Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1881 — A Million Wifeless Young Men. [ARTICLE]

A Million Wifeless Young Men.

Contrary to expectations and precedent the new census shows that in this country the ruder sex outnumbers the gentler sex to the extent of nearly a million. It is to be sincerely hoped that nobody will say, “What are you going to do about it?” for this is manifestly one of the cases In which there really is nothing that can be done, except to feel uncomefortable, for the condition is not merely accidental and temporary; it promises to be permanent,for the discouraging misproportion is not simply between the adults of the two sexes. but includes the entire population all the way from extreme age down to the cradle, and this in spite of all that Mormons and other agencies for the importation of domestic servants have done to make the balance even. It therefore stands to reason that not only is the genus old maid doomed to speedy extinction, but also that nearly a million of the young men of America will have to go wifeless unless each can raise the price of a ticket to Europe and two tickets back. It also becomes quite evident that the local valuation of women increase ;any market in which nearly a million competitors are sure to “get left”in the struggle for something not only desirable but absolutely necessaiy is threatened with a “corner” that must be simply gigantic in its proportions. The ladies are to be congratulated on the prospect; thev were always worth more than they brought. Even in the days when they outnumbered men it was \mpossible to have too much of a goo& thing; now, however, they can ex actth eir own terms. Instead of meekly submitting to all sorts of inconvenience and privation for the sake of being married and having a home, they now can name their own terms; they need not even endure husbands that drink, smoke, or spend several evenings a week at the lodge, for rather than go wifeless the tyrant man will abate his pretensions and woman will become autocrat. Place aux dames!