The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-05
A PRESSING WANT.

 l Adam asked for wife. or that he want
 ed one. Everything was so new to him that he didn't know what he wanted, but there Is enough on record to show that he was very proud of her when she was
 presented to him. even f he did throw l off on her about the apple. It Is a way some men have-throwing all the blame on the woman. But sometimes she gets even.
 From Adam to Senator Stewart. every man has at some time wanted a wife: that is. if he Is a real man and not an innIta tion. Some don't get any. while oth- c-1 get more than they can manage. It comes out about even. for while a few fail to get one wife. there are others who get half a dozen. That balances the account With somo men wanting wife is like a child reaching for q hot potato. He Is never satisfied till he gets it and then he is sorry he succeeded. It's all part of the game of life. though. A man who has gone through the years to old age without ever having wanted a wife wasn't quite finished when he was made. All men want wives. but all do not tnke the same route to set them. Among some of the savage tribes when one wants a wife. he goes out with a club. When he finds one that suits him he clubs her till she is willing to go home with him. and that ends the ceremony. That Is the strenuous way. but 1t wouldn't be popu- lar in good society. Among other savagcs | the man or his relatives buy the woman | from her parents. and she has nothing to say in the matter. That practice Is | not unknown among civilized people. They don't call 1t buying. but 1t amounts to | the same thing. American women. If | they are very rich. frequently reverse the order of things and buy titles with husbands thrown in. That isn't a bad plan. in many cases And there are yet | other young men who want wives who
 will support them, but they are misfits. Some do really marry for love of each other, as God and nature intended. These are the men and women who make life worth living. Of such it may be said. in the words of the wise man of Israel when speaking of the good woman. Her chil- dren arise up and call her blessed" There are many such and 1t would be well for the world. for humanity and for Chris tianity if there were many more.
 But the special reason for The Times editorial is found in the great demand out West for wives. There are not enough to supply the demand. Kansas wants 1000 at once. and in other portions of the West there is a scarcity of marriageable women. This Is always the case in a new country, or in any region that is fast set ting up. In the early history of the American Colonies this scarcity of women existed. The colonists were largely of the male persuasion. Those in authority saw that for economic as well as for various other reasons the men should be married. and so they ordered several cargoes of unmarried women, just as they ordered other articles of necessity from the old country. Unfortunately. little care was exercised in the selection. and while many good girls and women were @ent over. It Is of record that many others were re-
 
 great cities of Europe.
 In Kansas and other portions of the comparatively new Western country there exists the same disproportion between the | sexes as existed in the colonies. The opening up of new country. the many inducements offered to settlers, the splen- did opportunities of that region, all com bined to create a rush from the cities and the over-crowded communities of the East, and this exodus was largely com posed of unmarried men. They have found homes and now they want wives.
 But let 1t not for a moment be imag- ined that this want Is to be supplied as the Governors of the colonies supplied the wants of their settlers. These Kansas young men are many of them the very highest types of American manhood. They are men of character, industry and intelligence. They own splendid homes, have money laid by. own carriages, horses. pianos. and other things to make home pleasant. In a word, they are of the kind to make good husbands. good  good wives to share their homes and for tunes. Perhaps they don't want the class of belles who cannot cook a meal sweep a floor or sew on button or a patch but they do want wives who will be help mates. worthy of a good mans love and protection. and who are willing to do a good woman's part in building up a great country. The Times has a poor opinion of the Eastern girls when it says:
 Many a poor girl who sits and waits for a lover who never comes might find the man of her choice-her ideal-among these able bodied. whole-souled. generous. we'll to-do young agriculturists But the aV- craze city bred girl of the East abhors the idea of becoming the wife of a far mer and prefers, if circumstances oblige her to work, to sell ribbons in a depart ment store, do" typewriting in a dingy ottice for $4 a week, or. worse than ali. to become Miss Daisy Footlights and join a theatrical chorus.
 Possibly there are many girls in the East. as elsewhere. who prefer to belong to the Daisy Footlights' class rather than become the wives of honest and well-to-do farmers, but we imagine that there are many who would prefer to bc the light and life of a comfortable home even in the wild West" They may nat uraly object to the idea of going out in the guise of husband hunters but would that he worse than hunting husbands