MARRIAGE PROBLEM.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1860, 20 September 1913, Page 15

MARRIAGE PROBLEM.

TREND Off THOUGHT 'AT HOME. "The Queen" has somothing to sajr in Connection with tho modern marriago problem, and whilo not for a momout acknowledging that there is any truth in the old argument against higher education for women which has been advanced in the article, there is a. certain amount of interest attached to the views which have been expressed in it, and prehistorio though thoy are, in some respects. It opens by stating that controversy on the eternal questions ■ of sex and marriago has' onco more been provoked by tho rccent attack on educated women as _ mothers made by a well-known biologist in "Science Progress," and by the decision of tho French Budget Committee to recommend a surtax on bachelors. The problem of a declining birth-rate in Franco, which has for some time been troubling French statesmen, has resulted in some curious tentativo legislation in that country, having for its object tho encouragement of larger families, as well as in a strong demand for the shifting of some of tho burdens of taxation from tho shoulders of the heads of families to those of bachelors and childless householders, which has now crystallised into tho Parliamentary proposal to placo a surtax of 20 per cent, on all bachelors over thirty years of age. Hecentlypublished .figures show that in France there are some 1,350,000 unmarried men of marriageable ago, and, worst still, there are 1,800,000 families —or married couples—without children. An Assertive Scientist. The deoreasing respect for • marriage on the part of men, or at Jeast their practical .objection to undertaking _ its cares and responsibilities, is plainly shown by the figures of the last four census years, both by the increasing proportion of bachelors to married men and the growing tendency to postpone the age of marriago. From 1881 to • 1911 the number of'bachelors per 1000 of the'male population has risen steadily from 817 to 386 for those aged from twenty-five to thirty-five years,' and from 138 to 169 for bachelors between thirty-five and forty-five years old. Thus fewer mon mary and more men postpone doing so until later in life. On the other hand, there appears to bo an increasing disinclination on the part of women, especially educated women, to take-on tho bonds of matrimony. It has been calculated, for instance, that the proportion of Newnham girls who ultimately marry is only 25 per cent. —just one quarter. And now we are told by a well-known biologist and lecturer in physiology that cultured women make poor mothers when thoy do marry I without admitting to the full the truth of this accusation, _we must admit that there is unquestionably a certain amount of reluctance on {he part of the best educated of both sexes to engage in marriago and parenthood. For the Cood of the Race Again/ While not deprecating for a moment the value of education and of culture, mental as well as physical, for women, /We cannot avoid a vague fooling that there is some truth in Dr. Pembrey's challenge to the higher education of women, states the writer in ■ "The Queen"; in his contention that the oldfashioned view of women's plane in Nature is the ono supported by biological knowledge, and that ono result of tho higher education of ' women and their employment in posts which might be _ filled by men is !ato marriage or bachelorhood. It is probable; that tho cultivation of the mental powers tends to weaken the physical ones; that intellectual pursuits aro antagonistic to family occupations, and it is quite possible that the energy which is expended in studying for and passing examinations is not subsequently so fully available for maternal objects. Aa Dr. Pembrey says, education at a university for three or four years makes a considerable demand upon the bodily, mental, and pecuniary 'resouroes of tho woman, which,-he adds, there is little doubt "would be moro useful to all conoerncd if thoy, were devoted 'to or reserved for marriage." It only remains for intellectual women, for highly educated women, to prove tho falsity of such arguments by marrying and becoming tho parents,of healthy offspring, creditablo alike to them and of potential stability to the State.

Misanthropical Critics. As to the reason why men do not taarry so freely nowadays, one class of oritios complain that it is largely the fault of tho modern woman, who demands a higher ideal of luxury and . wealth than did her mother before her. Such critics allege that the moderngirl objects to housework, that she objects to children, and to wearing the same dress more than, a few times; that she J thinks of nothing but pleasure, of parties, theatres, dances, and dinners, of playing golf, smoking cigarettes, and , hobnobbing with men as comrades. In consequonco of this demand for greater luxury and less responsibility in married 'life on the part of tho young women, who, in common parlance, wish to begin where their parents leave off, men are afraid to propose, they hesitate to become engaged, aid they postpono marrage until they have attained a bettor financial position. By this time they have become not only richer, but more selfish, more settled in bachelor habits, less likely to marry, and less fitted for marriage if they do.

The Cure for tho Trouble. Without seeking to y apportion tho blame between the two sexes, we would 1 suggest that both are wrong; both mistake the high office and purpose of matrimony, which is not self-aggrandise-"bettering of one's position" —not a bargaining or bartering, but a mutually complementary life companionship between two kindred souls, with the,idea of forming a happy hounohold, end fulfilling man's first duty to tho family, the race, and the nation. The phrase "families without children" is a contradiction in terms, and Both men and women, youths and maids, should bo educated with a view to thoir future 'duties in life; the lads to become manly men fitted to assume tho part of fathers of families, and the girls to fulfil the 'duties of rearing and training the men nnd women of the next generation.

Were these fundamental truths universally recognised and acted upon we should hear far loss talk of the absurd "equality of the sexes," of "sox antagonism," of tho decline in the marriaße rate, of the alleged unwillincncsa of man and the unfittedness of womon to marry. If folk would face tho facta of life frankly and honourably, half of its troubles, inoluding thoso of tho failtii'e of marriage, of infidelity and immorality, would speedily disappear.