Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-07-17
To Much of a Good Thing
BY Frederic J. Haskin

| VlOU DTpDttHf lS - he"
| of late, at least to American girls. Accord
ing to economic and sociological students
the European emigrants of this generation
| will be young women seeking refuge from
| spinsterhoOd in lands not so crowded with
slperhuous females, rather than, as IN
the past, young men seeking greater adj
| vantages in newer countries.
| Where should these young women plir-
sue the elusive male II not IN America,
the home of the Perfect HusbandP Another
! condition which Is attracting these en- ter
prising females to our shores is the scarcity
| oil domestcs which is making maids worth
their weight in gold and offering lucra-
tivepositions to occupy thefalr immigrants
period of coy though watchiul waiting
to be captured. This may seem an ideal
arrangement to the students OF econo-
mics, but it appears to be causing. vague
STRINGS of doubt in the minds OF many
| of our native virgins. Handicapped as
| they are already in their hunt for mates
| bv the high cost of living, it seems ltt'e
hard to them that lot of outside compe-
| tition should be encouraged to enter
into the pursuit
CAUSE OF UNREST.
According to DIR. X. Murray Leslie
of London the results of this preponder-
ance of the more famous SEX are much more
important and far reaching IN their effect
than we realize. lie says that the social
unrest is largely due to feminine discon-
tent and that rs long as large percent
age of the women are dissatisfied we may
expect strikes and other disturbances.
lie is particularly worried about thesltua-
tion in Great Britain where there are now
over two million more women then men
His theory that sex disproportion causes
unrest, however, IS not supported In the
case Of Ireland Ireland is the only part
of Great Britain that has practlc-
ally equal proportion of the sexes, and no
one could say that this condition has made
for peace and quiet
MORALS IN PERIL.
Another consequence of this excess
femmitv according to DIR. Leslieis the
effect IL has on morals The modern wom-
an, freed from religious scruples, and dc
MED legal spouse, Is inclined TO rcbei
against convention and snatch wlat
romance she can from a stingy late. ne
fact that she is usually sclt-suppor ting
and thus not dependent Tor her livell-
hood upon the approval oi q father or the
possibility of snarllng husband makes
her feel freer to take her lie INTO her own
hands 1t is interesting to note that the
modern woman is much more liberal,
not to saw radical. In regard to persona
freedom than the average man. An Illus
tration of this occurred here recen tly when
a group of representa- tive citizens were
asked TO give their opinions upon GER
tain promInen tshor tstory writers double
menage form of matrrmony The women
without exception said that they thought
this writer's married life was peculiar
ly her own affair and not matter Tor
public discussion or interference. The
men. one and all, were as agitated as u
thev had discovered another Red plot
They saw clearly that this portended the
downfall of the great American Insult
tlons OF home and family. and that 10 was
n fact the beginning of the end Ut.
Leslie, however. mournfully admits that
while the old idea of a woman devotlng
herself to husband home and children
is still verv dear to men. It IS a little un-
reasonable to expect women to i've up 70
IL without providing them with hus-
band. home and children to be devoted
to. In Ireland for example the 'ileg1timate
birth rate is far lower than IN any other
country in Europe. showing that when the
instincts Of motherhood ind legitnat
expression they can be the most iegal oi
instincts. But in England, according TO 1T.
Leslie, things are in bad way ne
scarce male is so popular and SO peset
with feminine attentions hat nc i IN no
hurry to marry. or if he Is married he IS
sometimes led from the paths 81 monog-
amy. There are even those who arc SO
temerarous rs to say that the preponder-
ance of females Is Nature 5 arguincI ior
polvramy. but fortunately most OF us
are still not as logical as that
EFFECT ON BIRTH RATE.
Aside from its effect upon morals, this
one-sided popula tion has decided ELECT
upon the birth rate of the countries so
atflicted. 1t tends to lower the quality
Of the birth rate rather than the quar- IL
tx. IL is a fact of common knowledge that
the physically and intellectually htte'
women are more often unmarried than the
frivolous, butterfly type. Ihus TIE na-
ton that has an excess OF women wastes
its best poten tial mothers, with the re-
suit thst the race Is gradually becoming
weaker. Havelock Ellism an authority on
the woman question, points out that TINS
condition is due to man failure ts
selectiye mate He says that among
animals of which the males display thei
strength and beauty TO the passive ie-
mae she usually chooses the mate whose
intelligence and strength show that
he will be the best parent Among hu-
mans on the other hand, the females
compete FOR the favor of the mele by dis
nlavipg their attractions, and he usually
chooses the one with the curiIest hair anc
the most weakly clinglng ns ture, regard
less of his duty to posterity
Hayelock Ellis sees in the very prepond-
erance of women the salvation OF the race,
however. Since wome n will soon be voters
in all the more advanced countries, and
since in these countries they are as .
rule in the majority, IT u hardly an
exapeeration To say that they may be the
mist Tesses of the world. If this should be
so, one of their first considerations VIII
undoubtedly be the betteTment OF the
conditions OF motherhood ana the heatn
and development Of children. Ihls VIII
do much to even up the proportions OF the
sexes. as even now there are more boy
babies born than girl babies, and 1t is
principalIy because the male children
are more delicate and have higher death
rate that there is preponderance OF females
The late war is another factor which is
bringing I'D the male birth rate. 1t Is
weIl-known fact that there are always
more bows born during or after big war.
In this connection It is. interesting 10
note that Just before the war the excess
offenales in Germany had fallen thIrty-two
Der cent whereas in England 1T had risen
per cent. This might be
be taken as sure proof that the Germans
were planning the war all along and carry
40 limo N "