Show startling social reform WHAT TI ehe THE IF massachusetts wohlen PROPOSE PLURAL MARRIAGE FOR tir THE r industrious arm AND SURPLUS OF SPINSTERS TO BE UTILIZED to the editor of the daily it has been a subject of much interesting terest te ing lug comment here of late years to decide what shall bo be done with the surplus female population when a stranger enters one of our manufacturing cities lie he is immediately struck with the preponderance of the gentler sex they overflow our factories fill our stores overrun our streets and hasten by the tile score to answer any advertisement for an all employed emp loye once the energies of a massachusetts girl were bent on securing a husband now they are arc givenco ziven given to getting a living once the young men 0 of f th the e old K bay state turned their attention to a ag ri culture a and nd trade at home but nowadays now a days they sellout tile tiie their ir farms as soon as the old folks are dead and go west to build railroads a and d concoct credit Mo ers they do not so much as take a wife with them but leave the maidens with whom wilom they went hand in hand to school to live in single loneliness and eam cam their own living thus year by year the tile roll of unmarried women increases and the prospect for husbands grows more gloomy girls that might become through motherhood grow selfish and soured in mind and wither and disappear like the tiie leaves of november the native population of massachusetts lags laga far behind tiie the foreign and statisticians grow appalled but the tile fault aa not the women but is due to circumstances and perhaps to prejudice 1 ceso I 1 use the word prejudice because bebau cese eese I 1 understand there is a movement on oil foot among tho women of LO well to petition the legislature or strictly speaking to present their grievances on tile tilo subject of matrimony for some days there have been rumors of this matter flying around the tile community and I 1 have been at some pains to trace them thom out in doing so I 1 have ave been struck with the fact that men and women speak freely now on topics that were tabooed ten years ago even the most refined women will talk interestedly and unreservedly of marriage love iove social good and evil and all ali all ail til the questions which pertain to the relations of the sexes there seems to be a fermentation beneath the surface which will break out before long in an open movement towards larger liberty for both man and woman this is only my surmise but that it may not appear to be merely a piece of guesswork guess work I 1 send you a copy of the document above mentioned it is one of the tile most remarkable papers of the period it comes too at a stra strange time when mormonism seems to be yielding to I 1 pressure from without and salt lake city is preparing to accept the tile higher civilization from the tiie east yet in this connection it must not be forgotten that a work on polygamy was published in boston some years ago andaas and was greeted with words of approval by some of the most eminent men of the tiie seaboard states incudine ine inc mr george william curtis of your city the seed then sown was a small one but it appears to have taken root and circumstances have developed it into fruitage very quickly the following is a copy of the petition prepared for submission to the state legislature low april I 1 1873 to the honorable the fhe aie rie senate and house of representatives of the commonwealth of massachusetts the undersigned undersigner under signed citizens of the sta state tey tel respectfully fully set forth the grievances under which they suffer as women who are aro not P permitted emitted to vote erhold hold hoid any and all offices an and d en engage gage in t the 0 occupations c cu lations opened to men and are other otherwise w ise restricted in the opportunity of earning a living and herewith th beg your permission to suggest the remedy for these evils upon which they pray your honorable body to act the law which now gove governs s society c ysa says practically that women 8 should ouid bo married arri should engage in work wor k at their 0 own homes 0 and should look to their hus husbands ads tor for su support on the other hand handy the ce census 9 shows that it Is im impossible vu 1 lo 10 to carry out this unwritten but t recognized law tor for the reason that there is a large excess of women in the commonwealth and many of the men ot of lawful la voul ae ake areddie vicious incompetent or otherwise unfit to be the heads ot of households yet your petitioners petition ers hold that the matter Is not without remedy prejudice and custom have decided in favor ot of restricting the husband to a single wife yet without justice and authority as wo we believe in the book which lie lle lies iles at tho the foundation of all law recognized in this coun couk country there Is no injunction against a plurality of wives wires while there are many examples therein recorded in its favor mens wives appear to bm have e increased in nu number m ber I 1 in n proportion r portion with their flocks nocks and riehm riches such u c a rule even now holds in tho the land f from rom which the christain nations received their religion your petitioners petition ers have no desire to interfere with the regulations of any existing household but simply to present their claims to the marriage state for your respectful speet ful fui consideration they deem it their privilege and their duty to suggest tho the abolition of the law against the tho marriage of a man to more than one wife in cases where the first wife does not object and where it la Is made evident that the man la Is able to support the additional burden laid upon his resources they are aware that it may take years to remove prejudices 7 and that those who take a second or third place in la the household may mar be looked upon with disfavor but confident that their proposed action will ultimately do 1 way away l with much of the social evil t that ht afflicts and distresses all communities muni ties they are wll wil willing liniT to be the first to engage in the woric work of this reform society which now insists that woman shall be married and look to her husband tor for support vili will after arter mature reflection countenance this effort to carry out its laws practically it Is tar far from the d design of your petition erk ers ers to 0 ask legislation ii in behalf hall hali ot of free tree love or any loosening of the marriage bond we ask that the marriage of the second wife shall be made as binding and permanent as that of the first and nat that all the children 4 of the household shall have bare equal honor and in asking this we believe that we have taken a long step toward doing away with foundling asylums preventing antenatal ante natal murders and lessening the vagabond child population ot of our large largo cities for the reasons enumerated your peti respectfully respect tully ask tho the passage of a law permitting plural marriage in the cases above enumerated and under such other conditions as to your judgment shall bhail seem wise and proper and your petition petitioners ers will ever pray dey ilc ac ic this remar romar remarkable kable hablo document at the time it was put into my hands bore one hundred and sixty two names they appeared to me to be genuine signatures all of them seemed to belong to women of american parentage and mandof many of the thie family names li have havo ve been well known in new england for a century this too I 1 will say for them the handwriting was waa far better generally than in the petitions presented to the lew leg legislature 1 ies ish atur adur by men not a few of the tile signers being evidently ladies of education and culture the lady to whom I 1 was indebted for a sight of the document assured me that the large majority of them were educated women though many of them earned their own living and slie she herself is a leader in society if these revolutionists have the courage to go forward and there is no reason to believe that there is is any mere fun in the matter their petition will astonish the descendants of the puritans Pui itans of massachusetts bay even oven if it lit does not enlighten them after taking a copy of the petition I 1 was puzzled to know where to send it but happening to take up a copy of the daily graphic containing an editorial on the tile goodrich murder which suggested some social reforms it occurred to me that you might possibly venture to print it the question presented by these ladies is in advance of the times and yet not very far in advance after all somebody has got to meet it at some time but I 1 am glad a reply does not fall to the tile lot of your correspondent 11 vo q 0 0 lowell mass april 24 york graphic |