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Show I j Dorothy Dix Talks j THE EXTRAVAGANT WIFE By DOROTHY DIX, the World's Highest Paid Woman Writer EM j 'What shall a man do with a wife whose extravagance Is ruining him"" tSJ asks a correspondent. BJ I am no tightwad." goes on the writer ot this letter, 1 want a wife to dress well and live well. I desire to i give her every luxury that we can J pi ilbly afford, and I make , generous lilM allowance that should cover any rea- IJBfl sonable. woman's needs, but she throws money away as if It grow on tree, and aa the result 1 am always In debt and hounded by the bill col-ifSfcy col-ifSfcy lector. "I am a young man, ambitious to I make a placo for myself In the world, and I know that I have It in me to succeed. I had alreadv gotten i a good start towards my goal at the fl lime of my marriage, but I have gono steadily backward ever since. To get gj anywhere In business you must show that you not only know how to make-money make-money but to save It. Opportunity knocks In vain at the door of tho penniless man Big firms do not select se-lect tin.- employe who Is being dunned for his rent, to manage branch of-flees of-flees and factories. Tw ice slnco I have been married j I have had chances to start In busi-kfe4 busi-kfe4 ness for mvself In concerns that, 1 have proed highly profitable, but It J 5 took a few thousands to go In, and j mj wife had blown in my savings on. an automobile that she had badgered! me inn. buying Three- times have ln-j Bx " men i n passed over my headi by th firm for which I hae worked I for cars, and sent to China and Jap.m to take charge of the offices V!H there, and 1 know lhat the reason j , that I am sidetracked Is because of , the shabby men In blue with their 4 coat fronts bulging with papers, who thrust unpaid milliner and dre.ss-W dre.ss-W ' maker and beauty parlor accounto at me every lime 1 step out of tho door. "J know as well as If It had been put in words that niy firm thinks that a man who can't live and keep out of debt on the salary' 1 get. Is so poor a P5 financier that ho isn't to be trusted to handle big affairs. And I can also see the big men looking at mo In ai I puzzled way, and wondering what has; happened to me, how I have lost 1 my morale, why 1, who used to be thrift- . have gotten to bo shiftless,! ami fallen Into the hands of bill collectors, col-lectors, why I, who used to bo on my I I j toes, am downhearted and dls- cou raged "And I can't tell them that all that Is the matter with me Is that I am married to an extravagant wife "I have endured this for five years, hoping against hope that I could urt my wife of her vice, arguing argu-ing With her, pleading with her. but; I m all In vain, and I have como to thei L conclusion that the buying and wast- Bv.js lng habit, is Just as incurable as the U ..M,, h.iM'. And unfortunately t'v re M is no law to restrain a wife from wf throwing away her husband's mmey! as there- is to prevent her from buying i drugs. j Ikuw i am iie;i wining iv spenu trio balam e of my days tolling like a slave to enrich Jewelle rs and cabarets and complexion specialists I want to havo something better to show for my life work than a cloretful of Imported Im-ported dresses and hats. That is one side of the problem The other Is my wife who buys, and buys, and buys. What shall I do about it?" My advice to thla man, and every other man who Is married to a woman wom-an who is not willing to live within his mean:-, i to gc. up and leave her. Divorce her. Get rid of her just ae he would of any other business part. nor who was ruining iho firm by reckless reck-less extravagance. I believe In every man being both generous and Just to his wife I be-llove be-llove in a family spending a liberal amount of Its Income as it goes along, instead of pinching and scrimping ever ev-er penny for some future day of splurge that none of them may llvo to see, but It is Just as much a wife's 1 business to savo her husband's mon- Wtf ' V. ao It is his business to earn It. ond If she doesn't do this, she has defaulted de-faulted on her part of the marriage contract and .should be made to pay the penalty. A man is a weakling and a fool J who lets his wife ruin his life by her extravagance, and sell him Into bond age to milliners and dressmakers, and I It speaks volumes for the hearts of ' men and nothing for their heads that ; there are so many of these poor, pltl-! pltl-! ful domestic slaves. There is no Justification for the I man's folly because ho Is making this heroic sacrifice for a woman whose very conduct shows that she has no , particle of affection for him. and : that she Is as hard ns a stone, and i callously Indifferent o his suffer-I suffer-I Ings. Certainly It can flatter no man's vanity to realize that ho Is merely a I shopping account and a meal ticket to hla wife, and that she is perfectly ; willing to work him to death to pro-I pro-I vide her with a fashionable address j on her visiting cards, and a near-pearl near-pearl necklace. Every man should explain his financial fi-nancial affairs in detail to his wife Ho should tell her Just exactl what they can afford to spend He should mako her understand why they must economize In order that he may enlarge en-large his business, or start In business busi-ness for himself, or realize some other oth-er plan of advancement. And If she refuses to do her part, and Insists on living beyond their means and running him in debt, It Is up to him to take the fir9t train out for Reno. A wife who loves a bargain sale more than she does her husband Is a good riddance. Dorothy Dlx's articles appear regularly reg-ularly In this paper every' Monday, Wednesday and Friday. CO A . . |
