Page:The Feminist Movement - Snowden - 1912.djvu/213

talk and write as though the natural work of women was so repugnant to them that only the compulsion of slavery could induce them to do it. Most women have been trained to believe that marriage, with all that it implies, is the end and aim of every woman's existence, the most honourable calling they could pursue. Most of them desire it; but what of the facts? There are considerably over a million more females than males in the country, so that, to begin with, at least a million women will not be able to follow their natural and desired vocation. The special danger of many male callings, such callings as fighting, fishing, mining, and chemical working, reduces still further the number of men. The fearful struggle for a living wage and the precariousness of employment prevent many of the more thoughtful from undertaking the duties which matrimony brings in its train. The higher standard of living, and the love of comfort, makes others equally reluctant to take upon themselves heavy responsibilities. In addition to all these obstacles to marriage for women there is the poverty which necessitates their entering the labour market. This poverty compels a working-class father to send his daughters to the shop or the factory as soon as they leave school; and the wisdom of the better-off parent, who seeks to fit his daughters for any emergency