NORWAY.

White Ribbon, Volume 25, Issue 290, 18 August 1919, Page 8

NORWAY.

Tilt El GENIC MARRIAGE llk new Norwegian inauiage law Cii me mio force on J.muai) Ist, kjkj. it max not represent the unadulterated eugenic ideal, l>ut it i> s<* gnat a step towards it as i«» he almost revolution* ary. It contains cightj-onc sections, hut do following te some ot the salient points. A man undci _•«.> and

a woman under iS ina> not marry without the consent of the authorities. Mirth and baptism certificates must be produced before the bans are published. I ndcr certain conditions on*or both of the contracting panics max be required to show that they have not been insane. Both must declare in

writing that they are rot suffering from epilepsy, leprosy, syphilis, 01 other venereal disease in an infectious form. In the other alternative, the subject of am of these diseases 11111"! prove that the other paru to the marriage contract is cognisant of the fact, aid that both parties have been instructed by a doctor a> to the dangers of the disease in question. The doctor concerned is not to be tied b> professional secrecy, and is bound to in terfere if he knows that an\ one of thes* diseases is being concealed b\ either side. A written declaia‘i**n must also Ik- given by the candidate »

for marriage a s to pievious marrnges and to » hildren born to them out of wedlock. The marriage may he null) tied if it is subsequently proved that insanity or any of the above diseases have lx-en concealed, »>r if an in* arablemorbid condition, incompatible with married life, exists. Dissolution of the marriage may also be claimed it false declarations have been made 01 obstacles concealed. Again, if tinwoman lias become pregnant by another man, or if the man has rendered another woman pregnant, and this has not been revealed, dissolution of tinmarriage may be claimed, whether the child of this irregular union be bom before or after marriage; such a claim must l>e made within six months of the facts becoming known to the claimant. No woman may marry again till ten months after the termination of her previous marriage if she is pregnant at this period. Many other cases ai* defined a> valid tor the- dissolution of marriage, and it is evident that hemef**rth in Norway it will often be ditfi cult to marry in haste, and that the facilities for escaping from a hasty,

ill-judged marriage will prove to lx numerous and varied.—“ British Modi * al Journal.’’