Houses and Marriage
The housing problem, as was observed here last week, has many aspects, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, addressing his Diocesan Conference on Monday, performed a very necessary ser- vice in dwelling on the moral need for houses that can be homes if the two basic institutions in national life, marriage and the family, are to be maintained unscathed. They are, of course, not being maintained unscathed today. The increase- in divorce, and the knowledge of the existence of broken marriages far exceeding in number those that come before Divorce Court Judges (a subject on which the Marriage Guidance Council has compiled some dis- quieting statistics), should bring home the urgency of the problem and produce in all well-concerned persons a sense of profound disquiet. To diagnose an evil is not much use unless a remedy can be suggested. One remedy proposed by Dr. Fisher is the creation in every town of any size of Advice Bureaux to which troubled wives or husbands can bring their difficulties in con- fidence. Such centres do exist in some localities, but it is manifest that they can only be organised under a great sense of responsi- bility ; unwise or inexperienced advisers could do much more harm than good, and wisdom and experience are not as widespread as could be wished. There is another point touched on by the Archbishop, secondary though it may seem. The tendency in modern fiction, on the stage and on the films to make light of decent marriage and bring it into derision, to harp on " the eternal triangle," and see in it a source of stupid and superficial mirth, has inevitably a demoralising effect. There are many things in our national life in which we take just pride. One is our reputation for truth and straight dealing in commercial transactions. We might rate at least as highly the pledges given in contracting the bond of marriage, and care for a reputation in that sphere no less than in the other. War-time marriages, lightly contracted in the idea that they can be lightly ended, are a problem in themselves• The essential is to foster a right attitude towards marriage in the public mind. The question how that can best be done deserves the concentrated thought of all persons of public spirit, from Archbishops downwards. The Church should lead, but it is not a matter for the Church alone.
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