Evening star., 1945-08-15
Letters to The Star
Uncle Sam Is Petitioned
by Maidens in Distress
To the Editor of The Star.

To the Editor Of The Star:
BY now the people Of this country
should take cognizance of a social prob
lem confronting thousands Of young
women and teen-age girls who are as
much casualties of this war as those
men who fought and bled and gave
their lives on foreign battlefronts. Due
to the shortage of men caused by the
ravages of war and the marriage, 50
far, Of 5000 or more American boys
to foreign women, many thousands OF
girls have been deprived of whatever
opportunities they may have had to
settle down to the security of married
life. The number of single women so
affected is staggering, and yet the girls
themselves, their parents and close rela-
tives, do not seem to be aware of the
social implications of such a condition
Here are problems confronting Amer
lean girls today that are wholly up to
the people and to the powers -that-be in
Washington to solve, and some of the
following suggestions are offered as
partial solutions:
l. Give unmarried working girls a
break by substantially reducing taxes to
enable them to keep up good standard
of living and to prevent them from be-
coming more discouraged as time goes
on and the future becomes more un-
certain.
2. Military authorities should limit a
soldiers stay in the army of occupation
to one year at the most, the man to be
returned to the United States at the
end of that time, for furlough or re-
assignment. This will enable him to
better plan his life so that he will not
have to fall back on local fraulein for
marriage
3. Some 100000 servicemen now sta
toned in Europe are being sent to edu-
cational institutions until such time as
transportation can be furnished to
bring them home or take them to the
Pacific. First in war, and now in peace,
American boys are being kept abroad to
supplant Europes dwindling male popu-
lation. If they can be gotten out of
Europe by May, 1916, as planned by the
Army, why can't the job be done six
months sooner? Our country has been
known to do the unbelievable.
4. Army officers and chaplains in Ger
many should make frequent appeals to
the men not to enter into marriage with
Nazi women, stressing the desirabinty
OF waiting until they return to the
States, to marry girls raised in more
wholesome environments. The Dutch
government does not recognize mar
riages entered into between Dutch citi-
zens and displaced German nationals or
German prisoners of war. Why could
not the United States also adopt such
a policy?
5. In the event that German girls do
marry American servicemen, the Gus
tomary monthly allotments and other
privileges should be withheld from these
women. In addition, entry into the
United States should be made as diff
cult as possible, even if our immigration
laws have to be revised for this pur-
pose.
The proper authorities in Washington
should make it possible for our girls
really to appreciate their heritage as
Americans and to take justifiable pride
In their country-a country which al
ways has stood as haven for the
oppressed and homeless throughout the
years, not as fairyland for hordes of
starry-eyed, blushing brides gathered up
from every conceivable corner of the
globe.
SEVERAL AMERICAN WOMEN.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Editors Note: The signers of this
communication request strict ano-
nymity)