Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-08-30
DOROTHY DIX DISCUSSES LIFE
TALKS ON HEART AND HOME

not even feel it hardship l knew
my husband was a Woodworking
man, and [ thought that he did the
best he could for us. l thought that
he gave us all that he could afford
and that he was Just one Of the men
who have not the gift of money
making.
"But when he died, to my amaze
ment, | found that he was a com
paratiVely rich man. For years he
had been making big salary and
had been concealing the knowledge
of it from me. He had seen the
children grow up without the ad-
vantages that he was able to give
them. He had seen me toilWOrn
and weary, when he could well have
afforded to have hired a servant to
do the work that was breaking me
down. He had seen me shabby and
ashamed, when he could have given
me decent clothes, and he did not do
it because he loved money better
than he did his wife and children.
But, most of ALL what I resent
in his unfairness. The fact that he
did not give me his confidence, that
he kept me in ignorance of the
/
that [ cannot forgive.
MY daughter, who is private
secretary to a big business man, says
that her father only did as most
other men do. She says that few
men tell their wives anything about
their business; that they give their
families much or little, according to
whether they are generous or stingy,
and that their wives never really
know anything about their hus-
bands affairs.
at seems to me that this not
giving a wife a square deal. Mar
riage is a partnership in which a
| young couple pool their all. The
! woman puts into it just as much as
| the man does, for she not only puts
| herself into it body and SOUL but she
I puts in her chances of marrying ia
richer man. And if she is good
and faithful wife, and makes man
happy and comfortable home, her
| work counts just as much in the
| ultimate success of the firm as the
| mans does.
so she has a right to not only
/ half of the profits of the concern,
/ but to know how the business is
/ going. Her husband has no more
right to keep her in ignorance of
! the financial status of the firm than
| he would to refuse such knowledge
! to a man who was his equal partner.
j Nor is it fair that she should never
| receive, Is her right her share of
| the profits of the venture. No man
would dream of doing out to his
| business partner just what he chose
! to give him of the earnings of the
! firm.
Il think men make a great mis-
! take by not telling their wives about
| their business affairs and not treat
| ing them as partners, because it
would draw them closer together. 1t
! would give them a vital common in
| terest-something to talk about. No
! evening would be dull a home if
| the husband and wife were plan
ming new enterprises together.
| And it would steady women, give
| them something worth while to
think about and do more than any
| thing else to stop their eXtrav-
| agance. Women spend wildly be-
kcause they do not know what they
can afford. They know their hus-
! DdnuS Will SfumDle over the DllIS
| anyway, SO they had as we'll be big
! as little.
Curious about men that they are
! so seldom willing to deal fairly with
! their wives about money. They dole
| out the nickels to them and the first
| financial independence many a wOm-
! an has is when she collects her hus-
! bands insurance money. That's why
there are so many reconciled
widows"
DOROTHY DIX
Ill,