AMERICAN HEIRESSES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 72, 22 September 1914, Page 9

AMERICAN HEIRESSES

TAX ON DOWRIES. Foreigners who have titles continue to seek our heiresses, to marry them, and to bear them away to other lands (writes a New York correspondent) They also bear away the fortunes of the young women, and this is by no means satisfactory to Mr. Stanley Bowdle, ' a Representative in Congress from the city of Cincinnati, who holds a seat formerly occupied by Nicholas Longworth, the husband of ex-President Roosevelt's eldest daughter. Mr. Bowdle introduced a few days ago in the House a Bill imposing a tax of 25 per cent, on the incomes of Americans who marry titled foreigners. This was suggested to him by the recent marriage of Miss Laura Stallo, of • Cincinnati, ,to Prince Francesco Rospigliosi. He recalled the fact that her sister had for a year been the wife of Prince Michel Murat. "Cincinnati," said he in the speech with which he supported his tax Bill, "now has two princesses with unpronounceable names, and one duchess. With a marchioness and a countess the list will be complete." The two princesses are grand-daugh-ters of the late Alexander M'Donald, a Standard Oil multi-millionaire, formerly associated with John D. Rockefeller. Cincinnati's duchess is the Duchess of Manchester, the daughter of a capitalist named Zimmerman. Mr. Bowdle does not like to see the money going out of the country. He had made a list of thirty American women married into the nobility, who were living abroad and receiving large incomes from property in the States. "Here we have," said he,, "hundreds of millions removed permanently from American by a lot of shiftless lords and dukes, who enjoy it while they live, and then hands it on to a progeny who have nothing but contempt for democratic institutions. This is a distinct peril to the Republic. The rush for the ducal bargain counter is immense. My Bill will depress the price of these ladies at European spas. Parasitical titled idlers hanging around Newport, Bar Harbour, and other American resorts, will view it with alarm. So far as many of our rich women are concerned, American ideals, American simplicity, and American patriotism are bub mere words. They seem willing to lay down all for a foreign title, and proceed to rear a few children as subjects of crowned heads.'" A rich American father, he added, should in his will so guard his fortune as to give ,to "some American, young man a, matrimonial chance for his daughter." , Mr. Bowdle's list includes Anna Gould, who became Countess of Castellane, and later, Princess do Sagan; Vivien Gould, now Lady Deciea; Alice Thaw, Countess of Yarmouth j Laura and Helen Stallo, Princess Rospigliosi and Princess Murat ; the Duchess of Manchester; E,va Mackay, Princess Colonna ; Consuelo Vandcrbilt, Duchess of Marlborougfr; Gladys Vanderbilt, Counters S^echcnyi : Mary Binney, Princess Camporealc ; Miss Leiter, Lady Curzon ; Miss Wheeler, Countess Poppeniieini; Miss Sampson, Mnrcliionets of 'J'alleyraiid-Perigovd ; and Mrs. Stetson, PflchjM oj &aaftgfr M». .tatst^n,, >

says, earned 50,000,000 dollars to the Duke. The Goulds* are a daughter and a grand-daughter of Jay Gould, who left a great fortune accumulated in railroad speculation. The Countess of Yarmouth is a relative of Harry Thaw, who was tried for the murder of Stanford White, and whose escape from an asylum for the criminal insane caused much litigation. The Bill will not become a law, but probably there are many Americans who would like to see such a tax imposed. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that this Congressman's uncomplimentary generalisations are unjust with respect to many whom he attacks. The Duchess of Maryborough has for some weeks been in this city or in Newport. At the house of her mother, in the latter city, she recently spoke in favour of woman suffrage, and gave an interesting account of her work in England, where she has established homes for prisoners' wives and children, and lodging-house? or hostels for women. One of these was erected in memory of Mary Leiter, the accomplished and worthy American wife of Lord Curzon. I ...