886 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



pays, but does not his wife too? So often her hours exceed his in num- 

 ber that it has become a proverb. "That man's work is from sun to sun, 

 but woman's work is never done." "Why then should she be expected 

 to be contented with just her board and clothes. As man before he mar- 

 ries should have some assured income on which to support a house and 

 a wife. He may own a small farm, have a fund in the bank or have 

 only his weekly salary. The woman may also have some asserts with 

 which to begin house-keeping. If so these are all pooled in a general 

 fund for mutual benfit. If such is the case why does the income 

 accruing from this partnership of assets belong to one member of the 

 firm. No business w^ould last a week done in this way. Most generally 

 a young cowple have little to start with, often hardly enough to pay for 

 a license and the minister. 



Now suppose in such a case the man earns six dollars a week by his 

 work of 10 hours daily, though now it is but 9 in many cases. If they 

 are wise and thrifty they will hold a council regarding the spending of 

 that money. A portion will be set aside for rent, another for food, an- 

 other for clothing. The woman does the work in the house, sees to 

 cooking the food so that none is wasted, makes, mends and washes the 

 clothing, beside various other things too numerous to mention, w^hich 

 work will take her best endeavors the same 9 or 10 hours. Now if at 

 the end of the month 50 cents or $1.00 is left to go into the purse who 

 does that rightfully belong to? All to one? No, it is the assets 

 of the firm and should so be regarded. 



If there is a man within sound of my voice who thinks, oh! woman's 

 work is nothing, it should not be compared to man's labor, I would just 

 like to put him in the woman's place for one week. Let him cook, wash 

 and iron with poor wood and water hard to get at, take up and beat and 

 put down the carpet, white wash the kitchen wall and scrub the floor, wash 

 dishes three times a day and darn a few stockings in the intervals just 

 to rest him, and perhaps with a fretful baby to care for. I think he 

 would soon agree with old Grimes who tried it "that his wife could do 

 more work in a day than he could do in three." 



The idea that woman's work does not pay is a wrong one. There 

 is no work In the world that pays more largely in the abstract although 

 it may not be acknowledged. It is not so much what one earns as what one 

 saves that makes one rich. Generally the saving clause in a home is 

 turned over to the women. They are expected to make both ends meet no 

 matter if the income be small. 



In the accumulation of property the result of the co-operative labor 

 of husband and wife, the law gives the man the lion's share and in case 

 of his death the woman can only claim one-third. In many cases, if the 

 whole truth was known, her hands have earned as many dollars as his. 

 Law is not always justice, but we have this to cheer us, Iowa law is more 

 lenient toward women than is that of many states and in this good land 

 of ours women occupy a much higher place than elsewhere. I have in 

 mind a good illustration of the point I wish to make about the value of 

 masculine and feminine labor. 



