The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-06-05
MARRIAGE in Russia.

AS a daughter the Russian woman is
under the absolute sway Of her par
ents. 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 a
woman marries she changes the au-
thority of parents for the no less I'M
qualified authority of husband. AS
the Russian statute suggestively puts
1t, 'one person cannot reasonably be
expected to fully satisfy two such I'M
limited powers as that of husband and
parent" The unlimited" power of
the parent, therefore, is withdrawn
and that of her husband substituted.
She cannot leave him even to visit a
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 a
court OF law as witness against his
wife, but a wife is not permitted to
appear against her husband. A
woman's evidence is regarded also as
Of less weight than that of a man.
When two witnesses do not agree"
the code runs, the testimony of an
adult outweighs that of child, and
the testimony of a man that Of a
woman"
According to the tenets of the Rus
sian church, marriage is a sacrament
and is theoretically indissolubIe. There
is no such thing as a civil marriage,
and divorce, except in one case, is
practically understandable by a. woman
The exception is the deprivation of
civil rights and Punishment of the hus-
band. If the wife chooses she can fol-
low her husband into exile, and Rus
sian literature is full of pathetic
stories Of women, tenderly nurtured.
DraV1ng the terrors of the long ST.
berian 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, di-
vorce, 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 hus-
band as grounds for divorce, the law
is beSet with such difficulties that it
is never resorted 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
winch reach the same destination only
by a different route. Laws in Russia
are made not to be broken, but to be
evaded, and both the civil and &c
clesiastical authorities have learned
the art of evasion to perfection. Mar
r1ageS may be annulled if any in
formality has occurred in them, and il
parties are willing, the rest is onIy a
question OF money. In some parts of
the empire the marriage service is en-
acted with this contingency in view.
| The certificate may be left undated, or
the age of the contracting parties
omitted. In some parts of Little Rus
STA relative, during the ceremony.
gives the bride slap, to prove in case
OF need that she has married under
compulsion. Women who. succeed in
obtaining separation from their hus-
bands on the ground of informaIity are
| received into society, are allowed to
marry again and may even be sepa-
rated again without loss of position.
mere Is, however, a more healthy
public spirit arising, which tends
strongIy IN favor of an adjustment of
the present laws.-Westminste Re-
| view.