Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1873-09-27
WHY MARRIAGES DECREASE.


in the centres of population. where the
needs of life press hard. The old-fash-
ioned disinterestedness has of late years
been losing ground in these places.
Thirty or forty years ago it was plain
sailing; a gibbons hat and the Italian
opera were unknown; all worked for a
living, and none were rich as COM
pared with those of to-day. 1t has be-
come evident that in cities Hymen is
losing his power: yet the goddess who
came out of the sea-foam continues to
exercise her wonted charms over men,
though they refuse to follow Hymen.
There is hide-and-seek process on the
part of man to avoid supporting the wo-
man, which would be to the last degree
ungenerous if it were not in some meas
ure compulsory. Fathers endeavor to
dispose of daughters to those who stand
upon conditions, and each tries to shirk
the expense of keeping them. Thus re-
garded, the woman becomes possible
encumbrance to a marrying man, and
almost parasite in her own family. A
great number of those who live in lux
ury i'm the metropolis make both ends
meet with difficulty. The head of the
| family is stretched on a financial wheel,
| which never ceases to turn every day in
| the year. He is pressed for what he
considers the necessaries of life, and
spends twenty thousand dollars year.
The capital Of this man who spends
twenty thousand dollars year, at legal
interest, would not perhaps yield him a
| third of what he eXpends; thus he Is
Obliged to work hard for his living, and
without relaxation. He is not in a po-
sition to help any one but himself, how
ever willing he may be to do so. The
| young man making his way through an
1 nf Aiffinr1finc 90 In, hna
4 ballast in the shape of clubs and social
dissipation, may like the daughter of the
poor rich father; but he has not the au-
| dacity, even if she were willing, to
make the sacrifice, to take her out of her
handsome nest into an inferior one. In
resisting the matrimonial temptation he
has something to say for himself. His
knowledge of life tells him that there
are scarcely any hours of happiness
which are compensation for the rasping,
wearing, daily want of means to provide
for every day necessaries and comforts,
and that it is not long before domestic
peace gives way before this terrible
pressure. 1t is human too, for the wo-
man in unguarded moments to make
comparisons between her married and
single life, i'm which regrets and re-
proaches are implied if not spoken.
When matters reach this point it is the
coup de grace, and domestic felicity is at
an end. - ....
An adviser may say to this young
man, if he wants to marry the poor
rich girl. Go West; but this is counsel
he can not follow. His lot is cast here
and through industry he has reasonable
expectations of ultimately acquiring 10
modest competency. 1t would be fool.
ish for him to give up the bird in hanG
for the two out West in the bush, to say
! nothing of his likings, which ten to one
favor his present surroundings. Here
the field of labor is plainly indi
Gated, and he is already in the harness
His future being here, he must submit
TO the conditions of life around him, an(
civilization as he finds it.. Thus reason
ing he turns away from the poor ricf
man s sumptuous dwelling with a sigh
he may not pluck the coveted flower
And if the expected bridegroom in pur
pie and fine linen, from Lydian shores
:, fail to come, the daughter is condemnet
to a life of celibacy. If the father ha
= several such, who wait in vain, MI
: house, according to the Dutch proverb
becomes like cellar full of sour beer.
There are three issues out of the diff
: culties which involve marriage in TIN
y cities; simpler mode of life; the lnde
pendence which the woman may &C
!: quire by self support; and the dowry
), y which concerns rather the parens thai
the woman herself. -Ht