The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-22
A BooK THAT IS pAvcrnoUs,


 Mrs. Herbert Parsons has written a rather remarkable book. entitled "The Family which is just now very much in the lime-iiGht She is a daughter of Henry clews. the big New York bank CT. and wife of Congressman Parsons. of New York. We aiiude to these re- latianships tS show that she is a per- sonags of importanee. which fact gives weight to her book.
 <. To be brief, Mrs Parsons in her book advocates what sne calls "trial ,marriages," or what might otherwise be spoken of as experimental marital relationships. In other words, her idea Is that g man. and woman shall be aT- lowed to enter into a marriage contract for a limited period, the continuance of the marital relation to be optional with the contracting parties. At the end of the period agreed on tho par ties are to be- free to separate and to enter into other contracts of the same kind. To be brutaly, but truth- fully plain, she advocates man and woman living together without sanc- tion of law or the church,
 It is difficult to imagine any woman in civilized land openly advocating ssRch gross immoralttys II is impossf- ble to think of any really good woman even excusing such a life, much less advocating 1t publicly. or all human institutions marriage is the most sa- cred. Mere properly we may speak of 1t as q divine institution. for all through the Bible we find mention Of marriages as something sacred, and of fornication as one of the sins against which, the people were warned. When the Savior attended the marriage in Cana of Gaiilee, where He performed his first miracle, we may be assured that 1t was a marriage according to the laws of the land or the fequire- snlants zoS the shNFchs.or ef both. or He would not have honprea inc occasion bx Hiss preseness Npt only hx sprecept Autepy attendalee dla hs ircsicate the sanetitY lof the masriase relation.
 sficood people lof all lands look with disfayorso on the savage fashion of com ing together, but even the savages have some form of marriage, ceremony and some of them, at feast. are faithful to the. contract Christian people without reference to creed denounce the harems and concubinage of the semi-elsiIized countries. and view with condemna- tion ths Mormon plan of plural mar riages, all of which tend to lower wo- manhood and to degrade humanity. Adultery and fornication are not only Grimes in the eye of the law but are looked on as sins fin the eyes of God, Io be avoided, candem1sd ana punished. y But the teachings pr Mrs. Parsons. laFe worse than any cf these. The un- uttered savage follows the habits and customs of ahis people. The almost savage Turk can go back to the time of Solomon for a precedent for cOncu- binage. The Mormoff defends plural marriage by authority of the founder of his faith, and so all of them find a defence for their acts. Mrs. Parsons can plead no such defence for her plan. she would degrade marriage to a mere maatss eshtract Woman would be tn E Ereafest sufferer because in our ac6eptea code of ethics the woman is more .disgraced by illegal associations than the man la. If the theory of Mrs. Parsons should become a matter of uni- versal practice the womanhood of the land would be degraded beyond repara- tion. And when we reflect that if her doctrine should be universally followed the country would be filled with chil- dren with no legal parentage; that in time the population would universally of the degrading and brutalizing re- suits that would follow her theory. It is no wonder, that the churches and the ministers all over the land are1denoanelng theaboola and that good people everywhere are joining in it's cCndemnation as a teacher of shameless violation Of ahumansand divine law. The divorce evil tn this. country is a source of much and deserved complaint, but bad as 1t Is the other would be infln- itely worse. Divorces are granted un- der the forms of law, but Mrs. Par" sons would have no law for either marriage or divorce. She is teaching free love, simply that and nothing more, and is not o:be wondered at that her book has raised storm of indignant protest, all overo,the land, ford Is a teacher. of iniauity: and an advocate of social serrpsuop- We arc always ready to stand up for freedom of speech and of the press. but we doubt if such a book should be allowed to circulate and be read by the younger generation. Its teachings are vile and its influence can but be dangerous and corrupting. SUGGESTIVE LANGUAGE. r,a. -,,o,e,astt,,a hut tborouu-1Iv dacank