The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1905-04-14
AMAZING NUMBER
OF CHILD WIVES
Many Immigrant, Girls Marry
at an Exceedingly Young
Age.
BEAUTY FA0Es EARLY
chicago Crusade Reveals Facts Tha.
startlc Many Sociolos'st-whols-
sale Importation Of Wives
Arouses the otfiotals.

ArouS the OttictalS.
Washington Times, \ crusade against
the marriage OF children by the con
pulsory education department in Chi.
cago is bringing To light II deplorable
condition OF affairs in the dis
tricts of the great city. particularly in
the Italian n Siciiian settlements
There are thousands of child wives. and
the last census shows hat there are
all husbands not over IL years old.
! EARLY marriages-by which is meant
the marriage OF girls under is wears OF
age and men under Glare IL relic OF
barbariSm. The foreign element which
is pouring INTO this country from south
ern Europe clings 10 this ancient Gus
tom, though for the most part ii is only
the girls who marry very young,
tnGoibtedty the women OF the oun
tries Of southern Europe mature much
earlier than do those OF America and
other northern countries. Whether OF
not his early maturity is due TO eli
matte Influences or to racial tendencies
is a question that has been much dis
cussed. However that may be. the inn
migrants to this country from the
south of Europe continue 10 marry their
girls at an age which to Americans
seems criminally young. Many emf
nent sociologiSts ara strongly opposed
TO this, maintaining that the custom OF
early ENTHUSIASTICALLY those in
which young girls becomes wives-is
~un-A,nerican and has II tendency to de
t%eriorate the alien races which have
made This country their home.
Beauty Fades Early.
In Italy it is the custom for girls to
marry at from Il to ~ years of age.
The Italian women are in the full
bloom OF maturity from Ia TO ~. When
she has reached the age of ~ the vol
uptuous beauty of the Italian woman
begins to AIDE
The crusade which Is being carried
on is the result OF some startling dis
~coNeries made by Superintendent w. i.
Bodine. of the compulsory education de-
partnent OF Chicago. Within the past
six weeks superintendent Bodine dis
covered and prevented the marriage of
three young Italian girls whose school
records showed them TO be under the
legal age for marrying. In the course
of his Investigations into these cases
superintendent Bodine found evidence
that the practice of marrying girls UNI
der the age OF IA was extremely prev
alent in the Italian and Sicilian quar-
terS of the city. He at once decided
that. as there appeared no other sui,
tlclent means to prevent The continue
INC ol tiS CUSTOM, lie NoIilU enforce
the compulsory education laws, no mat
ter whether the child amenable to them
was a vita or not.
Starts Fight Against Cupid.
In support of his deterrnlna.lor
Superintendent Rodine started a trust
ed truant officer. an Italian, with .
force of others, into the tenement dis
trlcts OF the river wards to make q
house to house search for child wives
or girls who We're being harborcd With
cut being sent TO school for tho pul-
pose of making some c~ountrynan a
desirable young wife.
There is no other way that | know
said Superintendent Bodine. TO dis
cover how many of these child wives
there are in certain districts of Chi
caso. Some time ago | became con-
Ninced that the practice was Very com
mon in the tenement districts. | made
the assertion that many of the Italian
tenements were filled With extremely
young girls who had contracted mar
riages. have Watched the conditions
closely since and have made severa
investigations. and all that | have dis
covered has been in support of my
opinion We are now conducting =
house to house canvass to discover as
many as we can. 1t is Il Very di4icult
task. but the only means We have is to
send an officer to the houses. He
takes a chance of DIN of the young
girls who come under our jurisdiction
opening the door or of getting :
glimpse of them. Then We cam hau
them into court and the burden o
proof that they are ~pver the legal age
for attending schoolSlies with them OF
their parents or guardians.
e%vadins the Law.
We are finding them q very war,
lot. This is the way they try to foo
us The superintendent presented /:
passport for inspection. 1t was issueo
to g young Italian girl whose marriage
Superintendent Bodine has recentl,
prevented. In the column showing tho
age of the girl an evident erasure aut
alteration had been made to how tina
the girl was 10 years old. The appear.
ancc of the alteration indicated tina
the original figure >. which would shou
the 6 as Il years, had been altered
at 3. The evidence of The erasur,
could be noted without the aid of /;
glass. and the style of letter made wa.
entirely different from any other fig.
ure S appearing in the passport.
The Italian consul has interested
himself in this case because of TIL
alteration of the passport. and troubl,
is likely TO follow for the fond pap;
of the young girl who was to have beef
married. but was not.
Superintendent Bodine old of
case in which an Italian had worked
pretty scheme to get his family t,
America from italy. He had come t,
this country sore time before. leavin,
his wife and children in their old HON,
TO await the time that he could carr
enough to SEND for them. He came t,
Chicago and made the acquaintance %
Il countryman who wanted a Wife. j
is said that the average Italian prefer
not only a young wife, but one VIII,
comes In her freshness and purity fron
sunny Italy itself.
There are plenty of young italian
girls in Chicago that / could have mar
ried," Superintendent Bodine quote
one of the men whose marriage to al
imporied Italian girl he prevented, blu
l would not. | don't want any gil
reared in Chicago for a Wife,
This was the LothaIio whom the ia
tl,el referred to above met shortly afte
his arrival in Chicago. The country
Il who wanted Il Wife dilect fror
Italy was willing to pay not only he
transportation but that of the othe
members of the family to America
that he might rave the 12-ycar-old gil
for his Wife. The bargain vas mad
and sealed and the family sent fol
They arrived. but the wedding has no
yet taken place.
Wholesale Importation of Wives.
1t is such conditions that hav
-,,,-r. tt,. =, 49, -, 80 ~, - al, l.. .