The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-07-12
4 WoRD TO THE WISE.

The new epileptic, imbecile and fee
ble-minded law provides that anybody
who shall advise. aid, abet, cause, or
assist in procuring or countenance any
violation of said law must pay not less
than one thousand dollars or be impris-
oned not less than one year, or BOTH
This will make things interesting for
many people, and especially for those
who issue marriage licenses, and for
ministers of the gospel and justices Of
the peace, who are empowered to give
such licenses effect. The epileptic, i'm
beetle and feeble-minded law doesn't
provide for a commission to pick out
those who are too fifty, too imbecile or
too weak-minded to get married. Upon
whom, therefore, does the duty Of pick
ing out the fitted or the untitled fall?
1t is clear that those who are too fifty
or too feeble-minded to marry with
safety to themselves and the State can
not pick themselves out. They have
not done it without law and they will
not do 1t with law. Their relatives and
friends have not done it and will not do
it. There is no more general and deep
rooted belief than that all who want
to get married are fit to be married. No
law will destroy that belief. But the
new law directed against that belief
must be obeyed, and those who issue
marriage licenses or give them effect
appear to be the ones on whom the chief
responsibility will fall They must be
careful not to aid or abet anything that
they are forbidden to aid and abet. If
they do they will lose in a minute more
than their fees will come to in "a year.
Therefore they must ask those who
come fblushingly or boldly before them
If they are epileptic, imbecile or feeble
minded. In this way they may per-
haps be able to detect the epileptics
and save all concerned from the harm
their marriages would do But how
about the imbecile and the feeble-mind-
ed? Those who are imbecile and feeble
minded are often not aware Of their
condition, and those who are can often
put on an impressive front That this
is so can be seen from the fact that
there were enough members of the leg
isIature to pass the epileptic, imbecile
and feeble-minded law. 1t can also be
seen from the fact that there are people
occupying even higher places than seats
in the legislature who are successful i'm
concealing their imbecility and feeble
mindedness How, therefore, is a reg
istrar of births, marriages and deaths,
| a minister of the gospel or "a. justice of
| the peace to rightly discern the mental
| quality of those who come before him
in that state of mind which precedes
| marriage? Must they cynicaNy throw
them all out on the ground that amy
| body who wants to get married is an
| imbecile or feeble-minded one? How
can they distinguish between the i'm
becility and the -mindedness of
| love and the imbecility and the feeble
mindedness that are permanent? We
don't know and we don't see how they
are going to know. But they must look
| out for themselves and the rest of us if
they don't want to get into trouble with
the epileptic, the imbecile and the fee
ble-minded law. They will find it very
serious matter to aid, abet, cause or
assist in procuring or countenance any
| violation of that law.