The San Francisco call., 1896-04-20
MARRIAGE As A FAILURE
Argument of Morrison Swift in a
Sunday Night Lee
ture.
It Is an Institution That Must Surely
Give Way Before the Law
of Change.

Marriage" was the theme of Morrison
Swift's lecture before the Socialist Society
that meets in Kohler & Chase Hall on
Sunday evenings. He would have none
OF it-that is to say, "marriage."
1.-THE conception of evolution" said the
speaker, "has taught US that we may hope
for improvement in everything. Change
is the law, and the most abiding things
that we are familiar with will change.
We value what we have because it attains
in measure what the new process that
will take its place will obtain better. We
can tie to nothing, and we must deliver
our minds from attachment to persistent
folms.
"One of the most revered institu-
tions of civilized life, in theory, is
he famiIy-one man welded to one
woman through life and death, with
children growing about them. The ideal
may range wide within this conception,
but it loses its ideal character if it ventures
beyond. 1t has not concerned us that this
lnfiexible marriage system causes many
Individuals suffering. To marry once and
only once-to separate by divorce. un-
der no circumstanceS-one party thinks
almost the summit of the ideal, but it
places another course a little higher, the
entire abstention from marriage, and es-
tccIllS tltS uuOTG SOOly anu ROQllke.
"Out of the Catholic church there are
those who acknowledge the sometime de-
STABILITY of divorce, but their edict is that
the divorced persons must never again
marry, and some of this class discrimi-
nate against "a divorced woman from what
| ever cause, holding her to be tainted by
that act or marked as one who from the
beginning was wrong. And provided the
wrong was wholly on her husbands side
the majesty OF marriage requires her to be
| made an example of and virtually ex-
cluded from good company as a warning
to actual wrongdoers who might contem-
| plate divorce. 1t is better TO ruin the
lives of few wemen than to lower the
| ideal and degrade society.
I'VE are still in the period of laws, alb
| stract, universal, immutable. We care for
| the law, not so much for the consequences
Or If we care for the consequences we
| think they depend upon the certainty and
sterness OF the law in its application to
all alike.
when we test the civilized marriage
| system by its effect upon lives we see that
it has not an altogether immaculate rec
| ord. The life association of single pair
| is defe nded because it secures permanent
| family, provides best for the children and
develops higher kind of affection than
any other relation could. All that can be
| legitimately said of our form of m arriage
Is GuAC CuTOugu III the race mas aCtalneQ eS-
| timable and better results than it had pre-
| viously done.
at is the latest form and in its conse-
auences the best so far. 1t is not necessa-
riiv the last form nor the best form, unless
evolution has stopped. A very great error
| is to suppose that form or relation which
has existed among inferior races in past
| thereby in itself condemned and is the
cause of the inferiority of these results.
The results are low because races are low.
! Falling away from any custom that we
| have always seems to superficial minds
| falling back"
The speaker touched upon the question
| of children, declaring that the family re-
| lation hampered and contracted them. He
| pleaded for the independence ofwomen and
| for the freedom of both men and women
| from the yoke of the married state where
| the relation was unhappy to either or both.