The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1889-08-10
A MILLION WIDOWS.
A Surprising Discovery Recently Made in
England.

1t appears from the last statistical
returns that there are about 100000
more women than men in England, and
that these are nearly all widows. This
is a very surprising discovery. 1t may
be explained, however, in England, as
in all old settled countries, women pre-
dominate, numerically over men, partly
in consequence of the superior vitality
of girl babies over boy babies; partly
because of the large number of young
men who go abroad to seek their for
tunes, leaving their sisters behind; and
partly because of the greater mortality
among men, owing to the hazardous
nature of the employments they follow.
According to the tables more boys are
born in England than girls, the figures
being 1914, 81 males to 100000 females:
but at 10 years of age there are 100000
girls to every 1900 boys, and the dis
crepancy increases regularly for twenty
years afterward.
Why, however, should the excess of
females consist mainly of widows? In
India widow may not marry. 1t was
probably to avoid the crowding of the
market that the suffice was instituted.
But in England widows may and do
marry. In fact they are addicted to
the practice. How then does it come
that the number of widows so largely
predominates over that of widowers?
The explanation is that there are more
old men who marry young women than
there are young men who marry old
women. A large class of men postpone
matrimony until late in life. They en-
joy the desolate freedom of the bachc-
lor; they are afraid of marrying on
scanty means; they dread the loss of
their freedom; they have never met the
right girl. Thus they only resort to mat
rimony when they find they absolutely
need female companionship. Such mid
dle-aged men usually marry women of
25, or, at any rate, women under 30. 1t
is obvious that, all other things being
equal, the chances are thata woman of
rs will outlive man of As. The aver
age life of men in easy circumstances
is not over SO years. II the husband
dies at 60, the wife, ii she married at
25, will be 40 at the time of his death,
and she will have fair prospect of
twenty years more life.
In sagacious nation of antiquity it
was held that women of 40 made the
best wives, and boys on matrimony
bent were required to choose a help
meet of that age or over. A similar
rule was adopted by the Oneida Com
munity in New York. But the practice
is not popular, despite such shining
examples as George Elliot and Lord
Beaconsfield. Our modern fashion,
which induces young men to postpone
marriage until they are in a position
to give their wife a horse and a car
riage, naturally leads to an accumula-
ton of widows.
Girls complain that the men do not
marry. The complaint is threadbare;
it was the pet grievance of the mothers
and the grandmothers of the present
generation, yet a comfortable proper
ton of the fair compliments became
mothers of families when their turn
came. There are few girls in Ameri-
can society who can not marry if they
choose. Only they must not reckon on
starting in life where their mothers
left off. If the daughter of a rich
man proposes to enjoy as a married
woman the comforts and luxuries she
had in her maiden home, she must
take a middle-aged man for her spouse;
one who has drunk the cup of romance
to the dregs. and for whom life has no
illusions. She will have her carriage
and her servants and her luxuries: but
of such husband she may fairly ex-
pect some day to be the widow. If
she wants Il partner in life with a heart
as fresh as her own, and a capacity for
savoring the sweet Stiffness of young
love, she must take youth whose but
tons she will have to sew on, whose
dinner she will have to oversee, if not
to cook, and whose narrow income she
will have to exc out so as to make both
ends meet. In such case she may pos.
sibly never wear a widows weeds.
which alternative offers the fairest
prospect of happiness %irls must decide
for themselves. San Francisco Call