Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1883-06-29
Az Old CONTEST AT AN END

.r or.D CONTEST AT AN END
A change in English family life. which
ia regarded by . powerful minority with
. feeling akin to horror. will be effected
by the passage of the bill legalizing mar
r;.ee with . deceased wife's sister. For
30 wears or more this proposition has
been fought with almost as much inten'
sity Of zeal. and much greater per;
sistency, than has been shown BY the
opponents Of polygamy in the United
States. Statesmen, Bishops, MOBILES
social scientists, magazine writers. edi-
tors Of the great journals and others in
f~uential in moiding public sentiment,
have regarded marriage with . deceased
wife's sister as little, if any. better than
an incestuous connection.
Opponents Of the bill sent agents z
the United States to collect evidence
with which to strengthen their opposl-
ton, and. strange to relate. those ennis
saries did succeed in getting together a
large amount Of testimony which passed
for sense and reason in England, but
which. when reproduced here from Eng
fish papers,, excited only ridicule, Tor it
was but . mass Of trash. One OF the
American witnesses who offered his tes-
timony for English consumption was an
old clergyman. ''the sands OF whose HE
were nearly run OUT" who solemniy
averred that the possibility OF their
father marrying their aunt made children
look on her with horror.
English journals and some OF the clergy
of the Established Church maintained
that there must be something radically
wrong in the mind and morals OF any
person advocating this measure. But
despite the ~pig.headed obstinacy OF the
opposition, and there is no opposition
more obstinate and unreasoning than
that Of the English where moral and
social questions are involved, the propo-
sition has been gaining ground for some
years, to the earnest advocacy and active
support Of the Prince Of Wales.
1t seems strange enough to Americans
that there should ever have been in any
country a question of the propriety OF
this kind Of marriages. Experience here
has shown that such unions are m
nently conducive to the purity Of home
life. The person Of all persons best fitted
to take the place Of a mother to mother
less children is, as a rule, the sister OF
the mother they have lost. Among the
happiest and purest homes in this coun-
try are not a few in which a dead wife's
sister fills the place Of wife and mother.
The sweet and tender affection existing
between sisters gives a motherless child
a firm hold on the love Of the mothers
sister. To urge that there is improperly
in such marriages on the score OF rela-
tionship is absurd, for there is no natural
relationship.
For these reasons we feel quite sure
that English public sentiment will soon
adapt itself to the change; that none Of
the predicted evils will follow, and that.
in . few years, it will be a source OF
wonder hat there was ever any objec-
tion to the measure that was fought for
half century.
This change in the marriage laws OF
England suggests a necessity for amend
ment of our own laws on the subject OF
marriage, or rather for harmonizing the
marriage laws of all the States. At this
time it is . felony in some States to con-
summate marriages that are entirely law
full in other States. For example. in some
States . man may marry the daughter,
by . previous husband, Of his deceased
wife, while in other States such a mar
riage would not only be invalid, but
would be punishable az a felony. There
are other features Of our laws that are
equally inharmonious, and which should
be brought into practical agreement.