The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-07
AxorHEn CRANK AT LARGE.

new crop IS C0nunuAliy spriHEing ups One of the latest specimens is pr. w1ylm of Paris. who has written a book in which he advocates polygamy under State control, permission to mar ry being given only when 1t Is shown that the man Is able to maintain his wives and educate his families in a manner useful to the nation. Accord ing to pr. wylm's theory, which he has formulated after lifetime of pro- found research and exhaustive analyt- ical reflection. if polygamy were al- lowed most of the evils touching the moral and physical wellbeing of the human race would disappear and the whole tone of society would be health fer and happier.
 Legalized polygamy seems to be this crank's remedy for all the social evils of the age. The only limit, as we understand his theory, that he would place on mans matrimonial ventures is his ability to support and care for the family. On that theory man like Rockefeller could rival the late Sultan of Turkey in the number of his family additions. AS The Kansas City Journal says:
 wouldn't such a savant as that have delighted the soul of Dean Swift, the worlds keenest satirist? Certain ly none of Swifts inimitable "savants --learned asses who walked with their heads in the clouds and their feet In the mire-could have surpassed the wonderful discovery of this modern scientist that polygamy Is panacea for most of the worlds moral and physical ills. It is true that mar riage has long been regarded as an aid to wisdom, an eye opener, as 1t were. to the intellectual faculties, es- pecially in teaching man now sweet emplifying the folly of making nasty leap into martyrdom for the sake of pretty ankle or soul-de- stroying smile. But with most men one course in such an arduous school is enough. and he who ventures twice is a fit subject for the alienfsts who make a study of brain storms and psychological explosions" The only plausible theory on which to justify man into committing wholesale mat rimony must be that, like tight shoes, it makes him forget all other ills.
 And to quote again from that con- temporary it is strange that a man like Dr. wylm should have overlook ed the fact that polygamy has been practiced in all ages since the world began without any perceptible acces- sion of the higher virtues, physical or moral, and without any diminution of the other follies. ills and vices that afflict mankind. In fact, 1t has not even tended to decrease the vice that is especially distinguished as the so- cial evil" for according to all ac- counts, mems amatory excursions in search of greener fields and new pas lures have been as frequent and in- evitable in polygamous countries as among homogeneous nations. We have a modern instance in this country in the Norman State of Utah, where poly gamy is enjoined as a religious duty and practiced almost precisely accord ing to Dr. Wylm's terms. In Utah the Mormon church exercises con- troI in such matters analogous to that of the State. In fact, until recently, the church was the State in Utah, and many persons claim that 1t is yet, so far as the followers of the Mormon faith are concerned. But geography fails to differentiate the society of Utah from that of its neighboring States, or any others, in respect to the superior virtue and moral and phy- sical wellheing'' of its inhabitants. The only visible difference, according to travellers tales, consists in the ex- treme complaisancy and amiable read mess of many of the women of Salt Laye City in exemplifying the lesson recently reported in The Journal of Kansas school marm who asked her language class to correct the sentence: "I want a mansion in the skies," whereupon a bright young hopeful re- spopded that 1t could be best done by cutting out the last fourteen letters"
 History, sacred and profane, gives us many instances of men who have adopted the wholesale practice in the matter of taking wives. Wise old Solomon was a noted instance, but it has been a mooted question whether he had many wives because he was wise, or was wise because he had many wive In other words, what was the relation of wives and wisdom In his case there could be no State control. because he himself was the State and the law. In short, Solomon was the whole push, so to speak, and could make excursions into the field of matrimony as often as he chose. So far as we know there were no an- ti-polygamy laws In force in his do- minion. For all that some of his pub lished remarks lead to the suspicion that his bed was not always one of roses. Finally, we do not think this French crank's theory will have much following over here. One wife and a moderate family Is about all the av- craze man is pining for, and too many of them do not want even that ex- nerience