Notes

New Zealand Tablet, 20 April 1911, Page 722

Notes

The McCann Case Although bombarded by correspondence in reference' to the views it has expressed on the Belfast marriage case, the British Weekly keeps its head cool, and stands manfully to its guns. ' There was in the beginning,' it says, in reply to its critics, 'a tendency to take up a wholly indefensible position—namely, that the civil law of marriage ought in all circumstances to override the Christian law. This can never be. It is the most crouching and grovelling form of Erastianism known to us to say that the Church is not entitled to protest against an unscriptural marriage law, if such a law exists. Such a law may very well come to exist if things in this country are moving as they have been moving for the last twenty, years. The Church must then protest in the name of Christ and in the name of religious liberty. There is no religious liberty where such protest is not allowed.'

And then it goes on to point out that the whole case ought to be judged upon sworn evidence, given and tested 111 court, and not on hearsay; and it indicates that it has little confidence in the Orange version of the facts 'lt is not/ it sanely remarks, 'a case that can ever be settled by newspaper controversy. As we understand, Mrs. M'Cann, while firmly maintaining that her marriage was broken and her home desolated through the interference of a priest, does not know the name of the priest, and has not been able to identify him, although she would know him if she saw him. No fewer than three different correspondents tell us that the name of the priest is well known, and they have given us the name. Writing evidently without collusion, they each name the priest, and their witness agrees. If we understand rightly, the Roman Catholics ask that the priest should be publicly named so that he may commence an action for libel in which all the tacts will be brought out. We humbly submit that this is the only satisfactory solution of the difficulty. At any rate, it is m a court of law where evidence can be taken, and where statements can be sifted that the truth is most likely to bo arrived at. For ourselves, we most respectfully decline the impassioned request of ono correspondent that we should print the name of the priest.' A Non-Catholic Protest A non-Catholic journal of New York, the Christian Work and Evangelist, paints a vivid picture of the probable future of America if the increase of divorce continues at the present rate. 'We see nothing but free love,' it remarks, 'if the increase in the ratio of divorces to marriages goes on during the next thirty years as it has during the last thirty. Divorce at present is increasing two and a-half times as fast as our population. In 1906 the increase had risen to that point where it was one divorce for every twelve marriages. ' Wo presume the percentage is much higher now. It is much higher than this in some States, where it can be had .for the mere asking, as in California, There it is one to every six. One can see the incredible increase in twenty years when one remembers that in 1880 the percentage was only 38 for 100 000 population, whereas in 1900 it was 73. When one subtracts the great Roman Catholic population, one realises at once that these figures are really much higher.' .y----'There is no sign of this abating, but it rushes on with ever-increasing speed. It becomes easier every year It is already so easy that many men and women are no longer stopping to consider whether they are fit for each other or not, whether they wish to live together always or not but rush into marriage as lightly as in Paris two members of the Latin Quartier go and live together for a while. Everybody knows that two-thirds of the required causes—''cruelty," "desertion," "non-support," etc.-are nothing but pretexts often agreed upon by both parties.' ■lo which the Ave Maria . adds the natural comment: Apparently the only hope for the country is to make the great Catholic population" still greater, or to take a leaf from its book and prohibit divorce absolutely.'