The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1899-01-14
The Title Market.

BoOu uedl is DelLS salu anu Wrltteu
these days against American heiresses
marrying titled foreigners, but it is
all wrong, says the Kansas City Star.
The business of swapping money and
woman annex for title of nobility
and man appendix is an American in
dustry which is altogether compatible
with the increasing itching of the
American palm to get rid of the demo-
cratic corneous and callous marks of
labor. An ancient title possesses an
inherent and an intrinsic commercial
value in the American vanity and small
mind market, and neither the seller nor
the buyer of it is guilty of consummat-
ing an monumental transaction when
wares are snapped. The mistake the
plain Americans make in criticising
such commercial transactions is they
look for the same code of ethics that
obtains between the shopkeeper and
the purchasers of his goods. They do
not seem to be able to understand that
it is a pig in poke business, except as
TO the money of the heiress, which
must be paid in cash before the prop
erty changes hands. 1t is claimed that
very many of these transactions are the
expression of pure, genuine love and
that neither the money nor the title is
considered 1t is an irrevocable rule
Of the vanity and small mind market
that the origin of the title offered and
the moral worth of the appendix shall
not be inquired into. An abstract of
the title might reveal history not al
together desirable. while the general
character and conduct of life of the
appendix is of no consequence. On the
other hand, the appendix never refers
TO the shop" ancestors of the moneys
annex. That simplifies the business
very much. Some of our plain people
may have wondered why princes with
present or prospective thrones do not
sell their titles in the American mar
ket. There is no mystery about it. A
prince with throne in hand or in sight
knows that the state will put up cash
to supply his needs, and. again, it is the
unwritten law of thrones that their &C.
cupants shall not take a plebeian to
wife. 1t is tough on our American
heiresses who visit the titles bargain
counter that there are circumstances
under which their money is not the
whole thing, and that they themseh es
are relegated to the shop" and the
Kitchen" socially speaking. How
ever, the title of prince, when the ap-
pendix is not even remotely in line of
succession TO throne. may be picked
up almost any day, but the price is all
the traffic will bear" Such titles have
no divine right" attachment. This our
American heiresses should remember.
A young, pretty and accomplished New
York heiress, q widow, has just closed
deal with count aged co. The count
is expecting to be gathered to his IA
theirs in few years, but meanwhile he
proposes to miss nothing that his
American money will buy. When he
let's 60 his hold upon life the title will
remain here in this world. A bright,
young, vivacious countess, with plenty
of money and fancy free" ought to be
able TO snatch No. from close to some
throne, albeit it be an impecunious one.
There is a suspicion that this heiress
has some knowledge of the shop
tricks of her aforementioned grand
father. A good deal of calculation for
future business seems to have been
made in the purchase of the aged count,
and TO that extent she maintains the
reputation of her country women for
knowing good thing when they see it.
Cervera's fate will be that of Column