Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 184, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1917 — Should Betrothals Be Advertised? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Should Betrothals Be Advertised?

By LAURA JEAN LIBBEY.

Ask me no more-thy fate and mine are sealed. .> n I strove against the stream, gnd all in vain. let the great river take me to the main. No more dear love, for at a touch I yield; Ask me no more. We have all heard of censoring beaux, but here’s another trial that,ex-

pectant lovers may soon sac th’at of having their betrothal re gis ter ed. A statesman, anxious to win fame, has actually set forth the Idea which he hopes to establish as a law. It would checkmate the backsliding beaa, who has begun to weary of his sweetheart; nip off those bug-a-boo breach of promise cases, where the swain

avers he didn’t and the maid he did. It would be a benefit to the timid bachelor who, like a moth, hovers about the fascinating widow, trying to make up his mind whether it is wisest jand best to woo and wed or take unto himself that old timely advice: “Beware of widows.” The enterprising widow in such a case would have to await his decision, no matter how impatient she might be to grasp time and the man by the forelock. Of course, advertising a betrothal has its advantages. Then, again, there’s another side of the question which bears weight against it. If a modest girl has become betrothed to a .fickle Lover andhe deserted her, how distressed she would feel to explain how it came about to her gloating five hundred friends. Again, many such girls may actually become betrothed half a dozen times before they decide they have come across the right man. There are any amount of kin people who would “have the laugh on them” for catching so many beaux, yet not getting one of them to the altar. There are timid men as well as timid women. Many a man would not propose marriage if he was under the necessity of having his intention to wed made public. He may not care to have his associates find this out. If he has old loves In the background, what an opportunity for them

to step forward and make trouble for him, baffling at one fell swoep his excellent resolve to turn over a new leaf, to settle down and marry. So there you are. When it comes to it, a man who has the desire to marry after finding the right girl will not need the law to force him to carry out his love vows. As for the fickle fellow, whose admiration flickers out, isn’t it best for the girl to be rid of him without the world knowing all about it? It would be the height of foolishness for the maiden to resort to the 4a«,,nnd bind herself for all time to such a human bubble. It seems that such a law would be productive of as much harm as good. Delinquent lovers should not he spurred on. Lost interest in a man's heart is seldom or never regained. Where there’s no interest, hovy can there be love? Betrothals are sacred and should concern only the two whose happiness is at stake. It is said that youth is ever confiding. We can almost forgive its disinclination to follow the counsel of age. It rejects suspicion. Young men entering betrothals generally mean what they say.