The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-09
MARRIAGE FREE IN CUBA.
A MUCH-DTSCUSSED QUESTION sBTs
TIED NJ GEN. U0OD.
High Cost OF Religious Marriages Undsr the
spanish RcEime-Hen. Brooke's Plan OF
Making the Civii Ceremony Alone VALID
The American system Adopted New.

HAvANA, Aug. 2s.-The PRONUNCIATION re-
Gently by Gen. Wood Of n new marriage law
for Cuba settles for the time being q question
which during moro than n year Of the American
] occupation was n source of regret and annoy
ance To the Catholic Church Of cuba and TO
Protestant Churches Of The United StAtes
which had representatives In the island. TAo
new law puts civil and religious ceremonies
on the same basis. Botn are now legal. IL 10
left to the conscience 81 the contracting parties
to choose whether II shall be- u magistrate 90
"A minister who shall unite them In wedlock.
This change wat not mnde by Zen. Wood
until after much agitation onth" part Of the reie-
iou- elements Of Cnna and after deep thought
by the Governor General, together with con-
sult alton with the authorities al Washington,
There was nm element Of opposition 10 the
change which II was feared might object most
strrnuously 10 the tampering by the inter-
vening government with a subject 40 intimately
connected with the home life Of the p-ople-
However, This opposition has not materiahzed
M to the present. and there II no reason to
believe that n will until Cuba shall be abao-
utcly free. Then, II the revolutionary rA
radical element shall succeed In dominating
the government of the island. there may he .
reversion 10 the conditions which confronted
Gen. Wood in this respect last December.
W iFU tfI bI''N' If'hllF Wv
General Of cuba he found a marriage law which
recognized ne lernl only ceremonies performed
nv the Catholic clergy. Spain was q Catholic
country, and she was bent on keeping all her
colonies Catholic. The Church was n part or
the Sranish colonial administration Tbs
priests for the most rart were Spaniards. Ia
Luchd, owned and edited TODAY by q Spnniards
has recently comrared the Church In Cubs
at the beginning of the last war TO n leech.
1T sucked" says La Ldchd. the substance
Of the people II seized nj their birth and re-
'eased when left In the grave. Us fees were
Inordinate. exorbitant. and were only modihed
by the paying capacity Of the subject OF It's
extortions. Begtnnin with the baptismM
fees. II whetted It's an" elite for those OF the
marriage and dispensation Of blood relations
shin. Though intermarriaRes between cousins.
unclcs and nleces. or vice versa. until the fourth
degree. had been prohibited by the different
G uncis. vet dispeu-ations could be obtained
! through the payment Of fees varying In amouno
according to the degrees Of kinship. some
granite by the Bisho". some by HIS holiness
the Popc. Money and always money was ths
magic key that opened even the portals Of the
heavenly mansion. The pure and Simple
marriage which, II we are not
mistaken, cost but a few dollars by the
| ecclesiastic tariff. generally exceeded scores
and even hundreds OF uOlhTs, te 'nhnkc
OF hours. the performance Of the ceremony
! at the parties residence. the dispensing OF the
preyIous confession-all we're little golden
streams that trickled down the good cures
pocket 10 an the ever-increasing current OF his
income"
Whether this arraignment OF the Catholic
Church Is justified by the facts or not. un-
auestionably the great majority OF the people
Of Cuba. many Of them loyal 10 the Church at
large, believe II 20 be the truth. II IL the uni
yersal opinion in Cuba that the great cost OF
marriage during the spanish regime was the
prtncipal cause for the enormously high per-
centaee Of illegitimacy. The poorer people
preferred 10 live t'gether. sustaining the mar
| rage relation without the sanction OF the law.
rather than to pay the price asked by the priest
So it wa that when Gen. Brooke came TO look
into the marriage question he found among
all HIS Cuban advisers a most decided preju-
dice against the church. II the Cubans had
been allowed 10 have their own way they would
have connscated every dollars worth OF the
Church's property In the Island. TIT inten-
ion OF so doing had been proclaimed by all the
revolutionists and the people sympathired
with that intention. OF course the United
States could not permit this, But on the aues-
ton ~ marriage, which had TO do solely with
the inner life Of the Cuban people. Gen. Brooke
fpf HlIlSpU 1llI W hNNfh ~ Wv
tiyos Of these people. There representa-
,ives insisted that there should be only civN
marriage. They objected 20 giving the Catholic
Church or anv church the power to perform
that ceremony. In an unreasoninR way they
feared that even with the option open Tor all
IN 20 IN the civil authorities 10 be welded.
the Church might still keep its grip on the peo-
ole through the power Of religious prejudice.
law to this effect was promulgated by Gen.
Brooke a year ago last May. AZ that time tho
Catholic Church did not oppose II. The old
Spanish Bishop was still in charge AZ Havana.
and the Church did not know quite where IL
stood. Perhaps Bishop Santander considered
himself lucky to come Of az well IA he did.
Several Protestant ministers in charee OF
American mission churches in Havana p~roteeted
against the law. but this was Of no avail. Cen.
Brooke held that the Americans had no raht
70 dictate what sort ~ marriage law the Cuban
people should have,
The working ~ tn law, however, did not
meet with the expectation 81 It's authors. II
yaa found that by the new decree two cere-
monies were practically necessary. To b.
legally welded one must needs have the dvit
emo In addition 20 that % per cent OF
the people who were married insisted upon
having the religious There arSN
very few women. whether 81 Catholic or Protes-l
tant faith. who we're wining to enter wedlock
without the sanction ~ religion. so instead
oflncreasing the ease with which people could
be married the new order really made II more
din1cult aud more expensive. because not
only was the legal fee 70 be paid. but the Catholic
Church OF the Protestant minister. az the case
might be, had to be settled with. That tho
percentage OF illegitimacy did not decrease
any IL shown by tho vital statistics for the city
Of Havana Issued more than a year after Gen.
-. L.. ..aa prApntl0ataA EnF tnafan1A