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Show WOMEN AND MARRIAGE LAWS . "Tho chief cause which Iniluenced the change In woman's position irom one of slavery to one of dignity," writes the DucheBs of Marlborough in The North American Review, "was the gradual change In the marriage custom. At the beginning, when Rome was nothing more than an agricultural agri-cultural community, the womau figured as an industrial asset in the family and her husband sought her from her father. But, as Rome grew into a great and rich city, the foremost fore-most In the world, families became ilch, and women no longer represented repre-sented means of production; fathers left them fortunes independent of their husbands' control, and a clas6 of powerful, wealthy women sprang Into being. Marriage became a contract con-tract between two people, and It could not bo dissolved except by law. Husband Hus-band or wife had an equal right of dissolving a marriage, but permission permis-sion of a family council was necessary, neces-sary, as well as compliance with legal forms. Such a change In the relative position of woman made her a much more important factor In the family, and put her on a base of equality with men." The Roman explorers found the Teutonic Teu-tonic women enjoying right unheard-of unheard-of in other sections of the world, says the Times. They also found average virtue In the north forests very high. Adultery was strictly punished, by torture; and Infidelity was very rare. In consequence, tho ancient Teutonic woman enjoyed a position her sex had perhaps never known a position in reality higher than it has been under the civilization civiliza-tion in the Occident in more recent times. The women of America appear singularly sin-gularly indifferent to their peril. Almost Al-most all the agitation thus rar has been by clergymen and laymen. A fow societies composed of women have drawn up resolutions, but no very determined effort has been made to stem a tendency thai. If not checked within a few decades, may reduce the box to sad levels. |