HARRY W. NICE, GOVERNOR. 791

been passed by a yea and nay vote, supported by three-fifths
of all the members elected to each of the 'two Houses of the
General Assembly, the same shall take effect from the date of
its passage.

Approved April 26, 1937.

CHAPTER 396.

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact with amendments Section 38
of Article 16 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1924 Edi-
tion), title "Chancery", sub-title "Divorce", providing that
divorce may be granted after separation under certain con-
ditions.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Mary-
land, That Section 38 of Article 16 of the Annotated Code of
Maryland (1924 Edition), title "Chancery", sub-title "Di-
vorce", be and it is hereby repealed and re-enacted with amend-
ments to read as follows:

38. Upon a hearing of any bill for a divorce, the court may
decree a divorce a vinculo matrimonii for the following causes,
to wit: first, the impotence of either party at the time of the
marriage; secondly, for any cause which, by the laws of this
State, render a marriage null and void ab initio; thirdly, for
adultery; fourthly, when the court shall be satisfied by com-
petent testimony that the party complained against has aban-
doned the party complaining, and that such abandonment has
continued uninterruptedly for at least three years, and is de-
liberate and final, and the separation of the parties beyond
any reasonable expectation of reconciliation; fifthly, when the
woman before marriage has been guilty of illicit carnal inter-
course with another man, the same being unknown to the hus-
band at the time of the marriage, and when such carnal con-
nection shall be proved to the satisfaction of the court; sixthly,
when the husband and wife shall have voluntarily lived sep-
arate and apart, without any cohabitation, for five consecutive
years prior to the filing of the bill of complaint, and such sep-
aration is beyond any reasonable expectation of reconciliation.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take
effect June 1, 1937.

Approved April 26, 1937.