THE RELATION OF THE SEXES.

NZ Truth, Issue 183, 19 December 1908, Page 8

THE RELATION OF THE SEXES.

I THE SOLUTION OF A PROBLEM. How to Encourage the Birthrate. (By "A.M.P.") NO. I. On Atigust 6th last there appeared an article m the "New Zealand Times," headed, "Juvenile Immorality," which has been referred to by one correspondent m reply as "A Cry of Despair." Naturally when an evil of any kind is presented to the human mind the • tendency immediately is to seek both the cause and the remedy. And m regard to the evil herein referred- to ,^the writer of the above-mentioned article has sought the opinion of various medical men as to the cause and cure of juvenile and apparently adult immorality. The word morality, m its literal meaning, it may be here mentioned, means "the capacity to distinguish that which is right from that which is wrong," tout m this article immorality refers mainly to the |erverted sexual instincts. No very satisfactory cause has " been given by any of these experts, but with regard +o the cure the common opinion of the medical fraternity, is that the only remedy lies m; the repeal of the CD., Act, and the advocacy of licensed houses of prostitution, where yaung girls can devote their lives' to the gratification of the .animal passions of men jminixed with love or any other of the noble sentiments wMeh are ever associated with sex communion m the married state, and thus confine what seems to be universally regarded as an immoral or wrong act, to a small section of the female portion of the community, though recognised by the beforementioned meuical experts to .be universally necessary to the health and morality of the male portion of all classes and conditions, while . the- remainder of the fair sex are expected to retain a virigin chastity until it pleases some one or other of the sterner sex— disgusted perchance with the emptiness of attempting to satisfy the cravings of a soul for all that is bast, most endearing and lasting to the heart of man, IN THE ADULTEROUS HOUSE OF HARLOTS, •Mio invite one of these virgins to become his bride and yield obedience and liie-long. devotion m exchange for a home and sometimes, but not always, maintenance also, and such amount of love and devotion as he may be capable of giving after all the finer sensibilities of his nature have been seared and blunted, by possibly years oi cofisorting with a class of women who consign themselves > to a sphere of iiife wivich, it permanently followed, must most assuredly demoralise and destroy, all the finer sensibilities of womanhood; and all that makes .for human perfection. And the fair virgins who are expected to extircly subdue and conserve their natural desires and passions until after marriage may have to wait until tfhey are twenty, twenty-five, thirty, forty, or, possibly, a life-time, before the wished-for husband comes. Now, it seems tjo me that of all the stupid (I should say immoral, meaning wrong) • proposals made by man, this is the stupidest. For, m .(he first place, it seems to be the outcome of . two totally c opposite opinions at one and the same time ; the first being that it is possible, on the part o{ women at any rate, to maintain absolute Constance for an indefinite period without the slightest injury to body or mind, morally or physically, and. set- the same time considered to be impossible for men to control their passions and : to be considerably 'fjenefited, by their expression, even under revolting conditions. Or, if they do not consider legalised prostitution revolting, then, to be logical, they must' also be of opinion that certain .women ' can habitually consort with all sorts and conditions of men without any injurious effect morally or physical. The obviously illogical confusion of ideas here exhibited must be apparent to every logical and consistent person. • ■ . , i Proposals (for the establishment of licensed bous«B of prostitution are invariably, made by men., I have never, m my experience heard of a woman, beyond those who kept . tihem,, advocating such establishments. 'Though m plates where"' they exist,' their existence may be accepted as a necessary evil, or as a re-' quirement of existing social arrangements. And thus, like many other evils, it is .taken for granted that they cannot be abolished until the reformer comes along and educates the people up to the necessary .standard of a*ooli!-hing tne evil. Take slavery, the liquor- traffic, privats ownership of l?and, war, class-hatred, etc., are examples, all these things having at one' period of history been accepted as necessary requirements of civilised existence without a word of question, but as man becomes more enlightened the evil - of. many things become apparent which,' to. less enlightened minds, 'appeared to be,' if thought about at all, a positive Benefit. .-•••"■ v And the advocates of this proposalTO PURIFY THE MORALS OF THE .'... PEOPLE generally By the establishment of houses of ill-fame entirely overlook the fact that all normal-minded, mature females at times desire union wi»'|h the male, and feel better, happier, and purer-minded for such union, and would attain more perfect physical-mental development were it not for the silly censure of humanity, which primarily, as Carlyle says, is made up "mainly of fools." Seaing, therefore, that sex' union under pure conditions is a natural attitude of all life, it would be infinitely better, to recognise the right natural and moral, the union of sexes, after a, certain age, say 20 years, without the' necessity of requiring to contract a life-long marriage, and thus, mr stead., of attempting to "confine it" let it have its natural course. This proposal, however, brings me into direct; agreement with the advocates of what is commonly called "free love," and the cry at once . arises "What about the children, who is going to keep them? How about the home life, free love would destroy that !" I say with regard to the maintenance of the offspring, the freehold of they land should •be the permanent birthright of the whole people, and be leased only — never sold for all time— to those individuals who wished tq use it, this law to apply alike to' city, suburban, and rural lands, and the rents derived from the leasing of all these lands should be divided equally among the whole of thepeople, and primarily among all the mothers of children whether such children were born m or out of wedlock, and the eqjuitable division of the rent of the land among the mothers of the coming nation is the only permanent and practical solution of the whole question cf the relation of the sexes. But tt may.be said that this is an impracticable dream that is scarcely ever likejy to be realised. I maintain on the contrary, that it is a practical suggestion that, if the people were only wjl-' ling, could be largely brouoht into force at the very next sitting of Parliament. And this is how it could be sone : — (1) The Crown still retains vast areas of valuable land, and a law could l>e passed that henceforth no Crown 'lands whatever shall be sold for cash or deferred payment, or with right of purchase, but leased only for a term, and no case exceeding 33 years. And all the rents, less the portion retfuired for ratin?, etc., shoiild be put in.to a pool for division among the whole of the people at regular intervals. But before the males should recerve any portion except m 'cases where they are incipaeitated from, earning a living by virtue of accident cr old age, . EVERY FEMAEE MEMBER OF THE,, CDMMUJtfITY oi twenty year* of age and upwards,,

should receive 5s per week for each child she has. The payment of such money to date from nine months previous to birth and to be paid within one month after birth of the child, this first payment to be made whether the child is alive or dead, but all subsequent payments to be made only on proof the child is alive and up till it attains the age of 15 years. (2) A law could also be passed that henceforth two-thirds of all profits made out of the sale of land or the goodwill thereof when passing from one individual to another, should after deducting the actual value of improvements and the agents' commission thereon, go into what might be- called the "Mothers and Ghildrens Provident Fund." This law to apply to all freehold property sold just as fully as to Orpwn lands. (3) A tax equal to 2| per cent, of the present unimproved value of all lands, whether city or rural, should be levied on the owners for the same fund, and m the event of there being a mortgage on such land, the owner of the mortgage would have to pay 2A per cent, of the value of such mortgage annually out of the interest agreed to be paid by the borrower, unless such money had been lent for the production of permanent impuovements or for stock, \when no tax whatever would be imposed. \This clause not to take effect for five years from date. ' I ■ ' If these suggestions were carried out, I then the mother , of every child under 15 years of age/ could go to the nearest. Post Office or department established .for I the purpose, say every month or quarter, and draw . a regular anriunity for' the maintenance of herself and her children ■ • • . "■■••.-..■■ $m.-p. ; (In. my next letter I will give some startling facts regarding "The; Evil of Early Marriages," and m an article following that, "The Cause and Cure of Juvenile Immorality.")