New Britain herald., 1929-11-29
LOVE, MARRIAGE AND THE DOLLAR SIGN

IIhL DolLtAh SltIN
 At about the moment when Dr. s. Parkes Cadman was declaiming re- gently against companionate mar riages, divorces without reason, and other social malad justin ents which menaced the sacredness of home and children, two sets of Questionnaires which had been sent to business girls in Chicago and New York were being computed.
 "The United States"-Dr. Cadman stated-"is at those great crossroads where it must decide whether it will continue 10 grow spiritually and ma terially great on the foundation of unified, sanctified home or go the way into obscurity of former great 1 states that strayed into the realms where the appeal of the physical senses called the loudest and re- ceived the loudest response"
 The questionnaires, duly answered by the business girls, would indicate there has been no radical change in the ideals of young womanhood, ex- cept in perhaps one particular to be taken up later. All the girls were what is known as financially inde- hot i0 A earning their own living and did not actually require to marry for eco- homie reasons.
 But practically all stood ready to marry If the right man bobbed up. They admitted 1t with unalloyed frankness. Obtaining the right hus- band remained a girls greatest goal. was the universal admission.
 But these business girls, being economically independent. added certain qualifications. The kind of men they were looking for did not grow in every city block. There. per- haps, is the rub, the radical change from the good old days.
 Whereas the fashioned girl was interested in love minus a dol lar sign. these independent business girls let 1t be understood that the man worthy of their love must be earning at least twice as much as they are. This was the burden of the answers as produced in New York. In Chicago the girls allowed that the lucky men of their choice must be capable merely of providing them with a higher standard of living.
 "Of course. want to marry more than anything else in the world" one miss of IS, earning s20 a week. stated. She was able to live on that salary in New York only because she stayed at subsidized institution HIcle SAptlStS W ere lO".
 But l am going to love a man with money. Marriage doesn't mean anything unless you can have a home and children and love; and l don't think love can survive in a home where one has to pinch pennies"
 The substance Of all the replies was that love nowadays cannot en- dure without good bank account. Some observers have been saying that virtually all the economically independent girls agree to this phil osophy nowadays. It remains for philosophers to determine whether this is a better system than love and marriage a la old style. Facts, how ever, remain stubborn things.
 The result of general acceptance of this doctrine retards the average age when marriage is consummated. This retardation is already evident It means. too, higher standard of living; but it does not necessarily mean more happier marriages and less business for the divorce lawyers. Indeed. to accept what pr. Cadman says about it, there is also a grow ing percentage of floundering in the seas Of matrimony. resulting in high average of wrecked homes de- spite all this careful picking and choosing of mates on financial basis.
 If the dollar sign is held up un- necessari high, the law of com- pensation seems to decree that for the most of them a higher standard of living actually will result; and haven't they read copious tonnes by men and women of eminence that it is the destiny of life to raise the standard of living? If they submerge love and marriage under this higher standard of living perhaps after all they are only following the advice of one set of advisers who don't happen to agree with another set.