Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-05-11
The Disgrace Relieved.


Philadelphia Press: The marriage
law just passed by the Wisconsin leg
islature will relieve that state of a
disgrace which has long attached to
IT, The law is one of the most strin-
gent of the kind on the statute books
OF any states. 1t requires persons
wishing to marry to procure Il certiti-
cate from the county clerk five days
before the ceremony takes place and
to sign and verify a statement or take
oath that they are Of age and that
there is no legal impeachment to their
marriage. Ii the persons wishing to
marry are under the legal age-21
years for the male and Is wears for
the female-consent in person or in
writing of the parents OF guardians
must be given. and ii in writing. it
must be signed and verified by two
witnesses. Heavy penalties are pro-
vi4ed for the clerk who issues a GER
tificate or the clergyman who marries
a couple contrary to the terms of the
law.
Wisconsin has long been known as
the Gretna Green of the surrounding
neighborhood. Its marriage laws
were the loosest of any state in the
Northwest. No certificate was de-
manded and no proof as to whether
there were any impediments to the
marriage. Anyone, resident or nom
resident, could be married for fee.
The consequence was. that thousands
of people who aid not care to comply
with the marriage laws of their own
state or could not comply, hurried
over the border into Wisconsin and
were married by accommodating min
listers or justices of the peace. The
practice became a scandal and source
OF trade and traffic. Recently eXcur-
sion boats running between Chicago
and Milwaukee have sold excursion
tickets with a marriage coupon at
afternoon travel while opposition
boats have carried clergyman about
to marry any who desired as soon as
Wisconsin waters were reached.
The demoralizing consequences of
this loose and indiscriminaIe practice
of marrying have been only too evil
dent. A good share Of the people so
marrying had no clear or adequate
conception of the results and response
bilities following the step they were
taking They entered upon the rela-
ton hastily, inconsiderately and often
as a joke. The result was lifelong
misery in many cases and a resort to
the divorce court in other cases. And
the harm was not done alone to the
persons marrying. Their relatives
and friends had often to share in the
disgrace and ignominy which follow
ed. Some recent noted cases can be
cited. A daughter of Chief Justice
Fuller of the United States Supreme
court ran away to Milwaukee and was
married by justice of the peace and
few years later had to go to the d.
vorce court to free herself from irk-
some matrimonial bonds. The hasty
marriage of Robert I Lincoln daugh-
ter was another Illustration of the ia
cilities offered by the Wisconsin laws
and the Milwaukee parsons.
The most discouraging fact of all
was that so-called ministers were
found in plenty to help on and profit
by these loose marriage practices.
They were among the most vigorous
opponents of the new law just as they
were of the license law in New Jersey.
Bishop Nicholson of Milwaukee, form
erly rector of ST. Marks church in
this city, began a vigorous war on the
practice. But it needed patience and
hard work and several wears of argu-
ment to educate public sentiment up
to a change. At last, however. it
was accomplished and today Wiscon-
sin has marriage law which many
older states might copy with advan-
tage. 1t will render impossible the
hasty unions formerly permitted and
it surrounds marriage with greater
safeguards than it has even in the
state of Connecticut.