Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 167 



cannot hang out a shingle and announce to the world that, having 

 her diploma, she is ready. No, she may have to wait a number of 

 years longer. What shall she do ? For her own health of mind, if 

 nothing else, she would better be working. For seeing this situa- 

 tion, advisers wonder, "STiould she be prepared for home life or to 

 earn a living?" Some say, "Let her prepare for the money-making 

 first, and after engagement, or even after marriage, take a few 

 courses in domestic science." (Is this the way a successful man 

 prepares for his profession?) Since she may never have a home 

 to keep, why prepare to keep it? Moreover, the girl is not sup- 

 posed to know she is waiting. In fact, it is the fashion in some 

 quarters to ignore the possibilities of the partner's coming and 

 to make ambitious plans for a career without him. 



Not that the makers of these plans are not generally willing to 

 give them up if the right man comes; but they are able to choose 

 more independently, and so run less risk of making a serious mis- 

 take if there is something else to fill their lives if they do not 

 marry. And no woman is free who cannot fall back upon such an 

 alternative. 



Moreover, earning money before one marries often helps to 

 make a more sympathetic wife and a more intelligent mother. And 

 it not only gives a woman freedom in choosing a husband, but if she 

 can manage to maintain her skill in her profession during marriage, 

 it forms the best kind of an accident insurance policy. According 

 to statistics, in colonial and pioneer days it was quite common for 

 men to have second, third, or even fourth wives ; the strain of hard 

 work killed off the wives more rapidly than the husbands. In these 

 days the strain of increasing standards of living and excessive com- 

 petition in business kills the husbands more rapidly. It is said 

 that at present one out of every five women who have been married 

 is without a husband. A host of widows needing some means of 

 support ! 



Yes, it is very important that women know how to make money 

 outside of the home. But there is one precaution that should be 

 given to every girl who earns money while she waits. "Be careful 

 not to establish such a high standard of living that you postpone 

 the time when the man dare to come, or, perchance, that you keep 

 him away entirely, because he cannot keep you according to the 

 standard you have established. Don't spend all your money, much 

 as you feel the need of all the things it will buy. Save a large 

 proportion for your contribution to the home making, and thus 



