The Lords and the Marriage Bill The fact that the
House of Lords has given the Marriage Bill a second reading without a division does not mean that the committee stage will be all plain sailing. In particular the clause stipulating that there shall be no divorce till five years after marriage, severely criticised in a weighty speech by Lord Atkin, is unlikely to survive in its present form. It is necessary to remember that the Bill is a compromise, and that as counterweight to clauses which make divorce more easily obtainable than it is today the five-years clause was added as a safeguard against the lighthearted contraction of marriage with the reflection that it can be dissolved at any moment if desired. But even for that purpose there is nothing sacrosanct about a period of five years. A reduction to three might well be accepted. The attitude adopted by the two Archbishops has been undeservedly criticised. As the leading figures in a Christian Church in a secular State they were right in saying that they could not vote for a measure brought forward to facilitate the dissolution of unions which that Church regards as indissoluble. As good citizens they were equally right in saying that they could not vote against a measure designed to alleviate the hardships under which thousands of people who make no profession of accepting the Christian ideal of marriage suffer. Important and valuable as Mr. Herbert's Bill is, it is well to remember that less than 5,000 divorce cases a year come before the Courts in England and Wales. There will, no doubt, be more when the Bill becomes law.
Previous page
