The Washington herald., 1911-09-12
By DOROTHY DIX.

The b1 eaking up of a home is too tragic
al for laughter. yet in the case Of the
Sinclair Kemp imbroglio, with its silly
patter of afinities, and soulmates, and
being true to ones self, and living on
the higher plane, and such like tommy
rot, one may surely be pardoned for re-
garding the mix-up with a cynical
smile
1t is always more or less amusing TO
see a man hoist by his own petard,
and there is certain sort Of Grim
satisfaction in observing that Mr.. Upton
Sinclair, who has been the apostle who
has preached the gospel Of the unCon-
ventional in the relationship Of men and
women, and scorned the marriage service
as a relic of slavery beats it 10 the
divorce court the minute he even sus-
poets that his own wife is putting his
lovely views into practice.
l have often wondered how men like
Maurice Hewlett and Locke, who create
Sanchias and Emmys, and beautiful
hOuris, with no moral sense, would act
if they were married to these ladies. Mr..
Sinclair sr'ves the problem. They would
divorce EN-. For theories are one thing,
and practice is another, and every man
is an essential monOgamist"-at least
so far as his wife is concerned.
The Common Result.
Mrs. Sinclair says that she really has
nothing to complain of in her husband
except that experience proved him not
to be her real affinity, and that there
were ternperamentaI differences between
them that would prevent them ever be-
ing perfect soul mates.
Therefore, she started out on a still
hunt for some other man who, as she
somewhat vaguely remarks, can meet
me on the same plane of understanding
and has the same values of nfe and
living that l have
OF course, she found him. The one
hunter who never returns empty handed
is the man or woman who starts out to
seek an affinity. Mrs. Sinclair, accord
ing to her own account, found several
gentlemen who seemed TO have all the
ear marks of real, genuine. blOwn-in-the-
bottle soul mates during the ten years in
which she pursued friendships with
other men as II she were not married -
again to quote her exact words.
However, afinities do not appear to
wear any better than husbands, and
nothing came of these sentimental
Journeys in search of the true romance
until she met up with an anaemic
Mrs Sinclair welcomes It as a relief
from a marriage in which she suffered
from soul isolation
Now she declares her intention Of be-
ing true to herself, of developing her
own personality, and living on a higher
plane in a more rarified atmosphere than
commonplace domesticity can give. her.
More; she is going TO be an exemplar
to the world.
MY attitude" she declares. ''is one of
attempted independence 1t is really
an attempt to solve for myself, in my
own way. the problem of the relation
ship Of men and women in matters Of
sex"
Let US hope that not many men and
women will accept Mrs SinclaIr's solu-
ton OF the marriage problem, at least;
for, stripped OF all DISCUSSES of high
flown sentiment. II is as immoral a prop
osition as has ever been advanced. It
degrades humanity to the level of the
beast, and makes the desire of the mo-
ment the standard Of conduct,
Undoubtedly. there are many people
who make mistakes in marriage. Per-
haps most couples after ten years Of
wedlock realize that they made blunders
In choosing their life partners, and failed