The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-12-29
A MARRIAGE LOTTERY.
k0ndon's Queer Mixture of DOwi;. jla;ri
mony and Hebrew Philanthropy.

Iondon's Queer Mixture of D"w,:. sla,ri
n.ony and Hebrew Philanthropy.
michael Harris and Nancy Jacobs
having roiiel the highest number of
votes We're duly elected to receive Il
dowry of COS and marriage fees. and a
vacancy WAS a"iin declared for a couple"
So ran a para graph in II Jewish paper
recently. and reporter was fired with
yn ambition to learn more about these
folks who give couples dowries. and
more about the conditions under which
such dowries are won. The benevolence.
It appeared. elnanaied from the Society
for Allowin. Marriage Fees ard Por.
ton &c Young Men and Nirtuous Girls
of the Jewish Faith. The president %
this society one would Imagine woulG
be a patriarchal sage with grandchil
dren in scores about his knees. But Mr.
A. Swaab. who is the head of the so.
ciety, is ayoung man with slight black
mustache. clean shaven chin and GER.
tainlv no grandchildren. When not
hymeneally occupied he is engaged IL his
business as diamond merchant in Hat
ton Garden.
The society,"" he said. in reply to the
interviewer. ''has been in existence near
ly so years. and has done no small
amount Of good. 1t was started among
few friends in quite IA small way. and "a
dowrv of e1O only was all that could be
afforded at first. But E1O. if not exactly
q drop in the ocean, was not quite slItfi-
Gent to answer the purpose in view, and
as the fund grew the dowry asincreased
to ea5."
Are the operations of the society con
fined to London
NO. They extend all over England.
The funds are recruited by subscriptions
Of all amounts, from a penny a week up.
ward. and by donations"
1T gives them a prior CLAIM. on the
dowry perhaps
mo. it doesn't. will make that clear
in moment. We assist about a dozen
couples every year. thsdowries and mar
riage fees coming to over f300. The OBJ
ject in giving the dowry is to enable the
young couples to start little business
together Before becoming candidates
for the dowry-toward which they need
not have subscribed farthing-they
/ have to be possessed of all home neces-
saries and furniture, and the man has to
prove to the satisfaction of the commit
/ tee that he is in position to maintain
/ his wife"
"Only virtuous girls are to be Defriend-
ed by the society, gather from its title.
Does it not become rather delicate mat
ter to adjudicate upon the qualifications
of young lady applicants"
Every case is investigated by two
members of the committee, appointed
annually for that purpose. They make
their inquiries with proper tact and dis
cretion, and they also investigate the
character of the man. Let us 60 through
the entire procedure. Say a vacancy has
been declared, which means that we have
sufficient in hand to put another dowry
up for competition. We send out notices
to that effect and supply forms of appli
cation. We get four, five, six. perhaps
q dozen couples contesting for the prize.
They all come before the committee in
couples, and are asked questions con-
cerning the money they have saved, the
nature of the mans work, and SO on.
Once, l suppose. must have been press.
ing the prospective bridegroom pretty
hard, for the young lady spoke up sor-
rowfully, Well, sir, you got married
once, and we want to too!"
well, as soon as they have been ad.
mitted as candidates. what follows?'
I'VE give them book of members.
and tell them to go and canvass for votes.
the members possessing votes in proper
ton To the amount of their subscrip-
tions.'
"Have you yourself many votes?"
"Yes, hold something like 80 votes"
"Then you are the target of plenty of
beseeching brown eyes and persuasive
glances:'
"No, nothing out of the way, because
as president l take no part in choosing
the recipients of the DOVER"
"Can you give me specific instance
of the good the society has doney'
II can, and a striking one. think.
There are three members Of the commit
tee of the society, now men of position
and well to do, who were embarked mp
on life with dowries from tine society"
Pail Mall Gazette.