COMPULSORY MARRIAGES.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1917, Page 7

COMPULSORY MARRIAGES.

"When the war is over there will be a terrible shortage of men. a pitiable surplusage of women, and unless we are very careful, a perilous decline in the birth-rate," writes Mr. Horatio Bottomlev.

Mr. Bottomley suggests compulsory marriage of men as a remedy, and outlines n scheme by which every eligible man between the ages of 25 and 40 should be compelled to marry, and, where necessary, assisted by the State, to shoulder his family responsibilities. "Let ns leave polygamy to the lower races and get back to my suggestion of compulsory marriage-conscription for the Army of Benedicts 5 *- Of course I am not proposing that any man should be, forced to marry a particular girl. That would never do. First of all. the girl would naturally desire a voice in the matter, and she .would certainly resent having a husband forced upon her ; and. secondly, the young man himself would accept freedom of choice. "But why not compel every healthy I man to marry by a certain age, as an essential part of his duty to the State? "A -few turns ai the fiscal screw would work wonders. Bachelordom and its privileges might be made far more expensive than marriage and its responsibilities. The suggestion of a 'bachelor tax' is no new one, and for the life of me I can see no objection to it."