The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-10-10
By ALICE PUTNAM.

l
] have often wondered, when people
ask this question, just what they mean
by it. If, by the fright age to marry.
they mean the age at which it is wisest
| for potential parents to mate. there can
| be quite obviously but one answer. 1t
! is l believe, an unbeatable fact that the
| interests of pOsteFity, the welfare Of the
race, can be best served by the early
marriage OF both father and mother.
/ If, by the right age TO marry. one
I has in mind merely sOrdid, selfish ends,
such as the ambition 10 get along in the
world, the desire for riches, fame, pOliti-
cal or financial power, there is another
| equally obvious answer. Defer marriage
as long as you can.
Down TO Gehenna. or up 10 the throne.
He travels the fastest who travels alone.
But considerations such as these are
rarely il ever thought of in the asking
OF this question What men and women
have really in mind is something very
far removed from either the good Of pos
terity or the accomplishment OF their owI
individual ambitions. That something
the human being shares with none other
o. Gods creatures.
| refer to his concept Of romantic love.
his dream of an ideal union with his
ideal mate In other words, the good
cid fairy-tale myth entertained by all
Of US of one day meeting the right
one" Of marrying that right one and
living happily ever after.
Can't BE Zone.
To all Of which ] personally have but
che thing to say and that is: IT CAN I
BE DONE.
Why
Because there AMT NO SUCH
THING"
Now, in making such a sweeping state
ment l would not wish to he understood
as declaring that there are no success
ful marriages. Perish the thought. on
the contrary. the great majority OF mar
riages are highly successful. Indeed, !
shall go farther than that and give 1t as
my opinion that marriage, per sc, is just
about the most successful institution ever
conceived and executed by the mind
OF man 1t stands to reason that it must
he so. else it would not obtain with the
powerful force it does. The trouble
is that we are likely to confuse sthe term
successful with the term happy, whereas
they have not necessarily the slightest
relation one to the other. So that while
| enthusiastically acclaim most marriages
as successful, in one and the same
breath l deplore that none of them are
happy-that is, really, genuinely, rO-
mantiCally happy.
l am aware that any number Of good
people will protest at this heresy. 1t is
one of the polite fictions of our Civiliza-
ton 10 go up to the hOuse-tOp and with
the aid of a megaPhOne proclaim how
happy we are. though married. At
the same time those same people know
in their hearts that the thing they call
happiness is at the best only content
ment, resignation, acquiesenCe. They
do ba-
the only way to continue happy in the
love of any man or any woman is TO
marry the other chap or the other girl
Refuses to Marry Him.
Nobody knows this better than that
wise widow. Mrs. Brinton, whose role
Mr.. Belasco has allotted to me in his
production of Years OF Discretion" To
many people who have seen this play it
has been a source of wonderment why
Mrs. Brinton does not marry her de-
voted sutton of ten and odd years stand
ing There is no doubt of John Strong
love for her, or of the enduring nature
of his affection. So, too Is she equally
in love with him. So much so that in
ten years time there has been no other
man in her thoughts. He is right hand
some, well placed sociaIly-in short. he
is a catch for any woman. however ex-
acting. however ambitious. And yet,
Margaret Brinton steadfastIy refuses to
marry him.
She does not want 10 exchange her
lover for her husband. As l have al
ready said, she is a wise woman, is
Mrs. Brinton. You cannot eat your cake
and have it, too, might be taken as her
motto. II you were to ask this accom-
plished and fascinating mondaine what
is the proper age to marry, do you know
what she would do? Why, she would
shrug her shoulders. raise her eyebrows
into a high inquiring arch. look at you
out of the depths of serpent-wise eyes
and laugh-laugh as only the seasoned,
ripened woman of the world who is per-
fectly sure of herself can laugh.
In the tones of that low, weli-bred
laugh you would read volumes of
meaning. 1t would bring home to you
better than any argument. how utterly
absurd such a question was, anyway. AS
il there were or could be any proper
age to marry, AS if marrying at any
age whether at nineteen or ninety, were
not the height of folly if in doing so one
were looking for happiness
Happiness Not Found in Marriage.
Being the aforesaid wise woman that
she is, Mrs. Brinton knows what an in