The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-02-09
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
THIS COLUMN Is OPEN TO ALL.
MARRIAGE WITHOUT A LICENSE.
LAW OF MARRIAGE FOR THE STATE OF
MARYLAND.

! Law OF AAkklA'E ftS Ihr. SiHit VT
MARYLAND.
/ !Sertion 5.-No persons within this State
shall marry without Il license as hereinaf-
/ ter directed. or before tie names IF the par
/ ties intending Ia marry shaH be thrtce pu5-
/ ltshed an some church, or house Of reltgi0us
/ trorshjp IN the county sctere the trontnh re
! sldes. on three sereral Sundays, by sonle min
! lister residing IN said county: cor If a laker,
/ before publication of his or her marriage as
is usually practiced by the people of that
/ society.
| Section 6.-Every church, or house of
! religious worship, shall be recorded III the
| records of the Circuit Court of the county
| wherein it is situated: and none shall he
esteemed as such for the publication Of
marriage agreeably to the preceding sec
| tiOn, unless so recorded.
| Mr.. EDIroR:-I wish to cali particular
! attention to sections five aud six of the
Marriage Law. Most people seem to have
either forgotten or been ignorant of very
important part of the law. The common
impression is, that the law of Maryland
requires all parties intending to marry to
obtain from the Clerk of the County Court
| "a license, which costs 81 90 cash, beside a
cash fee of 80 cents to the Clerk. There
are, from time TO time. many persons desir-
inc marriage who feel this to be a hard
ship. | know of more than one couple
whom the cost of their license would have
served for several months house rent. which
they had hard work to pay atuerward.
Now it is no answer TO say that such
poor people have DO right to marry,
fools to marry. under the circumstance
As rule, all who are of proper age. and
are not within the " forbidden degrees = of
relationship, hare a right to marry 4 right
which not even the State can take from
them. Indeed. upon the principles of an
enlightened political economy, the state
ought to encourage all classes of citizens
to marry, and remove every h!nderance
instead of putting distractions i'll the way
of great many, as she does. by charging
an eXorbitant price for license.
In regard to the folly of people marry
ing who are not really able to buy license,
that has nothing at all to do with the mer-
its of the case. Granting that the par
ties are very unwse to marry under such
circumstances, still it is also one of the
"rig hts " of men and women to act IN
wisely, and even to make fools of them
selves if they choose. This is a personal
privilege which the law of the land and the
consent of society at large allow to all
You may ridicule, blame, or pity 1.-THE
fools" as you may call them, but you
cannot bring any law to bear on their fool
lshnesS. That is altogether their own affair.
My attention having been lately drawn 10
the subject | am glad to embrace this OPP
portunity of notifying all who do not know
it, that there is a legal way of marrying i'll
this State trithout a license, and. what is
more important, without the expense of
purchasing one. For the license is not in
itself so objectionable: the difficulty with
the poor mau consists in the cost OF it.
1t will be seen, then, that section five of
the law gives every one a choice between
two things: First, either to buy license
for 81 50; or, second, to submit To the publ
cation IF tie intended marriage an three SEE
eral Suhdays before, IN the nearest recorded
church 10 tie rOnsaa's home. Either one of
these ways is legal: and, If the first Is not
within a mans power, the second is.
But here difficulty presents itself. Many
persons will shrink from the publication OF
their names in connection with marriage
There need not, however, be any trouble
on this score. There is much of false shame
about engagements and weddings which
leads to good deal of uuseemly lodging
and insincerity, if not actual untrlrh, aud
which yet so so far fails to conceal the
coming event. that the parties are all
the more talked about and leased.
Once establish it as Il Gus am II publish
the Bans of Matrimony in churches. and 1t
would be taken as a matter of couIse:
whilst it would be found that the sure IN
formation so given to the public would
quiet the annoying gossip which thriveS
more upon conjecture and rumor than upon
fact
On the other hand, those whose shame
facedneSS could not endure this sort OF
publicity, can pay the 81 80 for a license if
they choose, and perhaps stint themselves
in order to do so.
For the second time a petition is before
the Assembly of the State, asking Il repeal
Of the tax on marriage licenses. The State
can well afford to do without this tax; for
it adds but .utle to her revenue. The
report of the Comptroller of the Treasury
for the last year shows that the revenue
from all sources was 81, 100, l93. -. To
this sum marriage licenses contributed only
$23. zoo. IS, See Appendix. Statement a,
of Report Subtract this from the whole
amount of receipts, and it makes hardly
perceptible difference. Thus a sum which
would be great fortune to many whose
last cent has gone to help make it up is
ridculously small when compared with the
vast gross receipts from other sources. 1t
is contemplate compared with the actual
niI Ill WHICH 1T WolhS, ny iupoSihS h"it
condition upon the worthy poor mau desir
ing to marry, and aifording to the unworthy
another excuse for unlawful connexions,
or general immortality.
1t is earnestly to be hoped that the Leg
islature will remove a tax of SO little value
to the States treasury, aud so opposed TO
| the best interests of many of her people.
Let the amount realized from it be scat
tered among the other sources of revenue.
| There are sirty sir of these. see State
ment A. of Report The paltry sum dc
rived from marriage licenses might be so
! distributed among them, that no one OF
them would feel AN additional strain.
Or let the liquor license alone be further
! taxed, till it reaches the amount of the
So, 600 and the State treasury would not
be the loser, while the State at large would
gain by the change.
There would still be liquor enough sold
to secure votes, we may be sure; and more
than enough bar rooms, we may be equally
certain, to carry on the wretched work of
wrecking the prospects and running the
bodies and souls of thousands of the Citi
zens of Maryland
But if the Assembly refuses to repeal the
onerous tax on marriage licenses, then the
! law itself, as your readers can see for them
Selves points out remedy for those who
can so ill afford to pay it, and it is to be
| wished that they may avail themselves OF
this legal mode of escaping burden.
| E1kton, Eel. 9TH, 1878.
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