New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-11-07
Too Many Women.

Mrs Mary A Livermore leatured in Bos-
ton few evenings ago on what Mr.. Gregg
has called "supertluous' or redundant W.
men," That lie, upon the woes and wants of
the unmarried of her sex. She denied that
marriage was the only business of a woman's
life, though she did not deprecate the insti-
tuition, regarding it as an ante post OF
heaven. All women could not BIZ wives
as there was bound to be an Overplus of
them. Though los boys were born to
every 100 girls, the waste OF the former
through war, dangerous employments and
dissipation was great. To-day there are
a million and a half of unmarried We
men in Prussia. Thirty per cent of the
women of Baden are unmarried. In. Eng
land two OF five can not marry because of
the lack of manageable men. In 1860 the
average number OF marriages in the United
States was seventy five to one hundred mar
risgeable women. Since then we have
passed through the five years war of the
rebellion, in consequence of which nearly
1000, 900 of men lost their lives In add.
tion there has since then been growing
moEhid luxury among both men aud women,
which, added to the expensiveness of living,
have tended to greatly restrict marriage
The State census of Massachusetts, tust
completed, shows that there are now 63,0s4
more women than men In the State, and
that the disparity is increasing yearly,
into domestic service. The supply Of ser
wants and ordinary work women il equd to
the demand. Women must be trained as
men are trained. As teachers they are paid
less than men, because there are too many
Of them. Want Of employment 10 q cause of
crime. Out Of 5000 prostitutes in Paris,
according to Duchatelet, only thirIy-fve
had an occupation previous to their fall
which would support them. Industrial
training is womaAfs only hope, and the leo
turess rejoiced to learn that men, and women
also, are awaking to the fact. Much more
requires to be done, however, and people
must stop talking sneeringly about old
maids, and in thinking of the services of
such persons Is Florence Nightingale, Mary
Carpenter, the Cary sisters. and Louise Al
colt, and value useful single women as they
do single men. =
Such 10 IN outline of Mrs. Livermore's ar
gument. There ia none who will dissent
from its general justice. Yet it is evident
that women have limitations which do not
bar the progress of men. Their inferior
physicsl strength and constitutional pecu-
the battle Of lite, except in certain lines of
work. Then, too, if woman announces her
self a. man's rival, she ceases to be the OBJ
ject of mans solicitude or the recipient of
his courtesies. Admitting that marriage
can not be the lot of all women, those who
deliberately turn their back on the prospect
of being the head of home must count the
cost. It may often be best to take this
course, but woman, who has q trade or
profession sinks her personal individuality
behind it, in . meas ure, 1t least. The day
may be past when it 10 judicious to give
much heed to romantic considerations, but
woman is still woman, and let her try never
80 hard to be thoroughly practical, one
glance at Cupids rogaifh face, or the slight-
est scratch from one of his arrows, will gen
orally carry the day against the most for
midable array Of economical maxims and
dissertations on the equality of the sexes.