MARRIAGES WITHOUT LOVE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2142, 22 June 1920, Page 4

MARRIAGES WITHOUT LOVE.

PLEA FOR DIVORCE REFORM. VIEWS OF SIR E. M. HAL!,, K.C. Divorce law reform has a thoro-ugh-going advocate in Sir Edward Marshall Hall, K.C. Lecturin'? to the members of the Aldwych Club, Sir Edward said three classes of people were concerned in the agitations that had been carried on for many years for reform. Otic class said that marriage con-1 d only be dissolved by death, and two most eloquent exponent;-, of this were Lord Brave and Lord Phillimore. While he respected deeply (heir feelings, it was impossible to hope that any argument would ever induce these people to abandon the position they took up.

Another class went so far as to -ay that marriage was a moral contract soluble at' the instance of the contracting parties, subject to certain safeguards; and an intermediate class, who, while not believing in divorce as a right, admitted .that, with a slate of society such as curs, misconduct in certain circuinsiances should be punished.

The first party he regarded as hopeless so far as argument is concerned, and in the second he placed himself, although he doubted whether they would be able to get a Leg-i-huure to go as far as they wanted.

There had been many marriages contracted Avhere the sole object ol the woman had been to get married and to do as little as she could to fulfill her marital obligations, but to secure the best allowance she could while not living wit 1) her husband. There were many people married to-day who never lived together, and the husband .supported bis wife in affluence.

' Marriage might he. and is often, the most immoral relationship in the world; men and women who are married and could not get a divorce because both had committed misconduct. lived together in circumstances Avhich tilled one's mind Avith disgust. Or there Avas the case of a wife fond of another man, yet remaining av ith her husband simply liecause she was dependent upon him. That state of things ought to be removed.

The real question at ihe basis of the trouble we had with regard to marriage aaois found in. our legitimacy laws. No country bad the same stringent luavs in this respect as ours. A Avoiuan married a man. and she had a child a tW hour.- before the ceremony. That child belonged to the man she married, but no poAver on earth could make it legitimate according to our laws. Vet a child born just after marriage could be regarded as legitimate. After professional experience of over thirty-seven years, Sir Eihvard found, he said, that a very large proportion of the unhappy marriages Avere traceable to the fact that to avoid illegitimacy two people married avlio otlierwi.se Avonld not have done so; and he urged strongh that our laws relative to illegitimacy ought to be remodelled,