Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-03-01
DOROTHY DIX TALKS
Taxing Bachelors
BY DOROTHY DIX
Copyright, 1920, by the Wheeler Syndi'
cate, Inc.


mote its infant industry and raise reve
hue by putting such a high tax on bachelor +
that ii will render celibacy proh1bltlve.
Perhaps we shall follow suit, since it /
the policy of our own government TO ia
luXures rather than necessities, ana our law
makers being mostly married men, Will ma +
urally feel that if man wants the privilege
of staying single, he should be willing to pal
for it. Probably the bachelor will take tn
same view of the subject and decide ths
his personal freedom is worth whatever
costs.
Of course, behind the bachelor tax lies tn.
very human impulse to make the slackeI
do his bit. The married man sees his owl
income absorbed by family expenses. HI
looks at the mountain of bills from butcheri
and bakers, and dressmakers, and shoemalt
ers and schools, and baby specialists. AMI
he sees his unmarried friend with nothing Il
do but spend his money on himself, and hi
yearns to reach out the long arm of TIL
law and snatch his pocketbook from him.
"The welcher," exclaims Benedict, "thinla
he's foxy to have side-stepped having to pal
for Paris frocks, and imported millinery, AM
for raising lot Of children, each of wholI
costs as much as the upkeep of yacht! Blu
we'll show him that he can't get away wit
that. Well make him support the country
if he won't voluntarily support family !
Such is the mental attitude Of the married
man towards the unmarried man. 1t is al
attitude that is teaming with Jealousy AMI
spite, for, no matter how happily a man
married, there are times and seasons whe1
the domestic bonds chafe and he is fille1
with envy of the man who was wary enougI
to keep his head out of the moose, who doc
not have to render an account of his going
and comings, and who can buy fancy rlsh1nI
rods and golf clubs with his money insteaI
of baby perambulators. Hence the Benedid
| &c DIV tn do tha bachelor in the q
every chance.
| Curious, isn't it, the different attitude th|
world takes towards unmarried men AMI
women? Everyone is sympathetic toward
the old maid Always she is an appealinI
! figure that calls for tender consideration, By
the old bachelor is the 1shmael against Who'll
every hand is turned. Nobody pities him
Everybody blames him. No pale lavendd
romance hangs about him. Instead, he
regarded as a monster of selfishness
Men look upon him as one who has beeI
craftier than they are, and too coWardly 4
face the consequences they are enduring
Women regard him as one who has cheate|
some sister woman out of her due, and the
are filled with rage when they behold hin
squandering on his own pleasures the dollar
that wife should be employing in the pull
chase of glad raiment.
And both men and women are determine
that the unmarried man shall not remain ul
married. Nobody raises finger to try
get the old maid a husband, though Heave
knows she needs all the assistance she cal
get and to be press-agented, and pushed, AM
have her stock doomed far more than AM
man does; but the minute bachelor appear
on the scene, everybody turns into matrlmd
NAL agency on his behalf.
Men try to lure him into matrimony b
| pointing out it's advantages, and putting tn
soft pedal on it's drawbacks, They boast q
| what kind of cooks their wives are, and bra
of their kids, and say never a word Of ho1
eloquent even a good wife can become whe|
a man gets home a couple of hours too late
or of how many weary miles they hav
walked with a collicky baby on cold win
ter's night.
Women strew the pathway Of the bachelo
with fascinating widows, and throw prett
young girls at his head so that he must in
deed walk warily if he avoids stumbling int
the traps that are laid for his feet.
The old maid may be an old maid becaus
she has had no chance to marry. The oil
bachelor is an old bachelor because he delhi
| erately chose the single estate, and this make
all the stranger the private and public effor
to force him into matrimony, for the res
object of the bachelor tax is to penalize cell
bacy and promote matrimony.
1t is a great mistake, however, to suppos
that because man is unmarried he is lei
in undisputed possession of his income. Fa
from it. The old bachelor is the predestine
prey of everybody with causes, and all impe
cuniOus relatives.
Every lady who sponsors Hospital for In
firm Cats, or Home for Decayed Canar
Birds, holds him up for contribution, an
every relative, to the remotest cousin, feel
free to call on him for help. Brother Tor
expects his bachelor brother to pay him ou
of debt every time he gets in hole Siste
Sue feels it his duty to send her boys throug
college and give her girls pretty clothes
Aunt Tabitha writes to him whenever sh
needs new teeth, and Cousin Jonas remind
him that blood is thicker than water, an
asks for the loan of a thousand, which b
will never repay. So the bachelor who ha
no family to support, is nearly always help
ing to support half dozen families.
Whether the men who cannot be lured int
matrimony, can be driven into it by taxation
remains to be seen. A few thrifty-minde
ones may possibly conclude that wife is a,
ably the greater number of old bachelor
will stick to their latch keys, and their free
dom, and pay the price, as we all do whel
we pay our luxury taxes.