Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1869-10-21

upon him or her, adding perhaps to
these sins OF omission the commits
sion of abuse, cruelty and neglect
/ i'm such case rs this, all the laws of
God and justice demand that the i'm
noeent party shall be permitted to
obtain a release from bonds which
entail nothing but misery and woe
upon their victim.
Some may say marriage is a divine
institution, and too sacred to be
touched by human legislation. "Wbat
God has Joined together let not man
put asunder." But its very sacred
ness is the strongest argument why,
when it ceases to have anything
worthy to be called sacred about it,
when it becomes only source Of
corruption and misery, the law should
cease to deem il sacred, and dissolve
it. Not to do so would be an Unjust
ice to the individuals, and a crime
against the state and religion. For
the State itself is deeply and directly
interested in the general morals,
happiness and virtue of its citizens.
1t has too the deepest interest in the
happy production and right educa-
ton Of their children. And it is
matter of the highest public policy,
when marriage fails entirely to ac-
complish these its legitimate ends,
that it should be dissolved.
Whatever, then, is completely de-
structive to the ends for which
marriage was instituted, is just
cause of divorce: adultery, desertion,
drunkenness, cruelty and abuse. Be-
yond these stretches a vast number
ofcauses too uncertain and indefinable
for human tribunals to deal with.
Inherent incompatibility Of temper,
resulting in constant irritation and
misery, smothered jealousy, incura-
bic hatred, and other purely mutual
causes, equally render marriage bur-
densome, and destroy its holier
purposes. Law cannot touch them,
because they are imponderable and
intangible.
In Iowa the statute authorizes a
divorce when the fact appears "that
the parties cannot live together in
peace and harmony" and that their
welfare requires separation. Such
a law is doubtless founded in strict
justice; but it leaves very much to
the judgment Of the Court. And it
requires that the Court should use
the most impartial justice, the most
sound and critical knowledge and
judgment, and the most conscien-
tious discharge of duty, in deciding
whether the evidence proves an ina
bility of the parties to live together
in peace and harmony.
So far, doubtless, the laws Of Iowa
upon divorce are really unexception-
able, and can rightly furnish no just
ground for popular sneers or cavil-
ling. But perhaps every reader is
aware that in this State divorce
~~-- ho oh4":-.S.1 "ifhnut porennnl
service, by only advertising. For
instance, a man, in order to consum-
mate and render equal his illicit
connection with another woman,
institutes a divorce from his lawful
wife. The defendant Is adver-
tised Of the action only by a.
notice in the newspapers Of the vi
entity, which fail to reach her. She,
ofcourse, ngignorant Of the action,
puts In no defense, and bill Of di-
vorce is granted to the man by
default. His wife knows nothing Of
the transaction until months after
ward. OF the twenty-one divorces
granted in Polk County since March,
1868, eight have been by default.
Now is not this in virtual violation
Of the universal principle that no.
person shall be condemned without
a hearing, without an opportunity of
defense? Let every citizen of Iowa
ask himself the question, not on the
ground of technical legality, but let
him ask his own sense of justice,
with which Providence has endowed
every human soul, whether this is
right. He may justly believe that
the divorce laws in his State are the
best possible, and that they are right
ly calculated to promote and pro-
serve the greatest private happiness
and public virtue; he may believe
that as whole they are above sneer
and cavil; he may believe that more
stringent laws would not only fail to
increase the happiness of the married
state, but would frighten and deter
persons from entering it; but let him
think whether the power Of obtain
ing divorce without personal serv-
ice may not be foul spot upon the
statutes Of his commonwealth:
whether it may not furnish just
grounds for the libel of outsiders and
for the earnest depreciation of its own
citizens. ID.
Des Moines, Oct. 6, 1869.