The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-12-21

and girls in this country and that the
difference exceeds 100000 in a popula-
ton of 76.S0S.SS7. The excess appears
more distinctly, perhaps. when it Is said
that thehre are 512 males and only ASS
females in every thousand people in the
United States.
What is more, this sort of thing has
been going on, wi it'll some little tluctua-
ton in the percentage, for over half a
century. AS lang ago as 1850 there was
distinct numerical superiority of the
male over the female, element. BY 1860
the preponderance was even more con-
spicuous, but in 1870 less than for sew
eral decades, The returns for 1880 show
a slight gain once more, though the dis
parity of 1860 was not quite reached, and
those for 1890 still further increase.
The situation has scarcely changed in
the last 10 years. Indeed, the census
bureau figures out microscopic falling
off in the growth of the male population
as compared with the female. To be
sure. the excess was only 1,560,097 in 1890,
and has since been enlarged by 254. 1871;
but the bureau finds that the percent
ages of gain are not quite alike and that
there are faint indications Of future
reaction.
The state Of things here revealed is
the more striking when compared with
that existing in Europe. Both in the
United Kingdom and on the continent
the women are more numerous than the
men. 1t is possible to detect forces that
disturb the balance in some of these
countries. But Mr. Porter superintend-
ent Of the census in 1890, was inclined to
think that these influences did not OPP
c+win H,a
Netherlands, and hence that normally
the female sex outnumbers the male in
nearly the proportion Of 81 to 49, Com
parison with thte standard, then, makes
the excess of males in America stranger
than if nature exhibited strict impair
TALLY.
The two forces which appear to be
chiefly concerned in upsetting 1.-THE equi-
librium are war and immigration. And
of the two the former is much the less
effective. Still, it was powerful enough
to influence the returns in Germany and
France after ththe famous struggle of
1907 10 And in the United States 1T
pulled down the male proportion of SIP
in every 10000 in 1860 to 5056 in 1870.
Migration, of course, works in two
ways. The majority of immigrants are
men. The departures from one country,
therefore, leave the other sex ~ excess
in one part of the world, while t'.ey pro-
mote the preponderance of their own In
another. Thus, in some European coun-
tries the proportion of males to females
is about 4S5 to 515. Now, inasr.uch as
three out of every five immigrants who
come to the United States are r'en and
10 out of every Is people here are of
foreign BIRTH it is easy to see how i'm
por.ant is this factor in establishing the
ratio between the sexes. In 1890, for
instance, the excess of males here was
made up in this proportion: Native
born, $685. 1877; foreign born, SS4,713 And
yet scarcely seventh of the popula-
ton came from other lands. 1t is due
to this fact, no doubt that immigration
has experienced a slight check in the
last few years that the recent slight
falling off in the masculine ascendency
here is due.
But people migrate not only from one
country to another, but also from one
part of the country to another. This IS
peculiarly true in the United States. In
consequence, there is depletion of the
ranks of the sterner sex in the east and
a strong reinforcement in the West. In
deed, in the latter quarter, there is
double invasion, from the more dehsely
populated parts of our own land and
from the old world. Hence the Glstribu-
ton of the sexes is not uniform. Along
the Atlantic seaboard for at least half
a century there has been practically no
excess of males, and on the whole.
slight deficiency. The superabnndance
of women has been most consl icuous,
though in Massachusetts, Rhode Island
and the District of Columbia. Just why
there should be such situation at thine
national capital is not clear But in New
England a special local agency has been
at work-an influx of factory girls from
Canada. Thus there is an occasional
exception to the rule that the majority
of immigrants are males
AS might be expected, the greatest
excess of men is to be found In The FAR
West, in the great agricultural and
mining districts. In Minnesota and
Nebraska there were at least "a men
out of every 100 people for long time,
from SIS to So in the Dakotas, and from
so to 68 in most of the regions to thine
west and southwest. The ratio in Mon
tana was once as great as 81 out OF
100. and even in 1890 was 661z to 1914.
slow, steady tendency toward equality
has been observable, however, except
in Utah, where the excess OF men kpt
blow the national average until 1880
and then increased only slightly. The
between this fact and polyg-
amy is too obvious to need pointing out.
Chicago Tribune.
A ,,ioi< 10 tho pravo Of r l. Stevenson