IS MARRIAGE A FAILURE?

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2094, 31 May 1907, Page 2

IS MARRIAGE A FAILURE?

A MARRIED MAN’S AVAIL

“Anti-Marriage” writes as follows to the Editor: —The question of whether marriage is a failure and whether a man is well advised to take tlie step or not is one which no doubt agitates tlio minds of a great many young people at tlio present time. For that reason it’ seems that the position is worth discussing. Being a married man of some twelve years’ experience, I may be allowed to have a tail- knowledge of the subject, and without hesitation I say that, under modern conditions and especially for a limn with a limited income, it is a failure and frequently a very bitter one. From this you may infer that I am married unhappily, but the fact is just the reverse, only both my wife and I agree that when all things are properly weighed wo are infinitely worse off and less happy than when we were sweethearts. With marriage comes responsibilities, and where both were earning incomes previously, one income has to suffice for both, together with additions in the shape of children.

A man loses his independence—l don’t mean by being tied to bis wife —but by tlie fact of these responsibilities. Ho may bo hectored or insulted by bis employer, almost with impunity, and yet while the manhood in him calls upon him to resent it, lio dare not, because of bis wife ami •children dependent upon him, and therefore from a strong and self-re-liant man he is turned into a sycophant. Before I was married I could afford to take my best girl to most of the good plays that visited the town —now this is a most exceptional treat.

I could occasionally buy her little presents, now my only present can be such useful articles as a pair of boots for her or the children. 1 then belonged to a club, but I can’t afford that now. I could go down town of an evening and meet a few friends, but now my purse won’t, allow me, and if it did I should bo courting trouble at home. I then could sometimes take a trip, but now if I could afford it the pleasure would lie gone in taking a family with me. There, Sir, are a few of the reasons which lead me to say that marriage is a failure, and that all sensible young men should avoid it.