TRIAL WEDDINGS POPULAR.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 5 April 1926, Page 2

TRIAL WEDDINGS POPULAR.

GIRLS AND BOYS IN DIVORCE. Trial marriages, viewed once as daring experiments for the ultra-modern, are becoming a popular diversion among the boys and girls of GMcago, according to Supreme Judge Harry A. Lewis, a leading Divorce Court jurist. In addition, the young people have found that the county brand of "trial marriages’’may be annulled with ease and safety. Aroused by the frequent appearance o± girls and boys of high school age a 3 plaintiffs in annulment suits, Judge Lewis declares that the divorce laws should be amended so that marriage between minors would be legal. "It used to be presumed that these young people didn’t know what they were doing," the judge states. "But I feel now that they know only too well what marriage means. Moreover, I believe they have become acquainted with the divorce laws, through study of the newspapers, and realise that if the marriage isn’t successful it can be easily annulled. ’ ’

Formerly annulment petitions were rare. When they did appear the usual charge was that either husband or wife had been married before, and that therefore the marriage was illegal. "These young people unblusMngi/ confess that they lied about their ages when they obtained licenses," Judge Lewis declares. "I have no doubt they knew the ceremony was illegal and looked forward to a time when an annulment might be obtained if the marriage was not a success." Proof that the boy was under 18 years of age or the girl under 16 years of age is all that is necessary in such cases under American law.