BILL DEFEATED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 261, 3 November 1932, Page 11

BILL DEFEATED.

LABOUR MEMBER'S MEASURE. MARRIAGES WITH RELATIVES SECOND READING NOT CARRIED. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. The last has been heard thie session of the Marriage Amendment Bill, sponsored by Mr. H. G. R. Mason (Labour, Auckland Suburbe), since the second reading of the measure wae defeated on the voices in the House yesterday afternoon. The object of the bill was to "allow a man to marry his father's deceased brother's widow; his mother's deceased brother's widow; his deceased wife's father's sister; his deceased wife's mother's sister; his brother's deceased eon'e widow; and his sister's deceased son's widow. The bill also provided that a woman might marry her father's

deceased sister's hueband; her mother's deceased sister's hueband; her deceased husband's father's brother; her deceased hueband'e mother's brother; her brother's deceased daughter's hueband; and her sister's deceased daughter's hueband. There was also a clause in the bill enabling women to qualify as officiating ministers.

In moving the second reading, Mr. Mason said the main object of the bill was to bring the New Zealand law into line with the English law. The bill had not been introduced for fun, but was highly logical. There was definitely a demand that permission should be given for women to perform the ceremony of marriage.

The Minister of Justice, Hon. J. G. Cobbe, said that the matters contained in the bill were obviously the concern of the Government and should be brought into operation by the Government. He suggested that Mr. Mason should drop the bill and allow the Government to consider it during the recees with a view to introducing a bill next session.

Mr. W. J. Jordan (Labour, Manukau) said that the bill had been before the Minister for a year. They had. already had one promise that the bill would be dealt with during the last recess.

, The Minister: I did not promise that. Mr. Jordan did not think it would be too much to ask the Government to take the bill up. Mr. P. Fraser (Labour, Wellington Central) suggested that the bill might be sent to the Statutes Revision Committee. There were several features of the bill which Ke did not understand. Hβ thought if people wanted to marry the people who were set out in the bill they should do so and take the consequence. It would serve them right. (Laughter.) The second reading was defeated on the voices.