The Marriage Bill Mr. De la Bere is to be
congratulated on the success of his Marriage Bill, which by a majority of 78 to 12 was given a second reading in the House of Commons last Friday. The Bill allows as grounds for a divorce, in addition to adultery, desertion, cruelty, incurable insanity, drunkenness and life imprisonment under a com- muted death sentence; though the Bill secured its second reading in so small a House, the debate showed that by now there is a large body of opinion in favour of these reforms. Many even of those who have resisted them on religious grounds have been placated by the provision prohibiting any divorce within five years of marriage. It is this clause which, more than any other, gives the promoters of the measure the right to claim that it will strengthen and not weaken the marriage-tie ; Mr. A. P. Herbert was able to say that for such a Bill there would be support even from the highest ecclesiastical authority. The Attorney-General promised that either he or the Solicitor- General would assist in the Committee stages of the Bill, which means presumably that the Government will give the necessary time for its passage into law. In the Lords the Bill would almost certainly secure a majority. The cause of divorce reform in England seems nearer to success than it has ever been before.
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