Lord Buckmaster, in the House of Lords on Wednesday, moved
the second reading of his Matrimonial. Causes Bill, em- bodying the recommendations of the majority of the Royal Commission on Divorce. Lord Braye and Lord Phillimore strongly opposed the Bill. The Archbishop of York said that he agreed with many of the proposals, and that there was urgent need of reform in matters connected with the costs, procedure, and practice of the Divorce Court. But he objected to any weakening of the basic principle of English law, that marriage was a life-long contract, only dissoluble on the ground of adultery. As the number of divorces granted had risen from 1,720 in the year 1917 to 5,789 last year, the Archbishop thought that this was not the timo to unsettle the general sense of the responsi- bilities of marriage. The debate, though interesting, merely touched the surface of a profoundly important and very difficult question. We must reserve comment until the Lord Chancellor has explained the Government's attitude towards the Bill, as he proposes to do a fortnight hence.
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