MARRY, OR—DON'T.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4355, 5 March 1875, Page 3

MARRY, OR—DON'T.

(From the Lyttelton Times, March 3.)

- There is an idea prevalent in the old country that the matrimonial market is understocked in the colonies. If Paterfamilias is burdened with a family of unmarried daughters approaching that terrible Kubicon—an uncertain age—he. believes that if he can only pluck up courage enough to emigrate, there will be no. lack of eligible -wooers. We are afraid that he in liable to be grievously disappointed ; the supply already exceeds the demand, and when •we look around us, and observe the large number of young people of both sexes who are entering on manhood and womanhood, we are inclined to regard with grave concern, the paucity of marriages in the upper classes of colonial society. Except among the serving and shop-keeping classes, a wedding is a rare event, looked forward to for months by any who happen to enjoy the slightest acquaintance with either of the venturesome parties, and a matter of town talk .for nine days afterwards. To say that in young colonies, early marriages should be encouraged, would be to utter a mere truism ; but so long as the present expensive method of housekeeping is adhered to will marriages be infrequent and deferred to a comparatively late period of life. '" ' ' ,■■•:: . Socially, the English people are, next to the Chinese,, perhaps, the most: conservative people in the world ; any innovation on the old-esta-;blished 'manners and customs of society is watched with the utmost jealousy ; ,a man who dines.at a-reasonable hour and does not take sherry with' his fish, is looked upon' as irredeemably vulgar.;. and we believe , that there arts individuals residing in the back country who are so wedded to their traditions, that they cannot sit down at eight o'clock to their tough mutton and tea without putting ou that senseless garment, a swallow-tail coal: ■ The expenses' of housekeeping on the present system are so groat .as to preclude a. large section from risking matrimony. The laborer.■who earns his eight shillings a day can sup- ' port a wife and family in perfect comfort and put by/ something: for the rainy day. The 1 banker's or merchant's clerk,- with his two hundred and fifty pounds a year, is quite unable to ,'find. and maintain a wife. of > his own* social .position. - The''reasons for this we propose shortly to consider. " .. .X .. i Probably r there never was -a time when. ■women l 'dressed so ; extravagantly 'as now. ■Here we have another instance of'the slavish "subservience _ to the requirements of "the Goddess ■Ydgriin,"' as published through the medium of : her priestesses and : oracles, the dress-makers ; but we fear there is, little to hope in 'the'-way, of reform iu- this direction. As it wasinthe beginning, so it is now;:— -.,;_, AVivcs 1 will (Jvoss, and husbands mus.t .pay,' ' ... ; Though the sßanlcruutcy Court beyawning. ■• ' •House rent is'a ! serious item ;in spite of the 'immen.se number of houses which have'sprung up in all directions in-the'last' three'or four years, it is impossible to obtain a decently habitable house at', anything like a moderate rental ; there are plenty of neat commodious dwellings suitable for those who can dispense with servants;'but homes of a better -stamp.' do" not pay unless the .rent ■be placed ( at such a 'high figure as to put' them; out of the reach ..of 'the class wo are now considering.,- Then there is servant's wages. Thirty pounds a year for a general servant is a heavy, deduction .from a small income, in addition to which the requirements, of, colonial servants in the way of keep are far greater than in the old country. "When we add to these the expense of firing—some five and twenty pounds a year, at a reasonable computation, for a small household —we shall find that there will be little enough left to provide the bare necessaries, of life, food and clothing, and nothing whatever to spare for luxuries.

The fault lies, as we have said, with our unreasoning British prejudices. On the present system of house-keeping, the waste of material, of labor, and of capital, is .simply incalculable, yet we are quite prepared, when suggesting an alteration of the system, to be charged with endangering our hearths and altars, and destroying that noble but expensive ideal, an English home—" be it ever so costly there's nO place like home." The remedy for the existing exigency is combination.' Individuals who are unable to support separate establishments, can, by combining their means, live in luxury. This is the principle of the hotel system, which iB so successful in America, and on the Continent of Europe. In theory, English people regard it with horror, yet they submit to it quietly enough when they find, by practical experience, that it suits their pockets, as, for instance, when paterfamilias take's his family for a trip to the seaside. , , Beyond living under the same roof and being served by the same servants, there need of course be no community, and certainly no social intercourse whatever between the

families who avail themselves of'this system of housekeeping, and by its adoption people of moderate income will be better housed, better attended, and better fed, and at a far cheaper rate than can possibly be the case under the present plan. We are aware that it is not easy to overcome the prejudices of a lifetime, and it is to young people who have not had time to allow these prejudices to take deep root, that we would recommend the schema we are advocating. We believe that the hdlel system efficiently carried out, is eminently adapted to the requirements of colonial towns. But the hotels would of course need to be of a very different stamp from those existing at present, with scarcely an exception these were, until lately, mere drinking bars, with a few rooms attached for the sake of appearances and to satisfy the requirements of the licensing laws. The hotels of Ohristchurch used to be a by-word among visitors from the other provinces. We admit that there has been improvement latterly, in consequence of the energetic action of the Licensing Court, but there is still room for amendment. We believe that hotels conducted on liberal principles, and contrived with a special view to the needs we have indicated, viz., the accommodation of families of income, belonging to the middle and upper sections of the colonial community, would fill a hiatus in the social scheme, and would undoubtedly prove paying concerns to the promoters.