The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903, 1900-06-16
The Social Value of Unattached
Women.
Women.

women.
We have not yet fully recognized the
social value of the unattached women
OF our country. The presence Of q large
body Of single women in community is
an essentially modern condition. This
social phenomenon is OF immense impor-
ance. 1t has been measured 80 far
mainly as an evil; the evil to the o.
man herself in losing her share in the
great processes Of reproduction, with all
the care and happiness involved; the
evil to society in the multiplication Of
opportunity for illicit union in varied
forms, and the economic evil to men in
having either to support" or compete
with" these single women.
The economic contradiction is easily
disposed Of, its error lying in our COM
mon assumption that pay" is the OBJ
ject of working. We think Of the pay"
the man gets, and that if the woman,
too. gets some Of the pay, she robs him.
Look instead at the plain fact that work
is done to make something or to carry
it about. Production or distribution
these are the two great divisions OF hu-
man labor Now consider a farmer
raising corn, and having six daughters,
four sisters and three maiden aunts de.
pending on him for support. II he
alone has to raise corn, they will all be
hungry. II these amiable ladies all put
a hand to the plough and shoulder to
the wheel, the corn supply is multiplied
by thirteen--a visible increase Of wealth,
whether they eat or sell. A woman con-
sumes goods to large extent, and unless
she produces them she is burden on
society somewhere.
1t is pity that any human creature
should miss that large field of human
usefulness and JOY, marriage and the
raising OF children. But for thousand
reasons some Of US must; and the loss
must simply be faced and borne like
any other deprivation, and, like others.
it has its compensations.
The effect on prostitution and kind
red evils is serious one, but largely
economical in its nature. The single
woman most open to this sort of .tempta-
ton are these unable satisfactorily to
support themselves. Give good econom.
ic conditions and the average woman
does not succumb to that form Of tempt
alton. But when economic advantage
is all that way. when the world is added
to the flesh and the devil, it is true that
a large surplusage Of women means an
increase in prostitution.
But now let US look upon the bright
side of the picture, upon the immense
social advantages accruirg through this
clase. For the first time in history, we
see women acting freely and as indi-
viduals upon the society of their times.
Instead of being absorbed, contented,
wholly occupied and limited by their
own families, we have now the heart
and mind and ever-serviceable hand Of
woman turned loose to serve the world
in general. The power Of love, un-
drained by its natural recipients. is
freed for wider use; the capacity for
absolute devotion and unfailing service
to one person is now applicable to a
social need; and we have about US in
visible record the effect of all this
potential motherhood upon society
The educational, religious, charitable,
philanthropic, reformatory and gene
rally Humanitarian work of this age, is
largely done by single women.
The women who are eelf.supporting