Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-10-17
TbeEthics of the
Love Game
Nv DOROTHY DIX.

-,,sNTIC people-what the old
fashioned novels called men and
IN women Of sentiment-cannot but
srorssd and Mortified at the num-
~, ~ breach Of promise suits that oc-
-.. The attention OF the courts.
r.. lady. whose lover proves faith
.-.- ~, longer dies of broken heart
-, sesssses the blight of her young af-
,.-.,,- Of so much in good hard cash,
~ proceeds to try to collect IT. Nor
80, 60 lie I'D her old love letters with
,s,s blue ribbon and weep over them
=, .scret. She gathers up the warmest
:, .Asr and they become Exhibit A In
hsg rIit FOR damages.
mis- "a bad enough. heaven knows
MI II IS not the worst. There are
80 =. found men who are so abso-
frt,rv lacking to all sense Of gal
r,-.-r and chivalry. and even plain
AGENCY. that they sue women for
br.srb n promise. and we have had
- than one case of late in which
AGILE lady has been asked to pay in
money FOR her change Of heart
In all OF these cases the aggrieved
Marty has not hesitated to repeat every
tsrAer thing that was said, to reveal
the most sacred condolences, to make
nrbIlo the messages that were intended
"a 20 lust from heart to heart, and
-tst should have been as inviolate as
ANYTHING told in the confessional, and
70 hold up the party Of the other part
.-,bs once beloved and adored he or
.be-,or the jeers and fieers of ribald
world
A Hideous Exhibition.
IN every case It has been a hideous
,vrihf-lon Of lack of taste. Of lack of
terracv. Of lack OF every fine feeling
-7f Dissertation of the holy of holes
NJ the human soul. 1t is a breaking
ana which should be stopped by pub
ilc sentiment if it can not by law.
The breach Of promise case should
be thrown out of court, and the one
Who brings it should have the taboo
rIacad up0n him or her. Love is out
s5e of the jurisdiction OF the law. for
one thing. and for another it is impos-
sbIe 10 tell whether any one is really
damaged in sentiment and injured in
emotions There is a difference be-
tween a broken heart and a broken leg
and We can not but suspect that the
wound 10 ones feelings that can be
healed by a poultice of greenbacks il
only d skin abrasion and doesn't go very
deep.
In way. all lovemaking and flirta-
ton Is a species OF piracy, and when
one nails the flag of Cupid TO his mast
he puts himself beyond all further pro-
lection He takes his fate into his own
hands, and whether he wins or loses,
he should take the consequences on his
own head.
That there are bound to be risks II
oOurtship goes without saying. Indeed,
the risks are what make 1t worth
while, what gives zest to the pursuit,
spice to the game. If a man knew that
any woman he fancied was ready to
Jump down his throat to say yes, and
thank you. too" the minute he popped
the question, the chances are that he
would never pop it ~ all.
The Lure.
It is the thrill of danger, the fear that
another may win her, or that he may
fall 20 please her or fire her fancy. that
stimulates the man and makes him
break his neck running after her. He
knows that she is whimsical, a creature
or moods and uncertainty, that the
thing that pleases her to-day wearles
her tomorrow and in this is precisely
her fascination for him. He takes the
risks on her, and ii is what makes him
such wecher when he does not accept
hs fate CALAMITY If she tires of him
before the wedding day and forsakes
him for another.
Precisely the same thing may be said
OF women. The woman who falls in love
with man exerts all of her skill to
eaten him. She bats her hook with her
beauty She angles for him with
Bhrewd intuition of what he likes. She
lures him into the shallow waters
where she can fish him out into the
matrimonial net. She also has taken
her chances, and if in the end, Just as
Che thinks she is about to land him, he
breaks away and Swims off, she should
De enough Of spol% 90 accept her luck
with a good grace
they are poor players at love who
90 not md the game worth the candle
sAd VINO having danced. begrudged the
piper his price. Suppose a man does
g. Jlted by his sweetheart-has he
hot had dream of love? Has he not
Nl""n me bliss Of days, and weeks, and
zone. lines even years Of courtship?
HtS ne not known the rapture of read
.h- ana re-reading letters that breathed
words of eudearment? Has he not
thrilled to a thousand stolen kisses?
ganto
Perish the thought that Cupid is in
49, anu llldl over, ana ABOVE, ana
IN addition TO all the favors he has re-
SelVed from his ladyIove, he must also
nave cash consideration because she
toa changed her mind and doesn't in
e"d 70 marry him after all.
Pays As He Goes.
Or suppose man does love and ride
sNay. Sad undoubtedly for poor Mari
una IN her MOated Grange, but 1t is
pe'teF 10 have loved and lost than never
10 nave loved at all. The only abjectly
uL'serahie woman is the woman who has
lever mad romance, and truth compels
S Ss 10 confess that the modern lover who
.aS 10 WOO his inamorata with Ameri-
sau Beauties, and theater tickets, and
-oAtS, and little dinners, comes pretty
ira. mar TO paying his score as he goes
lnasmuch as love can not be manu-
-ag,tlfed to order it is one of the I'M
rslleh laws of the love game from
Htich there should be no appeal, and
~ winch there should be no comeback
hoy Waen either party tires, he or she
, ,+9 IIght to lay down his or her hand
II .ae Table and quit, with no more ado
T15t H. 1t is a loathsome thing to
LIZ mat man would be willing to
oIAe a woman marry him who did not
nj 10, or woman would accept q
I-e'aAd who baked at the thought OF
M ~ IN view of not getting husband
Ion '"No Li4oheS cohslueId