UNMARRIED DAUGHTERS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11654, 8 June 1912, Page 2

UNMARRIED DAUGHTERS.

A lecturing campaign, "011 behalf of the unmarried daughters," has been started in London by Miss Josephine Knowles. The ultimate remedy for the forlorn condition of Britain's superfluous girls is enn"Vation, e;iys Miss Knowles, but- the first step must be to arouse the parents and the voung ladies themselves to a realisation that "a life oi single idleness is unnecessary as well as deplorable. Conventions and conditions' must not be allowed to cumber the path of the middle-class girls and prevent them Teaching the happy bond of companionship and fruitfrd effort'. Miss ' Knowles referred scornfully to the family life of the suburbs and country toyms. It gave the girls no outlook, she said', and few opportunities to acquire new interests. Men were often frightened away by finding a collection of eis-t-eis, cousins, and auiks surrounding the girls whom they visited after a ball or a- party. "A email room filled wit-h women," stated Mies Knowles vehemently, "is the worst setting .for any girl. The others should be hidden away in" another part of the house,. Nature abhors the herding together of women. A father is the best chapeicne for his daughters. All grown girls should be given the drawing-room one evening a week for their exclusive use." Turning to the fathers, Miss Knowles said that 'it was t-heir duty to supply their daughter's with a- proper amount of money. They did not do their whole duty wlien they provided a dress allowance, probably a smaller one than the wages of the cook. "Men. are snobs about dress," said the lecturer, "and always make for the well-dressed woman. You must invest in,your daughter if you wish her to.marry. All unmarried daughter is an unwilling . prisoner. She only remains in hex- parents' house because she is kept financially dependent. Give her an allowance such, as you give your boys and she will leave you at once, but the probability is that she will in consequence reap the harvest of a richer personality.'