The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-11-04

required of him.
ment of the age is observed. women
| generally make better matches
I consider a man has reached the
age of discretion between the years of
20 and 20"
Offspring May Be Puny.
] DR.. w. +. Beer: 1T is generally true
that women are more apt TO be fixed
! in their tastes and inciinations, and
I less tickle in al matters, after they
( have reached the age Of %. Matrimony,
! it appears to me, may be entered into
/ by girls to the best advantage between
! the ages of 20 and %, while the men
may safely wait until they are past
! the latter figure; this for the reason
! that women mature ,more quickly than
| the members of the opposite sex.
While l have not made close OBJ
! servations in the past with a view to-
/ ward determining the relative physical
and mental capacities of children of
early and of later unions. l can recall
| several cases where in body at least
the former were not what they should
be. The children l refer TO were born
Of parents who married in youth, and
they had come into the world with puny
little frames.'
DR.. A. c. Belle: From a physiolOg
zeal standpoint, a girl is certainly not
fitted at the age of IA for the duties
of married life. The age of maternity
and discretion does, not come to most
women before they are 20 years of
age. Before the age Of Is it is absO-
| lutely wrong for women TO enter into
matrimony. In the first place imma-
ture women are made prematurely old
through the cares of home and mother
| hood coming to them in early years It
is unwiSe that these cares should be
assumed until nature has in every way
qualified a woman.
While / am not prepared 70 say that
domestic unhappiness is actually
caused by too early marriage, it is my
judgment that men and women are able
to choose their mates more intelligently
after they have reached maturity. Let
the girls we'd at 20. the men at %.
Advises Early Marriage.
DR.. G. NJ Benedict: Should We adj
wise our boys and girls not to marry
under 21? Why certainly not our
girls aren't A great deal different in
my opinion. from those OF two genera
tons back. and in those days they
married at l., and even at To- No
| ideals Of home on womanhOod were
! overthrow then, and 1 think they are
/ just as safe now.
My observations would by no means
/ lead me to believe that the offspring
/ of those whose marriages came early
| in life are the inferior, either mentally
/ or physically. of children whose par
! ents welded in later years. I'll take
! chances on the baby of IS and 19-year-
! ol6s being as healthy, body and mind,
I as that of parents 40 years old.
/ If a young man is earning enough
1 at the age of 10 70 comfortably sup
/ port home. why let him choose a good
! girl IN my judgment. a man doesn
/ know what living is until he gets mar
ried. In semi tropical countries, where
/ both men and women mature more
I quickly. marriage naturally comes in
| comparative youth. There are no bad
! results, no degradation and no divorces.
! So, If some women mature in this eli
/ mate more quickly than is usual, il
! seems to me that there can be no logi-
| cal reason for opposing their mar
/ riage"
! DR.. z. V Silver: There is no doubt
/ that is is the lowest age at which
! girls should marry. because until then
! they cannot be fully developed men
| tally and physically. and prepared TO
assume the duties OF wifehood. I should
/ favor d law. such as is OBJ
! served in several European coun-
tries. making the lowest age
/ at which women may marry p.
and for men. % Girls cannot pos
! sibly be fitted for married life before
| Is. and in the majority of cases should
say y.
Let me also advise girls under no
conditions TO accept man who has
not life insurance for AZ least 81
0OO- My experience has been that in
many instances where death comes to
the head of the house privation and
actual suffering might be prevented
! had the husband carried am insur-
anee. Any good, regular company viii
do, and il is a duty that every hus-
band owes his wife. and a protection
which every wife should demand"
DR.. c. f. wilcox: Eighteen years
is certainly as early as the law should
permit women 10 we'd. whether they
! have the consent Of their parents or
not. Physiological and social reasons
for the marriage of women between
the ages OF y and %. and no earlier.
are TO he found in plenty. Women
cannot be fully matured before the age
of IS at least They cannot realize
let alone perform. the duties required
of wife and mother.
Let the girls marry anywhere be-
tween the ages of y and %. and any
tire after that they get a good chance
Men should choose some age between
the - and 20 uarks
Should Not Be in Hurry.
DR.. II. A. Anderson: youthful mar
risges are never happy marriages. I
use the word never advisedly. for il is
given to no other man 10 know the in
ner secrets of the family life as the
physician knows them. and if there are
exceptions | have not seen them.
Failure results from the fact that
the parties TO the contract enter upon
the new life. % with imperfectly de-
Neioped mental attributes. and % with
imperfectly developed bodies
Puppy love is like the measles. ev-
cry girl has It. but the after results
are more often beneficial than other
wise and that girl is most likely to