Show I L Do Dorothy ro thy Dix s 's Letter ette r Box I THE PROBLEM OF THE WIFE WHO IS 13 A POOR HOUSEKEEPER WHO SHOULD HOLD THE HOUSEHOLD PURSE HUS- HUS HUSBAND HUS HUSBAND BAND OF WIFE THE IDEAL MARRYING AGE FOR A MAN DEAR D BAIt DOROTHY DOROTHT I DIX DIX I have been een married more than a quarter of ofa ofa of- of ofa a century to a woman who Is above the tb averse average mentally and Is all right morally but she Ibo sh Is not a home hom woman During all of thIs time there has never Dever been a meal ready rady on time Moro More often orten than thin not I ave had bed to to go to work with with- without without out an any breakfast not even ven a cup of coffee cortee cot e unless t made mad It myself and when I would come corn home homo artera after arter 4 a ten hour hard work I would find dod that dinner b had not even been started nor planned for tor Always I have lived In a a house hous with a sink full tull of dirty dishes beds bed unmade everything bIg big- bigi i I have bavo hiT tried to bear this with patience but tall fail fall Ine tog Ing health balth largely due to the tb way I have been fed ltd Il has sapped upped my courage and I do not feel eel that I can i 1 endure It much longer loneer J I IJ ti J There Thre are two children one on Is now making his hll low own ol a way with a good education back of or him and Iam I I am willing to skimp to get et the th other collect college Life Lite Lit Is II I too short to waste ia io quarreling so we w have I never quarreled over these then matters But Dut I have hav be b I DIX come desperate and I ask you What would you do doX X xz Y Z Answer You are ar just twenty dye years ears too late lato at tackling your problem my mr friend You should have begun It In Sn your honeymoon days the St-st St time tim your bride brido set let you down to a meal indal that was first aid ald to the coroner There la Is I nothing like Ilk getting off 0 on i the thc t rIght foot you know and If you had made mad your wife understand at the thc th very beginning that she ahe h had to too toe to the th mark and hold up her hi- end of the partnership Just Juat Ju t as IS well wll as aa yours your and that you wouldn't put up with any slacking you could have reformed her r Taking it by and large the th wife Job I a pretty good goodone goodone goodon one At any rate rato rat It I Is one on that women wom n desire to hold down and If they thought that they would get fired If they didn't give good service ervice why they'd give good service That That's all The Time woman woman who works work outside of ot her home horn knows that she ahe sh must be prompt and punch the time clock on the dot and she sh he does it it SIw knows that she must be neat and orderly and systematic and she Is ic She knows that she cant can't loaf loal and Idle and spend her ber days In work hours running the streets or lounging around readIng novels and b doesn't attempt It H because It if she did her employer would dismiss her But because a husband cant can't get rid of her no matter matt r how trifling and lazy she sh Is II I she ahe sh goes gOIl go back on her Job If she sh e Is la that kind of a wo nan which Is la about the th lowest trick a woman can play on a man who I Is good and kind and generous to her As Az As for tor a woman woman excusIng herself by sayIng that she Is not domes domes- domestic domestic tic that Is Ia all folderol Even an idiot can be taught to sweep a floor and make a bed and wash dishes and there Is I no excuse for tor any woman on earth who can read not being belne a good food cook The Th courts courtl grant women dIvorces dIvorcee s from rom husbands h for fall fail fall ur ur un to support Failure to make mak a comfortable home horn should be equal grounds for divorce for a man from hi his hla wife wit And believe me many a a shiftless housekeeper would get et busy If IC she ahe knew w that her bread and pie and photographS of her ber kitchen sink and littered Uttered floors would be b exhibits A It and aDd B D and C In her ber bus bus- hus husband's bands band's divorce suit When a man mm marries ho h should demand good housekeep housekeeping ing of cut his wife If she ahe sh refuses to make mak a comfortable home for him he h la is I Justified In leaving her hT If ho he h c care re to do this ho h should break up housekeeping and go to board with some soma som woman who does dOli do s know how to cook and keep things clean This Is II the th only way ho he h can save live sav his hla digestion and his hla nerves nerve and his hla soul and I I advise you Mr X Y Z to try It even at this I late lat date dat There Thero Is peace In In just accepting a thing and making the best of It on that has basis Is Then you quit worrying over the im Im possible over trying to make mak people do what they ought to and will not do and that you ou can never make mak them do And perhaps your wife has haa qualities of head hud hurt heart that atone aton for her not being belna a good housekeeper and that you could appreciate If you were wr properly fed and not net continually aggravated by her thriftless thriftier ways So 60 my ny remedy for your trouble is II I a good boarding house houn or family hotel DIX S S S C a aD kEAR MISS Should DIX DIX Should the th husband or the wife ire hold the household household house- house household DEAn D hold purse purse And why MRS ms W A J Answer Both Considering that both put Into It neither one should have a monopoly of It Of course the man earns the visible money so to speak but the money the wife earns by her actual labor as cook and housemaid bous mald and laundress and tender baby and seamstress and scrubber and so on 00 makes her contribution to the tb family exchequer of real monetary value For if ii the wife did not do these thes thIngs the th husband would have to hire biro somo tomo other woman to do them Statisticians Statistician I estimate that It would cost 40 a week w k to pay for the services that the average av rag woman performs p for her h r fm tam liy Ny And such being belne the th case cas the tho wife has baa a a tangible as well wll as a amoral moral right to assist In tho the purse bearing I believe that financial Independence II I the th but basis I of ef all and happiness and that neither r husband nor wife withas h his the th right to enslave the th other Therefore a woman weman should not expect her husband to turn over all 11 hi his hll earnIngs arning to h nor should a man refuse to give his wife a fair proportion of hla hi Income as her her own personal allowance The Th only happy couples are ar thol those thor who go fifty fifty-fifty on the tha Income proposition DOROTHY DIX S e C DEAR D EAR r EAR MISS What DIX DIX do you consIder r the tb best heat are age t tor for a young man to marry B M hi 1 1 I Answer An Around 30 It I Is dangerous for tor a boy to marry before before he b Is 25 because up to that time tim be b Is II unformed his tastes are ar shifting hIs bis Ideals are and he be h does not know what he h himself wants In a wife wit Nearly every avry vry man who marries before before 25 outgrows outgrow his hll wife and grows growl tired of her hr It Is disastrous for tor the th average avrace man to marry very vry young oung for financIal reasons for matrimony shut many doors doon of opportunity In his face As a married man he bo cannot go 10 to many places that would be advantageous to him and to which he h could have hav gone cone as a single lingle man Women Wm n who who could push puah his hla hi fortunes lose 1018 tos Int Interest rut In him once onee he ha h has haa hi a wife Ho He H can take taka tak no chances chanc with a family hanging around his hll hi neck and with wife wit and babies bable to support h he can save lava lav no n money to branch out cut for himself All of oC this bars the early arly marriage Against the tb late lat marriage In the tb forties Is II the tb fact that by thena then a man hu has ha crown grown old and blue blase bias romance Is II dead dad In hIs hi hurt heart He H his haa become leUlah and wedded to his bis ways way and lacks lack the th ability to adapt himself to the tb give and take taka tak of ot married life lite lit But around 30 SO a man la Is I at hi prime prim He H haa ha hs generally got sufficiently well wll established to afford a family And above all he h Is I still till youn young l enough to be b ardent and romantic and nd old enough nough to t have hav learned learn d control self lf and wisdom In dealing with women DOROTHY DIX Copyright ly by Public Ledger Leder |