Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 March 1882 — The Evils of Parental Interference. [ARTICLE]

The Evils of Parental Interference.

Then there is the evil custom of enforced marriage; sons induced against their inclination to marry to suit the choice of their parents instead of their own, and daughters compelled to marry men they loathe, or perhaps only men distasteful to them, because of family convenience or necessity. Allied to this evil is another, the voluntary selection of life partners for any other reason than love and mutual attraction. With our existing imperfect knowledge of the factors which enter into a perfect and true marriage, it would seem better to trust to the instincts of nature, if they can be entirely at liberty and untrammelled, than to tho decision of any legal tribunal as to who may and who may not wed. The wise-acres should not be ignored, and in these matters would not be; but their advice should be asked, not enforced.—Dr. Foote’s Health Monthly.