Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1914-05-23
ITALY RENT ASUNDER
BY GREAT QUESTION
Problem Of Marriage and Divorce
Threatens to Lead Nation to Rae.
Suicide.
BY Henry Wood.

marriage with is indissoluble family,
healthy birth rate and religiously train
ed children.
This is the question ON which all
Italy is rent asunder at the presen,
moment as it has never before been
divided in the entire so years of its
national existence as a united nation.
Not only is its entire social strata thus
torn in twain, but perhaps more than
half of its thinking population is firm
ly convinced that Italy is now standing
at the crossroads about to choose the
path that will lead either down to the
racial extinction now menacing Franco
or the continuation of the healthy
growth in population which has ever
marked it in the past.
Is Critical Situation.
This critical situation has lust been
precipitated by the introduction of u
law in parliament making it erimina,
offense for priest or other ecelesias-
tieally authorized person to perform
rehglous marriage ceremony until the
couple has first been married accord
ing. to the civil ceremony and laws of
Italy. A divorce clause has also been
incorporated in this law and against
the two the Vatican has succeeded in
arouslng an unprecedented storm of
protest from every quarter of Italy.
Of the two, however, divorce and civil
precedence in matrimony, the Vatican
is making the hardest fight against the
latter.
Previous to the overthrow of the
Papal States in 1871 by the present
kingdom of Italy, marriage amongst
the Italians had been largely if not
purely function of the church. With
the constitution of the present Italian
nation it was naturally made a civil in.
stitution. Any one who SO wished, and
as a matter of fact practically every
one did, had the right to have both a
religious and civil ceremony, and could
have either the one or the other per.
formed first. The civil marriage, how
ever, was the only one recognized by
the Italian law and was the only legal
marriage in the eyes Of the Italian
courts.
Owing to the large Catholic popula.
tion IN Italy, however, it developed
that there were thousands who consid-
cred the religious marriage ceremony
as quite sufficient and never troubled
themselves about the civil one. Not
only were these regarded as illegal
unions by the Italian law, but the pos
slbllity of a religious marriage gave
rise to certain abuses which Italy found
1t necessary to stop. Up until few
years ago, for example, an officer of
the Italian army could not marry un-
less his bride had certain dowry. To
get around this then, the couple mere
iy had religious ceremony performed.
which while not being recognized by
the state, was quite sufficient for them
and for their families. Only n few
months ago, General Amelgio, the hero
OF Italy s conquest of Tripoli, had his
elvil marriage performed after having
been married reGgiously for over 20
years, and after having raised a large
family of children. The civil marriage
legltimized, in the eyes Of the Italian
courts, his children which otherwise
would not have been the case.
Is National Menace.
The Vatican, however, is convinced
that the law making obligatory the
precedence of the civil ceremony over
the religious one means the death blow
OF the latter in Italy. It means, the
vatican says, that few if anyone, win
trouble themselves about the religious
ceremony once they have been legally
married by the civil authorities. This.
1t is argued, will then mean the waning
OF the Influence of the church in mar.
riage and the placing of that institn.
ton on the purely civil basis which
1t occupies in France and other coun-
tries where divorce and the destruction
OF the sacredness Of family life is dc,
elared to have become nationa,
menace.
In support Of this argument, and the
lnevitableness of the consequences
which the Vatican declares must fol-
low, it points out that the proposed
law has already resulted in the tackinx
on of a divorce law which otherwise
would never have been introduced in
parliament.
The Vatican itself does not prohibit
divorce but permits it only for very
limited and grave reasons. The Sc
curing of church divorce means also
years of litigation before the Vatican
law courts and the process is such
that the creating of a divorce evil or
abuse is quite Impossible. With the
making Of divorce civil institution,
however, the Vatican insists that the
doors will be thrown down to all of
the evils which followed q similar
course in France and which 1t declared
has sapped the life Of that nation.
At the present moment there is every
indication that the question win be the
hardest fought one in the entire history
OF the Italian parliament with the pos.
sibility that it may even result in al
overthrow of the present ministry, the
dissolving Of the present parliament
and the election of new one.
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