MARRIAGE BY PROXY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 175, 19 May 1916, Page 3 (Supplement)

MARRIAGE BY PROXY.

Marriaire by proxv, or, as it is called, "Marriage by the glove," is common in Holland, and is caused by the fact that many eligible young men, after having finished their education in the schools of the fatherland, depart for Dutch India to engage in some lucrative business enterprise, or accept a position in the Colonial ser- \ ice. The scarcity of marriageable white women in the country induces the would-be husband to write to a friend in Holland, enclosing his *v:sh for a wife. The friend selects a willing young lady, generally with a substantial dot. and otherwise conforming closelv lo the specifications of the letter. A photograph of the favoured ore is enclosed in the return epistle. After the lapse of a few months a soiled left-hand glove, with a power of attorney, is received from the far-away bachelor. The friend in Holland marries the selected bride iiv precisely the same manner as if he were the actual groom, and the young wife departs in the next India mail steamer to bring happino-s to the lonely one in the Kr.r East. A marria.ue of this description is as binding as if the bridegroom were present, and is never repudiate*!. If either party to the glove marriage should die before meeting in Tndia, the survivor would share the property of the deceased m accordance wi.b the ii.ws.