The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1905-01-21
MARRIAGE BY BUREAU.
QUEER PHASE OF SOCIAL LIFE
IN NEW YORK CITY.
Plan by Which the Nup,iaI Knot is
Tied Legally For Reasonable Sur,
Without Any Fuss and F-sthcrs-
Grows Out of New Lag.

New York newspapers are full @
i Advertisements like the following
a"Bureau for Legal Marriages, PA;
Seventh avenue, corner One Hundred
and Twentyseventh street. Tele
phone 22721-Morningside; evening.
by appoinenent." The New York cor
respondent for the ST. Louis Republic
says that this is due to the domestic
relation law recently passed by the
New York legislature which thus en-
ables anyone to be married without
the necessity of having to go through
any ceremony in the presence of wit
] aesscs. They have only to declare
their intention to become husband
and wife.
m Theirs are at least fifty of these
bureaus scattered through different
parts of New York and the Republics
correspondent says that at these bur.
eaus couples are married by the whole.
sale for the small fee of S.. The Re.
publics correspondent says: 1T is
NC0lNtC0 Wy OOllAC IudI "l1Cu OuSc IllG
general public grasps the plan where
by they can have the nuptial knot tied
legally for SO reasonable a sum, with
out any objection being raised as to
religion, disparity in years, or the un-
Willingness OF hard-hearted parents to
ullow their daughters to be taken
AWAY from them, the clergymen and
aldermen will be hard pressed to get
enough of that portion Of their per-
quisites known as the marriage fee
{. to make it pay"
N All that happy pair seeking to
be tied by the bonds of matrimony
have to do, according to the Repub-
Hes correspondent, is to sign their
names and lawyer does the rest.
! This correspondent explains: "The
domestic relation law makes mar
rage legal and binding upon the par
ties concerned when a certificate
blank, forms Of which can be obtained
from the county clerks office. is sign
ed by them, two witnesses ard q
notary public. The certificate is then
placed on file in the county clerks
Office and duplicate is given to the
couple who have been married. The
husband and wife are then as respon-
sible for their marriage vows as II
they had been through long and
elaborate church ceremony. Harlem,
perhaps, is the place where most mar
rage bureaus are situated. There are
.fwelve within a few blocks there,
nearly all of them being in real es-
tate Offices where there IS a notary.
The notary always has legal counsel
TO fall back on should there be any
question raised as to the legality OF
the marriage, and the proceedings are
al fair and above board"
!. One OF these matrimonial bureaus
was visited by the Republics cores
pondent. The manager, whose name
js Charles Forst, was interviewed. In
this interview the manager said: 1T
Is the easiest thing in the world to
sc: married, although many couples
80 about it with great deal OF pre-
paration and hesitation. In the OLD
method it is customary for the bride
to ret up an elaborate trousseau; the
Bridegroom, after spending lot OF
money on an engagement ring, has to
buy q wedding ring, and much time
is taken up in sending out Invitations.
None Of these things are necessary
when couple is married under the
domestic relation law. We don't care
whether they have a wedding ring or
what their condition in life may be.
instead Of having to spend most OF
the money they have saved for house
keeling in q needless expenditure for
the wedding ceremony, all they have
% 30 is to make an appointment 70
coma here and bring two witnesses
md pay IS, after witch they are mar
Red in few y6mepts. There arc !
lla1y men, ago, who hesitate giving
: clergyman less than SO or SIS at
ne least, and several give much
lsrger fees. Differences in religion,
ls, for instance, a marriage between
Catholic ana a Protestant, mako It
Fery hard sometimes for couples to
bs married by anybody connected
Nth the church. Here religion
snesN't count for anything. Very few
luestlons are asked, and the cere'
nony, which they have to go through,
shile simple, is Just as binding upon
he Contracting parties as any other.
The public, have found, however, are
Httlo afraid of the new system, es-
lncially the women. They want to be
Ert they are doing It right and that
here will not be q chance Of cay
litch taking place after all has been
ai: and done. 1t is hard to get therH
Q Relieve that they can do away safe
with the clergyman, the ring and
be marriage ceremony read from the
lib:e. Most persons believe that the
ceremony is a spiritual con-
ract and cne wherein the church
lust take p part. In spite OF this
eaeral belief, however. we do large
uefnocc have A. HYst the neODle