The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-05-11

seated irritant. Physicians declare
that many marital troubles have
their roots in the pathology of sex,
and do not argue moral fault on the
part of either spouse.
necessarily the factory planes away
the economic basis Of the family. In
the time of our grandmothers, the
home was the seat of score of pro-
ductive processes, and the ideal wife
was the Tvirtuous woman" celebrated
by Solomon. She might not be
"'souImate" to her husband, but she
was prep TO the prosperity of the
household. Now that the machine
has captured most of the domestic
processes and the middle-class home
is sustained by the earnings of the
husband, the wife, from a helpmate,
has become luxury. If, now,
there is rift in the lutte, the hus-
band becomes aware OF carrying a
burden, and resents things that are
overlooked when the wife is true
yokefellow.
On the other hand, the capable,
unencumbered woman, who finds her
self doomed by social convention to
be supported in idlness by a hus-
band who tan earn, perhaps, a little
more than she can, is also making n
sacrifice-a sacrifice which she will
chafe under in case the marriage fails
to satisfy her affections.
In word outside Of the manual
laboring llass. the old economic
framework of the family has largely
fallen away, leaving more of the
strain TO come on the personal tie.
Husband and wife are held together
by love, conscience and convention.
but very little by that profitable CO.
partnership which once contributed
so much TO the stability of the
home.
The intellectual progress of women
swells the demand for matrimonial
surgery. Today two Ideals of the
family are struggling for mastery
the old despoti1 family, OF Roman
origin and ecclesiastical / sanction,
based on the authority of the hus-
band and the merging of the wlfe's
legal personality in his, and the
democratic family, Of Gemanic or
igin, based on the consenting and
harmonious Wills of two equals. The
one goes naturally with pioneering
agriculture and warfare, which put
men to the fore; the other goes
with industry, peace and city life,
which add to the consequence Of
women. In proportion as women
escape from abject mental depend
en-e on men and find a point of
view of their own, they spurn patri-
archal claims and expect marriage to
be the union Of equal Wills. What
with more girls than boys in the
high schols, and half as many wom-
en- as men in college, it is not sur
enter marriage with connubial
! ideal of their own. Nevertheless,
the men they wed-many of them
cherish the conviction that the hus-
band is the rightful head" Of the
family. The resulting clash of ideals
is only an incident of a transition
process in so ial evolution.
The intellectual ferment OF our
time weakness the grasp OF the social
institution upon the innocent indiyid-
ual, The voice of authority, whether
it. appeals to precedent, TO doctrine
or to Holy Writ is little needed
No longer is harsh requirement or
rigid arrangement able to hedge
| itself about with a divine sanction.
The question "Cui bono?" is in the
air. Amy policy that crushes the in
diyidual or blocks his pursuit Of hap
pines sis challenged and obliged TO
produce the best of credentials. The
feeling that marriage is for man,
not man for marriage" is, along
with heresy trials and contempt ol
the courts, an outcome of the reign
ing spirit of criticism. Now, as
ever lawmaker and theologian stand
ready to bind on hapless persons
heavy burdens and grieyous to be
borne-for the callousness of the
well-wed to the woes of the mis-
mated passes al belief-but public