The San Francisco call., 1903-12-07
4 N1omdn's Vie7pPoint.
BY CAuss) DORA MAY MORRELL-
c.----tol,t rans by Tosfnh B. BoWles.


they prefer 70 keep their individuality,
as they cannot If they wed. They do
not care. to change their entire scheme
Of living 10 suit some man. They are
selfish? Perhaps. but at least they
make no one else the victim Of their
fault.
The law IN many States so discrim-
mates against woman that. it is an ar
gument against marrying TO those who
know anything about it. The man,
generous fellow, says at his wedding,
With all my worldly goods / thee
endow." and the wife who believes it
finds to her surprise that so far from
being the recipient Of all his worldly
goods he owns even the garments she
wears. The woman who sees her as
sistants salary drawn by the worth
less husband with whom she viii not
live. but who can live on her earn
ings, is not likely to think well Of
condition which permits the injustice;
she who reads Of a child willed away
from its mother for no better reason
than the malice Of an angry husband
is likely to deliberate a little, for il na-
thing. IL is that the child is the moth
er's When the law gives children TO
their mothers il viii do much TO make
women wish 10 marry and to become
mothers. It may seen doubtful if these
points in the law would keep any
woman from marrying, but they have.
It is true that woman loves her free
dom. perhaps the more that it is so
new TO her. She realizes as no man
can the blessings which have been his
for ages to work as he viii and climb
where daring leads, and she longs to
work. too, and to climb. to make her
self something to the big world, and
even more TO that little circle which is
her world. She loves the possibility Of
this power so well that she viii not
resign il for an unworthy claimant
Women have so long been forgiving
10 mans infidelities that it may be sur
prising 10 be told that they have kept
women from marrying, yet the state
ment is true. There are women who
have what is called instructive virtue
and who have no comprehension and
can have none Of the average mans
point Of view. To such a one it is mon
strOus that a man can be untrue TO her
before marriage as after. She knows
no reason why he more than she should
seek Illicit pleasures, and when she
learns that he has such a wave of dis
gust sweeps over her that it carries
him as far away from her as if he had
never lived. such women are not so
rare as once they were, and in this is
the explanation Of many a marriage
woman sometimes forgives because she
loves much, but she no more continues
10 love in the same way than does the
man who forgives the woman who has
wronged him. AS her sense Of justice
and Of personality develop in the COM
ing years she will forgive less readily.
There are always In womanly women
two motives for marriage strong with
in them, and IL is often an actual pain
10 act counter to them. First of all is
the desire for children. After a woman
has reached 30 years. unless she is a
shallow creature, she regrets that she
does not know motherhood. Something
says to her palmer than any person
can that in missing this highest glory
Of womanhoOd she has lost more than
she can gain There is an aching in her
heart which nothing stills and for
which petting Of animals and other
peoples children is a poor substitute.
Then another inducement to the
self-supporting woman toward mat
rimony is the desire to belong to
somebody. II is not that she wants
a home Of her own-she has it as
the fruit Of her labors and the in
dependence for which she pays the
price: il is not even for the sake of
mans society. for that. too, she has
II she is a woman of intelligence and
womanliness; she finds men enough
for companions; it is not that she
wants to be supported-quite the con-
trary-prObably she has earned her
own money so long and spent il so
freely that she would be somewhat
awkward about using any other per-
sons The influence that draws her
is simply the desire or the need TO
have an owner Of herself, some one
to whom she is Of the greatest i'm
portance. Perhaps the instinct is
merely a survival from the primitive
days when the woman without her
master and his club was an abnormal
product
These two influences within
womankind fight for man, and either
or both is often stronger than her
pleasure in her work, her love OF
independence and all the reasons
combined which keep her single.
Then weigh the balance yet more
with a man whom she admires, hon.
ors and loves. and there is but one
reason why woman does not marry
she cannot. Therefore, If man wishes
the data concerning matrimony and
educated women 10 change he has
simply TO make himself the man
whom a woman Of mind heart and
character will desire. and surely il
is better to be chosen as a fine type
Of higher manhood than as the payer
of bills. The man, not his money,
IS the compliment such a woman
pays him when she ceases to be the
woman who does not wish to marry.
Let there be more men Of that stamp