The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-12-02
woMAN.s INFLUENCE.
It Will be Much Creator In tho Future Tina
It IL at Prcgopt.

It Will DO Much Creator In tho Future Than
It 10 At PrcGoDt.
It Is we'll known that females are
largely In excess Of males in our exist.
ing population, and this fact, if it were
a necessary and permanent ono, would
tend to weaken the selective agency OF
women, as it undoubtedly does now.
But there is good reason to believe that
1t will not be o permanent feature Of
our population. The births always give
larger proportion OF males than fe-
males, varying from 81 to per cont.
But boys die so much moro rapidly than
girls that when we include all under
the age of five tho numbers are nearly
equal. For the next five years tho NOR
tality is nearly the same in both sexes;
then that of females prcponderates up
to 80 years of age, then up to GO that Of
men is tho larger, while for the rost of
life female mortality is again greatest
Tho general result is that at the age Of
most frequent marriagc-from 90 to So
females arc between s and . per cont
In excess of males. But during tho
ages from 5 to So wo find wonderful
excess of malo Dc aths from two prevent
ablo causes-''accident" and violence"
y .
causes in England and Wales were as
follows: Males q to So yoars.) Abs;
females, g to 80 years. LOO.
Hero we have an excess of male over
female deaths in ono year of 3,o5S, all
between tho ages Of five and thirty-fve,
very large portion Of which is no doubt
duo to tho greater risks run by mon and
boys in various industrial occupations.
In state of society in which the bulk
of the population were engaged in indus
trial work 1T is quito certain that almost
all those deaths would DO prevented, and
thus bring the male population more
nearly to an equality with the female.
But there arc also many unhealthy en-
ploymcnts in which mon are exclusively
engaged, such as the grinders of Shelf
field, the white lead manufacturers, and
many others, and many more mon havo
their lives shortened by labor in unven-
t1lated workshops, to say nothing of the
loss of life in war When tho lives of
all its citizens are accounted of equal
value to the community no one will be
allowed to suffer from such prcventablo
causes as these, and this will still further
reduce the mortality of men as compated
with that of women. On the whole,
then, it seems highly probable that in
tho society of the future tho superior
numbers OF males at birth will be main
taincd throughout life, or, at all events,
Turing what may be termed tho mar
riagcable period This will greatly in
;rcasc the influence of women in the i'm
provemont Of tho race Being minor
ty, they will be more sought after and
will have 4 real choice in marriage,
which is rarely the case now. This ac-
tual minority boing further increased
by those who, from tho various causes
already rofcrred to, abstain from mar
riago. will cause considerable numbers
Of men to remain permanently unmar-
ricd, and rs these will consist very
largely, if not almost wholly, of those
who are tho least perfectly developed
either mentally or physically, tho con-
slant advance of tho race in every good
quality will DO insured.--A. r. Wallace,
in1 EOrtnightly Review.