Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-06-11
NEW FRENCH LAWS
MAKE MARRIAGE
EASIER
REGULATIONS
NEARLY ALL ABOLISHED
Correspondent of London Paper
Says More Weddings Have
Occurred Recently Than in.
Like Period For Centuries,

= AN 80 - 'HIRAANA3iAA III fiit LOllAOll
Telegraph, that since the promulga-
tion Of the law of June, 1907, the
effect Of which is to simplify the for
mnlities which are the necessary pre-
ininaries 10 marriage in this country.
there have been more weddings in
France han at any period since the
beginning Of the last century, with
tina exception of the years 1873 and
1879, In the former OF which men
contracted unions to escape being sent
off TO fight. while in the latter MANI
weddings took place which had been
delayed by the war with Germany.
This very satisfactory state of things
Is due TO the Initiative of the Abbc
Lcmire, n Of the deputies for the
department of the Nord. He was not
able to get al his propositions adopt
ed by his colleagues, but the law
which was finally passed. such as II is,
has already done Il vast amount OF
good.
Among the relief which the act has
brought 70 persons intending to
marry, 1t has freed those who are
over 80 years Of age from procuring
the whole series Of documents ana
certificates upon which the code civil
insisted. Then, after the age men
toned, ii Is no longer necessary to
fAAN VI hfH - -
deed, after the age IF u this can also
be dispensed with. provided that it is
shown that due notice has been sent
To them. These are the two principal
benefits of the law Of 1907, and the
result is that many people of the
lower class are now married who
might formerly nave been tempted 20
do without the ceremony, as they
found 1t impossible to collect the
nnYHfnl nungTg. ar Nrarn nraVantn1 Inv
the caprice of parents. who refused
their consent for no valid reason.
what the relief thus obtained
means viii be understood when 1t Is
explained that. in the Ease of persons
who had lost their parents, and who
were engaged to be married, upward
of nineteen documents were required
by the code civil of 1904, including
two certificates of birth, two Of resi-
dence, two of non-opposition, the
usual military record book, four GER
tticates of the death of the parents
and eight of the grandparents, for
the entire set of which $40 had To be
paid, Naturally it Is in the large
towns. where people have been living
for q while away from their native
villages. that the result of this bene-
ficcnt law Of 1907 has been most
conspicuous. and all this, as need
iiAiblN w huutbs iitthfH III nlti dllNNt
which IN these days seems to require
"a good deal of practical encourage
mcnt, at least In big towns
Ana now Or. jacques Bertillon,
who some time ago came out with
some very instructive statistics. re-
turns to the subject and tells us some
noteworthy things about the remar-
.riagc OF widowers aGu widows and of
divorced persons. Ii these matters
f.14I -. flaYnkF lf.hf on t1a gAafuI CON.
dition of the country. and on the hab-
it's n ideas OF the people, they are
of particular importance to students
OF such questions
DR., jacques Bertillon explained in
his first article that women gained by
being married. but in a lesser degree
than mon, Now he points out that,
as he expresses It;
Married men so quickly appreciate
the benefits of the conjugal union
that as soon as e is severed they
feel the need Of contracting another.
1t cannot be said that this Is very
flattering to their poor deceased wife,
as il Is not her, but marriage, that
they regret. and yet ii Is she who
has taught them TO love it,
Selecting a particular year In this
century, the distinguished statisticiau
shows us that. Will IN France out
or wv hl'll WHO hhu not A'A dtldllSu
the age of 20, aud Nho married. two
were bachelors and upward Of "A
were widowers and divorced men,
BESIDES 90 and "a the relative fig
uros were SO ana l0i, From % to ~
they were lS9 and Dos. Between 80
and "a there were III marriages of
bachelors per 1000 in a year, and
1876 of widoWers and divorced men.
From 80 to 80 the figures stood, re-
spcctively. at 20 and f42. n so
they continued. with double or more
for the widowers and divorced men,
even to the end, with 20i per 1000 at
60 years and over.
This rs "a very remarkable demon
of "A state of things, which
would hardly have beer suspected by
the average observer Or. Bertillon
adds
1T win be perceived that most men
marry between the ages of % and 80.
The widoWors at that age marry in
even greater proportion. At every
ege their marriages double those of
of the sam age
IL must. however. be borne in min
that. as he was already able to sup
port "a wife. the average widower is
in "a position 10 wed again. Then he
may have children who need a wom-
ans care and kindly sympathy. and,
again. ne may DC IN a business III
"a wife's cooperation is eN-
ncdicnt.
In "a word. the reason which de-
.ormined him 20 marry a first time
generally remains. and other motives
ere often added to them. This Is no
loubt the explanation of our figures.
Women have not the same ardent
lcsirc 20 marry again, at least In
Before 20 and after 80 they
as much as d dcmoiselles
lf their age. neither more nor less.
But between 90 and 80 girls beat
hem. have already said that
women suffer less from a widow
luod than men. which is. perhal s. tho
'ttsou Tor their abandoning that
tate less readily when they are
.ounn
old statistics showed a higher pro-
iortlon OF remarria-cs of widows
han recent ones Thus. Ia the year
q this present century already quoted
{ WAS established that out OF Loco
women less than 20 years old who
married. 30 were eirls and IS wid-
iWs or divorced m Between
20 and "a the relative figures were
- and SO. Between 20 and % they
if0 and aS. From 80 To 50 they
TODD at 20 and 20 respectively. Be
40 and ~. Is spinsters n ie
lldows or divorced women were
United per i,eoe in the bonds Of