Evening journal., 1915-02-15

Residence NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
Name of prospective bride. $50.
Residence .............
Name signed to notice. .........
Every officer authorized 10 is
sue marriage licenses shall keep
constantly on hand a supply of
these notice cards in blank; inn
mediately on receipt of a notice of
application he shall fill out a card
accordingly; the cards thus filled
out shall be kept as a card index
which card index shall be open
for public inspection at all times:
and the officer shall daily publish
on the walls of his office. and in
the local papers, the names and
addresses of all prospective ap-
plicants for marriage license on
the same day on which the notices
are received.
Resolved .. That we request
the secretary of the Inter-Church
Federation to arrange for a call
ed meeting of the entire fedora
ton to consider this important
question at a meeting to be held
not later than Thursday next.
Resolved g. That we appoint
committee of three from this body
to present this matter to the In
ter-Church Federation. to the Gen
eral Assembly of Delaware az
Dover. and to the Governor of this
commonwealth.
In explaining the proposed law, DR.
Collins said;
nNfr chairman ner,,if mo hria7N
to explain the reasons why offer
these amendments, and will use num-
bers instead of repeating the words
Of the amendment, to save space.
q. This amendment is asked for
because il is impossible for a minister
to perform his duty as the law now re
quires Il says he shall report the
marriage on or before the last day
Of The month in which said marriage
or marriages were solemnized OF con.
tracted Practically this works our
that if a marriage is solemnized or
January /, the minister has thirt,
days i'm which to make his report.
marriage on January 2. he has " enty
nine days to make his report so on
until the last day of the month comes
and the office closes about o'clock
and the minister has a marriage at
o'clock Will any living man tell mi
how that minister can report tha
marriage to the registrar of the bu
reau of vital statistics i'm time to keel
the law? And yet the law holds ever,
minister in this State liable 10 a fin'
of S25 for not doing what is a physica
impossibility to do. Why not strik'
out the present phraseology and max
It within ten days for all reports?
-. The third amendment is aske'
for because the present requirement
is utterly useless now. Formerly VI
were required to return TO the clerl
OF the peace within ten days the Ger
tificate which accompanies each mar
riage license. This was afterwarl
amended to four days Then cam
our new registration law, which j
much more thorough than the old
which requires US to report the sam
identical items on a postal card withii
twenty-fOur hours. but the portion o
the old law was not repealed. So. nov
we are expected to make report OF
postal card in twenty-four hours. {
return the same identical information
on a different sheet in four days. an
then our complete report. on or be
fore the last day of the month Now
what is the use of taking a minister
time and the cost of a stamped en-
velope 10 send in a report that is fun
in the waste paper basket? Yet, h
must do ii, or there hangs over hiI
that promised penalty of S25. / sa,
strike out the obsolete provision.
Mr. Chairman. the man who fran
cd this law must surely have bee
1 cunning for preachers when he wroi
this section that No. seeks
amend. for it reads For any viola
ton of this act or parts thereof th
State Registrar may bring actio
against the violator before any Jus
tice of the Peace. and from his dec
sion there shall be no appeal Ho'
is that for a good, fair law? A ma
steals a chicken. and the Justice {
the Peace can only hold him for tn
upper court; but a minister of th
gospel fails to get in his report of
marriage because the law as It no
reads makes it impossible for him S
| to do; and the Justice of the Peac
/ proud to have a chance at so distir
guished a culprit as the minister h'
fore him. 'soaks' him for a $500 b'
cause the law says he may do SC
and from that decision there is r
/ appeal. according to the law as 1t no
stands Are ministers so vile thi
they shall be denied the legal righ
that are accorded to thieves ar
thugs? I say that law ought to
amended.
This amendment seeks to do ju
what it states. namely, to make
marriage license issued by the Sta
just like any other license issued I
the State. in that it shall be effecti'
as soon as issued. AS it now stanl
it works hardship on the law-abidiI
citizens OF this State. and on III
ground I am opposed to il. 1T