You
can't gather figs from thistles, and so long as the system of infant marriage,
the prohibition of the remarriage of widows, the lifelong imprisonment of
wives and mothers in a worse than penal confinement, and the withholding from
them of any kind of education or treatment as rational beings continues, the
country can't advance a step. Half of it is morally dead, and worse than dead,
and that's just the half from which we have a right to look for the best
impulses. It's right here where the trouble is, and not in any political
considerations whatsoever."
"But do they marry so early?" said Pagett, vaguely.
"The average age is seven, but thousands are married still earlier. One result
is that girls of twelve and thirteen have to bear the burden of wifehood and
motherhood, and, as might be expected, the rate of mortality both for mothers
and children is terrible. Pauperism, domestic unhappiness, and a low state of
health are only a few of the consequences of this. Then, when, as frequently
happens, the boy-husband dies prematurely, his widow is condemned to worse
than death. She may not remarry, must live a secluded and despised life, a
life so unnatural that she sometimes prefers suicide; more often she goes
astray.
Pages:
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535