Milford chronicle., 1893-12-29
cAILD IA
An Astonishing Condil

An Astonishing Condit
Marriage la.
How many people know tha
in Massachusetts for a little girA
come brides Who could belieS,
thought that many little girls ia
dresses have been legally married here,
Boston, several during the past year, am
that the law, even in the hands Of Thought
ful and responsible officials, was powerles.
to prevent it? According to decision
which has never been reversed, "a marriage
( between two infants above the age of 10 in
females and IA in males is valid without
the consent Of their parents or guardians,
Notwithstanding the statutes which pro
hibit magistrates or ministers ndera pen
atty, from solemnizing the marriage Of a
female under the age of Is or a male under
the age Of 81 without the consent of parents
or guardians" The theory of protection
which makes the consent of parents or
guardians necessary is really a very flimsy
protection for the young and ignorant for
eign girls who are frequently sold into
marriage at a tender age here in Boston by
parents who are not sufficiently responsible
for the state to permit them this privilege
Of disposing Of their daughters before their
eighteenth birthday, when girl of Massa,
chusetts is Of age.
Italians. Hebrews, Poles, Syrians, Arabs
of the most ignorant classes, men unable to
sign their names in their own language and
not understanding a question asked Of
them, appear in the city registrars Office
seeking licenses to marry girls who are to be
mothers of the next generation of our
American citizens. During the past week
three men have come to the registrars Of
flee for marriage licenses who have given 16
years or less as the age of the bride In each
case they have been told to bring the girl,
and in one of the cases the fact that the
girl was 16 and had her guardians consent
to her marriage was established through
trusted interpreter This often happens
when inquiry is instituted. More than a
score of cases have been refused outright,
but in the mass of business in the regis
trar's office it is not easy to keep up phi
lanthropic investigating bureau and also
fulfill the laws Of Massachusetts, which
makes the marriage of children easy in the
extreme.
Talk about Gretna Greenr' says the city
registrar, Mr. William II. Whitmore. ut
was difficult to get married in Gretna Green
compared with this city. Gretna Green was
Boston. The laws as they stand now here
would do very well for a country town
where everybody knew everybody else, but
for city with foreign population like
ours-well, thoughtful people simply have
no idea Of what is going on in this matter
Any girl of - or over and any boy of IA
may be married with consent, and the mar
riage is legal without consent if any clergy
man or justice of the peace can be prevailed
upon to perform the ceremony, whether
they have a license or not"
The records of this year show 81 mar
riages of girls of II or less; three Of these
were Is and one was a child of IA. She
was in the grammar school and wore short
dresses. When her teachts sent to see why
she did not come to school it seemed to her
impossible to believe that she was married.
Her parents had consented The state Of
Massachusetts as represented by its Off
cials was helpless to look after the welfare
Of its citizens. OF course a change in -
law raising the age when a gin ask\
marry to Is years would also. ras. y \ Z
of her possible husband o 2l vears
as matter of fact b seldom ami P,ss
the responsibilities o, e head of a hose
hold before that age The brideproolis of
the little married y Us of MASSACHUSETTS
are usually men dot ole that age Boston
women have spent /. good deal Of thought
and time and money for the child widows
Of India There is rqom for = good deal of
endeavOr in behalf of the child brides of |
Observation-Disclosures Transcript.