The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-06-08
ATTACKS ON BACHELORS.
Reasons Why They 0ouoht Not to be
Taxed.

Reasons Why They oouaht Not to b
Taxed.
To insist, as some do, that II spin
sters be taxed, bachelors likewise
Should be compelled to contribute &c
the general fund, is to our mind, ab'
surd. The two classes are quite dls'
tinct.
From time to time special taxes
have been imposed upon single men
in Great Britain and Ireland, but only
it was always carefully stated, for
the purpose of increasing revenues In
France, on the other hand, fear OF
the depopulation is said to be at the
root of the present movement, unsuc-
cessful thus far, to exact toll for cell
bacy. 1t will be seen, then, that the
actuating causes have varied widely;
but, generally speaking, the descrim-
ination has rested upon the Spartan
principle that 1t is the duty OF tae
State of every citizen to rear up
legitimate children, although there Is
room for suspicion that, in some In.
stances, the henpecked married men
who made the laws felt that bachelors
should pay well for happiness that
seemed to them exceptional.
OF the forty millions of persons OF
both sexes of a manageable age in
this country, more than twelve mil
lions remain single. This number
seems large enough to justify our
Chief Magistrates recent insistence
that, from the viewpoint Of a far.
seeing ruler, DESTROYS Of providing
cadets and midshipmen for a large
navy, the indefinite continuance of
such a condition Is intolerable. Lest
he may suddenly direct the various
States to enact laws that would bear
unduly upon unmarried men or suffer
them to be brought under the pro-
visions of the Interstate Commerce
Act, alone with old maids. we earnest
ly beseech reflection upon certain
facts established by our Federal
census.
According to the statistics of 1900,
tor example, the country contained
only 1,182,293 widowers. or only 3
percent Of the entire male population,
as against 2.721.564 widows, or 7.3
percent of all the females. This sur
prising disparity surely merits serious
consideration. We may not assume,
for chivalric reasons. that our deli
cately nurtured ladies' are Of tougher
dbre and more enduring physical ma
ture than their husbands; hence. we
are driven to the conclusion that the
hazard Of matrimony is vastly greater
for men than for women, as is evil
denced by the great disparity in the
actual fatalities Moreover, the total
of divorced men Is only S4,903, or 2
percent, as against 114.965, or 8 per-
cent. Of divorced women, showing
clearly that even after being freed
from irksome bonds a comparatively
small proportion Of men have sui
dcient strength left to withstand the
effect Of their previous existence.
That these significant facts do, or
should. escape the thoughtful atten-
ton of a prudent bachelor. is not to
be expected; realizing as he must
from q study Of the statistics, the
comparative paucity OF his chances
OF longevity during the matrimonial
period and the virtual certainty of
his discouraged spirit wasting away
soon after divorce. is he not reason.
ably warranted in evading in all
seemly ways the wiles Of the spinster
and should he in equity be taxed for
20 doing? Clearly 1t seems to us,
and we trust it will seem to the Presi-
dent, such a course finds ample JUST.
1ication, which induces even a soldier
to avoid engagements against undue
odds.-George Harvey In the North
American Review.