224 



The Journal of Heredity 



merely to point out that it is not a 

 eugenic law. 



House Bill No. 259, now ])cn(lin<^ 

 before the Vermont lc<i;islaturc, has more 

 claim to the attention of eu<^enists, as 

 it is intended to bar marriage to the 

 imbecile, insane and epileptic, as well as 

 to any person who is or has been within 

 five years an inmate of asylum or poor- 

 house, unless it is shown that the cause 

 of such condition has been removed and 

 that the prospective groom is able to 

 support a family. License is also to be 

 refused if either applicant is afflicted 

 with a transmissible disease; freedom 

 from such disease to be certified by a 

 practicing jjhysician. In view of the 

 adoption of the law mentioned in the 

 previous paragraph, it is not likely that 

 this one will get on the statute books. 



SOUTH Dakota's hill 



At the request of the vSocial Science 

 Clulj of Aberdeen, S. D., the Legislature 

 of South Dakota is now considering a 

 bill (House No. 131) which would 

 require every applicant for a marriage 

 license to present a certificate of fitness 

 signed by the superintendent of the 

 County Board of Health, showing that 

 no communicable disease or mental or 

 physical defect exists against contracting 

 the marriage relation. In order that 

 he may certify to this fitness, the 

 superintendent of the County Board of 

 Health shall make a personal examina- 

 tion of each applicant, at a cost of $5 

 to the ai)plicant; if he decides that a 

 laboratory test is necessary, he shall 

 so order and $10 more shall be collected 

 from the applicant. No certificate of 

 fitness to marry shall be issued to an 

 insane, feebleminded, epileptic or syphil- 

 itic jjcrson unless he or she has pre- 

 viously been sterilized. Transmissible 

 contagious disease is an absolute bar to 

 marriage. 



In regard to this and other ])ills of 

 the same type, little comment need 

 here be made. They are badly designed 

 and should not be jiassed, as eugenic 

 measures. 



The legislature of the state of New 

 York is now considering a bill (House 

 No. 513) amending the present law 

 regarding marriages in such a way as to 



prohibit the issuance of a marriage 

 license unless the applicant presents a 

 certificate from a physician "that such 

 applicant is free from an>' ])hysical or 

 mental infirmity or disea.se which is 

 likely to be contagious, communicable 

 or hereditary." A eon.sideration of the 

 experience of Wisconsin and its notor- 

 ious "eugenic law" ought to cool the 

 ardor of the backers of this measure. 



Indiana is similarly considering a 

 measure (Senate Bill No. 16) requiring 

 applicants for a marriage license to 

 present a certificate from a reputable 

 physician showing that they arc not 

 feebleminded, insane, or afflicted with 

 an open case of tuberculosis or any 

 transmissible disease. The introduction 

 of this bill may at least have some educa- 

 tive value on public opinion, by calling 

 attention to the fact that tul^erculosis is 

 an extremely undesirable thing in a 

 prospective life partner. 



A so-called Eugenics bill has also been 

 introduced into the Senate of Illinois. 

 It requires that health certificates, signed 

 by physicians, shall be presented by the 

 prospective bride and groom prior to the 

 issuance of a marriage license, and that 

 no county clerk shall issue a marriage 

 license to an\' person suffering from a 

 communicable disease. This is a public 

 health law, not a eugenics law. 



Missouri proposes to go back to the 

 old system of banns, in House Bill No. 

 17, which requires each applicant for a 

 marriage license to present a certificate 

 from a reputable physician which shall 

 state in concise terms the ap])licant's 

 health and his fitness to marry. Notice 

 of ajjplication for marriage license shall 

 be ]xiblished in a daily i)apcr three 

 consecuti\'e times, at the expense of the 

 county. If at the expiration of one 

 day from the jjublication of the last 

 notice, no charges hav^e been filed with 

 the recorder alleging a])i)licant's unfit- 

 ness to marry, license shall be granted. 

 If objection ])e made b\' three i)ersons 

 not related in blood to each other, on 

 the ground of any item mentioned in the 

 physician's certificate, the case shall 

 be taken before the circuit court ; if the 

 court sustains the objection of these 

 three unrelated persons, a license to wed 

 shall be (k>nicd; if the court o\-errules 



