SLOW IN MARRYING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 858, 28 June 1910, Page 4

SLOW IN MARRYING.

Bishop Grimes, who has just returned from a long stay on the West Coast, mentioned an interesting point in the course of an interview. He was most favourably impressed with the fine qualities of the people and the resources of the country. The pioneers of the early days who braved the perils of rapid, broad rivers, made their way across wide lagoons, and penetrated the virgin forest must have been men and women of the finest type, and he was pleased to have found that the energy, pluck, and perseverance displayed by them was reflected in their descendants. Though he did not pretend to rank as a judge of beauty, he could not be other than favourably impressed with the women of the province, and on several occasions when preaching he had remonstrated with the young men for their dilatoriness in marrying. The young women, as a class, possessed the qualities of industry, modesty, simplicity and personal charms, and he was sure they would make excellent wives. Yet, tor some unaccountable reasons, there was little marrying and giving in marriage. The parents were to blame to some extent for this state of things, for they kept their sons working on the homestead instead of encouraging and assisting them to build homes for themselves. Another obstacle to matrimony in the south was the close association throughout their lives of the settlers and their families, with the result that the young people grew up to regard one another as relatives, though there might be no natural affinity. The general sobriety of the young men, few of whom smoked, had also given him pleasure