The Washington herald., 1907-03-23
nc Fort Dodre Idea.


| Not until the ApollO-like form of the Hon.
Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver doomed large
upon the horizon of his countFy's future
did Fort Dodge take its place upon the
map. AS the fame OF Iowa's statesman
grew, the celebrity of Fort Dodge as a
seething center of reform spread and
strengthened the hope of a distracted ma
ton. But the glory OF Dolliver had
dimmed the luster Of all other Fort
Dodgeites. until, full panoplied for mighty
deeds, there sprang into the leadership
of the advanced thought of that seat OF
culture and renown the Hon. S. j. Ben
nett who is described as the chief expo
nent of the compulsory marriage theory
and the necessity of a widespread move
toward wedlock hardly less ardent than
Roosevelt himself"
/ Clothed with the powers of mayor, said
Bennett has drafted and caused to be in
ltrodnced in the city council of Fort Dodge
an ordinance which provides that "ali able
bodied persons between the ages of twen-
f, ty-five and forty-five years whose mental
/ and physical capabilities are normal. and
who are not married. shall be required
/ to obtain a license and procure a bride
within one year. under penalty of a fine
/ Of not less than SO nor more than S100 p
/ Mayor Bennett has studied deeply the
problem Of what to do for Fort Dodge.
which lis a growing city of upward OF
] l6,o00 population, and which ought 10
expand into a metropolis of hundreds Of
thousands. 1T would be larger and bet
ter he declares. IF everybody did his
] duty - FThapaFnra Il.
bachelors and spinsters seem inclined 10
shirk responsibility in the one direction,
this move by the city council is for the
purpose Of bringing the matter home to
the people and compelling them TO do
/ their duty as good citizens"
The mayor halts between two opinions
as to whether the fault Is more with the
men or the women. II is. however. his
deliberate judgment that "a woman who
| refuses a worthy man after he has
! scraped up sufficient nerve to ask her
should be fined double amount, for she
may give him setback that will pre-
clude all future thought OF marriage. -
While deprecating the harshness and un-
gallantry of the mayors proposal in this
particular, we make bold to applaud his
courage, and pass on 10 the consideration
OF the general proposition, which, sum-
married.. is: Marry or move" There
are, We are aware. sticklers a the Con
stitution who will contend for d fee that
/ Fort Dodge has no right 70 assert such a
power or prerogatiye. but the history of
civilization shows that constitutions
1 hamper progress. curb enterprise. hold
genius in leash. irritate the social order.
and hobble the feet of reform in its
! seven-ieague boots. But Fort Dodge 8
mayor has raised one Issue which is des-
| tined 10 divide the embattled forces OF
reform msrtialed under his dashlng lead
ership- The world no longer hesitates to
reprehend the bachelor. Even Grover
Cleveland has exeoriated him as the en-
emy of the state and the menace of
civilization. At the same time We
pause and ponder before giving enthu-
siastic support to the Fort Dodge propa-
ganda. for this reason: We do not want
! the defiant spinsters massed in serried
ranks behind the fortifications of that
metropolis compelled TO move away and
scatter over the nation Their example
might be banefully infectious in com
munities where no such problem exists
as that which frets the lawgivers of Fort
/ Dodge. II the mayor will amend by com
1 pelling those who defy his edict to pass
the remainder Of their days of single
blessedness within the confines of Fort
Dodge, we may, after further considera-
tion, give Endorsement 10 his scheme.