Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-18
FRENCH BACHELORS
BEGIN TO WORRY
Prospect of Compulsory Mar
riage of Government Clerks
Looks Like Snag

PARIS, July 17.-In official circles the
prospect of instant, compulsory mar
riage, if Professor Lannelongue's dras-
tic bill to increase the birth rate be-
comes a law, has caused some excite
ment and alarm. Benedicts chortle,
for in future every fresh arrival in
the family may mean protection for
papa. But all "functionaries" are by
no means married men. In fact, the
bachelors are probably in the majority,
while spinsters certainly are in the
posts, telegraphs and telephones. Hith-
erto chiefs of all government offices
have as a rule shown unmistakable
bias in favor of bachelors among the
male clerks. The idea generally was
that a functionary without home in
Cumbrances was more Jealous in the
discharge of his public duties. He
would not mind working overtime, haY-
inng, only to run out and dine at a
restaurant, whereas his married col
league was afraid of keeping, madame
waiting and spelling the dinner.
Now all this is to be changed. 1t
will be rather hard on some. A bach
elor, having severely starved his nat
ural human ambition to be the father
of a family in order to get on in the
administration" will have some cause
and married men pass over his head,
now that, perhaps, he has reached an
age at which it is no longer so easy
to find a mate as it might have been.
AS for the ladies of the posts, tele-
graphs and telephones, a few years
ago there was actually question OF
whether marriage would not be for
hidden them by regulation. Luckily so
inhuman a veto was never applied or
hn cfn
hear something from Professor Lam
nelongue. But in practice the mar
riage of telephone girls is certainly not
encouraged and it is difficult to i'm
agine that it could be- The most eff
ficient telephonist is not likely to be
the woman who has most babies at
home whom she would prefer to mind,
and as a matter of fact ought to be
minding, instead of connecting wires.
A regulation, at all events, exists and
is vigorously enforced, forbiddinng any
female government clerks to marry
without government permission. Men
clerks can marry without leave of the
authorities at present. Soon they may
have to marry to comply with the reg
ulations.
In his bill which Professor lame
Tongue has introduced in the senate he
aims at reducing the tendency to-
ward race suicide. He proposes in the
first place that additional military
service should be imposed on bachelors
over 90 years of age; secondly, that an
obligation shall be placed on all civil
servants to marry before they reach
the age of 25, and thirdly, that advan-
tages shall be given to all servants of
the state who have at least three chill
dren. Finally, he proposes that the
articles of the civil code providing for
the equal, or nearly equal, division of
property between all the children of
family shall be abolished and that the
father of a family shall be left free
to leave his fortune to his descendants
in such manner as he thinks fit.
AS there are 100000 public function
aries in France the professor is conf
dent that compulsory marriage for
them will increase the population con-
siderably. He does not appear, how
ever, to have contemplated the posi-
bility of all the 100000 marrying, and
yet remaining childless AS an ire
sistible inducement for them to have
large families he allows extra pay at
the rate of $40 per annum per child
under 16 over and above the first three