The Dominion. FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1814. WOMEN'S VIEW ON SOCIAL PROBLEMS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2000, 6 March 1914, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1814. WOMEN'S VIEW ON SOCIAL PROBLEMS.

The Australasian ' Womco's Conference, which is at present iwiflg held in Melbourne, has declared iu favour of an amciidmo-nt of'"tlio marriage -law with the object df preventing themarrtaga of pei'gons' unfit for parenthood, A. jjoeisti jsrobbm of a similar clmraeter—the cai'O of mental defectives—\yas to. at the Congress of the Women's Christian Teragflfance Union, wiiicli was opened at Giabotne yesterday. The President (MttS. Das , ) that the State swtiM make provisioa. for this unfortunate seetfon of the' population, and .stated thxl'fc it Was appalling to thinlt" that abnormal girls, who should be under resti-aiht, were mothers of cltilcjten. One case which came u.ndei , hst flotieo' last year was that of a defOeMyo vfim was the mother of e.i.cffjt ■ children nsw being supported by the State. This is really a very serious mkttet. At the recant MecfipU Coijgi'e.ss jisl:d in Auckland a good deal fff aitesitiori was given to tile question of mefitu-1 deficiency, and stress was laid riii' the imperative need for State action to prevent degenerate of this tvpfc : from reproducing tlirif kltul SLfts.! Don is to be ooinmeMed -tot once more directing' public attention to the 7 matter, for it Is only .hy pet-. sistent agitation, that refeirmg o f this nature can be brotAglit ahmit. As we have stated oh pfevicus 'oeca-sio.nßj drastic action oft so-called cugcn.ie lines would not be justified in view of the limitations of gtii - kitciwledge regarding the' seisntiSo probl'Wis. connected with heredity.; but enough is certainly known to Warrant effective nicasures_ being' talcen te-place mental defectives of a pronouw«tl typo under proper control and supervision, both to:r . {heir .own sakes and in the ffttac&ts of ' tlia community.

One cannot cxpfess quite -su.eh a decided opinion on .the resolution 0.1 tho Australasian WomefiV Corifoi--once in favour of an altcraiioft of the marriage law so as to .ensure that persons unfit for pareiiHieod shall not enter into ' inaMniony, It- is necessary that the State should, proceed very warily ia dealing tt.lfji this matter, and nrueh depends upon the preciso meaning of the ratW vague torra, -"uftfit rar pafenthood.' , I 3 it mental, moral,, or physical unfitness that is ref erred tet Qr'is It all three? Then.-again the question of degrees of unfitness- would have to be very carefully considercdi. and the brief cablegram from MoltioiiMc does not throw any light cm tficse aspects of the problem, ft -would be necessary, of course, thai full iiiiormation should be available as ta the direct and indirect e&et-s of sued an amendment of tile ifiai'ria.ge kw as that suggested before fthyfln&ir in the way of- State interfer&ire-o could be atfrrflpted.. leckjcss changes based on inadequate knowledge are liable- to cause greater evils than they are likely to cure. Recent events in. the/United States should act as a warning 'to fiverzealous reformers anxious to see the world made perfect before they leave it. The aims of these" weil-mea.mri.g people are excellent, but the fllfliin-ft of the perfect man in a slow process, and a generation or two is a comparatively short time jn th(> history of a nation or raw. (State interference with the liberty of m.ai'nngo can only be .justified by th 6 ntfist urgent necessity, Awi ought- pot to bo bAsed upon doubtful theories which fuller knowledge niay modify or overturn.

The .history of (!w Wisconsin Eugenic Marriage Law, which has just been upset b,v the Circuit Court, provides a most instructive illustration of the difficulties *Mcb w>

i'QUBd this sort, of legislation. This

iaoyel cxperiAieiU in law-making required every man "aiul woman who

desired to marry to answer something like fifty questions, and to un : •ilergo .1 Dumber of physiological tests. The State Legislature appears to liavc taken all sorts of precautions to ensure the smooth working (if the Act; but it seems to have come in conflict with certain, phases of human liatiu'Ci and this, combined with tlic question of doctors' fees, caused a great- deal of trouble. The law provided that- the doctors should only charge twelve shillings for the medical examination and tests though the actual cost was estimated at several pouti-ds, and it wag therefore contended that the gnfarceine-nt of the Act would make marriage al-" Most impossible |or poor people. As soon as it earrie into operation there was an enormous drop ia the iuimher of weddings, and a serious, fall ing-olf in trade, the merchants t>" Milwaukee estimating their Joss at £2000 deity . Many couples got married in adjoining States, and deled fte Wisconsin authorities to take legal aetiatt against them for neglecting to obtain the required certificate. The validity of the law was ■Gveßtusilly put to the test, in the Circuit Court at lliiwaaikee, andtfe: Jtidgo declared that it- was uarcas-

enable in. regard to its limitation of the physician's fee, and that it was 'also an unreasonable and -material impairment of the right of persons to enter into matrimony,. The Court further contended that if the Statewished to exercise its right to prevent nnd'esii-abk marriages it should assume the burden of ■weeding out. the unfit, instead of casting -.upon the fit. aa.unfair dema-nd. and thus materially impairing an inalienable right. The Judge's actual decision was probably a sound one, but his added suggestions, open up some very big problem What does he- .mean by the "fit" and the '"'unfit," and hoff is .the'"weeding out" to he dope? tt all seems simple enough until the actual step is taken' from tvotds to deeds, and thou the 'tiifikul* tias 'become overwhelming. A similar la* to that which has Just been upset in 'Wisconsin' was enac-fed in Pennsylvania recently, but it proved unworkable and is, now generally igft-ored'. If the Australasian Wonjien's Conference had''ljuc-wm a little more- about these ■■ American experiments it is'.doubtful ■ whetbev they would hav? betin.quitoso i-oady to recommend- State-tefrwEerencfl of tho, sanie, charjictcr. in this .part of the world. V ■. • ■ .