The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1905-04-13

prevail in all the larger cities. and SIM
liar Investigations to that in~augurated
his week by Superintendent Bodine are
being undertaken in New York and
elsewhere.
In speaking of the result of the inves-
LEGATIONS of his department. thus far
Mr.. Rodine says: The investigation
thus far shows the methods Of obtain
ing marriage licenses on the mere af-
dav Of the applicant, Unsupported by
proof OF the girls age by parental tes-
timony or church records places a pre-
MUM on child marriage and makes it
possible for children Of compulsory
school attendance age to marry il they
come direct from foreign countries and
are not enrolled in school.
"U~nSpeakable social conditions sur
rounding children in some homes have
also been unearthed. We have discov-
cred Il child Wife who is the mother of
tWo children at 16 years. A case of a
white-haired man from a country dis
trict of Illinois. Go years old, who mar
ried n Chicago girl of Is, was another
result OF our search of the records. In
stances of young girls being married
TO cloak relations between the husband
and mother of the young wife and hide
them from the girl wife's father have
been found by our special officers who
have been working in the italian and
Sicilian districts.
From what has already been dis
covered and which will soon be en-
bodied in Il detailed report wherein
startling statistics will be given it is
plain hat the laws of Illinois should
be amended to absolutely prohibit mar
riage of any girl under IS years of age
n require proof of age of every fe-
male between the ages of IS and q,
such proof to be submitted by sworn
testimony 81 parents or guardians,
church record, or some Notification
similar to the provision of the child la
Dor law, which prevents children of IL
iesai working from going to work.
Worst Form of Child Slavery.
There is no worse form of child
slavery than that Of a girl of fourteen
or fifteen years old becoming a child
wife to assume heavy household duties
and maternal cares. The present mar
rage laws make the practice of decep-
ton IN giving ages perfectly easy"
Clerk Salmonson, of the marriage Ii
cense bureau in Chicago, takes a more
optimistic view Of the situation than
does Superintendent Bodine. Clerk Sal
monson is proficient in the italian Ian
guage. He talks with applicants for
marriage licenses in their own tongues.
According to Mr.. Salnonson, marriages
OF girls of fourteen and fifteen are very
common, particularly among the Ital-
ians and Sicilians. He does not believe,
Ato"CNVi, llll llCIe ~ any great
amount of classifying as to the ages Of
these Girls.
If there is any such f~alsifying," said
Mr.. ~Sallnonson. 1t occurs in the cases
of girls of fourteen or fifteen, whose in
tended husbands swear that they are
sixteen or so years Of age. The Italians
are not al Mahas," added the marriage
license man. 1T is the custom of their
country, as of many other countries of
Europe. that the girls marry young. In
Italy everything connected with mar
rlage OF a maj and a woman is more
open than it is here. There are notaries
on the streets, and to these application
is made for permission to we'd. The
names of the prospective bride and
bridegroom are given to the notary,
who writes them down. He gives the
applicants a paper, which they take to
the magistrate, who performs the civil
marriage. After the civil marriage
comes the solemnization by the church.
Mr.. Salnlonson admits that there is
every opportunity in the present system
of lcgalizing marriages for classifying
without discovery. He does not believe,
however. that this is often done.
Hugo Glosser, the city statistician
of Chicago, has taken a great deal of
interest in the study Of this, as well as
other sociological problems. He ]inclines
distinctly toward a championship of
early marriages of girls of Italian, ST.
Gillian, and other races where the wom-
Ell mature at an early age.
Champions Early Marriages.
1T is the custom of such countries as
Italy, Sicily, Poland, Bohemia, and
parts of many other countries for wonl-
en- to marry at an early age. Most
of the Slav races mature early, as do
the Latin races. / do not believe that
climatic conditions have anything to do
with this early development. 1t is
purely Il matter of race. 1t is true, row.
ever, that in the southern part of Ger
many the women mature much earlier
thai they do in the northern portions.
Those who object to early marriages
do so usually on the ground that they
are detrimental to the health of the
women and their progeny. | "
known may cases of women who mar
ried at very early ages and who raised
large families of children, performed all
the duties of a good housewife and lived
to a ripe old age enjoying the best of
health. In support of the contention
that such marriages are not detri-
mental | can cite the case of my own
grandmother. She was married in
Germany when she was fourteen years
old. She bore and reared nine children
and lived to be seventy years old and
enjoyed during her entire life the very
best of health. Instead of being q
detrinlent, l believe that in such in
stances of races Who's women mature
at an early age they are a benefit and
serve to promote morality.
Worse Influences Than Marriage.
II be sure continued Mr.. Grosser,
"the idea Of an early marriage for ones
own daughter is repugnant. Americans
with daughters generally dislike to
think of their marriage until they have
reached at least the age Of eighteen.
And yet, l believe that most of those
who would dislike, as a general thing.
to have their daughters marry young
would prefer a marriage at say four
teen to other alternatives that suggest
themselves. And this being true of
American parents, as / believe it is,
how much more reasonable is the atti-
tude of parents anon races where
women mature much earlier thai is the
case With Americans n are thus
earlier susceptible to influences That
are far: worse than early marriages"
Mr.. Grosser is skeptical of the state
ment that there are thousands of child
wives under the age of fourteen in Chi
cago. 1T is a most difficult thing about
which to secure statisticsztha would
have the least weight. they cannot