Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 May 1884 — Reform in Home Lifte. [ARTICLE]

Reform in Home Lifte.

Prof. Adler, of New York, wants to reform home life so that there will be less drudgery for woman, and more time and strength to devote to her own improvement and the “soul life” of her children. He thinks that some form of co-operative housekeeping may be devised to liberate the mother from her present slavery. It is possible that the labor of housekeeping might be considerably reduced by some form of cooperation, as it is now by the employment of public laundries; but it is not certain that the liberation of woman from labor would universally conduce to the moral and mental improvement of herself and her children. This is not a slur upon woman. Men who do not work are very liable to degenerate mentally, morally, and physically. The greatest help for woman would be to reduce the exactions of society, fashion, and custom, if such a thing could be done. Every new feature in modem society entails labor upon her. The more sewing maohines, the more tucks and frills. The more bric-a brae, the more sweeping and dusting. The more acquaintances, the more time wasted in formal calls. The truth of the matter is that the wife and mother, who really loves her children, does not ask to be relieved of the cares which make her habitation a home. She would rather work hard than make her house a phalanstery, and any improvement in housekeeping which tends to make her family any less a family, she would reject. The housewife earns her half of the family income, and until the husband is able to procure an income without labor the true wife will not shirk her share of the burden.—Springfield Union.