PLAIN WORDS ON THE WOMAN QUESTION. 171 



figure, thus providing for the regular increase from census to 

 census and for overflow by emigration. 



These facts, all platitudes as they are, look so startling at first 

 sight that they will probably need for the unstatistical reader a 

 little explanation and simplification. 



"Well, suppose, now, every man and every woman in a given 

 community were to marry ; and suppose they were in each case to 

 produce two children, a boy and a girl ; and suppose those chil- 

 dren were in every case to attain maturity ; why, then, the next 

 generation would exactly reproduce the last, each father being 

 represented by his son, and each mother by her daughter, ad infini- 

 tum. (I purposely omit, for simplicity's sake, the complicating 

 factor of the length and succession of generations, which by good 

 luck in the case of the human species practically cancels itself.) 

 But, as a matter of fact, all the children do not attain maturity : 

 on the contrary, nearly half of them die before reaching the age 

 of manhood in some conditions of life, indeed, and in some coun- 

 tries, more than half. Roughly speaking, therefore (for I don't 

 wish to become a statistical bore), it maybe said that in order that 

 two children may attain maturity and be capable of marriage, 

 even under the most favorable circumstances, four must be born. 

 The other two must be provided to cover risks of infant or adoles- 

 cent mortality, and to insure against infertility or incapacity for 

 marriage in later life. They are wanted to make up the categories 

 of soldiers, sailors, imbeciles, cripples, and incapables generally. 

 So that even if every possible person married, and if every mar- 

 ried pair had four children, we should only just keep up the num- 

 ber of our population from one age to another. 



Now, I need hardly say that not every possible person does 

 marry, and that we do actually a good deal more than keep up the 

 number of our population. Therefore it will at once be clear that 

 each actual marriage is fertile to considerably more than the ex- 

 tent of four children. That is, indeed, a heavy burden to lay upon 

 women. One aim, at least, of social reformers should certainly be 

 to lighten it as much as possible. 



Nevertheless, I think, it will be abundantly apparent from 

 these simple considerations that in every community, and to all 

 time, the vast majority of the women must become wives and 

 mothers, and must bear at least four children apiece. If some 

 women shirk their natural duties, then a heavier task must be laid 

 upon the remainder. But in any case almost all must become 

 wives and mothers, and almost all must bear at least four or five 

 children. In our existing state six are the very fewest that our 

 country can do with. 



Moreover, it is pretty clear that the best ordered community 

 will be one where as large a proportion of the women as possible 



