Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-01-31

washington, Jan. 3i--A new ana
interesting distinction has boon con-
ferrcd upon the Capital Of the United
states by the last census. ~ mar
been founded that there Is n larger
proportion OF unmarried women IN the
District OF Columbia than In any
OF the states, and a much larger pro-
portion than In most OF the states.
More than half OF the females In
the District OF Columbia over Is years
OF age--53 per cent TO be exact--are
unmarried. The state Of MasFachu-
| Aet,a comes next in percentage OF
female single blessedness with s6.S per
cent. The percentage OF married wo-
men rises as you go West. until In
Wyoming 70.5 per cent OF all the wo-
men who have passed ID have hus-
bands.
| There has been a great deal written
OF late years about the tendency OF
women not to marry. S9me con-
tend that they don't marry because
| they can't, and others assert that
they don't marry because they prefer
10 stay single. Well, here Is chance
for some social investigator TO study
the single woman In her favorite
| American haunt. Incidentally, the
women here come from all parts on
the United States, and are OF All
classes. types. and ages. 1t would be
a most interesting enterprise to STUDY
them. Before outlining it's POSSIBLE
ties, let us see what the statistics
show about marriage in general.
It shows that the proportion OF
married people In the total popula-
ton has increased slightly but stead
lily since 1890. This. according to the
bureau itself, Is more an ILLUSTRATION
OF the unreliability Of statistics thar
of anything else. They say this ap'
, parent gain is due to the fact that the
! proportion Of people over is and un-
! der rs years of age in the total popu'
lation has decreased about 6 per cent
i, Leave ii TO the statisticians what thii
has to do with the matter. The i'm
p plication is that the proportion Of peo
Z pie who marry remains about tn
same. The proportion of those VIII
: have been divorced and have not re
married shows a small but stead.
3 gain. In the agricultural West, tn
:. proportion OF married people is gen
! orally larger than in the industria
East. The larger proportion OF marie
II women in some OF the western state
: is due 10 the fact that there are NOR
men out there in proportion to IN
women, but in some Of the easter
states there is a smaller proportio
II Of married men as well as Of Marie
}" women. IN a word, II seems trU
that in industrial centers where job
, are to be had, people are less likel
- TO marry than in agricultural region
In this connection ii should be r,
- membered that in the East are gre;
numbers Of immigrants who arriV
es married, some bringing their wiv
20 and some leaving them behind.
40 study OF the native stock alone wou
In all probability show larger pc
a. centage of unmarried persons in Il
no industrial regions az compared Wi
ne the agricultural.
'e Why Not Refrain.
IN What Is the reason for this fal
ing of IN marriage in the industri
o. centers? Doubtless one reason
found in the circumstances OF q
re man. It is far easier TO support a wi
on a farm than in city. A farm
literally must have a wife, and s.
Is often one OF the hardest-workil
and most useful domestic animals
the place. The city man can 6
along a good deal better without
wife. He can get his meals at CAT
nd he can find people TO darn his soc
and do his laundry work and clean
his room. Also he can find femini
n, companionship outside of maria
good deal more easily in a lar
- city than in rural community. Her
-, the city man tends to pass up m;
80 riage more often than the count
40 dweller.
-, But the refusal is not all on [