The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1880-12-18
Our 0lio.


The Decline OF Marriages.
1t is tho prevailing opinion among those
observers most competent to judge, that
marriage is declining among the better
classes of our people; that tho number Of
bachelors aud gay men Of the world is in-
creasing, and the sisterhood Of spinsters
becoming more and more the destiny Of
women in the upper ranks Of life. Is this
the case, and, if so, what are the causes Of
a sociul fact SO prejudicial to the well-be.
ing of societyY
There are two ways Of satisfying our
selves as to the truth of this fact; one by
general deduction from the ways and do
ings of society, the other the more certain
scientific method of statistics
The former is, Of course, somewhat
loose and occasionally a misleading pro-
cess, but, on the whole, its conclusions have
a specific value in tho present case. 1t is
common to hear young men and young
women speak sightingly of the Office aud
functions Of matrimOny. Young men Of
elegant and fashionable tastes reason that
they can crafty their luxurious wants on
the income they may have, but to support
wife who has equally extravagaut de-
sires, would be impossible, always making
the laughing reservation that they would
be willing u marry in cases where the
bride is an heiress.
SO young women, by parallel argu-
ment, persuade themselves that to marry
other than a rich man would entail on
them loss Of all those luxuries and pleas.
ures to which they have been accustomed,
and which they have been trained to re-
gard as essential to their happiness, In
this wretched belief they are sedulously
encouraged by their parents, aud we do
not have to go to novels to find plenty of
cases where girls drive away from them
men whom they really love, through their
own selfshncss, combined with the bitter
opposition Of their parents
Aside, however, from the eurrent talk,
of which society is full on this subject, the
statistics, so far as we have them, tell
still more precise story.
Massachusetts,, where there is more care
exercised than in any other State in com.
piling vital statistics, confirms the state
ment that marriages are decreasing among
the better classes, declinatiou which has
nothing to do with business prosperity or
adversely, as the ratio is steadily the same
1t is not among the poor, the laborers, the
factory operatives, the mechanics, that this
ialliug-off occurs, but among the well-t
people.
In 1860 the marriage rate was to
1924 Of the population; in 1870 il was /
10 1854, and in 1873, in 6O.19. The
rate Of decrease may not be as great 10
some other States, but it is safe to assert
that there is a decrease, greater or less, 10
all parts Of the country, and particularly
among those communities where large
proportion of the inhabitants belong to
wealthy or so.called better classes.
The fact, IL true, and there is every
reason to credit it, is an alarming one, and
its causes deserves a little study, for, If it
continues to hold its force for half cen
tury, the original Anglo American stock
will have been entirely swallowed up and
destroyed in the growing food of Celtic
and Teutonic blood with which We are
more aud more inundated, We are glad
to welcome foreigh immigration, but i, is
not pleasant to think that in the course Of
few generations the original people
whose force, energy, peculiar modes Of
thinking, and race qualities formed the
mold of this great nation, will be expunged
from existence
The causes for the growing disiuclina-
tion to marriage on the part Of the young
people Of to day are complex, and only
few leading factors can here be indicated.
We may as well dismiss man entirely
from the problem, for the root of the mat.
ter relates purely TO the woman. Once
the difficulty is removed 10 her case, man
would speedily be found as much inclined
to matrimony US before.
In the meantime, the average Young
man among the better classes, frightened
by the tremendous pecuniary demand made
by the young women Of the social rank to
which be belongs on their natural protee-
tors, says, III cant afford to marry aud
soon comes to the lamcntable conclusion of
dangerous and evil practices. 50, by the
subtitle law Of social reaction, the demoral.
lzation of one sex helps to effect that of
the other. srr
The principal cause Of woman's disincli
nation to marriage appears to be the cx-
travagance and profusion Of those who
have wealth, and the effort Of those 10 a
little lower grade to rival them-a profu.
sion which is encouraged by men, because
they permit it.
Ruinous ostentation, as much as il con
tributes to the glitter, the excitement, and
the fascination Of social life, must be set
down as a sin Of far-reaching tendencies.
If only the very rich INDUCED 10 extrava-
gance the matter would be triHiug; but
emulation lifts those who cannot afford il
to the same plane of profuse expense.
Young women are thus educated to re-
gard the most costly luxuries Of life as es-
sentials to happiness, and to dread the
thought Of being welded, unless the hus
band has ample means to support them in
the same style Of lavish expenditure.
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