Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, NOV. 21, 1891. The Common Law.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 21 November 1891, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, NOV. 21, 1891. The Common Law.

The experiences of the week convinces us that the English Common Law, is a very poor law, when it sanctions the hideous act of a female child of twelve yoars of age being married. Tho only supposed saving clause, the law provides, is, that such marriage can only take place with the sanction of the parents. Tho Marriage Act of this Colony is subject to this Common law, and is merely in existence to secure the due registration of all marriages. Thus, in New Zealand, it is possible that a female child of twelve years of age may be united in marriage to a male child of fourteen years of age ! the parents consenting. Many people think that the were fact that the parents consent has first to be obtained places a wholesome security over such union.-!. We regret to say that we hold almost contrary views, not that we would have such children permitted to act in such a manner without consent, but that it should be impossible for pn rents to lawfully

agree to such monstrous uny uflS( All right thinking parents. mUg {; k e aware that the union of' such miniatured childre- wou ia have a most deteriorating effecfc on fche deve i ope . ment o, theh . growfch) ancl von^ ftet sfcl .ii more disastrously on their off spring. Their mental capacity would also be most dangerously dwarfed. The only reason why a marriage at such an early age should be forced upon the girl, with her parents consent, can only be owing to such misconduct- on her part, for which we hold the parents are themselves to be blamed, h is the law, and has, whilst it is law, to be obeyed, but how long it is to remain the law remains entirely in the hands of those who make the laws-the ElectorsWe own to not having believed that there was such permission, but tits there is, we hold that it is time that we should consider whether it could not be altered with advantage, For an unlawful act of a similar nature, the age of consent on *'ne female side has been raised x , 0 fourteen years, thus proving *; flB t in the eye of the law a chil; a under that age is nofc competent to understand the gravity °i Her act. We argue that the parents who consent to a child being married at such an early age, are also incompetent to fulfill their duties to their families, and that if a union is sanctioned it has been so only, either, to shield a crime, or to make money. There has been a deal both said and written about the Indian marriage laws, which permit* parents to have infants united in marriage before they even can speak. But is this any worse than their being allowed to permit an union, when the ago of child-wife makes it certain that she cannot understand the act sLe consents to ? The Indian law is the better of the two, as though permitting the marriage ceremony at any age, it prohibits the consummation o f the marriage until the wife Arrives at puberty. It is a stretch 1 to say that many girls have so arrived at the age of twelve. A childmother can have no notion of the duties and responsibilities of motherhood, and if such unions were common and encouraged, the human family would soon be deteriorated. If such likely lowering of the type is admitted, is it hot time that whilst such unions are so extraordinary steps should not be taken to make them illegal? Cardinal Manning, in reviewing the duties of the English Government in relation to the Indian child marriages, sets forth two suggestions which we think are equally applicable to our own law, viz, that no betrothal or marriage should be valid except by the free aud intelligent consent of the parties ; and to h'x an age before which such consent is not recognized in law, It will be said that we have the latter already, but if the age is to be dependent on the intelligent consent of the child, we say again that a girl of twelve years of age is not fitted by her surroundings, her education, or her age to be able intelligently to appreciate the grave responsibilities attaching to the state of matrimony.