The New-Zealander. AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, JULY 29, 1854.

New Zealander, Volume 10, Issue 865, 29 July 1854, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, JULY 29, 1854.

lie just and fear nut: I.et all tlie ends thou aim’s! at, be thy Country’s, 'I hy God’s, and Truth’s.

Tiif, Bill for Regulating Makhiagks in New Zealand, which lias been introduced in the House of Representatives by Mr. Forsaith with the concurrence of the Ministry, and the second reading of which stands fixed for Wednesday next, has now been piiated by order of the House, and, of course, is in the hands of all the members. With a view to the further extension of information on a subject in which all classes of the community are interested, the Committee under whose care the Bill was originally framed have, (as Mr. Forsaith when giving notice of the second reading stated would be done), taken means to forward copies of the B' 1 to the Clergymen and to those persons likely to feel especially concerned in the question As, however, there may be many who will not have an opportunity of seeing it, we shall probably perform an acceptable service by placing before our readers generally a brief view of the distinctive features of the measure, with a copy of a few of the clauses which embody the gist and substance of what is new in its arrangements. This can be accomplished within a small compass, as—although the Bill is necessarily a long one—the points in which it differs from the existing law are few in number, and the bulk of the Bill is simply a repetition of those portions of the present Ordinance which detail the machinery as to Consents, Caveats, Penalties, Payment of Fees into the Colonial Treasury, &c., with three or four clauses transferred from the Registration Ordinance, so as to render the measure, should it be passed, complete in itself, as containing the whole law of the Colony relating to the celebration and registration of Marriages. The Bill is, in its principal features, based upon the opinion of Lord Stanley, when Secretary for the Colonies, as quoted and adopted by 1 iord Grey in his Despatch declaring Her Majesty’s disallowance of the New Zealand Marriage Amendment Ordinance oflSfil, — namely, that, in every case without exception, tire Licenses should be issued by the Civil Authority. Although therefoie the term “ License” is not employed (that being left 10 be used or not by the Religious Bodies, in those internal ecclesiastical arrangements with which the Bill in no degree interferes), yet the fundamental characteristic of the measure is that, in every case of intended Martiage, Notice shall be given to the Registrar or other Officer appointed by tire Governor for the purpose, and that a certificate from him that the requirements of the law have been complied with, shall be essential to a valid celebration of Marriage. We subjoin the portion of the Bill which exhibits this, its mainfeature :

G. In every case of marriage intended to be solemnized in the Colony of New Zealand, one ot the parties intending marriage shall, under his or her hand, give notice in the form in the schedule A., to this Act annexed, to the Registrar o! the District within which oao of the parties shall have dwelt for not less than seven days, and shall therein truly state the age, name and surname, and the calling or profession, ami condition of

eack of the parties intending marriage, the dwelling place of each of thorn, and the time that each of them has dwelt therein, and the. church, huildino-, or place, in which such marriage is intended to he solemnized. Provided always that it the parties intending marriage dwell in the Districts of different Registrars, the like notice shall he given to the Registrar of each district. Subsequent Clauses provide that the Notice i (to thetmthofthe particulars set forth in which | the party giving it will he required to make j n solemn declaration) shall he copied by the Itcgistr. r into a Hook, which shall be open to all persons desiring to inspect it. The I Oth clause provides as follows for the issue of the Certificate : 10. It shall bo lawful for the Itegistrar to whom such notice shall have been given as aforesaid, upon proof made to his satisfaction that there is not any impediment to such marriage of kindred or alliance, or other lawful hindrance to the said marriage according to t lie law of England for the time being, immediately upon receipt of such notice as aforesaid, to issue a certificate authorizing the solemnization of such marriage ; and for every such certificate the Registrar shall be entitled to a fee of And if the parties giving such notice as aforesaid shall not require the certificate until after the expiration of seven days from the time of giving such notice, it shall he lawful for the Registrar to issue such certificate authorizing the solemnization of such marriage, and he shall thereupon he entitled to a fee of " ; hut if the parties giving such notice a 5 aforesaid shall not requir such certificate until after the expiration of fourteen days after giving such notice, it shall be lawful for the Registrar to issue such certificate authorizing the solemnization of such marriage, and thereupon he shall he entitled to a fee of Provided always that in every case such certificate shall he in the form in schedule E>, to this Act annexed. It is intended, we believe, to propose that the blanks for fees in this clause shall he filled up with a comparatively high amount in the first case, —that in which the certificate is to be immediately issued ; and the others with very low amounts. '1 he reason is that, — while, upon the one hand, it would not he desirable to render absolutely impossible, under all circumstances, the celebration of a Marriage of which Notice had not been given several days previously,—on the other, it is expedient, with a view to publicity, that the giving of Notice at least seven days before-

hand should be encouraged as the general rule, and that therefore, in the former case, such a check as greater cost may afford should be interposed. This, however, is one of those points not vital to the principle of the measure, which no doubt will be duly considered in Committee when the Bill reaches that stage.

Clause 11 prohibits the issue of the Certificate if any lawful impediment be shown to exist, or if its issue be forbidden by any person authorized to forbid it.

Clause 12 contains a further guard against clandestine or improper Marriage : 13. Before any formarriage shall he granted by any such Registrar, one of the parties intending marriage shall appear personally before such Registrar, and shall make his or lie solemn declaration that he or she believeth that there is not any impediment of kindred or alliance, or other hindrance to the said marriage, and that one of the parties hath, for the space of seven days immediately before the day of granting such certificate, had his or her usual place of abode within the district wherein such marriage is to bo solemnized. And where either of the parties, not being a Widow or Widower, shall be under the age of twenty-one years, that tlxe consent of the person or poisons whose consent to such marriage is by law required, hath been obtained thereto, or that there is no poison having authority to give sack consent as the case may ho.

The checks which it is the right and duty of the State to interpose in the way of clandestine Marriages having been thus provided, the Certificate is to be issued. But clause 13 runs as follows:

ID. Every such certificate for marriage issued by any such Registrar shall he full authority for any officiating minister to celebrate such marriage. Provided always that such certificate shall not oblige any officiating to solemnize such marriage. Lawyers may perhaps consider this clause as needless —as mere surplusage ; but it will , notwithstanding, be satisfactory to many who are anxious that there should be no infringement on the privileges or liberties of the respective Churches, and will be glad to see that there is an explicit repudiation of every attempt or desire to dictate to any clergyman, as to whether he shall, or shall not, celebrate Marriage according to his own ecclesiastical laws and usages. Publicity is one great object of the Bill. Religious Equality is another. At present the most galling grievance is that invidious distinctions are made between Religious Bodies, some having almost unlimited privileges, others circumscribed piivileges, and a third class no privileges at all, —it being a startling fact that there are many Ministers in the Colony (some of them in Auckland) who have for years been well-known as the Pastors of established congregations, yet who could not marry even the members of their own respective congregations without exposing themselves to the charge and the punishment of Felony. An essential part of the measure therefore is the composition of ths List of “ Officiating Ministers” in the meaning of the Act. This is proposed by the 42nd clause to he as follows, —sabjeet, of course, to modification in any pariicular that docs not affect the principle:—

42. Any minister of religion whose name shall have been sent in to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, by the person or persons within the Colony in whom the ecclesiastical authority over any or either of the religious bodies enumerated in the schedule C, to this Act annexed, shall for the time being he vested or reputed to be vested, shall, subject to the conditions hereinafter mentioned, be an officiating minister within the meaning of this Act. Every such nomination shall be certified under the hand or hands of the person or persons aforesaid, and shall be entered and published ns hereinafter is provided. Provided always that any minister of religion not connected with any of the bodies enumerated in the aforesaid schedule to this Act annexed, shall, upon the presentation by him to the Registrar of a certificate signed by twelve adults being resident in tire district, be entitled to have his name inserted in the listof officiating ministers in the meaning of this Act. Provided always that such certificate shall be attested by two Justices of the Peace; and such attested certificate shall Pi sent in to the Registrar-General anew in the month of December in every year, and no such attested certificate presented to the Registrar by any Minister as aforesaid shall continue in force unless renewed in like manner. The Bodies enumerated in the schedule arc the United Church of England and Ireland ; the Church of Scotland; the Roman Catholic Church, thcFrce Church of Scotland; all Presbyterian Congregations; the Wesleyan Methodists ; all Congregational Independents ; the Baptists; the Primitive Methodists; all Hebrew Congregations; and the Lutheran Church; these being, we believe, all the Religious Bodies known to have existing organizations in the Colony. Others can, at any time, come in under the arrangements cfa

certificate signed by a certain number of Adults. Vurdiermore, provision is made 101 those who “ object to marry in the presence of any Officiating Minister,” by the 2 3rd clause, which proposes that such persons may be married at the Office and in the presence of the Regi trav, (according to the existing enactment) or of some J ust’.ce of the Pence. Such is the substance of the regulations proposed in the Bill. It will he seen that, as ue have said, what is really new and distinctive lies within a small compass, the rest being little more than a repetition of the old l aw with such minor alterations in a few instances as were necessary to the harmony of several parts. That some legislation on the subject is urgently required, is admitted, we believe, on all hands, and was expressly stated by His* Excellency the Officer Administering the Government on Opening the General Assembly. The present measure has been prepared in its leading provisions with much deliberation by a committee who, for several years, have had the subject in charge from a Public Meeting, and who have received and considered from time to time, avast variety of information and suggestions from all quarters. Its phraseology lias been submitted to legal examination of unquestionable competency. The draft was for some time in the hands of the Ministry, and has undergone some modifications on non-essential points on the recommendation of members of the Executive Government, and it is now brought forward with the full concurrence of Ministers in its principles. If any other plan can be suggested by any one either in or out of the Assembly which will obviate anything he may deem objectionable in this, without invading the fundamental 'principles of Pub icily and entire Religious Lquality, we are convinced that those who have laboured most in getting up the present Bill will be amongst the first to accept such a place, and to thank its author. In tne mean time, we must be permitted to doubt the probability that any plan fulfilling indispensable conditions will be forthcoming.