Weekly Trinity journal., 1877-12-22
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.

Senator Pierson comes to the from
again with his divorce bill, which wa
laid away by the Legislature two year
ago. The Senator, being one Of ;he hold
over members has resurrected his bant
ling and brings it forward ut an early day
of the session, that it may not meet the
fate of some measures be stranged il
Committee. Some men are irrepressible,
you may put them down in vair. Like
Jack -in-the- box" who pops up whenever
the lid is lifted, they rise to the surface
whenever opportunity offers. Men of but
single idea generally lose no chance oil
forcing that idea upon the public on every
occasion. Where a mind runs in one
narrow channel it Is very difficult for its
possessor TO turn aside from the rut in
which his course happens to fall. Such a
man Is what Senator Pierson appears to
he, and he acts as though his whole mis-
sion as a legislator is to get his peculiar
ideas upon the subject Of divorces incor-
porated in the statutes of the State.
The Senator would have a divorce Civ
en- from the bonds of matrimony for one
cause only, adultery. A divorce from
bed and board is given for other reasons
extreme cruelty, desertion, habitual in
temperance, and other grounds. But an
absolute divorce can only be granted for
the cause we have named. 1t might be
as well if the Senator went little further
and took the rigid ground of the Catholic
Church which denies absolute divorce fol-
any reason. When people learn that the
obligation of marriage is lifelong in its
duration, that the obligations then as.
sumed can only be thrown off when
Death claims one Of the parties, those OF
ripe years and mature judgment will
ponder well before taking such vows
But if we propose to give woman an equal
chance in the battle of life where this
question of marriage and divorce is con-
cerned, We must put q quietus on all such
bills as that introduced and advocated by
the San Francisco Senator. Marriage is
a solemn thing, it is an engagement which,
at the time it is undertaken is believed to
be one destined to be severed only By
death. 1t is not until some time perhaps,
has elapsed, that the parties thereto learn
the mistake they have made, a mistake
destined to doom both Of them to life
time Of misery. In many eases the law
Of divorce promotes the happiness of each
by Offering Il legal separation to which
both parties are glad to accede. The hus
band, or wife, when discontentcd with
his or her chosen lot is but a poor com.
panion for the other. But this state ol
Affairs can be more readily borne by man
than by woman. Divorce laws, then are
more intended to promote the happiness
OF woman, and belong to the liberal and
advanced legislation of the present age
Even as they are and as society is now
constituted, there are many who prefer to
continue life OF married misery than
seek legal relief, more thnn once have we
heard it remarked of married couple
that each was waiting for the other to die.
a man can find relief from domestic
trouble in the outside world that woman
cannot. Her world is comprised within
the narrow limits Of her home, and even
there She has to guard her actions, for no
matter how prudently she may conduct
herself, the espionage of enyious eyes is
always upon her.
Senator Persons bill throws matters
back to where they stood half a century
ago when women had no rights except
what her husband chose to allow hey. Di-
vorce q mc}S0 et MoTu is no relief, eX-
copt from the presence of the obnoxious
wife or husband. In other respects they
are AS much bound rs though living under
the same roof. The public morality will
hardly be benefited by its passage, in fact
the reverse will be apt to be the case.-
Our divorce courts are not conducted on
the principle of the Probate Courts of
Utah, but here everything is fair, open
and above board. But the Senator has
his little hobby, and hobby does not
amount to anything rs such unless it be
well ridden. But we hardly think the
legislative sense of right aud wrong has
got SO budly warped that it will permit the
Senator'S hobby to become n part Of our
Statute law.