Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-06-15
WIVES WANTED.
Inducements Offered Women in
Northwestern Canada.
A Scheme for Encouraging Female Emi.
grafton to IA Region Where There
Is n superhuity of
Bachelors.

by the Dominion government in the last
ten years to encourage immigration to
Canada, and most of the schemes, to
judge by the last census, have been more
or less futile. Now the chief govern
ment organ here comes forward with
another project to people the great
northwest. This paper, referring to
statement by the land commissioner of
the Canadian Pacific railway to the eff
feet that the great want of the north
west is more women, says that the bach
elor life of the farmers in Manitoba
and the northwest makes them dissat-
isfied; that they soon get discouraged
and write TO their friends in Great Brit
ain about the cheerless, unattractive
lives they are leading; and that it is
well known that these letters have been
widely circulated in the English pro-
vincial press, and have had the effect
of turning off the tide of emigrants
to other shores-to the United States,
Australia and South Africa.
IF these men," the paper adds, ''had
been mated with pluclly wives, the
stories of their failure would not have
been written home. They would have
found life in the northwest tolerable
and would have taken a pride in over
coming their difficulties. \ few thou
sand women of the right kind would
probably do more to make that country
than any other influence that could be
brought to bear upon it just now. Suit
able immigrants of that kind can find
employment, and are not likely to have
10 go long without husbands"
This led to new scheme for peopling
the northwest. 1t was started here q
few days ago, and Il committee is now
hard at work On the details of the plan.
A preliminary meeting was held to dis
cuss the matter, and a committee was
appointed to report on the feasibility
of sending girls to the northwest from
the overcrowded centers of population
of the older provinces of Canada. "Girls
wanted was the motto of the meeting;
but, when one of the gentlemen pres
cnt unwarily declared that part of the
plrn was to send girls out west to make
wives of them for the prairie farmers,
the ladies present took up arms against
the matrimonial part of the scheme.
They said that this was too delicate Il
matter to deal with, and strongly oh.
jected TO associating any marriage
scheme with the proposed female emf
grafton TO the west. No society, it was
contended, could successfully arrange
marriages between people whose modes
of living had been so different, and no
such plan was likely to succeed. While
the ladies were willing to take part in
any movement TO encourage the emigra-
tion of girls TO the northwest, and find
employment as domestic servants fof
them there, they absolutely refused to
have anything to do with any scehme
having for its object the shipping Of "a
train load of girls to the northwest to
be married TO the farmers of that part
of the country. There was also the pos
siblity of ill-mating couples, and the
ladies apparently did not care to under
take the responsibility of so delicate n
matter as the promotion of matrimony
among the farmers. 1t was soon made
apparent that the matter would have to
be handled very cautiously, and that if
the movement succeeded the question
" h'th'i iAhOIIS Nctiib navy " Dt fNlJu IL
the background and the idea of mar
riage left to the emigrants themselves
to work out in the good oId-fashioned
way. Lady Aberdeen, the wife of the
governor general of Canada, wrote to
DR.. W. L. Besscy, the organizer of the
meeting, that this was one of the ques-
tions to come up for discussion at the
meeting of the womens council TO be
held in Montreal.
S. NJ. Jones, secretary of the meeting
deplorcd the flow of girls to the elite.
from the country, aud thought they
should go TO the northwest and make
homes for themselves and be incepend-
ent, rather than come to the centcrs
of population and work for a pittance.
But one of the ladies thought that the
girls in the cities were not iii to make
farmers wives. Mr.. Jones vcntured the
remark, rather unfortunately, that they
might as well emigrate to the northwest,
for the men in the cities would not
marry them, anyhow, and the lady
snappishly retorted that "the girls
would not marry them"
A good deal of cold water has been
thrown on the scheme, but the commit.
tee is hard at work, and believes that it
will accomplish something. There is
certainly great lack of the softer sex
in the Canadian northwest. 1t is esti-
mated that there are in that part of the
dominion between 40,0 600 and 81, 900 more
males than females. The organizer of
the movement, who is confident of the
practicability Of the scheme, recalls the
days in the early history of French Can
ada when the French king regularly
shipped boat loads of girls to become
the wives of the pioneer settlers in Cam
ada. The railways would, it is thought,
furnish free transportation for any
number of girls who would be induced
to go to the northwest, and it is hoped
that government aid will lie given 10
the scheme. Some who are unfavorable
to the movement contend that the bach
elor tillers of the soil in the northwest