Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-02-26

There are three notable exceptions
to the uniform decrease Of the marri-
ago rate, but they are easily explained.
In Prussia, in Austria and in Italy the
marriage rate Of 1866 was distinctly
below that of 1885. The secret, of
course, is that in 1866 the three States
were at war, and campaigns and mat
rimony do not 60 we'll together. Italy
alone of the great European States
keeps up her marriage rate. 1t aver
aged 15.2 for eighteen years; it was
1916 in 1886. In this she resembles
Sweden. But the other States the
same phenomeon:
Den Switzer- Aus Ger HOl
mark land tria many land
ssAse 1855 ~ i2s is 1s7 7 is is is 5s iss iss
These figures all point in one direc-
tion and all tell the same tale. Euro
peans are not such marrying people
now as they were twenty years ago,
and among the marrying peoples we
are nearly at the bottom of the tree.
The Irish marriage rate is in itself
enough to account for much of the
misery and unrest of Erin, and the
Scotch ratio is lower than that of any
nation in Europe. Our marriage rate
is now lower than it has ever been
since 1888, when the statistics were
first collected on a scientific basis.
The average for quinquennial periods,
which fuctuated from 1915 in 1S38-4O
to 17.2 in 1S5l-55. has gone down
steadily since 1915, and is still
tending downward.
Another fact, which no doubt ex-
plains one cause OF the falling
away in the marriage rate, is
that people, if they do not
postpone marriage altogether, post
pone it as late as possible. That
is to say, an increasing proportion of
the years of human existence is spent
outside matrimony. The mean age
has been steadily rising since 1873,
and the mean age of 1886 is the
highest yet recorded, being 1872 for
men and 25.9 for women. The aver
age at which the professional and in
dependent classes marry is 1922 for
the man and 26.40 for the woman.
OF course the meaning of the post
ponement or the rejection of marriage
is in The increase of prostitution. No
one will pretend that the average man
in these later years has become more
ascetic, more continent, more severe
in holding his senses under control.
The tendency has rather been the
other way. A celibate population is
not, as rule, a chaste population,
but rather the reverse. To postpone
marriage is to increase prostitution,
and that often of the worst kind. For
it is interesting to note that the post
ponement and partial abandonment
of marriage has not had, as might have
been expected, its natural result in the
increase of illigitimate births. If mar
riage had been succeeded by concu-
binage of the higher order, where the
union, although not permanent, has
still sufficient human relationship
about it to surround the partners
with the redeeming influences of chill
dren, the falling off in the marriage
rate would have been accompanied by
the rise of pari passu of the number
of children born out of wedlock. The
very reverse is the case. The mar
riage rate in 1845 was 17.2, and the
illigitimate births 2 8 per 1000, while
in 1886, with marriage rate of AL,
the illigitimate rate had fallen to
1.5. The proportion of illigitimate
births in every 1000 was sixty-five in
the ten years between 1851 and 1860.
It was only forty-seven in 1866. Put
ting it roughly, prostitution is elbow
ing matrimony out of the field.
Apart altogether from the question
of vice, and looking at the subject
solely from the point Of view of
human happiness, more melancholy
conclusion could hardly be arrived at
by the pessimist than that which, born
optimists as we are, seems to be de-
ducible from the Registrars figures.
-rpa11 Mall Hovotko