Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-05-13
ExperimentalMatri
By Frederic ]. Haskin

inent as such an experiment Wouid nave
caused a few years ago. For here ~ not
really an isolated case. Every once IN
while some new form Of marriage, design
ed by the parties thereto IN accordance
with their own ideas, is fecounted IN the
newspapers and there are many such ven
tures which do not get into print Mt all
At the same time n wave OF reform IN
marriage laws is sweeping across the world.
England has passed n law making divorce
much easier, and one is being considered
in Denmark Even our own Senate, which
is about as we'll protected from the winds
Of change as any legislative body in the
world, has held hearings on a proposed
measure to make the divorce laws Of the
United States uniform. The Senate re-
fuses TO make public its bearings, and
there is no Indication that it will act upon
the information obtained, but the fact
thnt the Senate thought about It at all ls
highly significant.
ALARMING cHANGEs.
All of this is very disturbing to iis Of the
older and more pious generation, who have
long regarded matrimony as sacred
institution if not an absolutely indss0l-
uble union. But the facts, however tin-
palatable. must be faced and, recounted.
beautiful and uplifting conception Of
marriage which has served 50 many gen
erations so we'll The strength Of this re-
volt in shown bv the fact that it ran make
itself felt in such bodies as the British
Parliament and the Congress Of the Unit
cd States. And YOU have only % compare
the stage and the literature (thoae mirrors
of the social mind Of generation ago
with those of today IN order TO Teahze
that the attitude Of the public conscious
ness on the subject has changed Twenty
or thirty years back marriage was always
treated on the stage revercntiy and seri-
otsly. Now afy vaudeville artist can get
y laugh by some aort of wheeze directed
against the monotonies absurdifies or the
restrictions of married life Likewise be-
fore 1890, nearly all novels began with, .
1--we affair and ended with wedding bells,
the assumption being that all the troubles
of the characters ended Herewith. But
NOWADAYS n realistic novel begins with
marriage and follows through TO divorce,
or to some other sort Of wreck Tor that
institution. Even the cartoons IN news
papers of conservative and estlmable
| type make fun Of marriage and get ny
with il.
| Meantime some persons like Miss
i Hurst. who are not content to wait Tor
changes in law and custom, proceed 70
/ cut the marriage garment 70 SUIT them
selves There is what might be described
! as n colony Of young married women N
| New York who do not take the names Of
their husbands, but keep their own One
of them is said TO be engaged IN writing
book 10 prove the justice and expediency
Of this Almost invariably these women
work. and in many cases they are Whoiiy
self-supporting. They enjoy good deaf
more freedom, and a good deal more con-
tact with the world, than the married
woman Of more conservative type who u
content 10 find her place IN the nome
Their point-of-view was well voiced nv
Nise Hurst when she said that she did not
rronose 10 Qive up her work, and slnk
into a state of .'sedentary fatheadedness.
A CHALLENGE TO MARRIAGE
Th;. ia IN effect a taunt and challenge
- tha married ladies. 1t implies that they
.ra .edentarv fat-heads, and that there Is
soTnathinr In modern marriage which
| ,naLas them so. This taunt Is really an old
| one The feminists have been making 10
| for vears. They say that the modern
,,,srr;ed woman has nothing to do, that
abs, is merely q kept woman, inst she =
| an. IN degenerate mentally and pbyslcaliy.
| The conservatives say that TINS - hot
| true. They say that any woman VINO mar
RES a man OF moderate earning capacity'
rms her household and raises Tour Or nVe
children in q creditaole manner y no iat-
bead And this is certainly true. she Is
often the bralniest and most lIlpoftah'
member OF the family organization.
p,,t there ls undoubtedly a growing
tendency for the American woman not to
/ l-..aelv..vxtnn nE nGT EDAAQ-
raising herself She lives IN hat, hires
cook and a nurseInaid, and IN the larger
citias the schools take almost complete
charoe of the children after they are hve
x-aars old. That modern Housekeeping anc
motherhood are no longer the skilled ane
ardnous professions they once were
zhoxyn bV the fart that a large and lncTeas
inc number of married women vino have
children. hold Jobs at the same time. OF
can find few of these N almost any
business organization, and many OF then
IN in,rnahsm and the arts. \ good many
of these married working women are no'
driven primarily by necessity, but haV'
revoIted against the tedium and idienes'
af married life and have sought other Ell
niovment. often in the face OF objections
on the part of the husband, who egotlstlc'
allv desires 10 be the sole support OF tn'
family. Only too often these women IA .
no training for work.
Il must be admitted, then, that while
marriage is an all-suffceGt life occupation
IN some cases. in Others Il IS not. hethc
i or not depends, Il would seen partly
on circumstance. and partly on the wom
ans inclinations and aptltudes. Some
women like and have talent Tor house
keeping and embarrassing, and some have
neither the liking nor aptitude IL Ger
tainlv seems fair that these latter shoull
be- taught other professions or trades
and should have as good chance as mel
have To develop their minds and bodies by
work and experience. They are the one.
who are threatened with scdentary fiat
headedness, especially if they marry
men who have enough moneN o hlrc cook
and nursenaitis Thus argue the lem
lnIsss.
TRAIN GIRLS TO MORN.
The solution, they SAY. Is 80 tram girls
the same as boys, for definite occupations
Ii A woman desires 10 be housekeepe
and mother, they say, lot her prepar
hersel. or that as profession and reall,
devote her time To Il. And Il she docs no
feel a desire to make those things her mau
occupation. even though they are 10 form
an incidental part OF her life, let her b
prepared for some other occupation io
business. journalism, art, medicine. socla
service, OF any Of tie other occupation
which offer constantly growing oppoI
tunlties 70 women
srhia seems sOund enough hat a