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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (July 21, 1905)
-tKFllffflU"WQ0lflgaLi -mtjfrffr fnny -.w -v -w. - JULY 21, 190R The Commoner, .7 MILESTONES ON LOVE'S PATHWAY Tho "riddle solvers" are filling tho news papers with suggestions as to the best method of disposing of the "marriage problem," by which, thoy moan, in truth, the divorce evil. One would think that tho holy institution upon which tho world's 'homes are built and through which tho world's peace is made possible had como to bo regarded x as an experiment and admitted to be. as a general rule, an experiment that has failed. Biit the failure is n6t with the Institution itself. It is -with tho Individual and, comparatively speak ing, is only with a few individuals. So admirable 'is the institution that, it; has stood thetest of time tind sufvlvd the faults and the follies of most of' ttye ' then and the women who have taken adVa'ntage oMfc ' Various ''remedies" have been suggested and on.o 'man who is so foolish as to Imagine that -he even think? he -' thinks,' suggests that marriages be contracted for a flye or ten-year period, with the rlgh't fo jenew if- both parties agree. It is Hinnecessnry to' dwell upon any proposition in Lwfiich it ia assumed that the marriage tie is not the holiest of all earthly bonds. Some one ought, however; 'to register a protest 'in the name of tlio "-married 'lovers living and the married lovers dead against' the effort to make it appear that tho institution should be judged in the records of tlio divorce1, courts rather than in the archives of civilization, "When a uniform divbrco law is adoptedby all the states, the divorce evil will . be reduced to the minimum. But even with the undoubtedly largo number of divorce suits, mar riage is by no means a failure. In the language of a great statesman, it has "done more toward the peace) happiness, settlement and civilization of the world than any other part of the wholo scheme of divine wisdom." "All the World loves a lover." It is interested in the youthful sweethearts gathered at the trysfing place, but its profound , admiration is commanded by the picture of the husbands and wives Vho, arq the sweethearts of today, even as theywere the, sweethearts of twenty or thirty years ago. At a time when newspaper reports have become nauseating with the details of tho divorce courts and particularly when the press of New York city is filled with the stories of domestic infelicity, it is refreshing to learn that, after all, good many come out of Israel. No op portunity .should be lost by those who have found that marriage is not a failure to impress their conviction upon the rising generations. In this effort they will be greatly helped by reference to a little volume prepared by a New York" woman as a gift to her husband with which to mark the end of the - second decade of their " wedded happiness. Theodore Sutro ' is one of the prominent lawyers in New York city. The book is a collec tion of letters and poems written to Mrs. Sutro by her husband" and compiled for the purpose -of commemorating the anniversaries of their mar ried life of twenty years. On their twentieth anniversary Mrs. Sutro distributed among her friends 300 copies of this little volume. She ex plains that her purpose in giving even this pub licity to the book is to "teach husbands and wives that wedding anniversaries are good things to remember,' for they recall a tenderness and affection that should not be forgotten." Tho little volume is entitled "Milestones on Love's Pathway," and in the dedicationaddress ing her husband, Mrs Sutro says: Accept this little compilation of some of tho very many beautiful letters you have written to me. I have called them "Mile stones on Love's "Pathway." May they recall to you the happy occasions, and may the thought that I Tiave preserved them inspire you to continue these lovely milestones which mark' the way on the road of happi ness, strewn with your kind deeds and loving affections. It need not be Imagined that there was never any turmoil in tlio Sutro home. This husband and wife were made of the same clay of which other husbands and wives are construct ed and in ' a letter addressed to Iiis wife, dated September 30; 1904, referring to "our delightful companionship," he saysr "Some little Btorms have flawed over our pathway but as I look back the vista of sunshine is so clear that the memory of tills alone remains;" and he adds: I may freely and honestly call them ten '111.'. k i'r' happy, very happy years. And thoy have grown happier as time elapsed. May thoy bo an omen of the future! May the next ten years be as happy, as little alloyed by sorrow caused by ourselves. You have been a good little wife! True as . steel, upright, full of good impulses, im- . bUed with noble aims. If I have had sdmo . successes you have inspired me to achlovo them; if I have had reverses and dlsap- pointmenls they have not been your fault. r You have stood bravely by my side In tho - battle of life without complaining, without ' . regrets, a brave little soldier, full of courage, ' .full of hope! " ",!To this 1 bear tostimony freely and wllh- UvOut reserve. yI have tried to merit your fond love.- I hope I have fully succeeded. May we con tinue to be happy is the sincere wish and devout prayer of Your fond, faithful and loving husband. ,. On the occasion of another anniversary Mrs. Sutro was presented with her portrait framed In silver. Accompanying tho gift was a verso yritteu by her husband entitled: "To Florence," as follows: Far too costly is this setting For the picture you behold! But 'tis vain to be regretting, Workmen ne'er do as they're told! Yet this one whom I am chiding Builded better than he knew; For a happy thought, abiding, - ' From this costly framework grow! Crystal with tho wood uniting Wakes fond memories of the past, While the striker is inviting Hopes of happiness to last! Crystal fete and wooden ended! Silver wedding still to be! But the three together blended Here, in wonderment, you see! -These are symbols full of glory. ' , Milestones scattered on tho way, . ' . Telling of our lives the story: " ' ' One perennial wedding day! In February, 1901, when Mrs. Sutro was about to undergo a surgical operation and tho shadow of death seemed near. Mr. Sutro sent a letter, in which he said: What a noble little letter you have writ " ten to me! It is another link in the long "'chain of loving tokens wliich you have vouch safed to me during our sixteen years of su- preme happiness. It Is not a question of your love for me, as you have manifested ihis In ten thousand ways; nor is it a question of my love for you, ris of that I know you must feel assured to a degree that I need not tell you that I would not want to live without you; that if on Oc tober 1, 1884, a horoscope of the future had shown me every moment spent with you from that day to this and revealed to me exactly as you are at this very hour, ray words to the clergyman who, in uniting us, asked me, "whether I would take you, Florence, to bo my wedded wife," wpuld have rung out in clarion tones and joyously; "Yes, yes and yes . again and yes forever!" ' You will have the best medical skill, tho best nurses and the best of everything of the best hospital, but the strongest factor, in, your recovery will be, I feel sure, your own strong determination to continue to live. A blessing and a joy for so many loving hearts! . Our parting is hard to bear, but It will only be brief, and I shall see you daily; your return to our home 111 be all the more joy ous because you will be free from the" dread malady which now threatens you, and. with a new lease for a long, .healthy and happylife with me to the very end of my. pwn days! God grant it. , t " ., -, The eighteenth anniversary was marked by this letter: - '' ' J " . ' Eighteen years, ago,!, Think, of .it! , And you were 18 when I" first met you, and tho year was 18-83. Eighteen seems to be our lucky number. May we celebrate at least ojghloon moro happy aunlvoninrle! Why not? And now a bumper to tliln day, ono of the hnpploat of - tho many happy days of our livos. On ono of Mrs. Sutro's birthdays her husband presented her with a painting accompanied by, a poem writtou by himself, and cntitlod "My 'Own May Song," which was as follows: . My own May oug, my boaulirul gong, '') Composed on the first of May; ,? Each sorrow you shorten, each Joy you pro long, 't . Wherever your music holds sway. vMy own, my living. May song indefcd! ' Each word a kind thought, each note 'a good dcod; Its imprint her beauty, Its music her llfeaft Like a flower of May, is this song, is fmy wife. ' ,i Such' things as these arc not Intended for the eyes of men and women whose feet are riot familiar with tho holy ground to which they load; but in cottage and In caBtld, all over this broad land, there are thoiisands of men and women w'Hi whom marriage has been just as successful as it has been With the Sutros. There are in the homos or America thousands of caskets that arc filled vith just' such love letters as those, written in many cases, by a gray-haired husband, lover still, to a gray-haired wife, sweetheart yet. In this day, when we arc apt to Judge of the institution of marriage by tho records of the divorce, courts, it is instructive, as it is refreshing, to bo re minded that that Institution is to bo considered In the experience of the Sutros, Into whose do mestic life has come some tempest, but much nun shine, rather than by the experiments of thoso who have seen all tempest and no sunshine. It Is safe to say that these lines will be read by many men who, after years of wedded life, may in all truth say: "The wife Is dearer than the bride." We need to impress these things' upon tho boys and girls now growing into manhood and "womanhood. We need to impress upon them tho facts that tho home is the heartlmtono of civiliza tion and tiro wodding day must not terminate tho period of courtship if governments resting upon the home aro to be preserved. RICHARD L. METCALFE. c "A SHADOWY MEMORY" It seems to be generally accepted in news paper circles that Secretary Taft Is no. longer tho administration's favorite for the republican nomi nation In 1908. For a time Mr. Taft was regarded as a presidential canTlldate, but Mr. Taft Is dis patched to the Philippines; and we are told by newspaper correspondents who are presumed to speak with some degree of authority that one of the conditions upon which Mr. Root accepted tho position of 'secretary of state was that he would receive the support of the administration in his aspirations to obtain the republican nomination in 1908. We are told by these same authorities that provision will be made for Mr. Taft by an appointment, by Mr. Roosevelt, to be Chief Jus tice of the supreme court in the event Chief Jus tice Fuller retires before the expiration of the Roosevelt term, or by Mr. Root in the event of his election. . The Taft boom seems suddenly to have died. Perhaps it is a coincidence but it is, nevertheless, a fact that the "Taft Free Trade Order" has passed with the Taft boom. Can It bo possible that Mr. Taft's announce ment that supplies for the Panama canal would be purchased in other markets if such a -course were necessary to protect the government from extortionate prices had anything to do with this? Can it be that the 'stand-patters have already wpn the battle? It was the New York Press which denounced the Taft order as being "treasonable agajnst the citizens of the United States and their soverefgn will," adding that when the American people fix the punishment for-the official responsible for this order ."we (the Press) do. not thjnk there will be enough of his political existence left for mortal eye to see .it as anything but a shadowy memory of a misguided past which closed not a day too soon," Whether this establishes the right of tho New York Press to be known as a prophet;, it must b'o admitted that the Taft boom disappeared very, suddenly and is now little more than "a shadowy memory," Jo ' . iwt' 11 K4 -.! . w j -; ifn, iail ;. .- t 1 -w.M..Aft;.-