EARLY MARRIAGES. 255 



under eighteen and lads under twenty could not legally 

 make a binding marriage contract. If such a law were 

 established and could be effectually carried out, it 

 would raise the standard of morality among the lower 

 ranks of society, reduce appreciably the grinding 

 poverty and overcrowding in the industrial centres, 

 and materially increase the average vital capacity of 

 our people. 



