Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-30

ne would make certain changes In
filial matters. On being asked to be
more explicit, he said: 81 would like to
see the time when fathers and mothers
especially mothers, would assume a
more or less Indifferent attitude toward
their children the moment they get
married. At present In ninety-nine
cases out of every hundred the mother
or father (but generally the former)
makes life miserable not only for the
stranger" as the average son OF
daughter-ln-law Is generally regarded,
but for their own son or daughter.
Not having had very much experience
with matrimonial affairs myself could
not very well disagree with him; there
fore, as a matter of courtesy, L only
nodded my head as a sympathetic sign
of approval.
That brings up the question: Why
are parents, especially mothers, in
tensely Jealous of sons and daughters
in-law? The only answer 1 can think
of is because of bad mental training.
Parents generally enjoy the society of
their children during the period when
the latter are most interesting, hence
the absence occasioned by marriage
prompts the formers hearts to grow
fonder. Tha3 is one way of explaining
the difficulty. The real truth is that
parents are 10th to part with their
children for selfish reasons, EXPIRE ssed
and suppressed. The motives expressed
may be, anG sometimes are, plausible,
but there Is only one important sup
pressed motive, namely, the right of
ownership in and exclusive society of
the son or daughter who passes out OF
the parents jurisdiction.
In the whole kingdom Of animal life
man is the only creature who clings to
his offspring as If they were his own,
and nature had nothing whatever to
do either with their existence or well
fare. Man presumes that the children
exist for his own special comfort and
pleasure; whereas the reverse is true
that is, children are created for the
benefit of the universe and not for the
benefit of their parents.
Among animals lower on the stage of
evolution than man, the moment Off
spring are of mature age and capable
of taking care of themselves, their par
ents force them into the universal
arena to struggle for existence. Ami
mails other than man know from in
stinct that self dependence Of their Off
spring Is more conducive to the latters
wellbeing than dependence. Man, on
the other hand, never wants to let go
of his offspring not so much because
the average child when reaching ma
turity is able to materially help his or
her parents (although that is quite an
item), but because of perverted state
of mind, viz: the desire to own and
possess-to dictate, which constitutes
Selfishness.
If parents were aware to what ex-
tent they themselves are responsible
for the fiourishing condition of the di-
vorce courts; if they knew that their
conscious or unconscious officiousness
is responsible for the breaking up of
some of the happiest homes; if they
stopped to reason to what extent their
attitude, not alone toward the
stranger" but their own child, is in
consistent with natural laws; if they
would only think of their own bitter
through tn ordeal, they would be more
considerate and more tolerant when
ever son takes unto himself a wife
or a daughter takes a husband
1t is generally said that marriage is
a lottery; and while popular sayings
are not commonly based on facts, and
hence do not involve any degree of
truth, yet one cannot help seeing the
great number of matrimonial blanks
men and women are daily drawing
from the universal wheel containing
human chances. Some matrimonial
blanks are due to physiological causes;
others are due to financial causes;
others to mental, and so on. But when
we add to these the number that are
due to parental anxiety and officious-
ness, who can wonder that so many
marriages are failures, nay, that they
are not nearly all failures?
There is yet another popular saying
that involves a tolerable degree of
truth: namely, that no house is large
enough for two families, and it does
not matter whether the size of the
house Is co-extensive with the limits
of a city ever so large In other words,
only in few cases may parents and
their married children safely live in the
same city, without any probability that
the former Will break up the latter's
homes. In the majority of cases, on
the other hand, and especially when
there is only one child, be it son or
daughter, it is never safe for him or
her to live in the same city in which
the parents live. Distance is the only
antidote know of which prevents par
ents from poisoning the minds of their
married children.
Many people will hail the incoming of
the new year with much Joy, more
especially because the new food and
drug law will be come operative. The
new food and drug law, commonly
hNHO"ll dS Ile pure 1000 law, cOmpelS
manufacturers to give the ingredients
which entered into the manufacture of
articles they or their agents offer for
sale. The labels on the containers must
not misrepresent the actual contents,
be they Is or drugs. The penalties
that are provided by law are very
severe, hence any manufacturer who
will be inclined to arouse the ire of our
Uncle Sam must not regret the conse-
quences, for he has been sufficiently
warned that our dear uncle will not
accept excuses, nor will be brook the
least infraction of the law.
That reminds me of the scenes wit
messed daily on the retail business
streets of any large city. Ladies by the
score, single and married ones (me-
thinks that the latter predominant,
God bless them) march up and down,
up and down again, gazing into the
shop windows for hours with no ap-
parent intent to buy, but merely as a
matter of curiosity. Some of course
venture into the seductive shops and in
quire how much this, that or the other
article costs, and Few actually buy
few trlnkets with which they could Just
as we'll dispense.