CHAP. I

hundred men. Manufacturing cities lure now men, now women, according to the character of their industry. Metallurgical cities like Bridgeport, Birmingham, Pittsburgh and Detroit draw more men; while textile cities like Lowell, Fall River and Paterson draw more women. All this is not to suggest that comparative

Love

equalizes
the sexes

in number
when
Work
does not

economic opportunity dominates the sex composition of any community. The numerical inequalities between the sexes in different cities are but a residue which has not been overcome by sex attraction. Cupid abhors "he" towns and "she" towns, so that automatically an excess of men sets up a demand for women, and vice versa.

We have no means of knowing what traits a female community

would develop, but we do know that the male community has a
character of its own. In case it is too remote or rude to attract
home-making women e.g., in the Far North or on the rim of
civilization — its population is a continual flux, for the men tire of
a womanless life and presently return to
"God's country" to
marry and settle down." Such a community becomes the the-
atre of a ruthless greed, for its denizens treat it not as home, but
as merely a place for making money. Since they do not think of
it as their children's country, they butcher the land, waste its re-
sources and maltreat the indigenous population. No one cares
for the future of the country. Each is in haste to gather the spoil
and return home. This is why,

"There runs no law of God nor man to the north of Fifty Three."
In the male community law is weak, public opinion scarcely
exists, and each does what is right in his own eyes, save in so far
as he is checked by respect for the other man's weapon. Life-
one's own as well as another's - is held cheap and is staked on
slight issues. Suicide is frequent since often "nobody cares."
The daredevil spirit prevails. Men resort gleefully to a saloon
which calls itself "The Bucket of Blood." Few pay any attention
to religion. It used to be said in the Northwest, "No Sunday
west of Bismarck, and west of Miles City no God." Every one
thinks of making his “pile” and getting away. There will be
time enough then to look after his soul.

Make

Homes and

the Home

Favors

Stability

and a

Sense of

Responsi

bility

With the coming of women, homes and children, the temper of Women the community changes. The sense of responsibility for his dependents makes the man slower in risking his own life or in taking that of another. A new-born appreciation of security causes brawl and duel to be stamped out. Men begin to lay deep foundations for law and morality when they expect to rear their children in the community. Intemperance ceases to be a joke after the women teach their men folk to look upon it as deliberate selfpoisoning. The adventuress, queen of the male community, is disowned and becomes the "fallen" woman as wives and mothers make their influence felt. From women, who love security and abhor the wanton creation of risk, emanates a sentiment against the furious gambling by which the male community relieves its ennui. Unable to use the saloon for sociability and recognizing in this demoralizing male resort its deadliest enemy, the home

CHAP.I attacks the saloon and prunes away its worst features. In the wake of women come schools, churches and shops to help them make homes which will attract more than the bar room.

Chivalry Springs up Quickly when Men Greatly

Out

number

Women

The economic law that the value of anything is inversely in proportion to the supply seems to hold true of the sexes. Old societies with an excess of women are ungallant. Men keep their seats before standing women in public conveyances, oppose coeducation, bar women from the professions and tolerate human hyænas who prey on defenseless women. On the other hand, in societies like our Mountain commonwealths, which suffer from a dearth of women, men pay chivalrous homage to women, raise the age of consent, let them hold property, give them the ballot, grant them facile divorce, open to them all doors of educational opportunity, admit them to a share in the management of churches and societies and make them jurors, school directors and trustees of charitable institutions.

Much Can be Read from the Age Com

AGE

The age make-up of a population is significant. A heavy proportion of young, if it does not mean a short average term of life, position of indicates rapid increase. Of extremely prolific peoples, such as

a Popula

tion

Russians and Bulgarians, near two-fifths will be under the age of fifteen. A people moderate in fecundity and skillful in saving child life will have a third under fifteen. A stationary people like the French will have only a fourth in this age group.1

A structure like that of the native whites of Oklahoma in 1900 indicates that people have confidence in the future and are multi

1 Thirty years ago I found the streets of the old German towns fairly swarming with children. From the ruins of a thousand-year-old castle of Henry the Fowler near the Harz I counted 28 children and 4 old women weeding turnips in a single field. What a contrast to the French provinces! This blind fecundity was encouraged by the Kaiser and the military caste as a great prop of their design of world conquest. His maxim that woman's existence should be bounded by the four K's (Kinder, Küche, Kleider, Kirche, i.e., children, kitchen, clothes and church) perfectly expresses the militarist and capitalist attitude toward proletarian increase. It is no great hardship for the wealthy, with servants to care for their children, to have large families, but the poor, many of whom are forced into misery or even die untimely owing to excessive prolificacy, have to be hounded or wheedled to produce enough "cannon-fodder." So the clergy preached that God sends children and He will provide for them, and the professors taught that the Germans are the one noble" race, while the French are degenerate and the Slavs "incapable of culture"!

plying freely. But that of Vermont for the same year shows by CHAP. I its narrowness toward the bottom that the economic outlook is not bright and married people are cautious.

Rapid shrinkage up thru the early age groups signifies excessive mortality among the young. The figure for the negroes in 1880 shows clearly that the bulk of them were poor hands at bring

ing up their children. The steep sides of the figure for negroes in 1910 may mean that birth control has just come among them, or that many negro women are infertile owing to the ravages of venereal disease. The latter is undoubtedly true.

negroes

1880

The Blight
Fertility

on Negro

cance of

portion of

In general about a fifth of the population will have reached the Signinage of 45 years. Ireland, however, has a fourth in this age group the Proowing to the heavy emigration of young men and women. France Children shows near 29 per cent. above 45 years because her children groups are not well filled. Where, as in Brazil, Ceylon and Cuba,

and of

Aged

CHAP. I only a seventh or an eighth of the population reaches middle age, the masses are ignorant of hygiene and do not know how to attain a normal term of life. Comparison of the population for native whites of native parentage in the United States 1890 and 1910 suggests that in the intervening twenty years great strides had been made in overcoming disease and improving hygiene.

Males Predominate

nomic Im

Flight from religious, racial, or political persecution abstracts in an Eco- in due proportion from all the age groups. But a migration migration prompted by economic motives withdraws those in the earlier productive years who are least burdened by dependents. Comparison of the figures of the foreign-born in the U. S. 1880 and 1910 suggests that in the intervening thirty years immigration had become more economic in motive. The structure of the negroes