Wichita eagle., 1889-10-30
PROSPERITY AND MATRIMONY,

| Rnlladelpnla Press.
Kansas is illustrating again the rela-
ton which prosperity bears to marriage.
The state is rejoicing in the largest crops
| that have been produced in its history.
| The yield of wheat exceeds all previous
records except one in quantity. and has
no rival in quality while the crop is un-
paralleled. 1t has been year of plenty
| when the homesteaders on the new lands
in the western part of the state has seen
| his labors rewarded as abundantlv as
they would have been on the more close
| ly cultivated farms in the eastern part.
The agricultural products of the state for
the year are valued at 5000, 1000, 900, and
as consequence business Is enjoying a
great revival, and an era of prosperity
such as the state never knew has begun.
One result of this prosperity is seen in
large increase in the number of mar
riages. The young farmers whose bins
have been filled by the 216 100000 bush
els of corn grown this year, feel safe in
taking helpmate, and they are keeping
the probate judges busy issuing marriage
licenses. In Topeka alone 316 licenses
to wed have been issued this year
and the judge predicted that the
number would reach 500 before next
New Years day The increase is most
marked among the poorer people, whose
matrimonial prospects are the more af-
fected by prosperity and adversely. The
same rule holds good in regard to the
age of the contracting parties, more
young people marrying in prosperous
times and a smaller number in hard
times. The average age of these mar
riages for year past in Topeka was 22
years, although one ambitious groom
made an affidavit that he was 116 years
old and that his bride was 10 years.
The fact that marriages increase and
diminish in a ration corresponding
nearly to the rise and fall in the prices
of the necessarieS of life is well known
to statisticians. So regularly do the two
harmonic that the proportion has been
reduced almost to a law. The reports of
the register general of England bring out
this fact clearly. For instance, in 1872
the price of wheat in England per quar-
ter averaged $14.25 and the foreign ex-
ports were about $40 per head. The
marriage rate in that year was I17.4 per
thousand of population: but in 1897, when
foreign exports were only So per
head, the marriage rate fell to II. l per
thousand of population, although the
price of wheat also dropped to IS per
quarter. Prosperous times in England,
it should be explained, depend more up
on the amount of exports than upon the
size of the crops.
So the relation between prosperity and
marriages holds as good in Old England
as the present year is showing that it
does in New Kansas. The progress of
Kansas has been steady and sure. Ac-
cordIng to the national census of 1880
the state had population of 600. 096
The state census of 1885 showed that the
population had increased to Ices. 532,
and on January /, 1887, the censns by
counties gave population of l ,49S. I5s.
1t is probable that the national census of
next year will show that the state has
within its boundaries nearly 1900, 900
people. The increase in the assessed
valuation of property has kept pace with
this increase in population. But the
greatest proof of the prosperity of Kan
sas is its increasing marriage rate. 1t
should be understood. also. that this has
occurred under the great drawback of a
male population exceeding the female
by more than loo. CO.