The Washington herald., 1909-02-21

body polite. Following out this line Of
the propaganda. the bachelor Is an oys-
ter. Women. ike the crusader out in
Washington. call him clam She says
he has no soul and never rises 70 the
threshold Of consciousness. This IS GER
tainly the very quality OF an oyster
When the bachelors inert instincts or
self-preservation are sufficiently aroused
by these onslaughts. what IS he going 10
do 10 escape helping % support the coun-
Try? Statistics show that large major
~ OF governing bodies are made up OF
serious married men, who are being stir
red now 20 action against the bachelor
by the crusading woman's taunt that he
is getting the worst Of the ufe-deal with
the bachelor. Very likely he vii read the
law TO his single brother, strip him OF his
peacock feathers and stick a pin into his
balloon
Next. this speculative generation viii
begin 10 read the attacks by the muck
raker' against the shame OF single
blessedness" and the ''unnaturalness Of
celibacy~ Branded with license tags
and obliged 10 write his own name on the
roll Of shame. the bachelor viii be driven
into double harness and contribute his
quota OF citizens 10 the State.
What he has lost in taxes on selfShness
may come back 20 him 81 pensions for
every little head above the future stand
ard Of seven TO the family. Witness the
Missouri farmer who offered the same
suggestion 10 BIr. ROOsevelt's commission
on country life Representative De Witt,
Of the Iowa legislature. goes the sugges-
ton one better bv Incorporating the pen
sion per head system In the bin he has
introduces 10 discourage race suicide
Texas May be First.
Texas viii probably be the first State
to tax the bachelor Missouri should come
next. Both Of these Commonwealths have
ousted and nned the Standard OH Com
pany. the greatest symbol Of what selfish
bachelorhood may enjoy. The bachelor
who is nearing the age when he must pay
! 20 remain single in Missouri can move 20
Texas and obtain a respite for FIVE years
/ Of SingleneSs. the limit Of selishness
there being thirty years, If the bin passes
at this session. That Is 10 say, he Is i'm
mune If il is possible for him 10 survive
/ the finger Of scOrn and social Os;racism.
The question Of sweethearts is one of
I the serious angles to this bachelor tax
after the mere state Of singlcness becomes
a social repr0ach. The bachelors nOto-
/
young women After they are married
they can't do IT, The young women enjoy
/ the pleasure given them on the bache-
/ Iur's money But can a young woman af-
! ford 20 keep company with a man who is
paying a tax 10 keep from marrying her?
Z Undoubtedly the bachelors with rubber
/ backbones viii begin popping the fateful
I inquiry so prOmiscUOusly that eligible
young women viii no longer look al the
stiff-neck bachelor who pays the tax be
! cause he is stubborn and does not know
that he has been whipped 10 q fTaZzle.
4 Until every State in the Union has taxed
I the bachelor he can become a wandeTeT
without a home in States where his class
are vet unlicensed. But in the end. there
+ seems no hope FOR him
What About SpInSters:
But how is the bachelor with perhaps
thirty days left in which to get married
or go on the blacklist going to persuade
the young woman who has turned against
marriage and is writing essays 10 prove
that marriage is a failure2 Here the
professional spinster must be considered
as another angle. She may be earning as
much or more than her bachelor swain
+ She may be satisfied with her independ-
ent life. There is a host Of them
Suppose the only girl the bachelor loves
VIII not marry him because she enjoys
: her state Of single bIesseduess. Here. al
last. the bachelor. as a class, can join
hands and retaliate upon the woman cru
saders who placed the yoke OF taxation
on his state Of existence. He can get
himself elected to the legislature and
tax splnsterhood His arguments against
Il will be every bit as well founded as
those who have coerced him to bear MS
part. He can quote divine law and nat
ural law until there viii net he jot
left 10 which she can cling. The same ex'
pense and the same ignOminy viii attach
10 her single state and the bachelor vii
have been revenged and nature triumph
antly vindicated.