MARRIAGE LAWS

it is obviously impossible here to do more than refer very briefly to the more important changes which have taken place in the marriage laws of civilised states since the last article on the subject was published. i. the british empire marriage abread.—the object of the foreign marriage act 1892 was to provide that all marriages celebrated abroad—in british possessions outside the united kingdom as well as in foreign countries—between parties one of whom at least is a british subject, before a ‘‘ marriage officer”? in the manner provided by the act, should be as valid as if duly solemnised in the united kingdom. thus a marriage duly solemnised under the act before a british consul in france, although void by french law, was held valid in england (hay v. northcote |too0o| 2 ch. 262). but by the forcign marriages order in council 1913, where a marriage according to the local law of a foreign country would be valid by english law, the marriage officer must be satisfied (a) that both the parties are british; or (0) if only one is british, that the other is not a national of the country; or (c) if one of the parties is british and the other a national of the country, that sufficient facilities do not exist for the solemni- sation of the marriage in the foreign country in accordance with the law of that country; or (d) if the man is british and the woman 4 national of the country, that no objection will be taken by the authorities of the country to the solemnisation of the matriage under the foreign marriage act. from the decision of the marriage officer there is a right of appeal to the secretary of state. further, if it appears to the marriage officer that the woman is british and the man an alien he must be satisfied (a) that the marriage will be recognised by the law of the country to which the alien belongs; or (6) that some other marriage ceremony, in addition to that under the foreign marriage act, has taken place or is about to take place and that such other ceremony is recognised by the law of the alien’s country; or (c) that the leave of the secretary of state has been obtained. measures have been passed to give effect to these provisions in the bahamas, gilbert and ellice islands, gold coast, nigeria and sierra leone. recognition of banns, etc.—the marriage of british subjects (facilities) act 1915 provides for the mutual recognition of certificates, publications of banns, or notices of marriage issued in the united kingdom, and in any part of his majesty’s domin- ions outside the united kingdom respectively, in the case of marriages intended to be solemnised in either, between british subjects resident in either respectively. these provisions may be applied to any part of the dominions where the law makes due provisions for the publication of banns, or notices for mar- riages between british subjects intended to be solemnised or contracted in the united kingdom, and for the recognition of. 813 certificates for marriage. reciprocal legislation in the dominions is a condition precedent to the issue of an order in council. such legislation has been passed by the bahamas, barbados, bermuda, british solomon islands, cyprus, gambia, gibraltar, gilbert and enice islands, gold coast, grenada, hongkong, mauritius, new brunswick, new zealand, nigeria, st. lucia, st. vincent, sierra leone, straits settlements, uganda and victoria. by the marriage of british subjects (facilities) amendment act 1916, however, where the marriage is to be solemnised or contracted in the dominions, and no notice of the marriage under the law in force there is required, the act of 915 may be applied to that part of the dominions by order in council. by special statute any marriage celebrated abroad (either in british pos- sessions or in foreign states) and being of doubtful validity may be validated here. there are many instances of this procedure, e.g., the marriages in japan (validity) act rore. deceased wife’s sister, etc—marriage with a deceased wife’s sister has been legalised in the falkland islands, fiji, jamaica and the leeward islands, and also, subject to the proviso that misconduct with the sister makes the marriage void, in nigeria, st. lucia, st. vincent, straits settlements, trinidad and to- bago; the union of south africa act of 1920 leg: lises such mar- ridges in natal and the transvaal, and the marriage decree 191g in zanzibar. ; the deceased brother’s widow’s marriage act 19021 legalises the marriage of a woman with her deceased husband's brother, including the half-blood. the same freedom is accorded in british guiana, the isle of man, jamaica, leeward islands, the union of south africa and western australia. legitimation by subsequent marriage is allowed in new brunswick and british columbia. divorce —the english divorce law has been modified bv the matrimonial causes act 1923 under which a husband’s adultery committed since july 18 1923 entitles the wife to divorce without proof of other matrimonial offences. in new zealand the divorce and matrimonial act 1908 has been amended by the act of 1912, which reduces to seven years the period of detention in an asylum as a ground of divorce, while the act of 1919 provides for the custody of children by the wife of a person of enemy origin. by the marriage amend- ment act 1920 the allegation that persons are not lawfully mar- ried or that children are illegitimate is made a punishable offence on summary conviction by a fine of fr00. the act of 1920 extends the grounds for divorce to failure to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights, and grants a divorce on a petition after three years from a degree of judicial separation or separation order or deed of arrangement or separation by mutual consent. detention in an institution for insane persons, whether situate in new zealand or in any other part of the british dominions, is also a ground for divorce. in queensland, by the act of 1923 lunacy for a period of five years is made a ground for divorce. the tasmanian marriage and divorce act 1919 enables a husband to petition on any of the following grounds: adultery, desertion for four years, habit- ual drunkenness and neglect during three years, imprisonment, violent assault, lunacy. the victorian marriage act 1923 amends the marriage act 1915, the marriage (maintenance) act 1919 and the divorce (insanity) act 1919. the following are grounds for divorce: wilful desertion by either for three years, habitual drunkenness of husband with lack of mainte- nance of, or cruelty to, the wife, and habitual drunkenness and neglect of wife, imprisonment, violent assault, adultery of hus- band in the conjugal residence, or coupled with circumstances or conduct of aggravation, or of a repeated act of adultery, or lunacy, and adultery by the wife. by the divorce and matrimonial causes act 1912 of western australia the grounds for divorce are adultery of the wife and adultery, sodomy or bestiality of the husband, desertion by either for five years, habitual drunkenness for four years of hus- band and lack of support of wife, and habitual drunkenness and neglect of wife for like period, imprisonment, violent assault and lunacy. by the divorce amendment act 1919 incontinence by 814 either before marriage is added, provided the woman was preg- nant at the time of the marriage. the married women’s pro- tection act 1922 repeals the summary jurisdiction (married women) act 1896 and provides protection to a woman whose husband is guilty of cruelty to her or her children, adultery, desertion, wilful neglect to provide reasonable maintenance for her or her children. in zanzibar a decree of 1912 regulates mar- riage. the marriage (scotland) act 1916 provides for the joint application of the spouses for a warrant to register an irregular marriage. ii. other countries baltic states.—in estonia, latvia and lithuania civil marriage is now compulsory. belgium,—marriage between a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law, whether legitimate or illegitimate, is prohibited by the law of 1920, where the marriage which produced the relationship has been dis- solved by divorce, but it is legal where the previous marriage has been dissolved by death. cuba.—the spanish civil code 1889-99 has been amended by the act of 1918, by which marriage is a civil contract, and is only legally effective if celebrated in accord with the code. separation and divorce are established by the law of 1918. the grounds for clivorce are adultery, prostituting the wife or children, grave injury by violence, words, or conviction for crime, grave crime against the wife or children, habitual drunkenness, confirmed gambling, deser- tion, failure of husband to maintain the home, contagious disease and mutual consent. a divorced husband is not freed from his obliga- tions to his children. france. —marriage between a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, whether legitimate or illegitimate, is prohibited by the law of 1919, where the marriage which produced the relationship has been dis- solved by divorce, but it is legal where the previous marriage has been dissolved by death. ftaly.—-by the law of 1919 a wife may, without her husband’s con- sent, make a gift infer vives, alienate, or mortgage her real property, make a contract of loan, transfer or collect moneys, enter into a con- tract of guarantee, compound or appear in court with regard to these affairs, be a trader or accept a mandate. mexico.—by the law of family relations 1917 marriage is a civil contract by which the spouses are bound by a dissoluble bond. com- munity of goods is abolished, subject to any settlement. the im- pediments to marriage are habitual drunkenness, impotence, syphilis, insanity, and any other chronic and incurable infirmity. the follow- ing are causes for divorce —adultery, attempt to prostitute the wife, or make the other commit a crime, or corrupt the children; contrac- tion of syphilis, tuberculosis, incurable insanity or other chronic or incurable disease; unjustified desertion for six consecutive months; absence of husband for more than a year, coupled with the obliga- tions inherent in marriage; ill-treatment; false accusation of crime; commission of crime; incorrigible drunkenness; mutual consent. adultery of the husband is a sole ground for divorce only in certain circumstances. upon divorce either spouse may remarry. the cus- tody of the children is granted to the innocent spouse. all proceed- ings are in camera and on the intervention of the attorney-gencral. norway. —by the law of 1909 a marriage may be dissolved where either spouse unknown to the other at the time of the marriage suffered from bodily defect, epilepsy, leprosy, venereal disease, mental disease, or the wife was pregnant by another man. if divorced, the woman may not remarry within 10 months from judgment or licence. poriugal.—by decree of 1910 marriage is a civil contract and is evidenced by civil registration, and all contracts under the name of betrothal or engagement are void. divorce may be granted for complete abandonment of the home for three years, or absence for four years or separation de facto during 10 consecutive years, lunacy, contagious -lisease, incurable disease, conviction of homicide. sweden. —separation and divorce are regulated by the law of 1920. grounds for the former are mutual consent, neglect, drunkenness or debauchery; for the latter juclicial separation for one year, three years’ separation, two years’ absence, bigamy, adultery, venereal disease, plot against life of spouse or imprisonment. switzerland.—by the swiss civil code, which came into force jan. 1 1912, the marriage laws were made uniform throughout switzerland. the legal status of women is raised almost to an equal- ity with that of men. the marriageable age for women has been raised from 16 to 18 and that of men from 18 to 20, but for both sexes under 21 the consent of parents or guardians is necessary. mentally diseased persons are incapable of marriage. the betrothal, for breach of which damages may be awarded, is followed after publica- tion by a civil marriage. grounds for divorce are adultery, plot against life of spouse, abuse, gross insult, crime, desertion, mental infirmity or ruin of marital relationship. the guilty spouse may not remarry within the period prescribed be the court. | judicial separation may be temporary or permanent. if it has lasted for three years either spouse may sue for divorce. the father of an illegitimate child may be compelled to contribute to its support marriage laws until the age of 18 in proportion to his social position. the children of a marriage which is declared null are legitimate even when neither spouse contracted it in good faith. turkey.—the civil code of 1926 is an adaptation of the swiss, and radically changes the legal status of women, who obtain ineer alia equal rights with men in divorce. united states —the minimum age for marriage has been fixed at 15 in missouri, 16 in arizona, and 18 in tennessee, whilst in montana marriage between first cousins and persons either of whom is feeble-minded is forbidden. in north dakota marriage with a degenerate (if a woman under 4s, if a man of any age) is prohibited. new york has reduced the period within which a guilty spouse may not remarry from five to three years, and tennessee has made a ground for divorce such cruel or in- human treatment of the husband by the wife “‘ as renders it unsafe or improper for him to cohabit with her.” til. domicile and marriage desertion.—the rule was laid down in mesurier v. mesurier (in 1893) a.c. 517 and affirmed in the house of lords in lord advocate v. jaffrey (1921, a.c. 146) that matrimonial status is governed by the law of the domicile of the parties. thus the domicile for the time being of the spouses affords the only true test of jurisdiction to dissolve the marriage. this domicile is that of the husband. in att. gen. for alberta v. cook (1926, 42 t.l.r. 317) the judicial committee of the privy council de- clared that under british law a wife, even when judicially sepa- rated from her husband, still retains his domicile and cannot acquire a domicile of choice. but in certain cases of desertion the wife has been permitted to sue in the domicile from which the desertion took place, and thus was not compelled to follow her husband to his new domi- cile: armytage v. armytage (1898 p. 178); ogden v. ogden (1908 p. 46); statathos v. statathos (1913 p. 46); de montatgu v. de montaignu (1913 p. 154). this undoubtedly is a departure from what has always been the rule of law and practice in great britain and ireland-—viz.: that the wife’s domicile is the hus- band’s domicile, whatever that may be. but, as lord cave said in lord advocate v. jaffrey, there is no doubt authority for the proposition that “ the husband will not be allowed to set up his own wrong as an argument for prejudicing his wife’s nghts.”’ this proposition has been made statutory in some of the colonies. by the victorian marriage act 1915 “a deserted wife who is domiciled in victoria at the time of desertion shall be deemed for the purposes of this act to have retained her victorian domi- cile, notwithstanding that her husband may have since the desertion acquired a foreign domicile.’”’ the western australian act of 1912 and the tasmanian act of 1919 are to the same effect. india.—it was decided in keyes v. keyes cf gray (1921, p. 204) that the courts in india had no jurisdiction to grant divorce to parties not domiciled in india, though the marriage was cele- brated and the partics were resident there. by the indian di- vorce (validity) act 1921 divorce may be granted where the proceedings were commenced before the act. by the indian divorce amendment act 1926 relief is restricted to parties domiciled in india. united states —throughout the united states matrimonial status is governed by the law of the domicile of the parties only up to a point. this point is reached when the wife separates from the husband for a just cause (7.e., any act of his which would entitle her to a limited or absolute divorce) or where they agree in writing to live apart, the wife may acquire a separate domicile and may obtain a divorce in the state of her domicile. in a nullity suit, since there never was identity of domicile, the wife retains her own domicile. this rule obtains also in england. domicile and validity—the general rule that a marriage valid by the law of the place of celebration is valid everywhere is usually subject to the condition that it is also valid by the law of the nationality or domicile of the parties. in new york state the guilty spouse, if divorced, may not remarry during the lifetime of the other but it seems that by chanjjing his or mars—-mary her domicile he or she may remarry, and that by the general rule such marriage will be valid in new york. to prevent such a result, massachusetts has passed an act providing that if a person residing in or intending to reside in massachusetts is disabled by the law of that state from marriage, and marries in another state, such marriage is void in massachusetts. and if a person residing in another state is marricd in massachusetts, such marriage is void if it would have been void in the state where such person is domiciled. louisiana has also passed an act providing that marriages contracted between persons, one or both of whom are domiciled in louisiana and forbidden to marry in that state, shall be deemed to be invalid, even if valid elsewhere. bibltography.—w. p. eversley and w. f. craies, the afarriage laws of the british empire (1910); a. v. dicey and a. b. keith, a digest of the law of england with reference to the conflict of laws (1922); j. a. foote, a concise treatise on private international law, sthed. by hugh h. l. bellot (1925); j. westlake, a treatise on private international law, 7th ed. by n. bentwich (1925). see also pari. pap. misc, no. 11, cd. 5993 (1911), zhe journal of comparative legislation, and the journal du droit international, (11. h. l. b.) mars: see astronomy. marseille (see 17.766) is the second largest city in france, with a population of 586,341 in 1921. housing conditions were very bad, dwellings which were condemned before the world war being still inhabited in 1920, and manufacturers in conse- quence experienced considerable difficulty in procuring labour. there was an inilux of workers during the war, when there was considerable industrial development, largely in the provision of foodstuffs and in metal manufacture. part of the harbour became a british base, and many indian, australian and african troops passed through, together with refugees irom europe and the east; after the armistice an american embarka- tion camp was established. before the war marseille was extremely prosperous, but during it trade collapsed, and there was less military activity than in the western ports. a period of great difficulty in indus- try and shipping has since been faced. in 1923 the total of goods discharged at rouen, where little was shipped, exceeded the total of discharges and shipments at marseille, hitherto the leading french port. the figures in 1926 were still below those of pre-war years. during the war basins in the harbour were deepened, and a new one has since been taken in hand. a railway now runs along the coast for 60 km. as far as l’ estaque. much work has been done on the marseille-rhene canal. a small port has been built at its opening into the gulf of i.’estaque; land has been assigned for industrial development, and industrial suburbs are arising along the bank of the canal where, protected by embankments, it runs along the coast and reaches the lave by a tunnel 7,000 metres long. it is hoped that improved navigation on the rhone, and the extension of the port to include the lakes of berre and caronte, will bring a large influx of trade to marseille. marshall, alfred (1842-10924), british economist (see 17.770). in 1890 he published his principles of economics which went through many editions and was translated into a large number of foreign languages. he retired from the chair of political economy at cambridge in 1908 in order to devote himself to writing. his next volume, j#dustry and trade, a realistic study of industrial organisation, appeared in rg19, and this was followed in 1923 by afeney, credit and commerce. le died in cambridge on july 13 1024. marshall may be said to have been in the lineal descent of the great english economists mill. like their chief works, his principles of economics has become a classic. it was distinguished by its profound and systematic methods of analysis, and introduced a number of new concepts of great importance to the science. although many years elapsed between the publication of the principles of economics and that of his next two works, much that was most important in them, especially in regard to the theory of money, has been transmitted orally in his lectures at cambridge, and has influenced thought both in england and in other adam smith, ricardo and j. s.: s15 countries. while marshall never tried to found a school of eco- nomic doctrine, his genius for stimulating the minds of a long succession of pupils and the example of his methods of reasoning have had a profound efiect upon the development of economics in england, the british dominions and the united states. further information on his life and writings and a detailed bibliography of his works are to be found in the afemorials of alfred marshall, edited by a. c. pigou. marshall, thomas riley (1854-1925), american poli- ticlan, was born at north manchester, ind., march 14 1854. he was educated at wabash college (a.b. 1873; a.m. 1876) and was admitted to the bar in 1875. from 1876 to 1909 he practised law in columbia city, ind., and from 1909 to 1913 was governor of indiana. he was nominated for vice-president on the ticket with woodrow wilson at the democratic national con- vention in 1912 and was elected. ile was again nominated with president wilson in 1916 and elected for the term 1917-21. for almost two years after the outbreak of the world war he urged strict neutrality, but in 1918 publicly expressed regret for this attitude. in r919 he welcomed the king and queen of belgium on their visit to washington during the illness of president wilson. he was a strong advocate of the league of nations, but did not favour woman suffrage. he served on the u.s. coal commission in 1922. ile died in washington, d.c., june 1 1925. his memoirs, recollections of thomas r. marshall, were published posthumously in 1925. marx, wilhelm (1863- }, german politician, was born at cologne jan. 15 1863. he entered the political branch of the civil service and became a judge. in 1899 he was elected to the prussian diet and in 1910 entered the german reichstag, where he soon became prominent among the leaders of the cen- tre. he was elected president of the centre party in 1921, and on nov. 30 1923 succeeded stresemann as chancellor of the reich. in aug. 1924 he took part in the conference of london which determined the acceptance of the dawes plan (see germany). in the autumn of 1924 marx dissolved the reichstag in the hope of getting a government majority, and after the elections retired from the post of chancellor. in feb. 1925 he became prussian minister-president for a short period. after the death of ebert he stood as candidate for the post of president of the reich, but was defeated by hindenburg. in jan. 1926 he became minister for justice and occupied territories in the second luther cabi- net and later in the same year succeeded luther as chancellor. mary (1867- ), queen consort of england, daughter of the duke of teck and mary adelaide, daughter of adolphus, duke of cambridge, seventh son of george iii., was born at kensington palace may 26 1867, and was baptised as victoria mary augusta louise olga pauline claudine agnes. she was afhanced in 1891 to albert edward, duke of clarence, eldest son of edward viil., who died jan. 14 1892. on july 3 1893 she married george, duke of york, and when he succeeded to the throne, on the death of edward vii., was crowned with him in westminster abbey june 22 1911. both as princess of wales and as queen she took a prominent part in public life, showing special and well-informed interest in all that concerned the wel- fare of women and children. this was particularly notable at the outset of the world war, when the organisation of relief, as well as the promotion of the women’s part in public service, claimed and received her constant attention. by the universal testimony of those who came into direct contact with her through those anxious years, no one showed a more practical appreciation of the problems to be solved than the queen. in the first month of the war she inaugurated (aug. 20) the “‘queen’s work for women fund” to provide employment for as many as possible of the women thrown out of work by the outbreak of war. over 7o special relief workrooms were opened, through which about 9,oco women passed before feb. 1915; after that date, the need became less as the women were gradually absorbed into munition making and other industries. on aug. to 1914 the queen also inaugurated “queen mary’s needlework guild” for the purpose of “organising a collection of garments for those who will suffer on account of the war.’’ on march 11 1921 the 816 queen showed her sympathy with the higher education of women by visiting the women’s colleges at oxford and responding generously to their appeal for funds. the interest shown by the queen in the work of the hospitals and the welfare of the nursing profession during the post-war years was especially sig- nalised when she opened the new college of nursing (the gift of lord and lady cowdray) in london on may 31 1926, and in other ways. (see george v.)