The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-24
THE MANS PLACE.

etIcuuOub eAOtt dl It.
 THE MANS PLACE.
 If man gets a place iu the universe and holds it. he must first carve 1t out for himself. The competition in the world between man and man Is stronger than it ever was before. and is gradu- ally growing more intense all the time. Some statistician figured 1t out a few years ago how many years 1t would De at the present ratio of increase before there would just be standing room left. but the figures are not obtain able just now. The time. however, set for the overcrowded era is sufficient ly remote to rob it of sensational in- terest.--New Orleans World.
 We believe that 1t was Malthus who figured out to his own satisfaction just how long it would be before there would be no room on earth for the population. and if we remember cor rectly the time has elapsed that he fixed, but we see that there is still room for all now living and for many millions more. Malthus based his dis- quieting prognostications on the known habitable area of the earth, and on the constantly increasing ratio of human increase and thus. by figures alone. set time for the world to be over-populated and no space left. As in the case of many other visionaries. the facts failed to verify the fig ures. It is not the over-crowding of the world at large that is the problem to be considered and dealt with, but the over-congestion caused by the dis position of people to congregate too much in certain places. If the popu- lation of London. for example, could be spread over Texas there would be plenty of room. while as 1t is they are packed almost like sardines in a box, with hardly breathing space for many of them. It is the same with most of the large cities of the earth. People flock to them in great num- bers. often without any assurance of occupation or means of subsistence. and congestion and suffering are the natural consequences.
 And to an unfortunately great ex- tent it Is much the same with human ted that farm life and other rural oc- equations are not more popular With ct aa much disposition to forsake the safe and comfortable life on the farm and go to the city to engage in business, trade or some industry that they er- roneously think is easier and more respectable. It is a great error fin most cases. and those who commit it learn when too late that all life in the city is not a residence on "easy street" by a great deal. It is thus that the spirit of competition to which The World refers is developed and intensified. and thus so many of the weaker ones go to the wall. It is not every man who can succeed fin business. or in the trades and profes- sions. and the failures are far more common than the world at large hears of. Crowding to the cities, and crowd ing the occupations of the city's in- habitants is the cause of much dis satisfaction and suffering in the world. a
 But the point we had in view when we used the expression on which The World comments was another phase of the matter. We remarked that Mans place in the universe is where the woman tells him to sit." and this was not entirely sarcastic. for there Is much truth in it. One does not need to be a Sherlock Holmes to see how fast and how generally the woman Is taking mans place, especial ly in the cities. Here she is to be found in the offices and the stores, in the shops and the mills. and in l almost all other OcCuDatlonS. ana II is not extravaganza to say that she fills the positions with entire satis- faction while the man. thus eIbowed off the stage. must lookout for some | thing else to do.
 This crowding out of the men is not an unmixed good or an unmixed evil Many good women and young girls are engaged in gainful and thorough ly respectable occupations and there by helping to support the family that badly needs 1t, and but for this as- sistance might suffer for the actual necessities of life. Then again many of them take positions who do not need the salary and thus perhaps de- prive a man of work who really needs it for the support of the family. But that is the way of the world in this day and as we said at the outset mans place is where the woman tells him to sit.