The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1906-11-24
TRIAL MARRIAGE.

TRIAL MARRIAGE.
. Mrs. Herbert Parsons, the wife of a
New York Congressman, has written
book in which she advocates trial
marriages" The matter Is important
only BECAUSE ct the prominence Of the
writer. 1t is one of the most indecent
productions that has appeared III re-
cent years. 1t is contrary to all re-
ligion; all human law and human ex-
perience. It repudiates the teachings
of the Saviour and holds valueless the
work of centuries Of civilization i.
must be that the writer is one of those
superficial persons who, having a slnat-
tering OF what is called education and
culture, ilnagines that she has dis
covered some new and great principle.
Because she is socially conspicuous
her foolish utterances have attracted
attention. There is one way of en-
planning the people who from time to
time advance absurd or shocking ideas.
They have 10 sense or knowledge OF
the processes which have built up the
institutions that they would at ona
stroke destroy. This young woman,
who is the daughter of Henry Clews.
the financier. may have found that
the state OF natrimony does not meet
the wild fancies Of her glrlhood, and
she imagines that it is her mission to
overthrow it. Not knowing the his
tory Of civilization and having no con-
ception Of the stages through which
man has PASSED TO reach the state in
which he now finds himself, this young
woman imagfhes that she can do away
with the work Of three thousand years.
She fails to see the humor that exists
in comparing the thoughts Of her adj
venturous little brain with the ex-
periences of all mankind during the
Christian era and before. The insti-
tuition of marriage was not established
by vote Of the people at some recent
election. The marriage relation is not
what it is because Of any organized ef-
fort on the part of men and women.
1t exists because it has the approval
of the Saviour who led men and wo-
men from slavery into freedom. 1t
exists because it has demonstrated to
the human race that it is necessary
for the safety and happiness Of man.
kind.
Perhaps Mrs. Parsons does not know
that the marriage for a period which
she advocates was the precise system
which was in vogue before Christ
ianity came into the world. Perhaps
she never read that 1t was the practice
Of barbarous, peoples where might was
the only law, and where each individ-
ual was hiss own protector. Perhaps
she does not even know that it is only
in recent years that womankind has
thrown off the last remnant of the
slavery to which she was subjected be-
fore the Christian institution of mar
riage came into the world. The sys-
tenn advocated by Mrs. Parsons is
successive polygamy instead of con-
current and it is easily seen that the
old form Of polygamy in which the
man was responsible for the keeping
of his numerous wives is preferable to
the system where he is responsible for
only one at q. time. The world long
since outgrew the system Of probation
marriage" 1t will not turn back be-
cause a misguided person here and
there prefers a system that was tried
centuries ago. There was a time when
a man took a woman to wife and IL
he got tired Of her could send her
home provided only he returned her
dowry. The New York woman who is
advocating-:a sort Of communism is
advocating socialism-the economic
communism that was prevalent in the
world when men were barbarous. The
men and women who are advocating
the revival; of barbarous methods in
the social and economic world are
powerless to turn the world backward.
They are Interesting only because they
make themselves ridiculous. The d.
vorce system allows probationary mar
.riases ina sense. The tendency now
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