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( 117 )
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XVIII.—HIGH LIVING WITH LOW MEANS.
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Theee Is a constant outcry against the l...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
( 117 )
( 117 )
Xviii.—High Living With Low Means.
XVIII . —HIGH LIVING WITH LOW MEANS .
Theee Is A Constant Outcry Against The L...
Theee Is a constant outcry against the luxury of this age , against _« the striving of all classes to attain to a standard of living which
can be easily reached only by those of higher rank in the social scale . Much has been written of the improvidence of the working
classes , and of the difficulty which they experience of living on even much higher wages than those of the same class on the Continent .
Some remedy has been occasionally attempted by benevolent persons-who have tried to give the wives of our artisans a knowledge
of cookery , and general domestic economy . Here , however , so far as any practical effort at improvement is concerned , we have
stopped . It has been the fashion lately to say more than ever on the
subject of the luxuries of the middle class of English society ,- but who tries to do anything to change this state of thingsalthough
the greatness of the evil is almost universally acknowledged , ? "We are aware that there are dissentient voices from this general opinion .
There are those who are content to witness the immense improvement in the health , cleanliness , and refinement of the middle class ,
and who think that it is well worth the price we pay for it . They do not trouble themselves to examine detailsand do not consider
, whether it would not be possible to obtain the same advantage in a cheaper way . These complaisant people , however , constitute the
exceptions , and we believe it will be conceded that discontent on this point is general . It is in our firm conviction that English
women of the middle class can do much towards the desired reform , that we call the attention of the readers of this Journal to the
subject . We fear to encounter a difficulty in the commencement of such an
appeal , from the fact that although the women we are addressing may not belong * to the exceptional class of whom we have
_sxDoken , 5 et the greater number are less aware of the extent of the evil than their husbands and brothersand are consequently less
, impressed with the necessity for reform . This arises from two causes . First , from their taking so small a share in the real
increase of burden which this high style of living imposes on the head of the family . Secondly , from their want of j _> ractical
knowledge of the value of money . It is impossible that a woman whose most onerous task consists in the ordering of dinner , and the
superintendence of the nursery , should understand the strain upon the nervous system occasioned by the overwork necessary to procure
these extra hundreds , or by the anxiety arising from the difficulty of making both ends meet , even after the hardest struggle to obtain a
large income . That there are women whose interest in the pursuits of their husbands enables them to see the matter in its true light ,
we thankfully acknowledge ; and also that such women are capable
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1861, page 117, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041861/page/45/
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