The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-03-19
SECRET MARRIAGES.

From its very nature, the ceremonial
of marriage is intended "a 4 testimonial
Of publicity The whole tenor and
purport of the legal restrictions by
which this ceremonial is surrounded
20 to preserve it from the social dan
gers Of secrecy. 1t requires no eX-
tended argument to prove that tbs So
cial purity OF the home, the honor and
self-respect Of the family and the pres
ervation, unsullied, OF all those intu-
ences which grow out Of reputable do
mesticity, are iuseparably allied to the
widest frankness in the announcement
Of the marriage contract The mo-
mens that subterfug9 Is accepted as
optional, the moment that laws rsQCir-
ing the registration Of vital statistics
permit the concsaluent at will Of otd-
cial laws, the moment ministers or
magistrates lend themselves without
reluctance to this conspiracy Of mari
tai silence, that moment grave danger
begins to threaten the American home.
Secret marriages mny occasionally end
happily; and there may, in individual
instances, 10 some plauSibiGtY in the
excuses offered for the yelling OF u
ceremony Of which none should be
ashamed. But Is . general rule, ap-
plying to an overwhelming majority OF
cases, concealmsns is wroag anu should
10 bitterly opposed
We do not envy the feelings Of the
New York clergyman who permitted
the willy tongue Of Colonel Brackiu-
ridge to begUile him into pronouncinE,
in secrecy, the service which. on April
% Of last year. made that deceptive
hen.uckiau for the second time q hus-
band at the very period when, as shown
by sworn testimony, he was sustaining
relations OF urutterabls dishOnOr with
a woman whom the law did not recog-
njza; a woman whom Breckinridgs had
betrayed BY false protestations Of pa
terual interest and had subjected to
treatment which no polite adjective
sufficiently characterizss While in
its legal aspects this concealed union,
solemnizad in the pArlors of Rev Dr..
Parsons. New York home and sur
rounded by all the accessories of myE-
terry and iIlforeboding, plays no part
in the trial of Miss Pollard for dam.
ages, it must weigh heavily upon the
conscience Of its clerical factor; and t
serves a useful purpose in renewing at.
tention to a fruitful source Of social
scandal, sorrow and wrong.
We hear much nowadays about the
need Of uniform legislation relating to
marriage and divorce. But here is an
evil which the law wholly overloolls /;
an evil which has caused more suffer-
ing, more disappointment and more
provocation to divorce and crime
than any other single feature in this
whole category. The plain teaching of
common sense, that be who is uwillin2
10 let the world know Of his choice of
q wife, should have no right to the le-
gal aldesignation Of a husband, ought to b
sufficient to aboliih the secret mar
rage. But it apparently is not, This
form Of romance is so far from dimin =
ishing that it ID steadily on the in =
crease; and complacent Legislatures
give it the benefit of a quasi endorse
ment by passing laws governing the
registration of marriages which have
all the elasticity of India rubbsr in
August. II reform ever overtakes So
cial custom in this important matter,
it ought not to pause this aide com
plete revision Of the statutes governing
vital statistics.