The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1903-05-28

that We take more practical,
a more sensible view Of life; that we
have jettisoned nearly all those silly,
artificial conventions by which the
Victorian woman set so much store, no
candid observer will deny.
Yet, even now, some Of the aforesaid
silly conventions still survive, and one,
the silliest of all; mean the relation
of woman to man In the preliminaries
which lead, through courtship, to we'd
lock.
Nearly forty years ago Darwin
startled the old wives of his day by
exploding upon them, as a bombshell,
his novel theory of natural selection.
/. too, In my smaller way have startled
some old wives of my generation by
torpedOing them, so to speak, with
my novel theory of matrimonial selec-
ton. But l must tell you all about
that theory; why 1 formed It, and how
! carried it into practical effect.
First, then, as to why formed It. l
had not been "out' many months
when It occurred to me to inquire into
the reason OF the absurd custom by
which the right OF selection and pro-
posal lies exclusively with the man; to
ask myself wh- it was that he should
be free TO pick and choose, whereas
she-his equal in many things and his
superior in most-should have to con-
tent herself with being picked and
chosen. And when l came to look
into the point-to inquire the "why" of
II, I discovered that there was no
"why," but that 1t was merely a mean
ingless conyention-an empty custom,
existing because 1t existed and OBJ
served because people were foolish
enough to observe II. Nay, It was
more than meaningless-it was rotten,
II was ubiquitous. If marriage means
anything to either party "a point, per-
haps, open to discussion, upon which
will not here EMBARK, It means more
to the woman than to the man. To
him tits but an incident, to her II is n
career; to him tbs still the same old
tune, with variations; to her tits
brand new piece that has to be learned
and studied alb initio. OF this fact the
name process is emblematical. Let
him be Mr., Smith, let her be Miss
Jones. They marry. What Of him?
He remains Mr. Smith to the end Of
the chapter. What Of her? Her
"Miss" becomes forthwith converted
into Mrs" her Zones" transformed
into Smith" Her former name and
style know her no more. In one word,
he is the absorber, she the absorbed.
Now to be absorbed the process Of
absorption is far more momentous than
to the absorber. That is automatic.
1t therefore follows that IL either one
has n greater liberty than the other in
the field of selection, that one should
be the woman. But In practically
most absurd conventlon--things are
precisely the reverse. Man, the alb.
sorber, can select and propose to any
number he likes Of the whole fair sex.
Woman, the absorbed Is limited in her
choice to just those few men that may
see fit to propose. While he has thou
sands to pick from, she has only units;
and those frequently the wrong units.
That is the worst OF IT, She may see
the man who is just suited to her;
whom she knows she could make hap |
pier than any other woman could; who
would, in word be the ideal mate
for her. But he Is not among those
who have proposed to her. Therefore,
he is not within practical politics. She |
marries some one else as a pis aller.
But the reformer who doesn't begin |
by adopting in practice his own doc
trines is no true reformer. He is
quack, n charlatan, a humbug. l am
not that sort. Ny MOTTO like STRAIT
ford's, has always been Thorough"
"As a first STEP" says l to myself,
"toward transferring into woman's
hands the initiative in matrimonial
selection, l win exercise that initiative
myself. Others, when they see my
success, will follow my example; and
soon the benlghted custom by which
my sex are treated as mere passive
proposes will have been relegated to
the limbo of exploded fallacies."
first mentioned my resolve to man.
ma. 1 did not expect support from
the amiable but obsolete old dear; and
I certainly did not get 1t. Mamma
was aghast. Her hair almost stood on |
end; or, rather, 1t would have stood on
end had it been hers to do so. 1 did
not mind mammals displeasure, how
ever. Was 1t not the fate of all re-
formers to be misunderstood, abused,
derided by their own families? Be-
sides, was l to be turned aside from
my high emprise by mere outburst |