The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-05-22
STATE REGULATION
or MARRIAGE.


Ch8G&ro Is trying 70 s., law passed
Gorb:dalaS ne issuing Of any marriage
oo~o@e without 3 physicians cerii11-
safe ~ health attached 30 il. and 10
this END have prepared "a petition 70
P-ss.ae.a Roosevelt asking his cooper
zaor 50 their endesvor 70 secure The
ests 5..sa.uent of federal bureau 70
teach al. citizens the ideal possibility
Of marriage.
Th.s is a worthy and enlightened
movement. but il is destined 10 fail
ure. Tor one thing. The Pres dent
wiz lend il neither aid nor support
He is as is well known. ali for boom
ing our infant industries, auc any sle-
gesrion Of putting proh-oltorT tariH
OF matrimony VIII fnd no favor in his
eyes, and. for another taug The gen
eral public would hght such "a LAW
10 the death, for il - The proG-@s
boast Of Americans that anybody gan
get married in TINS country. Among our
free institutions none is SO free As t1e
holy estate Of WedloCk. and among Inc
libert les that no American VIII NoiuA-
i4rily surrender is The right TO gel
married whether ne Is lame. hiatt o.
blind. or can supper, d wife OF not
Important as the subject Of the state
regulation Of marriage IS TO ALL II Is
e matter in which women are Nltat4y
interested. for between death ana Gil
vorc@ there Is no telling when even a
married woman may need 10 get an
other husband and anything ihai
threatens 10 Cut down the aFaiIaoIt
supply Of marriaEe bic men = worthy
a her serious consideration IN these
days Of under production o. men ana
over production Of women il is no easy
thing TO catch any sort Of a husband
ana Il this small number is 10 De
weeded out-if dTunkards. ana Inc
cranks. and the cigarette fiends. ana
the physically unit. are 10 be thrown
QUIT plainly reduces q girls chances
10 zero. OF course. the few women
who DO get a husband with physl-
cans certificate attached 10 him stat
ing that he is sound in wind and limb
and temper. viii draw capital prizes
IN the matrimonial lottery, but IL Is 10
be feared that the majority, Of women
would prefer a second rate consolation
prize 10 no prize al all.
Testing aside, however, there is no
other subjects so well worthy Of con-
&
marriage Pathologically speaking. il
would usher in the millennium If only
disea sed people could be prevented
from marrying Insanity would be
stamped out. Idiocy would be pre-
vented. Consumption scrofula and
epilepsy would decline. and. in time,
every human being would come into
his Tightful heritage Of being born
with sound mind in q sound body
~ ar. "A "A
SO appalling, and so fraught with pa
thos as that Of the millions Of de-
formed and sickly children whose par
ents bequeath them nothing else but
disease and death. Nothing can atone
for the crime that unhealthy people
commit against the individual child
they bring into the world by marriage
and against society, and anything that
viii tend TO lessen il, or even arouse
the public conscience on the subject
is q blessing to humanity.
No one viii deny the advantage 10
posterity it would be if only the
healthy were permitted TO marry. but
some viii say that in forbidding the
siekly 10 marry we demand that they
pay too high a price, and ask with
Arfemus Ward. what posterity has ever
done for Us that We should sacrifice
ourselves for it2 Oceans of argu-
meEIs and mountains OF facts would
not convince two young people who
happened 10 be in love with each other
that they ought not TO marry because
they were unfortunate enough to in
herit some terribly mental malady or
physical disease. yet if we look al the
matter practically instead OF senti-
mentally, and after al there comes a
time when every romance gets down
70 the hard, prosaic facts Of every day
life, we shall see that if the unfit could
be prevented from marrying il would
make just as much fer present hap
piness as IL would for the future good
Of the race.
II Algernon were prevented from
marrying Maud because he was a
orunkard. or the state refused 10 grant
Gustavus a license 10 we'd Evelina be-
cause she had incipient tuberculosis
these young people would consider
themselves cruelty misused. and talk
tearfully Of broken hearts. and blight
ed lives, and the balance of Us would
weep sympathetically on their necks
and join with them in bewailing their
cruel fate
In reality. we should save our tears
for those that no benevolent paternal
government prevents from marrying
drunksrds and invalids. It's the women
who are making Kelley Cures Of them
selves. and the men who are tied down
10 sickly wives who deserve our pity.
This is saying nothing OF that tragedy
OF tragedies, when in the rickety and
oeformed body Of her child the mother
sees the heritage of the fathers vices.
or when the father mas to stand by and
watch the child that is the heart Of his
heart fade away and die because the
mother has bequeathed to il weakness
and disease. instead of health and
strength. The children are the most
important result Of every marriage, but
We are leaving them out now, and con-
sidering only the man and woman
themselves.
The trouble Is that marriages. like
other things In life, have a way OF
working out differently from the way
one expected them 10. When a cir
who falls il love and marries a dissi-
pated man. thinks of the future She
doesn't see herself dragged down L
poverty. a hollow-eYed. anxious WON.
an. getting up in the night 10 open the
door for a maudlin man. Still less does
she see herself the mother Of sickly lit.
tie children She imagines herself, by
virtue Of that beautiful wifely infiu.
ence Of which we hear so much and see
so little, leading him up 10 the higher
life. and it lis this picture Of herself as
a guardian angel that makes her rust
into taking a step that she spends tht
balance OF her life in repenting. w,