Show I t 5 z S 2 5 2 5 t 5 2 5 2 S' S 1 S z S 2 S Z 5 Z 5 5 Sr 5 2 5 Marriage e and Divorce Laws Must B Bm Be Identical in m All States of the Union By SENATOR ARTHUR CAPPER of f Kansas n For Fora a n long Icing time I have hav watched e with wit ala alarm the growing marriage and divorce evil Divorce laws generally need reform but the first and most vital question is that the laws in all states should be identical The American Bar association considers this a necessary legal reform asi aside e from any merits of the question of making divorces easier or more MY difficult The General Gereral Federation of Wom Women's ns n's Clubs believes believes believes be be- that the tilE l laws ws should be uniform and that at atthe atthe atthe the same ti time e the grounds for divorce and laws for marrying should be made more conservative So I was quite glad to introduce introduce introduce intro intro- duce the bill which was prepared at the dir direction of the federation by Mrs Edwards Franklin White deputy attorney general of Indiana At the outset I am not prepared to state that I favor all of the terms of the bill but it is a fair beginning an and from it we should get geta a reasonable sane and safe wide nation-wide law The legislation is designed to prevent hasty and foolish marriages and to make divorce more difficult The age at which girls and boys may marry with consent of the parents is fixed feed at sixteen years' years for girls and eighteen years for boys The age at which girls and boys may marry without consent of the parents is fixed at eighteen an and twenty-one twenty years respectively Marriage is forbidden of of the minded feeble-minded and of those afflicted with epilepsy insanity or communicable diseases of blacks and whites of Mongolians and and whites and of those within the first degree of blood relationship v Ap Application for o JR marriage mu must t be m made de by one of the parties arties to the prospective marriage two weeks before re issuance of the license Both parties must present affidavits certifying that they arc are not afflicted with communicable disease and are normal mentally The application tion must be posted in the office of the clerk and in his bis public record Two witnesses in addition to the one who performs the ceremony must be present at eve every marriage Marriages E must lust be reported in the county and in the state in which they take place Penalties are arc attached for infraction of this law Divorce will likewise be safeguarded under the terms of the proposed law Enforcement and application of this law is left lert to the state courts and their machinery N No a new federal b bureau reau is created by hy the legislation The rhe idea is not to make divorce easier only easier only to make marriage safer for the young to insure the children of the future better health and heredity and to prevent hasty and ill considered marriages I 1 5 5 |