It cannot, however, be doubted that the system
reduces the cost of education, such as the duplication of the teaching staff,
laboratories, libraries, and other equipment.
It is objected that the system has done more than anything else
to rob marriage of its attractions, by divesting man of most of his
old-time glamour and romance. It is claimed that this early contact
with the other sex, on a footing of equality, and the manner in which
the majority of the girl students more than maintain
their intellectual standing with the boys, has tended to produce
that contempt of the much-vaunted superiority of man, that, as a rule,
is reserved for those post-nuptial discoveries which make marriage
such an interesting venture. But they forget that marriages
are frequently contracted in places where girls and boys are taught together,
and where they have had ample opportunities for knowing each other intimately,
and that experience proves that such marriages are happy and lasting unions.
It is interesting to observe, however, that as the number
of educational institutions has increased, the number of unmarried women
has been correspondingly augmented. It is easy to explain this
by the fact that a large number of women earn their own livelihood
by going into business and the professions. As they become more educated,
and are allowed to participate in many of the same privileges as men,
it is only natural that they should show their independence
by remaining single.
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