Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1899-11-09
WHY MEN STAY SINGLE
''D1 'A&aT'ON IN ANY WAY HF, .
mATTERs ALoNc2
i'easoninEs of One Bacb.,o
"noeet-so'ne Interesting s,at,.,,s.
unhappy Effects OFF,
More Bachelor. Than a1.;,.

Hhappy Effects Of fE1trax..,,r
more Bachelors Than Naia.n.
Now and then an agitation ar;sos
.ooo" the feasibility and Justice ~
."Ainh unmarried men, because tho,
pels l.siS'enliy avoid matrimony. As >
n1a''er OF fact, the taxation of haoba baloua
IS not new idea. The Graat-s -,
nea'ofed to make men marry NV y,
,ioins punlshments, and the Romans
man ae's ns1 .ne ~ C1f1stisa saA e. era Pa mAda. q
their property confscated at death.
Similar laws once existed in Ger
many, except that in some places the
sovereign did not wait for the man
to die, but confscated all his earn
lngs, if lie had not married bv the
time he was fifty years old. j..
A tax, to be really an incentive to
marriage, says one, speaking on this
subject, must represent to the bachelor
the average expense of a family, and
this 1t would be impossible to collect,
AS many men are not in position to
bear such an expenditure.
Again, it is not always the fault of
the man that he does not marry. for it
cannot be denied that in these later
days many women prefer to remain
independent, and, therefore, eschew
matrimony. If what is sauce for
the gander, be sauce for the goose"
these self-elected spinsters ought not
to escape the tax levied upon the OBJ
durate bachelor.
In military countries, however, the
difficulties OF marrying are enormously
increased for men, for which reason it
seems more impossib there than
anywhere else to place a tax on
bachelors, ard more unjust than in
other lands. The blood tax in itself
means loss of time Of several years
to every male in the country. Those
who wish to escape serving two or
three years in the ranks are obliged
to go Ill for very high standard Of
education, which means great expense
to the parents, who often are not in a
position to bear ii. Moreover, the
man who serves one year in the ranks
receives absolutely no pay from the
State. He has to pay for board and
lodging and for the whole of his outfit
during that time. which. as far as upi-
forms are concerned, is more or less
useless at the expiration of his time of
service. How great the expenses Of
the whole thing are may be Judged
from the fact that when boy is born
his parents OF once begin to lay sum
aside each year in certain companies
which have been founded on the
mutual system for paying the above
mentioned expenses when the day
arrives for doing military service. All
this has to be made up for in later
years by extra hard work.
Statistics show that in all countries
these is tendency, both with men
and women, to marry later in life than
was formerly the custom. This does
not imply that the material position
Of the individual has become worse
than OF the beginning Of the century
in fact, the average man makes more
money than he did hundred years
| ago, but the conditions of life are
changed Both men and women are
more difficult to please since they have
| greater freedom in the choice of part
ners for life, and since the parents are
no longer privileged to arrange the
| future destiny of their children.
Allowing that men and women could
by any means be induced to marry
early it is difficult to see what advan-
tages could possibly accrue therefrom
Living becomes dearer as social wants
are increased, and if the income is not
in proportion to the needs and de-
eires, serious difficulties must neces-
sarily embarrass the young and uneS-
perienced couple.
It has been claimed by many men
that the extravagant taste of women
in dress is one Of the chief obstacles
to matrimony. Every man has laud
able desire to see his wife az we'll
| gowned as those with whom she
mingles, and when bicycle, golf and
tennis suits are added TO the regular
wardrobe, a discreet man will think
! twice before assuming such an obliga-
ton.
It appears that people generally are
| greatly mistaken in their notion tha;
| there is an enormous surplus Of IN
| married women in this country. At
the present moment there are in the
United States 2,200, 900 more unat
| tached males than females similarl =
situated, the exact figures being D.
! AT, 761 bachelors against 3.224.4
spinsters Of ages from twenty year:
up Thus It IS obvious that If gjrls
do not find husbands it is not for lack
Of plentiful supply Of the article
What is required, seemingly, is q gen
eral migration OF splusters from lii,
North arl East to the great and grow,
ing West, IL parts OF which there art
ten available males for every maid
Even III the Northern and Eastern
States there are more bachelors tina,
spinsters twenty years old and upward d
Notwithstanding the theory TO the con
trary so widely accepted L, is nov
claimed tha. no State IN the UnioI
has as many maidens as bachelors
not even Massachusetts,, where tn
| figures are 2lo.25J spinsters a1ains