The Osceola times., 1888-10-06
SURPLUS WOMEN.

| sse" IN 'hrous farte of tno Uhion-An
! industrious Class.
Goethe says that in order to cause
thing to be believed, it is only necessary
TO keep saying it over and over until
the public ear gets thoroughly used to
1t. II Is only In this way tina. one can
explain the curious manner in which
certain preposterous exaggerations
come to be accepted, and with constant
enlargement. The excess OF women in
our older States, for instance, keeps
growing larger and larger in the news
papers, This is not so strange, but
when we find an educated Boston physi.
clan, IN what purports TO be serious
work-vouched for, moreover, by q
New York physician and Boston cler.
gyinan- putting the excess Of women In
Massachusetts at 100, 900. it shakes ones
community As a matter Of fact, the
actual excess of women in Massachu-
setts, by the census Of 1880, was not
much more than half this number, be-
ing 66, POS. The total number Of the
male population of that State, as then
recorded, wae s5g. 440. and OF the female
population 924,645. (Compendium of
Census, p. 3.)
1t has been shown by the returns Of
the Massachusetts census that this ex-
cess of women does not largely consist,
as was once supposed, Of the unmar-
ried, nor yet of the unmarried or the
divorced. but that II consists almost
wholly of widows. By the State census
of 1875, when the excess OF women was
63,146, II appears that the excess OF
widows over widowers in Massachusetts,
wns 80, 903, thus accounting for nearly
the whole excess Of women over men.
Compendium of Massachusetts Gen.
sus, p S9) This large number Of
widows is explained in manufacturing
towns by the fact that they seek sup
port for themselves and their children
in the mills; in seaport towns, by the
large mortality among sailors and fish
.srnen, sothat = single gale ION ths Banks
may leave fifty widows; and IN the State
- a whole by the fact that II Il one Of
the older States from which man
young men have gone westward, and
that in the event Of their death
thoir widows and children are very apt
70 return TO the old nest. To this may
be added the influence Of the schools
and colleges OF Massachusetts, which
bring many women there TO educate
their children. In street with which
the writer is familiar, In that State,
there are seventeen houses, Of which
letght are occupied by widows; and four
of these ladies have come into Massa-
chusetts within few years, either for
the education of their children or to as
sist in the education of the children of
other people. II this is the case in one
short streeto a suburban city, it viii
not take long to make up such instances
TO many thousands. Under these cir
cumstances some OF the surplus women
of a State must certainly be counted to
its credit; they create the presumption
that It is community which attracts
those who have families Of children to
Be educated on moderate means.
In general the presence Of many sur
plus women shows State to possess
manufacturing Industries. OF the 9TH
er New England States, Connecticut
has ll.13l surplus women. Rhode Is
land 10, All, New Hampshire 6,939 All
these are manufacturing States; but in
Maine, where there are fewer manufac-
lures, the sexes are almost equally bal
anced. there being but 800 more on the
female side Of the account; while in
Vermont, which is essentially an agri-
cultural State, there are 1,4Ss more
men than women. In New York State
the excess Of women is greater than in
Massachusetts, and amounts to ~. .227;
while In New Jersey IL is 10, 272. and in
Pennsylvania but 1851. There is also
an excess of female population in Mary
land, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia,
Alabama, Tennessee, and the District OF
Columbia; but not in any Of the North
western or Pacific States. or in the Ter
ritories., As the local census, Of these
States have rarely been taken 80
thoroughly as in Massachusetts, it is
difficult TO tell whether the Same pro-
portion holds az TO widows and single
women. But probably the same facts
70 employment would prevail through
the various States and when We see q
large excess OF women in any commun-
ity we can be pretty sure that most OF
them have gravitated thither In search
Of employment, o. for the opportunity
Of sducation, or bscauss Of the sssocia-
tions u their early homA ~
| And this prepondArsnce Of widows
routes the impression COMMONLY held
and expressly suggested BY the med
ical writer above quotsd-thAt this sur
. Plus cors,ste largely Of those "who are
in the industrial ranks because no man
hath married them" In the case Of
the widows, at least, they are In the In
dustrial ranks because some man hath
married them, but has not had thu
strength or the continued Life 10 support
thsn. Nay. farther, they are there b.
0sss the tseA Of natrimoay hss snoum'
Ssrn shsu wieA oshe- 70 heupportaa,
Il Ssssy wemsa could 60 tAssugA m