The Opelousas courier., 1895-08-03
Marriage, Divorce, and the New
Woman.

OF all the subjects most gener-
ally discussed by the press and
considered by the lawmakers and
the public - Bimetallism, Suf-
frage, Ballot Reform, &c.-none
is of more Importance to women
than those of Marriage and Di-
vorce. The appalling ignorance
of the average woman concerning
our laws is fast changing to an in
telligent consideration as to their
justice and wisdom.
Our own State laws are founded
on the Code Napoleon, and could
not be expected to place a very
high value upon the individuality
or desires of women. as Napoleon
looked upon women much as or
just as stock breeders do upon
their breeding stock, valuing them
in exact proportion to the healthy
stock produced. (This sounds
horrible, but it is the actual truth
and probably not SO horrible in
sound as it is in effect, when one
has to live under it, Judgihg by
the discussion of these subjects in
the leading journals and p4riodi-
calls of the day, there ~ be a
very general desire fHr reform
S iSS;;'stif fsx. Particularly t" the
Of late years there hay been Il
great increase in the nuNber Of
divorces asked and granted. Now
the question arises: Why is this?
What is the cause that lies at the
root of the evil? For that it is an
evil no sane person a doubt.
The cause is not difficult to find.
Divorce springs from mlsmarri-
age, And miscarriage? From too
early marriages and from lack of
Judgment in selecting a life-part-
ner. AS to the first, the only re-
NEEDY lies in a more matter-of-fact
and clearer instruction to young
people as to the duties, response
bilities and burdens of married
life. The spectacle of ill-inform-
ed young people rushing into mat
rimony through a silly sentiment
is one to make angels weep ard
devils rejoice, for it is the Devils
own weapon for blasting the lives
of unborn generations. The ques-
ton here arises, ought two per-
sons, on discovering that they
have been silly, premature or mis-
taken, be forced by law to con-
tinue in the marriage relation?
The question is far-reaching and
important. If the desire of the
law is simply to punish two chill
dren for their foolishness, why,
yes, punish them bymaking them
endure each other. But when one
reflects that every child born of
an imperfect, miserable, unhappy
marriage is to that extent imper-
feet, miserable and unhappy, then
Justice arises and cries out that
the law or the parents have no
right to SO curse children into ex-
istence. It should be the aim of
every teacher, every one in au-
thority and every parent to show
to the young the ACCESSIBILITY, the
beauty, the happiness Of living
pure and true to themselves until
their Judgment is so we'll estab-
and their vision so clear
that they may safely trust them
selves to select a life-partner who
will prove truly a sympathetic
helpmeet! The higher education
Of women and the co-education of
the sexes both tend to this happy
contamination.
The law for ages has made the
marriage VOWS apparently equally
binding on men and women, but
the unwritten law of custom step
ped in and gave to the husband
the privilege of seeking happiness
elsewhere in case he did not find
it in the marriage relation. This
has slowly but surely been chang
The cries of "Purity for
and "A white life for
though at first met by the
masculine sheer and curl of the
lip, have gained volume and will
not be subdued! Slowly but stea-
Oily is this demand lifting the
of manhood, lifting it
upward to a realization of the
and beauty of the mar
relation as God gave it US
The perfect union of the three
persons in one, the souls, the
minds and the bodies of two per-
sons so perfectly in accord, in
such perfect sympathy, that dis
'ension can find no loophole for
This indeed is true
Those laws, whether of marriage
II divorce, which consider but the
physical man, are evidently wrong
n basic principle. Every man,
woman and child is possessed of
,hree separate natures-the spir-
tual, the mental and the physical
and each clamors for recogni-
ion and consideration. When so
M ,anrfon% n or,h;oof oo n,o,rr o