Rules for Newlyweds

Hot off Fascist presses last week rolled a new pamphlet form of marriage certificate, now being issued to Italian newlyweds. After the names of bride and groom appear twelve blank spaces for the names of their twelve children--a modest estimate, since Il Duce recently gave prizes to 92 "Champion Mothers" with an average of 14 living children apiece (TIME, Jan. 8). Thumbing on through her marriage cer tificate, the Italian bride comes upon these legal reminders: "Matrimony imposes on married couples the reciprocal obligations of cohabitation, faithfulness and assistance (Article 130 of the Civil Code)." "The husband is the head of the family. ... It is obligatory for her [a wife] to follow him wherever he sees fit to establish his residence (Art. 131)." When the children grow up, their parents can point sternly to other laws, further on in the marriage certificate: "Children are under the obligation of supplying alimentary needs of their parents and other close kin having same (Art. 139)-". "Children, whatever their age, must honor and respect their parents. They are subject to parental rule until the age of majority (18 for boys, 25 for girls). Such rule is exercised by the father; if he should prove incapable in this, by the mother (Art. 220)." "The child cannot abandon his home without the explicit permission of the ruling parent (Art. 221)."

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