iation; there must be some one to act and to be acted with
as the embodiment of the persons associated. In the formation of
governments, the manner in which the common interest shall be
embodied and represented is a matter of conventional arrangement;
but in the family an influence more potent than that of contracts
and conventionalities, and which everywhere underlies humanity,
has indicated that the husband shall fill the necessity which
exists for a head. Dissension and distraction quickly arise when
this necessity is not answered. The harmony of life, the real
interest of both husband and wife, and of all dependent upon
them, require it. In obedience to that requirement and necessity,
the husband is the head--the representative of the family.

It was strongly urged upon your Committee that women, inasmuch as
their property was liable to taxation, should be entitled to
representation. The member of this House who considers himself
the representative only of those whose ballots were cast for him,
or even of all the voters in his district, has, in the opinion of
your Committee, quite too limited an idea of his position on this
floor. In their opinion he is the representative of the
inhabitants of his district, whether they be voters or not,
whether they be men or women, old or young; and he who does not
alike watch over the interests of all, fails in his duty and is
false to his trust.

Your Committee can not regard marriage as a _mere contract_, but
as something above and beyond; something more binding than
records, more solemn than specialties; and the person who reasons
as to the relations of husband and wife as upon an ordinary
contract, in their opinion commits a fatal error at the outset;
and your Committee can not recommend any action based on such a
theory.

As society progresses new wants are felt, new facts and
combinations are presented which constantly call for more or less
of addition to the body of our laws, and often for innovations
upon customs so old that "the memory of man runneth not to the
contrary thereof." The marriage relation, in common with
everything else, has felt the effects of this progress, and from
time to time been the subject of legislative action. And while
your Committee report adversely to the praye