Religion: Marriage in Chicago

Declaring that marriage is a "sacred ceremony," Massachusetts' pious Roman Catholic Governor James Michael Curley last fortnight forbade justices of the peace to perform that ceremony (TIME, Feb. 4). Last week the Chicago Church Federation (300 Protestant ministers) was agitated over civil marriage as performed in their city. They learned that in Marriage Court in the County Building a couple could be united in ten seconds, by paying $5 and replying affirmatively to the question "Do you take this woman (or man) whose right hand you hold, to be your lawful wedded wife (or husband)?" This ceremony was denounced by Rev. Philip Yarrow, civic relations chairman of the Church Federation, as "a semi-racket, a hit & run affair." Said he: "They get a certificate with the big words 'Holy Matrimony,' but there's nothing holy about it. It's just a cold legal ceremony. And the county charges $5 for that. There are a lot of us ministers who'd like a few marriages at $2. And we'd make it a real, holy one, too."