Omaha daily bee., 1914-08-10

In the marriage service.
The word "obey' mas no meaning what
ever In the marriage service. Il Ia moth
ing but a lie, which should be eliminated.
for Il forces a woman to commit perjury
at the most solemn moment OF her life,
and at the moment that she should most
intend to keep the vows that she Is max
Ing.
when the modern sirl swenrs at the
altar to obey the man she is marry
ms she has no notion whatever Of doing
so. Her heart may be running over with
love for her husband; che may be giving
him a boundless devotion, and pledging
him every service OF brain and hand. but
The one thing that she has no sxpecta-
tion Whatever OF doing is to obey him.
And the man knows this Whatever
else he expected of hi wife, ho dcsnt ex-
pcct obedience He doesn't even arrogate
10 himself the right to be master TO her.
She is neither a child nor a slave to be
ordered about and subject to his COM
Inands.
Why should an intelligent woman. old
enough to get married. be made to
promise TO obey? II she has not sense
enough and sufficient Judgment to know
how to conduct her own affairs, and
what to do under the stress OF life. her
place Is not at a mans side In house,
hold. but in some institute for the feeble
minded
n marriage is the right sort OF a mar
riage Il is a partnership OF a man and
woman. who unite their fortunes and
their lives and establish a home Each
partner has everything that he or she
has in tho world Invested In this venture.
and both should have the Same authority.
When two men go into partnership In
business there is no question OF one obey
ing the other. They confer together;
they discuss ways and means together.
each yields certain points TO the other.
and In this way they work out a harmoni-
GUS plan OF action.
And this plan prevails in every house
hold that Is a success The wife respects
her husbands judgment and follows his
advice along certain lines. The husband
readily admits that his wifes opinion on
certain other lines is OF more value and
weight than his. but neither blindly
obeys the othsr.
There is theory that IN the cid days
when women were more subject to men
than they are at present, the word obey
in the marriage service literally meant
what It says. and when a woman took
that vow upon herself she intended to
keep H. ! doubt this being true. II has
ever been the privilege OF the slave to
deceive the master, and our meek look
ing grandmothers probably had their
tongues in their checks Just as much as
we have when they humbly promised
TO obey the husband they meant to hood
wink while they did as they pleased.
At any rate the independent. intelligent
Rirl OF today is not going to give blind
obedience to any man Just because he is
her husband, She halls from Missouri.
and has 20 be shown that his way Is a
better way than hers. his judgment
clearer than her own before she accepts T..
Tho old idea that II Was necessary for
woman 20 venerate her husband as
an oracle to prove her affection for him
Is an exploded myth. A man does not
necessarily have TO he solomon in
order 10 be lovable. Indeed. many OF the
most sympathetic. agreeable and fasci-
mating men in the world are I'm no danger
OF setting the river on fire with their
brilllsncy and they have wabbly enough
judgments.
In many a family the wife 10 the clear
headed one who runs things. and she
does II without loss OF dignity to her
husband or loss OF affection for him,
In the face of the actual conditions of
modern society il is absurd that women
should stnl be made q promise 10 obey
the men they marry when neither the
women intend to do II. nor the men ex-
pect them 20 do II. Undoubtedly II
does away with the solemnity OF the
marriage service for II TO be handicapped
with this vow which both parties take IN
pickwlckian sense.