WOMEN AND MEN

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10207, 18 February 1919, Page 3

WOMEN AND MEN

(To the Editor "N.Z. Times.”) Sir,— l WHS greatly relievevd to read the letter from Eve. It' is a long time since wo met in the flesh, and I was afraid that her spirit had been earned along with the progressive party into the whirlpools of Socialistic hyperbole. What changes have been made since Eve and I left the Garden of Eden! She was then my property, but to-day, if my son has a wife he is lucky if he has property! Without assuming that the one was the cause of the other, history would seem to show that there have been two ■ changes of condition in dewelopinont since -my honeymoon; one, the gradual assertion of the independence of woman reducing the marriage contract into a mere formality for the -legitimation or children; and - the other the gradual disappearance of the notion of mutual dependence between parents and offspring. This notion of mutual dependence was the tie of family in the good old days when my sons were both by law and in fact rulers in their own households (subject to the proverbial exception). The fulfilled sacrifice of the parents after bringing children into the world, in feeding and helping them until they were able to help themselves was met by the corresponding sacrifice on the part of the children, in supporting their parents when their parents were unable to support themselves. These ties are now no longer recognised. The majesty of the law imposes obligations on the parents with respect to children borne by them, and on the children with respect to destitute relations. With the enactment of the legal obligation the sentimental tie disappears, and when the child can earn a living the boot is applied, and when the parents become unfit for work it is the old age pension or an order of the court for their maintenance. This condi'ion of things is not good for the State. -Patriotism is compounded of numerous domestic ties bound by the tie of language. The tie of the English' language is weak, and the breaking of any of the domestic ties weaken the bundle. A problem of to-day is how to maintain patriotism as against international . Socialism and other highsounding hallucinations. The solution of the problem may he assisted by the restoration of the domestic ties—the dominion of the head of the family—and the devotion of the family to the head. These include the return of the wife to a theoretically subordinate position, but a position of which it may once agai u be a compliment to say: “The grey mare is the better horse." But I am apparently running away from the original question, and now suggest that besides strengthening patriotism, the restoration of those domestic ties would bring the social evil down to the irreducible minimum. The care of the parents would be to get their daughters safely married, and to mitigate in their sons /any desire to sow wild oats. I thank you for your courtesy, and conclude bv reminding the younger generation of the proverb, “An old dog does not bark for nothing," and its Banish rendering, "An old man’s saying is rarely untrue.” ADAM.