The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1903-09-04
MARRIAGE IN RUSSIA.
The UnNRtted Power of Parents
Withdrawn, and That of the
Husband substituted.

AS q daughter the Russian woman
is under the absolute sway of her
parents. The coming of age makes no
alteration in her position. Until the
day of her death, If she remains I'M
married, the place she occupies in the
family life is a place of dependence
upon the will of her parents. When
woman marries she changes the au-
thority of parents for no less unquali-
fed authority of husband. AS the
Russian statute suggestively puts it,
'one person cannot reasonably be ex-
pected to fully satisfy two such unlim-
tied powers as that of husband and
parent"
The unlimited" power Of the pa
rent, therefore, Is withdrawn and that
of the husband substituted She can
not leave him even to pay visit to
neighboring town without a pass"
from him. He names the time she is
to stay, and at the expiration of the
term she is bound to return or get it
renewed. A husband may appear in
court of law as a witness against his
wife, but wife ia not permitted to
appear against her husband A
woman's evidence is regarded also as
of less weight than that of man.
when two witnesses do not agree"
the code runs, "the testimony of an
adult outweighs that of a child, and
the testimony of a man that of
woman"
According to the tenets of the Russian
church, marriage is a sacrament and is
theoretically indissoluble. There is no
such thing as civil marriage. and di-
yorce, except in one case, is practically
unobtainable by woman. The excep-
ton is the deprivation of civil rights
and Punishment of the husband. If
the wife chooses she can follow her hus-
band into exile, and Russian literature
is full of pathetic stories of women, ten
derby nurtured, Drawing the terrors of
the long Siberian march. All children,
however, born in exile, are regarded as
belonging to the lowest class OF society.
If, on the other hand, the wife seeks, on
the plea of her husbands Punishment,
divorce, the church in this case relaxes
her discipline and grants the plea. AL
though the statute recognizes adultery
and desertion on the part of the husband
as grounds for divorce, the law is beset
with such difficulties that it is never re-
sorted to except by the wealthy who can
always make the tardy wheels revolve
more swiftly
While divorce is difficult to obtain,
there are other means resorted to which
reach the same destination, only by
different route Laws in Russia are made
not to be broken, but to be evaded, and
both the civil and ecclesiastical authori-
Ties have learned the art of evasion to
perfection, says writer In the West
minister Review. Marriages may be an
nulled if any informality has occurred
in them, and if parties are willing the
rest is only question of money. In
some parts of the empire the marriage
service is enacted with this contingency
In view. The certificate may be left I'M
dated, or the age of the contracting par
ties omitted. In some parts of Little
Russia a relative, during the ceremony,
gives the bride slap, to prove in case
of need that she has married under COM
pulsion. Women who succeed in obtain
Ing separation from their husbands on
the ground of informality are received
into society, are allowed to marry again,
and may even be separated again with
out loss of position. There is, however,
more healthy public spirit arising,
which tends strongly in favor of an adj
justment of the present laws.