FEMALE IMMIGRATION TO THE COLONIES. [The Queen.]

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1972, 26 February 1885, Page 4

FEMALE IMMIGRATION TO THE COLONIES. [T he Queen.]

The great subject of the enngiation of the excess of women existing in the BritKli Isles is one that is presented to the English public eveiy now and again, without attracting the attention it deserves and demands. That theie ia an enormous and constantly-increasing number of single women in the nation is undoubted, and this is certainly indicative of an unwholesome social state. M.my thousands of women have to earn their own living, in place of spending and husbanding the earnings of men. They pass their time in an incomplete and separate existence of their own, instead of completing and embellishing the existence of others. From the excess iti the number of women, thousands take service in factories, whilst otheis overcrowd the ill-paid ranks of needlewomen and seamstiesses. Even in the richer classes tlieie is the same inequality of numbers, and those uho aie iclieved from the necessity of working fur their daily Inead have yrt to seek some occupation, some interest in life, to relieve the tedium of an objectless existence. Some pursue pleasuie merely, though this soon palls upon the appetite ; others take to ehaiitable pursuits, doing, perchance, an equal amount of good and of mischief. Those whose tastes lead them to literary or artistic pui suits are pel haps the least unhappy. Tint a redundancy of unman ied women exists is evident; but it must not be regarded as caused vv holly or mainly by a dispauty in the number of the se.xea. The difference does not at the most amount to 6 per cent., whcieas the number of unmjined women in England amounts not to (i, but actually to 30 per cent, — that is to siy, only two out of every three women are married. One gieat can«e of this disp.nity is the continuous emigration oi an excess of men, millions of whom have gone and settled abroad, and founded colonies and empires wheie the m <le sex is as ledundantas the female is with us. In our North American colonies there is an excess of men amounting to neaily 100,000, and in Australia and New Zealand nearly a quaiter of a million, the deficiency of women being as neailyas possible the same as our redundancy -that is to aay, live or six per cent, Con Id we but transpose the bupeinumerarus who <"xist here to the antipodes, we should at once restore the balance and creat would bu the icciprocal benefit. In England women aic competing v\ith men, and by the inctease of the supply lowering the iate of labour in the maiket, so that they aie actually lci&ennig the ability and me ins of the men to mm ry by taking away thtir occupition, or lessening the remuneiation pud for it. On the contiary, in the colonies many men have no homes pioperly so called, because there is a dearth ot women to become the unstresses of their households. The lemedy is obvious The emigration of the excess of women is one of the great social desiderata of the piesent time ; and all honour to the noblo and hard-woiking bind of ladies who have endeavoured to pio'note the exodus of women from England, wheie they aie in evoeos, to the colonies, where they are in demand. There are several societies organised for the pmpose of aiding women who desire to emigtate. One gieat dtawback to the emigiation of single women is the difficulty of arianjiing the conditions ot the voyage. Unaided and alone, it is not to be expected, nor indeed is it to be dcsned, that any single woman should face the dangers and disagreements, both physical and moial, of a voyage to the antipodes; but under the fostering care of these socir-ties thousands have done so with the greatest safet}'. One of the most successful of these organisations is the Woman's Emigration Society, of which Lady Jane Taylor is the piesident, its offices being in Carteret-strert, Westminister ; another branch of the same society being established at 13, Dor&etstieet, Portman-squaie, under the immediate patronage of Viscountess Strangford. Other female emigration societies exist whish work to the same end, so that those who have the desire to seek their fortunes m foreign lands can always be aided with advice, and sometimes with an advance of money, in order to do so. Once having reached a land wheie women are deficient m numbers as com pared with men, the caieer of women may be legarded as most prospeious ; it is, indeed, their own fault if it is not so Female service of all kinds is much moie valued, and consequently moie highly paid, than in the old countiy, and°the probability of mainage is increased to a, very high degree. In England it is woii'fn who aie wanting husbands; in Austi.iliu it is men who are desiious of wives. Ther- aie in England many women brought up in habits of icfuiLment who lefuse to marry, because by so doin«thcy would have to sacufico some of the luxuries of their present position. They live for the enjoyment of expensive di esses. gay large houses, carriages, &c. To such women emigiation is out of the question. They piefer an aitificial existence, in which the natural feelings aro ignored, to fulfilling the object of their lives, and bsing the helpmates of the other sew It is not for these we plead, but for the women here who lead a dreary life, whose services aie ill requited because of their numbers, and who want but to bo piloted to lands where their work is in demand to become members of society, happy in themselves, and still happier by being able to aid in diffusing happiness and comfort around them.

What wind do we naturally look after Lent ?— An Eastcr-ly one. Whatmkr, may be said of women's right to vote and legislate, their light to bare arms it pronounced to be unquestionable,