STATUS OF THE WIDOW

Evening Star, Issue 12028, 28 October 1903, Page 7

STATUS OF THE WIDOW

[By Professor Printing,] Study of the censuses and statistics of the civilised countries shows that of all members of society the widow, on the average, is sorest oppressed by poverty; that the mortality among- widows is far in excess of that of married women; and that, to mention only a few of the disadvantages under which she is suffering, she is more often subject to insanity, consumption, and conflict with the law than the woman with a husband. Incontrovertible figures show that the husband plays an absorbing part iu woman’s life—even if ha be not of the strictly ideal kind—• and I deem it a proof of woman's power of endurance that the widow has not yet combined with her sisters to demand, as a class, aid from the State, Since her natural protector and provider is gone, the Government should be made to stand by her. The average husband fixes the —Woman’s Status in Society,—

he provides for her and the children, accord- 1 ing to his means, and is a derided help in ' the latter's education and bringing up. When J he dies tho weight of these important duties 1 intensifies the agony caused by, his demise, j i uud the average widow rightfully doubts that | she is equal to the burden suddenly put upon I : her shoulders, “ Rightfully," I say, because ' 1 observation all over the world shows this to j be the case, irrespective of the class of {' society affected. Of course, the laborer's and artisan’s wife is hardest hit by a husband's death. Few workmen are paid well j: enough to allow them to accumulate con- ! siderable savings, and if they do, temporary j cessation of work, or sickness, or other mis- ! fortunes frequently absorb the greater pari [ of tha ftcoumukited funds, flurial or rick : funds often, come to the widow's aid, but | they constitute a temporary benefit at best, i The majority of poor people have a hanker- j ing for gorgeous funerals, which is eagerly ! foster-id by conscienceless undertaker sharks. ) and these latter usually manage to get Dm j greater po-.-tion of the widow’s mice, fur- j idxfaed by benevolent and other societies. It j is a deplorable fart that rite average widow ) of a laboring man finds herself ‘‘ opposite j nothing” one month after Ihe husband's 1 death. What is rite to do? A profession sho has not, kuuwledgs of 'some handicraft or trade was also denied her. Friends? She- | had soma as long as the funds from tho ! burial societies lasted. Now they are busy 1 elsewhere and—their ad vie? is scarcely worth j having Here is tho widow with her children, ' one or two at the least, sometimes five or six. The little ones writs to bo ted, clothed, and lodged, 'flier demand caro and a controlling eye Dioming, coon, and night. That this sum of dt.uies is beyond tbs widow’s pewar in most cases calls neither for c.xplana--1 item nor excuse. Hero are j —Some Interesting Figures.'— | 'Taking the population, of all ci/J-i d coun- | tries as a whole, it is found that every 55,000,000 people number, among thorn 2,200,000 widows. Of that number an average of 400,000 widows arc absolutely' without tegular income, living from band to mouth, not knowing where the. next meal for themselves and children is to come frc.ni. Many belonging to this great army depend, of course, upon, public or private tharily. As to the occupation, and business capacity of ihe average poor widow, (he fact that 121.000 ar?! agricultural laborers and 48,800 factory girls has an important he-aring. An average of 92,000 make a precarious living by doing chores, while 22,000 live in the poorfcouso or ’ by the aid of charity. In all civilised couni tries Ihe, mortality among widows is cscced- ! ingly high, a fact, undoubtedly due in part to i depression of spirits caused by tho husband s I death, by th'' loss of social position, and of I a regular, or .it- least, satisfactory, income, j All these privations necessarily interfere with | the nic.ru.il and physical beal'b of the i stricken person. This great mortality is j superinduced in all civilised countries by the | widows’ remarkable partiality for ermsumplion. To tuberculosis she owes most often her sorry position, this being ihe disease from which her husband died. Again, her economic position predisposes her for the scourge. When nourishing food is scarce or irregular, when a woman used to decent quarters is driven to an insanitary tenement with her children, tuberculosis finds her a ready and easy victim. For similar reasons widows aro fur more subject to insanity than married women, end the same condition is shown in the statistics of niicide of till countries, covering a period of two years, which set forth that 100 widows commit suicide to eleven married women. It is motto be wondered at. that th’ sorry economic and social conditions confronting the average widow bring her often into conflict with tho low. The. widov’s difficulties to find employment have already been dwell upon. More than 6.1 per cent, of widows are women that never had a profession or trndo. Therefore, when suddenly forced to enter business life, of which they knew neither the ins nor outs’ they are liable io ran amuck of the la.iv. In this connection it should be considered that tho widowed or divorced woman is, in her heart of hearts, just as honest and peaceable ar. the married woman. It is evident, then, that nothing but dire necessity and trouble cause her to break the law more often than her happier sister. Anct.hm remarkable fact is that the young widow fails fur more often

than tho widow of a certain, settled age. The reason is obvious. She has one or mope

young children, to bring up, and prefers stealing to seeing them starve. Again, during her short span of married life she had no opportunity or thought to save something towards a rainy day. When the children are grown up and tho widow has become better acquainted with the law and life’s condmons she is a better citizen in every respecs.. I searched in vain for statistical, material -respecting —Th? Children of Widows, —

Yet there could bo nothing more instructive from tiie social point of view than figures and data concerning these unfortunates. From my investigations into the lives and fates of their mothers I am led to believe that the physical, mental, and moral well-being of the children of widows must necessarily be neglected. According to, the reports of charity societies gathered in many countries, the children of widows, more than any other class, suffer from want and lack of care. How could it be otherwise, the mother being forced to be absent from home for from eight to fourteen hours daily working as a breadwinner? When, in the end, she does come home, fagged out and tired, sho usually lacks the will power to da more for her offspring than get them a warm meal, such as it is. In late years several Governments have remembered their duty towards the aged and decrepit. Tho time cannot be far off when societv, for its own protection, will be forced to make sortie provision for widows left penniless and with a swarm of children on their hands. That duty the State must recogI nise either directly or indirectly. At present i {he indiroci way is favored —instead of taring j {ho people to help the widows, they are taxed ! for tin! support of prisons, hospitals, and j sane asylums. According to iufor- ' ination, a Gill will be introduced in the 1 German Reichstag asking for funds to prnj vide for the widows and childrca *of wrrk- ! men.