New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-06
RITES RIGHTED
BY G. B. SHAW
preface of Getting Mar
ried" Rich in ORA
matte Appeal
RI HAYWOOD BROUN

MILAN Favcrshsm will produce
-. aGetting Married" at the Booth
80 tonight. but unfortunately the
hss no means Of putting before
.,h,ie the preface. which is some
~. LANCER than the play and Of equal
-.-,snee. A shaw preface Is. in 8
criticism Of its appended
-, and 70 may seem unnecessary to
review. Yet. after all, this
.;,plar preface is ninety-two pages
and contains some twenty-five
,sossrd words. ,,u.
=. BERNARD shaw Is man Zero
Ie"' In earnest. So prodigious q
aO-.-sr5.st cannot resist kicking up
FTtTcis "a bit now and again, but Tor
-. mart Shaw IS heading for a
y.s,;.e noint and running fast. Inc
&C., 10 travels in the preface 10
s'cS..,;rg Married" is part treadmill and
:. rirderpath, with now ana again 6
ss,sr jump just 20 make 1t more oil"
:st .... .ho rlo,wr;cbt has
In this preface tht pay VI 'b"N
..s,-.sken % defend marriage. Like
-'.~-,ber Of the best football coaches
s,sw believes that good attack is the
-. defence. and 50 he belabors mar
.'sss until he has beaten II into con-
s','on sufficiently resistant OF "dlsas-
,,ous ansrchiosl action.
u, would have divorce "as easy, as
IN and as private as marriage. IN
-,.icplar. he argues persuasively that
gr,-ce should be granted at the re-
80 Of either party with no questions
'' pn.,s,nts Of the state Of New York
- \. interested in Shaw's statement:
"a ws take a document like Pepys 5
~ ne learn that a woman may have
;5rorrieibly uufaithful husband and
-, bs much better of than if she hac
- ill.tempered. peevish, mahclousiy
,,,r,stic one. or was chained for life 10
,,i-inal. q drunksrd, lunatlc, an
n, vsgrsut. or a person whose reilg-
~ fsi-h was contrary 20 her own.
ivsg;re being married TO liar, q Dor
rev q mischief maker. teaSer or
,,,rsr.or Of children and animals, or
,,,, sirpIv 10 a bore Conceive your
IN tied for life 20 one Of those PEI
f,.,iv 'faithful husbands who are SEN
,srre6 10 q months Imprisonment &C Be-
-ssionallv for idly leaving their wives
n childbirth without food, fire or al
,,ndsrcei What woman would not
nteer marry ten Pepyses? What man
dozen Nell Gwynnes >? u..
Tie playwright goes on 10 state thst
-sdultery. far from being the first ana
.riv ground for divorce, might more
reasonably be made the last or wholly
secluded -, c,
So far one may disagree with Shaw
al. Violently as he chooses. but he can
I'M. ery "Charlatani" or "Poser!' since
,ssre seems 10 reason in the world 10
,opb. the good faith of the argument
i..cr ,ve are not so sure. When the
r-assee get, TO "The Old Maids Right
n Motherhood" we must admit tina,
Shaw is b,t ahead Of US.
besterton has said that Shaw seems
.row preroster0us now and again
.-olv because he thinks farther and
.ser than ANYBODY else. There is
.rger in fast thinking. We once saw
al Chase. also q fast thinker, lose a
.,H zane by feldinG q bunt 10 thru
-.e whom everybody thought he would
ia. IL for a sacrifice. Chase's logic.
n.ert and his throw were excel
s7t. bot he thought Just about TWO,
lis OF a second faster than the thlTo
iscman. and the ball went into the
.adsta-d. Jimmy Austin was not 10
l.-e The quick mind should nave re-
r.nb,ted the slow one. There is NJ
euse in thinking 20 fast that nooooN
IN secp up with YOU.
Mat IS the trouble with Shaw ana
Old maids. His brain has sprinted
r sseh outlandish fashion that he mas
bought o. q type of woman who does
81. exist as yet.
We must recognize" he writes. two
.asses Of old maids. one the really
cDsrAuous women and the other the
r,nen who refuse 10 accept maternity
N the TO them unbearable condition
y taking a husband.
These remarkable Shaw women aoah-
ion "the right 10 bear a child because
hey dislike the domestic haolts OF
ren. have no natural turn for mother
ng and coddling them and mo t ne
concession Of coniugal rights 10 ahS
person under any conditions lntoieraoie
,y their self-respect.
With all due respect 70 the greatest
irsmatist Of our day this Is nonsense
The domestic habits Of men may DE
nothing to brag about, but they are
rueh less Objectionable than the 90
nestle habits OF babies. And as Tor
no,hering and coddling. a man may or
nay not require these attentions, WINE
, baby will positively yell for them;
Whatever can be said against con)ugal
.yhts. the fact remains that they are
ioi Incompatible with "the right 70
YEAR q child"
Somehow or other a mother seems to
AXE an interest in the father OF her
hid. Unlike the woman whom Sha"
4. imagined. she is not willing to say
hank you" and allow him 70 go out
v her life. There must be somebody
itsut who can be blamed for the REQ
Col