LADIES' COLUMN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 108, 2 November 1907, Page 11

LADIES' COLUMN.

BUSINESS V.'/OXMI.VS lIOXK.STY. A tact which is mn often •commented upon t=ajs the Jjeoibimtn) ib that women emplojjd In places of ba-inoss ate infinitely more honest thaiu their male colld'sui:*. In almo-t c\eiy catc of embezzlement and rlcfa'ti lion the culprits arc found to he men. , It it- dillicitU to understand the reason for thi=, siaci* woman is popularly supposed lo be weaker i;i c\cry way, to have a lower cot'c or honour and a .-mailer .vei^e of justice. Haw, Uien doe- it come about that tlu 1 Mghi of laigi,- miiiis of money pro\e-, ioo much fd sr.an.v men, while women eor.t.'mplut,.' tin- n unmoved? Jiomo might ray lii.v women ha\<» a ftriclfi" >en->c of hoiitsty ilu'.n men. Yet it cannot be denied that in iioity pilfering women ran hold liictr own with the Hghtesl-tingyrr'U cntck-inen who e\er "■•■tcod on .ti! clhor man'b i-tairca=o at' dead of uigh r ." llcw often have women — even lA&'p who are 11HI dro-ed and well lo do — jirored l!\em.-ehe< incapable of passing a prrttv frloii'-e 01 belt in a shop without straight way -.Mircplilio^ly appropriating it Yet one iute i'r Irj.irh of well-ciretred | men slcal'iig glove, iiut - iV.ney waiitcoata, or ether articles of apparei'. Furtl-.eiinore, one hears many it?oi'c complaints from women's than from .men's clubs, regarding the annexing of otihiupeople's propeny : iuc>od. it was statcii 1 , not lons ago, ih.ii ona club had ljcen icduced to the nece>=ily of chaining up its t-centod soap, fo frequently did this indispensablo toilet article unaccountably disappear. Businots men continually complain of ladies who order L^pminvf arlicli's ol clothins on <vppro\al, wear ilrii, and return them again, yet iailoia 'lo not tc'fiv. lo be similarly aillicted as rcgaids their inalo cualcmer-. Justice compels one to admit, however, that the temptation, is not equally groat in hoth cases. One silk hr.t ii very much like another, and ouo pair of trousers boors a Mnking similarity to all other pairs of trci=crs, so that reafly men have comparativpiy little inchtccniciit. to order articles of attL-o ''on approval" with the object of wearing- them and returning them a3ain. But how docs it come about that women, who have the reputation of being ?o criminally parolcFS in minor matters ,=eem lo be quite immune from tin; temptations of appropriating monoy.' It uny be thr.t women do nol caro so much about money as men do. "While the latter long to po=sc-.s gold, ihc former dream of the luxuries ancl !i;:eries which gold can purchase. Thus, iho sight of a hundred pounds in gold would not fempt the averago womr.n npr.riy fo rntii-h as would an requisite brooch of the same value, placed in an caey-get-at-al le po-ition in a shop, with an obrig:i;g asi,; < -L>nt looking in an opposite direction Moroo\er, men arrs largely tempted 1-y their fmanrial necr-s-sitic. They aro in dtflietiltie-, presEC'i "t-y j creditors, and money they m«-l liavo. \7o- j men do not require fo much ca&h as men : ! they aie either providod for, or they have j little inducement to spend, and to they ! aro not tempted wrongfully to acquiio that which is not likely to give them by its possession much iiu-ren.:ed pleasure. But, leaving n : kh all these theories, is it too quixotic to sui'vo-o that a busincfs tir.Huns* develops |ho charactor wliicli is latent in mod women, but which the repression of centuries has pushed almost out of sight? .Mora often than not women uncon-eiously conform 10 whatever idef.l is expected of them. Their employers place confidence in them, and they j ju-tify it by thoir iufcjrnfy iind "upright- j ness. Their training (.'.c\oloj)ts their cento < of responsibility .'.nit honour, and. through j it they como to realise shai, in every relation of life, nuthiug avails but lha triumph of principle.