The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1919-09-20
The Husband
Shortage

INV NUIA NHNI|IIaN
Come % the most serious results Of
the great war have not yet made
themselves vislbles hut they are rap
Idly blowing ur on the horizon. and
they are worth thinking about. Dnvld
starr Jordan once said hat the worst
eHecis Of war do not appear until the
next generation, having In mind what
might be termed the artificial reversal
% natural sclection'' whereby the
best youuE mcn 70 20 war ana die,
and the wcaklinrs. who make the
poorest fathers. stay NJ home ana
marry. In this wal the rule IA not
followed. everybody went TO war, ano
the ueaksinF was just a apt 10 be
killed by poison gas OF high explosive
shells a. the brave mnn.
This war has produced, however, a
situation even more menacing, equal
~ tragic, more directly visible, In tine
almost Worldwide shortage Of hus-
bands. France, 80 N. Tardieu tens
M. has lost more than half her young
men,: Germany's figures can be hardly
any better. and England and sieiglum
ara In about the same boat. of these
lost young men II n likely that more
than the normal proportion were un-
married. since marriage brought n
certain degree OF immupity from dan
ger y In those countries where u
did not excuse a nan from service.
II n safe to assume that more Of the
married men than 81 the single men
have got through alive.
But even Of the bachelors who are
now returned to civil life n smaller
proportion will marry than would
have been the case II they had stayed
at home. Those who had mad n
start In life mus now In many cases.
begin all yer again, which spells
p-oatponcment OF romance, especially
with living costs soaring and industry
half paraiyzed. Many thousands OK
others are afflicted with the soldiers
reStlessness. and viii wander. instead
OF settling down t0 thu business OF
raising n family.
On the face OF II. this looks as
though the great part OF the feminine
population IL doomed to cellbacy; but
unfortunately the history Of mankind
teaches uE that the human race sim
ply will not, IN large masses, remain
ceiihite over Ions periods OF time. An
incidental spinster now and then, yes
Ia specimen thrown M by the econ
omic pressure Of the time. or by in
dlvidual variation from the normal;
but spinsterhood as a rule, no. When
the Thirty Years war was ended with
the Treaty OF Weriphalia In 1g4s the
German states which took part In II
had been reduced In population from
70 900. 600 to 5000 900. The greater
part Of the adult male population was
wiped out and. aH a result. polysamv
became the rule throughout what Il
nov the German empire. Apparently
the same development had begun IN
Germany long before the close OF tho
great war; and there In n to be-
llove hal The government was far
from hostile n H.
In less brutally sophisticated coun.
tries such a complete breakdown Of
our established morality is not likely
to occur. but there will be social con-
sequences none the less interesting,
Relaxation. Of standards nmons the
wives OF soldiers IL a phenomenon
common 10 several countries. while
the reckless Indifference OF many
fighting men on leave IL notorious,
ard " well portrayed by Arnold Hen
nett In The Pretty Lady Possibly
we may And nothing worse in Eng
land and France than a desperate
competition for every bachelor
whether eligible or not. according "a
normal standards. Lovely woman
will try TO emphasize ner personal
charms to the Stacker who has moi
yet taken to himself a wife. and pos
sibly this thought has "A bearing on
the remarkable styles Of dress which
prevail in London and Paris today,
The whole subject IN n which, while
TO the unthinking II u chiefly anus
ing. Is very serious, too; and IN the
indictment Of wal such a situation as
this IN one of the most serious items