The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1896-11-14
~ WIN oRAb yvitog

Ought widows 10 marryf
This qaeetioh-is exciting : great
deaf of disehssion = present, both
in HuUl1nd and France.
Ttpssrho favor perpetual wid.
owhoed dwsllon the followin9 facts !:
Queen Victoria has remained true
to hbf one husband, tnd evidently
hets daughter, Beatrice, il dstsf-
mined TO remain true to tho mem
Org Of the Prince of Battsnbere,
forsothsrwise she would hardly have
pl4ced on his coffin wreath bear.
ing tho inscription. Until death
do % part until death reunites u.s."
Nov, i j. argued. suppose Queen
Victoria had taken . second bus-
band short time after tho death
Of the Prince Consort, 10 it not
likely that such . step would have
made her somewhat unpopular
among her subjects? Again, it is
likely that the mother Of Alphonso
XIII Of Spain and the Queen Re-
gent Of Holland would have sue
ceeded as we'll in preserving the
thrones for their children If they had
married again after tho expiration
Of the time prescribed BY Law and
The usages of society? Among the
royal personages in Europe to-day
there are none, it 10 claimed, who are
more esteemed and respected than
the crowned widows, among whom
Q4een Victoria is said to regard with
especial disfavor women who marry
. second time, and the main reason
IL because they have remained
faithful to their royal spouses and
are nobly and disinterestedly doing
this duty toward their children.
But all women, is- tho reply. are
not queens, aud, if there is any
truth in the principle of the equality
Of the sexes, widows should be as
much at liberty to marry q second
time az widowers are. Only insati-
ably jealous men and sentimental
old maids can, it is claimed, be of
u different opinion. According to
Mrs. Lynn Linton it is the height
Of cruelty to condemn q woman to
perpetual .widowhood. Let women
marry again if they please, she
says, and if they have courage
enough to try their fortune in lot
terry in which there are so few lucky
numbers. Her opinion seems to
be that of almost all of those who
have taken part in the discussion,
and, unless statistics lie, it is also
the opinion of leading economists.
According to NJ. Morselli, who is
an authority on the subject, out of
365 men who committed suicide in
Italy, 100 were married, 1O8 were
bachelors, and 157 were widowers.
In France the number of bachelors
who commit suicide is relatively
larger than in Italy, but it is among
the widowers that suicide finds the
most victims. As regards married
women, out of every hundred who
commit suicide in Italy and France
the majority are widows. In France
the number of widows who commit |
suicide 10 twice az great as that of
women whose husbands are living.
From these statistics NJ. Morselli |
and those who think with him con-
clude that widows and widowers
are far more likely to be driven to
despair and death than other men
and women, and that, therefore, it
is the duty of society to encourage
them to marry again.
On the other hand, NJ. G. Labadie-
Lagrave, French writer, does not
think much of these statistics.
The conclusions arrived at" he
says, "seem to me very much exag-
gsrated. If 80 many widows are
unable to support the burden of
life, it is not chagrin at the loss of
their husbands which drives them
to commit suicide, but rather anx-
iety as to how they shall support
themselves and their children. And
it is very probable that the reason
Why they remain widows is not be-
cause they desire to remain true to
their husbands, but because they
cannot find men who are willing to
burden themselves with the sup
port of them and their children.