Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-02-14
WOMEN ID PROPOSE.
Adam Bede Would Deny Mans
 Right to Pop the Question.
LOVE A GAME OF THE FAIR SEX


 Brain Storm, Says Minnesota Repre-
 sentatlve-sure Solomon Was Wooed.
 Has Matrimonial Bureau That Ends
 fDivorcs and Liquor Habits.
 Convinced that his fellow men are
 mere burglars in the game of love and
 that if women were required to pro-
 pose the golden age would come again,
 Representative J. Adam Bede of Min
 nesota, widely known as the "wit of
 the house of representatives" has
 evolved scheme for bureau of mat
 rimony which, he contends, will solve
 the marriage problem for every one.
 All that persuasive eloquence which
 MT. Bede has hitherto employed to
 good purpose in assisting voters to
 make up their minds is henceforth at the service of lovely woman. He has served notice on the country that from now on he will not cease to wield the cudgel in defense of her right to pop the question to the man of her choice. TO Washington Post reporter, eager to learn the details of his great scheme. Mir. Bede recently consented to unfold his plan.
 q haven't introduced 8 bill for a matrimonial bureau yet, because I haven't had time to do any missionary
 work among the other fellows in con- gress," said he. Three or four of them are sort of old fogyish and may need little talking to. I am going 10 try to have all the presidential can didates go on record on the matri- monial question.
 "Its high time women did the pro posing. We men have been on to the job for 2,000 years, and the fact that we have made complete failure of 1t Is proved by the number of divorces, which is increasing every day. Why, divorce is as common now as appendi- citis, and it's all the fault of us men. It shows we are in the amateur class in this affinity business. When any one of us does succeed in avoiding dis aster as husband, it's because he has a skillful domestic pilot who can keep him from running on to the rocks.
 , Centuries of failure on our part have shown us that the old spells sys- tenn of matrimony is all wrong. It must be put under the civil service. propose to establish a bureau of matri- mony and place 1t under-well, guess dt ought to go in the department of commerce and labor. Then all the la dies who wanted to propose could file an application with the department. That would create an eligible list, and any of them could insist on getting matrimonial appointment within the year.
 "Now. none of the ladies agrees with Mrs. Parsons on the trial marriage proposition, so I suppose it wouldn't do to offer any of them temporary ap- pointment. We'd have to give them permanent places. It would be great scheme. There's everything to com mend it. In the first place, women un- derstand men, but who ever saw the man that understands a woman? l "When a mans in love, he is big ger fool than usual. Why, the most of ns by the time we get to the propos- ing point are mentally fit for the morgue. It takes a brain storm to get one of us white livered towards to make declaration of love. But the la dies are equal to any sentimental emer- gency.
 "The ladies-that reminds me. The other night went to banquet, where some one proposed the health of the ladies. Now, 1t happened that every man there was married, and so we drank that toast in silence. I suppose no one could think of anything nice enough to say about them.
 q don't claim to be the originator of this matrimonial bureau scheme. I think something of the same kind must have existed in the time of Solo mon. All students of history agree that women must have done the pro- posing in his day. How otherwise could he have landed as often as he did? He still holds the worlds matrl- monial record in spite of the good showing made by Lillian Russell and Kid Mccoy. Now, if he had been obliged to court every girl he mar eied he would have had 10 spend all his time at it, and we know that as a matter of fact he put in several hours n duV- uNfnnIfvrr sn Hnra1 rATsFnv7Nu1 ters and seeing his constituents. Tn Solomon's time the king business wasn't the cinch it Is today, because If king didn't average up pretty well the kingmakers' union took his card away from him. So Solomon must have employed a lot of clerks and contractors to create an eligible list from the different ladies who pro ! posed. The scheme worked Ike a . charm, for. with all the marriages he . made, who ever heard of Solomon be- . Ing divorced n single time? I've al- ways wondered why the ladies don't . put up a monument to Solomon. Some how they don't seem to appreciate him. We know that the queen of sheba proposed 10 him. I remember reading in the Bible about all the gifts she brought him-must have cost her as much as girls pay these days to get duke
 If women had been allowed to pro pose in the days of Henry VIII, just think what history would have been spared, Henry certainly was a wrong number matrimOniaIIy It makes your blood run cold to read how many wives he had-alnost as many as there