The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-05-28
WIVES FOR BACHELOR FARMERsi
Movement to Encourage Female Emigra-
tion to the Canadian Northwest.

| tIoh TO the canadian Northwest.
| A great deal of money has been spent
/ 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 a
statement by the land commissioner of
the Canadian Pacific railway to the eff
feet that the great want of the north
Westl IS more women, says that the bach
eIor life of the farmers in Manitoba
and the northwest makes them dissat-
| istied; that they soon get discouraged
and write to their friends in Great Brit
ain about the cherries, unattractive
lives they are leading; and that it is
well known that these letters have been
widely circulated in the English pro-
vinclal 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 plucky 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 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
al 10, Il
employment, and are not likely to have
10 go long without husbands"
This led to a new scheme for peopling
the northwest. 1t was started here a
few days ago, and a 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
plan 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 a
matter to deal with, and strongly obs
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 emigric
ton of girls to the northwest, and find
employment as domestic servants for
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
sibility of ill-mating couples, and the
ladies apparently did not care 10 under
take the responsibility of so delicate
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
OF matr1mony would have to be kept il
the background and the idea of mar
riage left to the emigrants themselves
to work out in the good old-fashioned
way. Lady Aberdeen, the wife of the
governor general of Canada, wrote to
DR.. W. +. Bessey, the organizer of the
meeting, that this was one of the cues.
tons to come up for discussion at tie
meeting of the women's council 10 be-
held in Montreal.
5. NJ. Jones, secretary of the meeting,
deplored the flow of girls t. the cities
from the country, and thought they
should go TO the northwest and make
homes for themselves and be independ-
ent, rather than come to the centers
of population and work for pittance.
But one of the ladies thought that the
girls in the cities We're not tit to make
farmers wives. Mr.. Jones ventured the
rather unfortunately, that they
might Us we'll emigrate to the northwest,
for the men in the cities would not
marry them, anyhow, and the lady
retorted that "the girls
would not marry them"
good deal of cold water has been
thrown on the scheme, but the commits
tee is hard at work, and believes that it
will accomplish something. There is
certainly a great lack of the softer sex
in the Canadian northwest. 1t is esti-
mated that there are i'll that part of the
dominion between 10000 and so 900 more
males than females. The organizer of
the movement, who is confident of the -
prac tica bility 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 Can
ada. The railways would, it is thought,
furnish free transportation for any
of girls who would be induced
to go to the northwest, and it is hoped
that government aid will be given to
the scheme. Some who are unfavorable
to the movement contend that the bach