New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-05-26
TIE HryGIRIIy MARRIAGE QUESTION

TIE III NGIEIIh uIHNijbL Ht'S''' V-''
IN Hungary. rs well rs In England there Is
= contest between the two Houses OF Parlla-
mcnt. The matter In dispute IS the Civil Mar
rlagc bill II was passed 10y the Lower House.
after long and full discussion. by the handsome
majority of I73. When IT reached the Upper
House extraordinary efforts were made To de-
feat IL. The Roman Catholic clergy, who In
Hungary retain more OF their ancient wealth.
and political power than I'm any other European
country were especially energetic In opposing
II. The Idea was also asslduousy circulated
that the King himself desired 1t To be dcfeited'
though there IS no proof that this was true
And So I'm the end, II was beaten by small
majority Thercupon the Prime Minister. VINO
was responsible for the measure, went To the
King and offered 10 resign. The King babe MIN
to remain I'm Office and 10 rcintroduce the bill;
n sufficient proof of His Majestys good faith
and Of his willingness 10 see tho bill become n
law DR. Wekerle obeyed. He brought the bill
forward again in the House OF Deputies, passed
u Inv n majority OF 1866 aud sent II second
fine 10 tile Magnatcs We shall presently soc
whether they will venture n second time To re-
iect &C. That they Will do SO Is doubtful. The
King has so defined his attitude toward 1t that
no one can now vote against II under the mis-
taken notion that hc IS thus pleasing Ills
Majesty. That alone should b. sufficient TO
overcome the former hostile majority of u.
Moreover. the Magnstes know perfectly well
that. in case Of a second rejection ~ the bill, Dr.
Wekerlc would not resign. but would appeal TO
the country; and the result Of general cleo
lion I'm such circumstances would not be pleas
ing 10 the Magnatcs. They will probably choose
the lesser of what seem TO them two evils, AMI
let the bill become a law.
As for the bill itself, 1t Is by no means per
feet: but It will be n vast improvement over the
present system The gain will be not merely
In making marriage and divorce civil functions
but In making them uniform. AT present there
are no less than eight distinct systems. widely
VARYING People who can be and are legally
married in one Church cannot be in another
Those Of one faith may inn0cently do what in
those of another would be crime. And as for
divorce, while the Roman Catholics do not per
NIT It at all, the Uniates freely grant II for any
of n hundred different causes The result Of
this is social chaos. People are forever chang
Ing their religion I'm order 10 get married OF
divorced There are on record divorce suits
during the progress Of which the parties
changed their Church affiliations four or five
times. In order to secure advantage Of certain
legal points, and then, when the decree was ut
last granted, promptly returned to their original
faith 1t Is to put stop 10 these absurd anon
allies and TO the decentralization they are caus-
ing that the best thinkers In Hungary to-day
desire the enactment Of the Civil Marriage bill.
1t Is worthy Of NOT that all the churches
Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Unlates alike
oppose IT,; the Catholics for traditional rea-