The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-12-12
Matrimony Made Easy.

ported on Dy tQe ,dOuSo OOmmeVoo on ehS
judiciary, is, in many respects, fit com
panion for the famous bill to make ita mis-
demeanor to call person "a thief, rogue,
sscoundrel or poltroon" in "a rude, angry
"or revengeful manner" Under its benign
provisions, the yoke of matri mo1y3 may be
made as light as it is IN Chicago, aud, in
little while, divorces should be obtained in
| South: Carolina as easily .as In Indiana,
where provincial limbs OF the law are saic
to offer to, procure a dissolution Of the
bonds OF marriage for the consideration o.
o barrel Of apples-whether 'tapples Of love
or ..apples OF Sodom" not being stated.
The old idea Of marrying ."for three years
cor the war" is nothing to 1t.
All marriages, contrary to popular belief,
are. not made in o better world, and they
/ who think they have met their long sought
/ afinities, often discover, the first enchant-
| fnent past, that they were the victims Of a
| hallucination, in which plumpers, palpita-
tors, pearipowder and panuiers bore con
spicuous part. 1t is, therefore, q generous
thing to declare, as the bill before us does,
that when "both parties are insane or
''idiotic," the conjugal union shall be void
"without any decree Of divorce or other
s;legaf process" Scofsrs might suggest
that the fact Of the marriage was In itself a
prima tacie evidence Of idiocy, and 1t would
be easy enough for Darby and Joan, falling
into the sere and yellow leaf, 10 deem them
selras insane, and seek new alliance,
But the fourth section OF the bill has wider
scope. threads as follows:
.sSEc. 4. II the parties to q marrage, sol
empized when either VI them was unuer the
age Of consent, separate during. such mar
rage, and do not afterwards cOhablt, the mar
liage shall be void without decree Of divorce
or other legal process" a."
To our mind, this is legal authority for
the grossest immortality. The condition OF
the people OF South Carolina is verK pecu-
liar. There are In this State four hundred
thousand persons Of coler, who, until 1865,
could not contract q binding marriage
Their sexual relations, since the war, have
been VIGOROUSLY loose, and it is the part OF
wise and prudent legislators to protect the
marriage contract, so that it shall be neith-
er lightly made nor lightly broken. But,
under the Slate laws, marriage is perform
ance which may be completed with as little
ceremony as that involved in jumping over
q brQomstick; and nov, TO make matters
worss, ,ths Legislatusa propose 70 allow any
persons who are under age to go through
the forms OF marriage, and divorce them
selves at pleasure. II Hennie g. Ghdin and
Ehe Demosthepian Woodruff were only o few
years younger, they would desire no greater
latitude than the new divorce law proposes
to give to the black and the white citizens
OF South Carolina. . No legal proceedings,
no tcomplicated suit, would be necessary,
A legal marriage, where the parties were
minors, would become absolutely null when-
ever it suited a scolding Wife or 'licentious
husband to so determine. Under this sec
ton, a Juan Of tender years might legally
contract, and legally dissolve, score Of mar
riages before coming Of age. No surer
way of degrading the colored people, and
of insuring the speedy extinction OF their
race 1ssh6yt Of $legalizsd Free Love, could
possibly be devised.
The seventh section Of the bill defines the
causes for which, divorces may be- decreed
I-bt the courts When q person is sentenced
to Imprisonment for life, or for FIVE years, q
divorce may be had, end mo pardon grant
s'ed to the party 50. o.sentenced shall restore
"sucb party to his or her coujugal rights"
But this is mild in comparison with the pro-
vision that divorce may be bad "where
'either party shall have, by cruel or bar
"barous treatment, rendered the condition
''of the other intolerable, or life burden
''some" This may be construed to mean
everything or nothing. Another cause for
divorce Is: "Gross and confirmed habits OF
''intozicatlon contracted after marriage"
Surely man or woman who is confirmed
| drunkard before marriage, and remains 80
after marriage, must be as unpleasant q
helpmeet as one who only begins to tipple
when the honeymoon is over.
The last and worst section OF the bill pro-
vides that, when an inhabitant Of this State,
whose marriage has been consummated
therein, shall go into another State or coun-
Try, "solely to obtain divorce for any
''cause occurring here, or for any cause
(which would not authorize divorce by the
claws Of this State, divorce so obtained
"shau be Of no force on effect IN this State.
Now the effect OF this is obvious. A man
goes to Indiana or Illinois and obtains a
divorce from his South Carolina better-half,
and marries again in the State where the
divorce is decreed. In that State, Wife No.
is his legal wife, to oil intents and pur.
poses; but, in South Carolina, Wife No. is
still his lawful companion. We submit that
it is useless to make dead-set at the Nor
mons if the laws Of South Carolina enable
apy Loihario to have two legal wives at the