DR. FRANK CRANE’S DAILY EDITORIAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 123, 15 August 1927, Page 14

DR. FRANK CRANE’S DAILY EDITORIAL

MARRYING THE STENOGRAPHER (Copyright, 1927. J A NEWSPAPER announcement the other day elaborated tL_ that a titled Englishman had married his stenographer. What of it? Titled Englishmen have been marrying out of the perrage rather frequently of late years and many of the marriages have turned out to be happy unions with no regrets on either side. The average stenographer possesses about as much intelligence, charm and beauty as the society bud and sometimes, because of her training, is a bit keener. She is just as liable to have a good figure and a dash of style as her more fortunate sister who has had the advantage of wealth and social position. Furthermore, she is just as liable to have been reared in as cultured a home as the rich girl who may have had generations of snobbery and narrowness for a background. The main point after all is, will the stenographer who has married into nobility make the titled gentleman a good wife? Can he depend on her as a true helpmeet? Can he frankly discuss his problems with her? Will she play the game squarely and fairly or will she soon forget her “for better or for worse” vows? Will her head be turned by the froth of a butterfly life? In other words, will she “make good” as a wife? A man usually marries a girl because he loves her and not because of her position in life. He does not care whether she is rich or poor. She must suit him. That is enough. Generally speaking, it is the women who have false standards and favour the caste idea, due to their long enslavement as the chattel of man. For centuries their outlook has been warped and narrowing from lack of broad contacts. But times are changing. Women themselves are helping to break these shackles of ignorance, pettiness and unfair standards concerning their own sex. It is to be hoped that the marriage of the titled gentleman to the girl in a so-called humbler position in life will successfully withstand the buffetings of fate in store for them.