Glens Falls in 1920: ‘Managing Marriage’ rule an overreach

A new Federal Reserve Bank rule aimed at improving financial literacy of newlywed employees was a dangerous precedent that threatened individual freedom, The Post-Star editorialized on March 18, 1920.

“How much money a man should have before he sets sail on the sea of matrimony is an open question and very much like how long is a piece of string,” the editorial began. “Hitherto that question has been left for a young man to determine to suit themselves.”

The Seventh District Federal Reserve Bank, based in Chicago, had issued a new rule that no male employee earning less than $125 per month — the equivalent of $1,621 in 2019 dollars — could get married without “talking the matter up with the chief clerk.”

The Post-Star said an employer had no right to monitor an employee’s decision to marry.

“There are in this country today, despite the high cost of living — many happy families where the bread winner earns quite a bit less than this sum. … Federal control is not apt to prove any more satisfactory or efficient in the management of matrimony than it did in the management of railroads.”