The San Francisco call., 1905-06-25
AMERICAN
MARRIAGES
PUREST
By Dorothy Fenimore.
Berlin. June 5.

Berlin. June s.
IN his comprehensive study OF "Ths
| Americans" Professor Munsterberg OF
Harvard has devoted chapter to the
social and economic position OF the
American woman, and the effect which
her influence Is likely to have upon the
matrimonial and intellectual institutions
of our country.
His observations are particularly inter
csting to one who is looking upon the
United States from afar, by the light Of
an older civilization.
Self-assertion he hnds to be the dom
fnant note of our American fernininity.
This self-assertion does not tend toward
simplicity and directness, however, as
one might expect, observing It's effect
upon masculinity, but instead toward
greater perplexity OF personality, toward
contradictions In feminine character
which grow Increasingly subtle and per-
picking.
The American girl receives an equal
school training with her brother. In col
lege she is taught TO look forward to
career or at least to an independent and
useful existence In which wtfehood and
motherhood may or may not play part.
When she marries she becomes her
husbands social representative, and en-
bodies before the world his financial
standing, his social power. and the In
tellectual status OF his home.
Out of this condition Of feminine dom
inatfon there arises a marriage relation
which Is purer than that indigenous to
European soil. The higher education OF
the American girl, and the environment
of her college life, give her moral
seriousness, a practical ability, and a
sense Of perspective in the everyday az
| fairs OF life which tend to exalt mar
riage by emphasizing its spiritual and
moral sides.
Even the number Of divorces In the
United States, which are so often quoted
| by foreigners evidence OF the in
ferior quality Of our domestic life. Is not
an unfavorable Indication, so far as
tional purity Is concerned, since In so
many cases the real motive for divorce.
however cloaked by legal technicalities.
Is highly ethical, springing from an un-
willingness of one or both parties to
continue in q relationship that Is no
/ longer spiritually congenial
| In yet another respect Is the American
marriage purer than the European Pro-
/ fessor Munsterberg declares IL lacks the
\ commercial element With US q man
marries a woman for human reasons and
not for the sake OF her dowry or for
social advantage. This idea, which the
whole nation shares, makes OF marriage
a highly moral relationship
Yet, granting all this to be true, says
| our critic admitting that the American
woman has contributed to the purity and
exaltation Of marriage by her intellectual
| superiority and her social and economic
/ power, has she not at the same time
learned much which tends TO disorganize
marriage, the home. the family and the
| State?
Compare American life with that Of
/ Germany, where women are gradually
being given greater oportunitpies for edu-
cation and economic Independence, and
we find mis- difference in motives, which
| furnishes a good basis for argument on
| the question: while there Is desire IN
/ the former country to protect marriage,
| IL is not presupposed that woman's high
est good lies in the marriage relation.
| The Improvement of marriage Is under
| taken for the betterment OF the in
/ dividual.
! In Germany, on the other hand, wom-
an is given greater advantages than
she has hitherto enjoyed that she may
fulfill more competently her natural
destiny. The Improvement OF the indi-
vidual is undertaken for the betterment
/ of marriage.