Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-09-02
WARS EFFECT
ON MARRIAGE
French Social Reformers Sal
ing to Make It Easy for the
Dowerless Bride to Get
a Husband
BY HENRY woop

n1HB war promises to end IN n.
L what has constituted in the pass =
greatest obstacle to general marr,..s
namely, the dot" that is exacted of 49,
girl who wants a husband.
So deeply is this custom implanssa !.
French life that any girl whose na,.zs,
are not able to provide her with a o.
has such a small chance of effeotins
marriage as to render It unwortb,
either consideration or hope. Fs.zs
women who have come from fan;l,.s :.
modest means often have declared s.
the necessity imposed on them fron -
earliest moments of childhood To -
every penny in the hope of acouir,ns
"dot" by the time they reach mar,..
able age really robbed them of all ~.
goes to make UP girlhood in the -.
sense of the word.
While 1t is generally conceded thai "a.
necessity of having a dot" has ma.
the French woman the most efficient 49,
economic home manager in the world a.
also relieves her of ''slavedom," vet a
has greatly restricted marriage In Franz.
1t has entailed also the disadvantara =
limiting every girls choice to that ps,.
ticular class in the social and intellect,.,
scale to which her dot" will admit hsr
Since the beginning of the present VA,
an active propaganda has been carr,.s
on in France to put marriage on N.
American and English basis-a bas.
purely of love, on which the HUSBAND
also assumes the full responsibility a
providing for his wife and children.
Were the hopes of these people to estsN
lish "dotless" marriages in France bas.s
solely on the success of their propagans.
they probably would not succeed.
mother who consented to her sons M.
riage to girl of modest dot" has ja.,
withdrawn her consent, saying:
my boy has since won the Cross of IN.
Legion of Honor and the Croix dc Guerr.
and he is therefore now worth more.r
Fortunately for the propagandists, th,y
have recently been able to establish tba.
they can count upon certain great pha
nomenon that has been repeatedly noticed
in past wars, and that promises to settls
the question Of dots in France regardles
of the tenacity of tradition and the am
bitions of mammas with marriageabl,
sons.
Statistics have established that follow
ing every great war there comes
marked increase in the number of NAL,
births over female. The propaganda
for "dotless" marriages have therefore
been doing little investigating and And
ample cause for rejoicing. In one Of the
maternity hospitals in Paris in sings
day in May there were 23 births, of which
21 were boys. In another hospital on
the same day there were II births Of
which 16 were boys. This has been estab.
lished as being about the average for
Paris at present. The same investigation
in the rural districts is even more en-.
couraging.
While therefore the propaganda
realize that Immediately following the
close of hostilities the dearth of men
brought about through military and naval
losses, will place the groom very much al
premium, yet they figure that by 1oll
and 1850 they can count on such an
abundance of potential grooms and such q
dearth of potential brides as to place thi
latter at a premium regardless of dots