The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-04-10
Marriage By Purchase;

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riage by purchase is only found at the
two extremes of society. The savage,
it is we'll known, under some condi-
tions buys his wife, paying her rela-
tives therefor such prices as they ask
or as such commodities command in
the savage market. This is at one
extreme. At the other the highly
civilized woman purchases a husband
or has one purchased for her BY her
relatives, the price being usually ex-
pressed in millions. Of the two
transactions the one in which the saw
ages engage is usually the more sensi-
bic. The wife in that case is bought
upon her merits as a prospective help
meet and the price paid bears direct
relation to her value in that regard.
In the civilized case the husband is
bought as a rule not for his merits as
a prospective life companion, but be-
cause he has handle to his name and
can call himself Duke or Lord, Count
or Baron. Among the savages there
is an actual exchange Of values.
Among the civilized there is an out
lay of solid cash for something that
has no real value. + In the case of the
savages the marriage as a rule turns
out WE'LL judging from the savage
standpoint-at all events it is rarely
followed by divorce. In the case Of
the civilized it is almost invariably a
failure as might be expected; and
where it does not result in divorce is
followed by lasting unhappiness.
1t appears, however, that this pecu-
liar form Of marriage is not confined to
the social extremes. In Indiana last
week there was transaction Of marital
character between two well-to-do farm
ers of the State, one of whom sold his
wife and all his household furniture
to the other for the sum Of s25. The
price was really fancy one. The
owner of the wife at first offered her
for S. and agreed to throw in the fur
niture; but the purchaser for some
obscure reason, gave him SIS in cash
and a note for $40. Whether the wife
was content with the transfer does not
appear; but the account states that
she went off with the purchaser with
out any objection, which, considering
the feminine power to make objection,
may be considered as tolerably good
evidence of assent. 1t is not difficult,
indeed, to believe that she did assent.
Alm st any woman would be glad to
part with husband whose cash esti-
mate Of her value was less than So
and while it might be supposed she
would have some choice as to sue
cessor there may easily have been good
grounds upon which to accept the first
man offered. She probably reasoned
that she could not possibly be any
worse off, but that the chances were
really better for her with a husband
who voluntarily raised the figure put
upon her by the original mate, The
really interesting question raised by
the transaction is as to the light in
which it is or will be viewed by the
laws of Indiana if it ever comes with
in the purview of the courts Of that
State. While the State has a well
settled reputation for eccentricity and
in the portions more remote from such
centers as Indianapolis, for lawless-
ness, it can hardly be believed that
such a transaction is really winked at
by the statutes. fit is there is an
opening for immigration which is not
afforded by any other State in the
Union and Indiana may as well begin
to prepare for boom. The easy and
speedy divorce provided by such States
as South Dakota cuts no figure what
ever in comparison with such a method
Of exchanging the state Of wedlock for
one of single blessedness. Of course
if the husband can lawfully sell the
wife, the wife can lawfully sell the
husband and the demand for some
such market as that possible even
greater than for an open market in
which wives can be disposed of. The
wives at the east who have husbands
they would be glad to dispose Of are
almost innumerable and though the
husbands are not, as rule, Of char
acter which makes them readily salable
at cash figures, most of them could in
all probability be worked off with a
bonus. If the condition Of the law in
Indiana is really such as to permit
of such transaction, the owners OF
real estate in that commonwealth can
not invest small sum Of money to
etter advantage than in advertising
the fact to the rest Of the world.-De-