The Washington critic., 1888-08-13
wOMAvs RIGHT TO DIVORCE.
Something She Should Always Have FOL
the Asking.

the Asking.
Colonel Robert c. Ingersoll has the
following to say to IVoHd reporter
concerning the rights and wrongs of the
marital relation He had been reading
about the man who gouged his wife's
eyes out the other day and the dreadful
story aroused all the Colone's sympa-
thies in woman's favor.
"My idea is this" he says. "Mar-
riage is the most sacred contract--the
most important contract-that human
beings can make. As n rule, the woman
dowers the husband with her youth
with all she has. From this contract
the husband should never be released
unless the wife has broken q condition;
that is to say, has failed to perform the
contract of marriage. On the other
hand, the woman should be allowed q
divorce for the asking. This should be
granted In public, precisely as the mar
riage should be in public. Every mar
riage should be known. There should
be witnesses, to the end that the char
acter of the contract entered into should
be understood, and as all
marriage records should be kept,
so the divorce should be open,
public and known. The property
should be divided by court of equity,
under certain regulations Of law. If
there are children, they should be pro-
vided for through the property and the
parents. People should understand that
men and women are not virtuous by
law. They should comprehend the fact
that law does not create virtuc--that LAW
is not the foundation, the fountain, of
love. They should understand that love
is in the human heart, and that real love
is virtuous. People who love each other
will be true to each other. The death of
love Is the commencement of vice Be
sides this, there is public opinion that
has great weight. When that public
opinion is right it does u vast amount
of good, and when wrong, great amount
of harm People marry, or should marry,
because it increases the happiness of
each and all. But where the marriage
turns out to have been mistake, and
where the result is misery and not hap
piness, the quicker they are divorced the
better not only for themselves, but for
the community at large"
"Why do you make such distinc-
ton between the rights of man and tht
rights of womanP
"rhe woman has, as her capital, hel
youth, her beauty. We will say that
she is married at twenty or twenty five
Ia few years she has lost her beauty
During these years the man, so far as ca
pacity to make money is concerned-tC
| do somethlng-has grown better ano
better. That is to say, his chances have
improved; hers have diminished. She
has lowered him with the spring Of hel
| life, and, as her life advances, hel
chances decrease. Consequently,
would give her the advantage, and ]
would not compel her to remain with
him against her will. 1t seems to mt
far worse to be wife upon compulsior
than to be husband upon compulsion
Besides this, / have q feeling o.
infinite tenderness toward mothers
The woman who bears children Ger.
tainly should not be compelled t
live with man whom she despises. The
suffering is enough when the father o
the child is to her the one man of al
this world. Many people who have {
mechanical apparatus in their breasts
that assists in the circulation Of wha
they call blood, regard these views a
sentimental. But when we take senti
ment out of the world nothing is lef
worth living for; and when you get senti
ment out of the heart it is nothing NOR,
nor less than pump, an old piece o
rubber that has acquired the habit o
contracting and dilating. But | hav,
this consolation: The people who don
agree with me are those who don't un
derstand me.