Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 May 1881 — MONEY-EARNING WIVES. [ARTICLE]

MONEY-EARNING WIVES.

It is frequently a subject for thought and conversation as to why profesdonai women—actresses, milliners, dressmakers and principals of youug ladies academies, etc..-have so much trouble with their husbands; and it is as frequently observed that the husbands of money-earning ladies are idle or lazy, or both.or are dissipated, or else shrink into quiet nonentities who are apparently endured because of the feminine belief that it is good to have a man about the house anyhow. It is certainly true that the husbands of mou-ey-earnin , woman are generally the quietest and most unassuming 01 their sex—in their domestic life. To some this condition may appear a cause for merriment and riaicule, but in reality, it involves the serious question as to whether it is good for a man to marry a woman who desires or will be forced to earn her share of their income in actual hard cash, and not by staying at home minding the house and economizing in groceries, dry-goods, gas and fuel. A man who marries with this contingency staring him in the face risks a good deal concerning his domestic happiness, A woman who can contribute a share of money earned by her own labor to the common household fund 1b naturally prouder of it than a man would be, and womanlike, she wants to crow over it a bit, and it frequently happens • hat this crowing becomes irksome and embarassing to the man. His responsibilities as a man, as a husband, and a father are lessened, and with the burden that is lifted from his back goes something of his self esteem, something of self respect and sturdy independence. His pride in himself and nis self assurance receives a blow. We know there are many worthless shirks whose l unmanly selfishness and lack of pluck have thrown the heavy burden of providing for the home upon the slender shoulders of their brave and patient wives. We know too, how nobly a woman assumes such duties when they raise before her, and we know of her marvelous self-sacrifices and endurance, but these are not the money-earning wives we refer to. These generally marry with all the pretty dreams and hope of wifehood that are natural to young wives, and then, when it is too late, they discover that it is the woman who must be strong and the wife who must provide. Our original proposition is that a rightly proud man will do any sort of labor rather than have his wife work for him. If his wife has the time and the fancy to employ either her brains or her fingers in tasks that will bring remuneration, this money is hers, and not his. and when he begins to look forward to her earnings as a part of his income, he also begins to lose his pride In being the bread-winner and protector of his family. Another and a very strong moral reason why women whose husbands can and do support them, should not seek “plain work,”is that they may be taking work away from some woman who realey needs it.