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Show FOR UNWRITTEN LAW Dtan of the Washington College of Law Defines It as the Right to Defend De-fend the Integrity of Family Life. BY ELLEN SPENCER MU36EY. Dmii of the Waihlngtoit College of Law, Tho unwritten law might bo defined de-fined to bo right to defend the Integrity Integ-rity of family life against all Invasion and Invaders., Whllo the family haa nn distinct legal entity apart from tho persons who compose It, yet, In the Intorest of society, the law holds tho more Intimate family relations as sacred and not to be Inquired Into by a court of Justice. It Is on this ground that communications between husband and wlfo are privileged, and they cannot can-not testify as to confidential communications communi-cations made by one to the other during the uiarrUge. Marriage la a civil Institution as woll as a contract, and it should be a religious sacrament. Law cannot, mako or unmake tho true marriage relation, but so far ns the relation concerns society and the rtato, It must control II. The Family as a Unit. Tho low regards carefully all property prop-erty rights. It deals promptly with the trespasser and thu thief, and enforces en-forces contracts. The murderer1, the ombexxlcr, tho perjurer, have Jastlco moted out to thorn as enemies of the commonwealth. , But the law does not deal wl(h the family as a unit. Kvery student of sociology knows that the homes ftt tho commonwealth are Its real cornerstones, corner-stones, but tho law does not so ecog-nlxe ecog-nlxe it. It Is the one Inttltutloi still left to tho defense of the bead it tho family, In the very nature of things, there Is always a woman In thd case. If the crime Is against her personally, If she be over tho age ot 10, what remedy does tho law give her? A young woman went Into a c ity to support herself, unwarned, Im xnerl-enced; xnerl-enced; her faith and her affections found an unworthy object. Tod late, sho found the man was already married, mar-ried, and In a wild moment ihfl shot him fatally. If the nrm had Mdl i I 1 ejkJBjfjM l-. threatened her life, If she bai retreated re-treated to the wall to elude hiss, it would ffavo been a case of Justifiable homicide. But his crimo against her was a more atrocious ono than murder. mur-der. It took away her good name, -the love and affections of her friends and relations, her future, her faith In aad respect for herself and her trust In Ood and man. t Written Irt the Mother's Heart. And, again, tho man takes, under the unrighteous laws ot certain states, his child away from Its mother. Which law comes first that written In the statute books or that written In tho hear of every mother by tho pangs of childbirth? So sure as sho lives, that mother will obey the unwritten law, and tho child sho will have. It Is only ten Tears since thorn was taken from our statute book tho law that a man could by will give hln unborn child to whom ho pleased, without refereneo to the paramount claim, by affection and suffering of its mother. A membor of the bar In the 'ono state In the union where thero are no divorce laws once told me that In his stato they had no serious trouble as to domestic Infelicities. "If a man abuses my Bister he knows whom he has to deal with." In this case the unwritten law seemed to be preferred to tho statute law, which severs the marriage bond on adequate grounds well proven. I suggested to the gen-Ueman gen-Ueman that all women were not so fortunate as to havo brothers, but the reply was that seldom was thero a caso In which thero waa no male relative, and that ho belloved that wore such a caso to arlso of gross abuso, thoro was always to bo found In tho community a man who would protect tho woman and her rights. Two Noted Tragedies. Who that reads the recent trial ot Gillette for tho murder of his 'victim can forgot the coolness with which he claimed ho said: "Tell your father; If you don't, I will." Thoro comes a mental picture ot that father and what awlt. vengeance ho would havo meted out to tho destroyer of his child. Was Glltotto such a degenerate degen-erate that to him tho unwritten law had no meaning, or was ho merely talking for effect? Tho unwrltton law which says "Vengeance "Ven-geance la mine," Is no excuse for the disgraceful broils of tho dogenorato man and woman who find tholr only pleasure In dissipation. Tho man who despoils Innocence himself who gives his name and his protection to a woman wom-an whoso llfo has been llko unto his own, Is not in any sense the dofendor ot what tho homo stands for. Ills sonso or moral obligation for himself Is too blunted to fit him, to Judgo of tho transgressions of another. Ho Is himself un outlaw when Judged by tho standards of common morality, His propensity to shoot Is tho ro-sult ro-sult ot a heated bruin, or tho lack oi brains. No woman, no man, Is safo with such a creaturo at large. Let us add to the unwritten law another an-other section: "Let thero bo no inu-endos inu-endos against tho chustlty of woman, but only straightforward statements with pngo and verso." and tho violator viola-tor ot this law uliulr- bo placarded? "This person took nway tho good name of nnothor without cause," and walk tho streets In shame. In tho heart of every man, thero dwells first, absoluto faith In his mother. moth-er. That Is his birthright, and In proportion pro-portion to his faith In and affection for his mother will bo his faith In and affection for his wife. On that foundation is built his attitude to his offspring. The trtio son, the true husband, tho real father, In all those relations, owes to tho home a clean standard ot living. He should nover Invite Into that home a man who does not lilmsolf respect virtue. Tho man who Is n despollor of virtue In one Instance Is an unsnfo guest and friend. How much more so, when llccnso Is his rulo of conduct. "Protect my Innocence or I fall Into tl(i trap that Is laid for me" i BBBBBBUBKBBBBBBBBSBBBftaBII |