex-
penses of the household. while she
keeps her salary for herself and puts
money in the bank in her own name
This is a strange situation which
the perplexed husband points out. For
centuries wives have been subject to
the generosity or stinginess of their
husbands. Even today the who
stays at home is apt to be given a
personal allowance while her husband
manages the household finances and
pays the bills. The husband who makes
his wife q generous allowance is con-
sidered modern and broad-minded. But
according to some felnininists such a
man is still the old-fashioned type
the master of the house doing out
gifts 10 his dependents.
Still. we have undoubtedly entered
q transition period. Some new ideas
about family finance have been gener-
ally accepted, while other adjustments
that are necessary if the Lew regime
is to be practical are yet to be made.
Thus, it is no longer thought strange
for a wife to keep up her interest
IN her profession or art or business.
But we have not vet become used to
the idea that if she is going to remain
ar individual. though married. the wife
cannot expect to leave all the economic
worries on her husbands shoulders.
The wife who gets all the money she
can, leaving him to struggle over the
bills is far from extinct. But already
she is considered a little old-fashioned
She has retained an idea, deeply in
rooted in women through centuries of
tradition. that a man is legitimate prey
for gold digging, and that the man
who asks her to be his wife thereupon
takes upon himself complete respon-
sibility for her livelihood.
This sort Of financial problem in all
its possible variations is found in a
large percentage of homes today. The
wife has begun to demand a fairer eco
monte deal than she has had, but
neither she nor her husband has given
thought to what is really fair to both.
Council on Family Finance
The national woman's party, which
urges full equality between the sexes,
has organized d homelnakers' council
in its group of professional councils,
and members of the party say that this
council is going to consider the impor-
tant and complicated question of family
finance. They say that it is not a mat
ter for legal adjustment, except III SO
far as some state laws hinder women
from attaining complete economic
equality. The arrangement of the
family budget is rather dependent on
custom and tradition.
II the council attempts TO ~untangle
the financial problems of modern mat
rimony it will have to undertake the
difficult task Of molding public opinion.
| All that can be done is to study vari-
Gus experiments that are made, CON
duet Investigations Of satisfactory and
/ unsatisfactory methods, and announce
the conclusions.
The council has not begun its pro
gram, but some experiments have been
made by progressive couples in search
of a fair standard. One of the most
complete plans for adjusting family
finances is worked out by lsabeI
kending Gill. who is organizing the
professional councils.
Mrs. Gill believes that there is only
one satisfactory basis for family fl
nance and that is to establish an equa'
partnership, and to share equally
whatever money husband and wife
earn. She says she has tried this
system when she was earning more
money than her husband. when she
was earning less, and when She earned
nothing at all, and hat she and hel
husband find it the fairest plan. Her
idea is that each should contribute
to the successful upkeep of the home