Probably all marriage laws have as their real object the protection of
child life. Without marriage laws there could be no organized society and
the human race would soon sink to the level of the animal world in
general. Under present social conditions marriages are put off longer and
longer. Each succeeding generation is marked by an increase in the age of
those who marry. But the conditions which cause late marriages in no way
lessen the sex impulses or mitigate the distress which these impulses
cause. The impulse to multiply is neither greater nor less than in the
past when marriages generally occurred earlier. Fortunately it is weaker
in the female than in the male. There are those who believe that the male
must exercise it if he would achieve his full strength of mind and body.
Certain political and philosophic sects take cognizance of this belief and
advocate legalized provision for the gratification of the sex impulse even
to the extent of providing for the destruction of the lives of the unborn.

The most pernicious of the false beliefs regarding physiological necessity
are as follows:--

1. That a life of sexual continence is not consistent with the best
physical health.

2. That the exercise of the sex function is necessary to the full
development and preservation of "manly power,"--the power of procreation.

3. That the sexual impulse in man is so imperious that it is impossible
to control it and, therefore, a sexually continent life cannot be expected
of man.

4. That, therefore, the moral standard which we apply to woman cannot be
applied to man.