Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1915-06-10
MOVE NOT POPULAR
Objections to Sealed Proposals
of Marriage.
speculations as to Some Of the re
suits If a Proposed New York
State Law Should Be
Put Into Effect.

III attention of all single men and
maidens, and of widows also, is di.
rected to a bill introduced into the
New York legislature providing that
no agreement shall be enforced by the
courts unless they have been reduced
to writing and signed by the parties.
This is a subject worth consideration
at all times. but it is especially appro-
pirate at the season when a young
mans fancy lightly turns to thoughts
Of love-"
The purpose of the bill. ostensibly.
is to protect men from suits for breach
OF promise which are, strictly speak
ing, Matchmaking enterprises. But 1t
would serve equally we'll to protect
men whose favorite recreation is to
make love to women, and when that
mas been accomplished, make some
more love to some other women The
written proposal of marriage, duly
signed, has several points Of advan-
tage about it, but it is important that
all manageable persons should be
well informed of the measure II It
should become a law, and be on their
guard. If the rules of the game are
to be changed there should be full mo-
tlce for the protection of all concerned.
The change would probably reduce
the marriage rate in a notable percent.
age. There are some bashful men who
lind 1t easier to propose by letter than
orally. but most men glide gently into
an avowal of their affection under the
personal magnetism Of the charming
creature, n are liable to be scared
off by the production of a blank form
looking like an income-tax return,
with the request of the girl that they
fill 1t out and sign it while she is com-
muning with her soul whether to add
her signature.
When Sir Something Orother pro-
posed to Peg o My Heart, who had
already received matrimonial over
lures from two u~ndesirables, she
asked: Are you making a proposal OF
marriage to me?" Whereat the man
she was dying to marry stalked OF to
the window n looked gloomily into
the river, and the alarmed girl up
braided herself for her folly in talking
TOO much.
In this case the man had to get v g
his alarm at the gross, open and pal.
pable naming Of the transaction, be-
cause the play could not have gone on
otherwise; but many a proposal off
the stage has been permanently
wrecked by the injection of too much
common sense into an affair usually
described by others than the partici-
pants as a piece OF Stiffness.
How many men would sign and seal
a written agreement of marriage if the
girl, upon receiving the tender avowal,
had promptly gone to her fathers desk
and obtained a sheet OF paper and a
pen and ink and asked the infatuated
man to please reduce his pleasant re-
marks to writing?
Perhaps 1t would be just as well to
leave the proposal to oral or oscula-
tory terms and merely abolish suits
for breach of promise Of marriage. No
woman really wishes to marry the
man who has thrown her off, or il
she does, it is only for the possession
of some of his money. The modern
woman sneers at the idea Of mar
riage as a career; she can make her
own career, just az her brother does.
Therefore, pecuniarily, she is not in
jured by a broken engagement, and
the law undertakes to indemnify the
woman, not for her injured feelings,
but for the substantial, material loss
when a good catch gets away from
her. The suit for breach Of promise
is an anachhronism. - Philadelphia
Record.