The Washington herald., 1912-11-26

I the happiness OF women. The bare idea
OF IT, TO man Of spirit and common
sense, Is rather sickening, to say the
| least. Instead of the American girls
"enticing' men into the marriage state,
the fact OF the matter is there are SO
many enticements in the whole person.
ality OF the American girI-her beauty,
intellect charm of manner and sense
| or proportion, that these attributes alone
Without the least particle of conscious
enoTt on her part, will bring US Ameri-
, cans to our knees and practically force
our British brethren to prostrate them
selves before our queens. The American
girl steps out on the threshold of life
not for the purpose OF looking for a
man-fortunately there are too many
men looking for her-but with the gem
eral idea OF making her charming atoms
OF femininity have their due weight in
the complex scheme OF present-day ex-
lstence. Her courage, endurance, and
mental acumen ft her for the RESPONSE
bllities that may cross her path whether
they be social business, or otherwise
So when the learned and brilliant au-
thor OF Man and Superman," wilIfully
handicapped by a superficial knowledge
of customs and conditions on this side
OF the water, undertakes TO have us
believe our American girls are focusing
the entire strength Of their intellects on
schemes to entangle in the HymeneaI
net some poor man, We can dispose of
the whole matter by a simpIe-Oh,
pshaw!
AS to the third proposition, 1t is only
too true in regard to a certain class OF
society that American mothers neglect
proper consideration OF the men into whose
hands they give the future happiness OF
their children" We may safely go a step
farther and say that some OF them design
af1ly hNyr ,F
the wealth Of the individual, prevail on
their daughters TO unite in marriage with
men unft from every point Of view for
the marriage relation. Ignorance, from
the standpoint Of this class Of mothers
does not enter into the question. Rather
II Is done by a sO-called superior sort
of worldly wisdom with malice afore-
thought" The crime OF such action may
| extend its negative results to the tenth
generation. Our condemnation OF such
methods cannot be too severe To lessen
its practice there is no efficaCiOus remedy
but enlightened public opinion. Mr.. Shaw
las done more than any living man to
call attention to these degradig facts, but
at the present time il must be acknowl-
edged that all tina has been written and
spoken on the subject has had very little,
II any, influence on the class OF mothers
under consideration. This aspect of the
social problem may be safely left to evo-
( lutiOnary progress. We take this OC-
CasiOn Of mentioning that there Is much
in Man and Superman" as well as in the
other writings Of Mr.. Shaw worthy of
the best thought Of the best men and
women in this country. There is also a
great deal in his books which ought to
be eliminated-sheer nonsense II seems to
US. However we are indebted to our
versatile friend for a plain setting forth
OF our faults and can easily forgive. in
view OF the good he has done. his refer
ence to us as a Nation Of Villagers"
and the unwelcOme truths therein eN-
pressed. WM. X. LAYNE
The lntarin An.rtmcrt M II