Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-03-26
THE MAYOR OF FORT DODGE ON
RACE SUICIDE.

tc a special message from Mayor S.
j. Bennett of Fort Dodge, Iowa, IN
which he dwelt upon the unfortunate
and hUnl:liattng fact that the city If
Hf1ch he IS the Lhjss mag.strate
should DC he nome OF Il la Sc percent.
age of unmarried marriageable people
Of both sexes than could be found in
any other western community, the
city council of Fort Dodge on We'd
nesday night passed the following or
dinance:
That all able-bodied persons be-
tween the ages of rs and 45 years,
whose mental and physical propensi-
ties and capabilities are normal and
who are not now married, shall oe
required to marry within sixty days
Any person or persons failing to COM
ply with the provisions of this ordin-
ance shall be fined not less than $40
nof more than 500, according to the
criminal negligence of the person or
persons unmarried"
The fact that this ordinance was
carried by unanimous vote, and amidst
the applause Of the gallery, proves
that Mayor Bennett mas the sympathy
of all classes in Fort Dodge in his
effort to compel unmarried marriage
able people, of botn sexes, to comply
with the wishes of the national admin.
istration and to do their whole duty
by our common country.
After the ordinance had been pass.
ed, and while the mayor was receiv-
ing the congratulations of the alder
men and citizens, he said:
ssTf fharn uyhn deceive RI
cape the penalties provided will be
at my office all day to perform mar
riage ceremonies free Of charge or can
be reached by telephone at my resi-
dence at any hour of the night. The
ordinance represents the most enlight-
ened thought of the day, and is pre-
cedure which will be widely followed
before tn end of the present decade"
What a blessing it must be to live
in community which is not SO borne
down by annoying and perplexing po
litical and economic problems that it
can afford to give its time and thought
to matters of far greater Importance
TO humanity! AS matter of fact,
what would politics or economics
amount to if manageable people
everywhere should act like the mar
riageable people Of Fort Dodge, and
be content from one end of the year
to the other with merely bowling polite
ly to each other on the street, with
making merely formal calls, with see
ing each other home occasionally, il
a cold sort Of way, from church, IL
stead Of coming together socially III
the oyster or ice cream parlors, in
the homes of the parents of the un
married women, in going to the thea
tiers, in standing OIL the top steps aft
er returning, in exchanging billets-
doux, in meeting and mingling and
counting, and in getting married like
sensible people?
For, when all is said, we must. above
everything else, look out for the
human race. Talk as we may about
abstract things, the community or the
pect to go forward, and community
or a country whose manageable men
and women insist upon remaining I'M
married must sooner or later make
poor showing to the census taker.
There is only one thing wrong with
the theory of the mayor of Fort Dodge
He does not go far enough. If the
manageable unmarried people of Fort
Dodge refuse to marry, why not COM
pei them to pay all the taxes? Or Why
not just chloroform them? The latter
would probably solve the problem best
since then the mayor of Fort Dodge
could cease worrying anu might settle
down to business of Importance.