The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-11
THE WORLD Of WoMANkIND
Topics of Interest to All Members Of
the Gentle Sex.
HEALTH AND HOUSEHOLD HINTS
Carefully Selected Recipes. Suggestions
ss to the Care OF the Homo and
other Matters catering Into
woman's Widening Sphere.

''Six Million Superfluous Women is
n headline which the Austrian and
South German editors have been over
working sadly in the last few days,
writes a Berlin correspondent Of the
Times Herald. Six million superfluous
women in Europe: what shall we do
with them? is the problem which is
presented daily to the clubmen and
statesmen and princes and philOsoph-
ical oublicists of Munich, Vienna and
Budapest. To be sure, but q fraction
Of this alarming total belongs to the
people Of central Europe, while the rest
Is spread from Madrid. where nobody
asks troublesome questions, to st. Pet
ersburg, where nobody answers them;
yet the German and Austrian editors
like to talk In millions and think thus
to attract more attention to this great
woman question of the day. The whole
problem of the superfiuous woman has
been brought before the public again
by the proposal OF the wretched little
Servian government in Belgrade to lay
on bachelors a special tax. Servia has
only about 100000 bachelors. all told,
but II they were to pay five or six
| francs each into the royal treasury,
the sum would be 10000 or 1000
francs and that would help nightly
in these hard times III the Balkan.
Moreover, the tax would be under the
disguise of encouragement to home life
and protection to the family. The plan
of taxing bachelorhood was proposed
| In Belgrade weeks ago and was let fall
as imoracticable, but has been revived
again and is likely to be presented to
| parliament I'm the form of q bill. The
idea has struck Prince Ferdinand. Of
Bulgaria, favorably. and he. too, has
given orders that a bill to the same end
be prepared for the Sofia lawmakers.
| From Sofia and Belgrade the agitation
| of this odd subject has spread to Vien-
ma, the hotbed of women problems and
eccentricities, and. following the famil-
lar way of thought and civilization
| through the centuries. has travelled to
Munich and 20 Frankfort.
III
| The minister OF public worship In
Austria recently told the imperial par
| Lament that there were 100000 more
women than men In the empire. When
questioned later I'm u special audience
with Emperor Franz Joseph, the min
lister explained that he had meant S00-
900 women who would be married IL they
could have found men to marry them.
About 100000 of these superfiuous wo-
men lived In Vienna and the Viennese
suburbs.
How have we solved the problem as
| far as these 100000 are concerned?'
asked the emperor.
I'VE have not solved 1t, your majes-
ty," was the minister's reply: I'VE have
let them solve 1t for themselves"
| And how have they done IT."
about $4,000 or GO, 1000. your majesty.
have solved It by taking to the streets;
| some 10000 more by following q similar
calling in private apartments provided
| by the noble and rich OF your capital;
perhaps 10000 more are working in fac
tories and shops. and the rest by living
ON the bounty of friends and relatives"
| ii
If careful census could be taken
among the superfluous women of all
Austria. they probably woud abe found
classed In every big city as the minister
classed them for the emperor. The
census would show, however, that to
the 100000 superfuous women must be
| added some GU, 900 or more who are not
superfiuous but yet are unmarried
doomed to spinsterhOod by the disin-
clination Of Austrian men to tie up to
homes, altars. cradles and the like
more. For the superfluOus there is no
hope of matrimony, for the male emf
grants, who disturb the balance of the
|
for their benefit; the only thing that
the government may do for them Is to
| admit them to new occupations and
new channels of education, thus reliev-
| Ing the pressure upon that one shame
full calling to which hundreds of thou
sands are now condemned. For the
COG, 900, however. who are condemned to
spinsterhood although there are men ut
hand to match them. something can be
done, and many Austrian publicists are
saying must be done. If the empire is
not to fall into the condition OF moral
dry rot which afilicts France.
-:ll:--
| Among the many schemes under dis
cussion, the one suggested In "ques-
tions of the day" pamphlet Is worthy of
serious notice, although SO far the seri-
BUSINESS has been exclusively on the side
| of the writers instead of the readers.
The remedy recommended by the au-
thor Is a combination of bachelorhood
| tax and a spinSter's pension fund. Al
ter establishing the duty of man to
| marry and continue his race, and the
| interest of the government in keeping
bachelorhood and spinsterhood at the
minimum. the author says II is mani
festly unfair toward the married man
to make him support wife and family
and contribute besides. in taxes. toward
| the support Of the spinsters who be-
come public charges either in the hos
pitals or the almshbuses. Who should
pay all the expenses for the support of
have lodged their obligations to
marry. of course. Most of these dodg
| ers are well to do. Among the poor are
comparatively few bachelors. The ca
| sinos. the clubs, the wine-rOoms and
the pool rooms are the places where
most Of the unmarried men OF mar
riageable ages are found. Upon them.
then. should be laid the burden of caring
| for the women whom their seliishness
has condemned to spinsterhood. and
perhaps want. The tax should be
levied as poll tax Institutions for the
| care Of homeless spinsters should be
| conducted with Il separate government
budget. and the amount of this budget
should be covered by the revenue from
the bachelors. The differing circum-
| stances of the bachelors should be con-
| sidered. to be sure. The whole number
| should be divided into three classes, ac-
| cording to their means, and be taxed
correspondence as was the case when
the old class tax in Prussia. Then the
| bachelors who had the most money
| would have to pay the highest penalty
for shirking duty to the government,
| and, in fact, the whole human race.
| -::-
The philosopher and political econo-
mist Of the questions of the day" has a
| low opinion of the numerous solutions
| Of the woman question which are pro-
posed by the Lady Somersets and Fran
ces Willards and the tabbified men who
march in their philanthropists' column.
The admission of women to new occu-
| pations and to official places. he says,
is merely a method of lodging the is
sue. New educational institutions for
girls. even up to the limit of the highest
| education. he thinks. are good enough
| In their way. but they do not solve the
bread nd-butter problem for the ma
tion or the race Every woman who