News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-04-12

New England Especially subject to it-Ns-rOnG
Worked ay Jhc Civil Contract Theory
Professionalism 10 IIamV for Divorce.
Tho euhiac+ "f tln e;rth T.er+rn Ice
trre, of DR.. Morgan Dix. OF New York,
was divorce in Its Bearing on the Call
ing of a Christian Woman and her Train
ing to Fulfill 1t. After speaking of his
feeling OF the inadequacy of his words to
express his sense Of the periIs with which
divorce threatens society. DR.. Dix re-
ferred to the Bishop of Connecticut,
who in his Convention address of 1881,
said: ''Thcre We're in the year of grace
1873, IN Maine AS divorces; In New
Hampshire, 241; in Vermont, 1877; in
Massachusetts. 900: in Connecticut,
4Ol, and in Rhode Island. 196-making
a total OF ,, ,113. and a larger ratio in pro
portion to the population than in France
in the DAYS Of the Revolution. though far
less than in the City of Paris. On the
basis Of the present census there was l
divorce to every 1, ,337 inhabitants in
Maine, to every l, +39 in New Hamp-
shire, l 10 every ], ,GS7 III Vermont, l to
every ,. 971 in Massachusetts,, to every
1.553 in Connecticut. and l to every
1.4I1 in Rhode Island. The condition of
things to-day is worse than it was in1SGS,
1869, and 1870, when We vainIy peti-
toned the Legislature to DO something to
stay this plague.
"Iu the State of Massachusetts in
1860, " said DR.. Dix, "there were five
causes for which divorce could be Oh
tanned. and a ratio Of one divorce to 81
marriages: in 1873 the number of causes
for which divorce was allowed had ad
vanced to nine. and the ratio to l divorce
for every n marriages. In other New
England States the case was even worse.
In Vermont the ratio was 1 divorce to
II marriages; in Rhode Island, divorce
to y marriages; in Connecticut, l di-
vOrce to II marriages. New Hampshire
showed about the same proportion, and
in Maine It Is Was even worse. From
the total OF marriages registered IN the
several States those contracted and
solcmnizal by Roman Catholics must
be deducted, for they, all honor to them,
allow no divorce. following literally the /
command Of ou Lord Jesus Christ. /
-hu.ouL Pr-t-s5a~ta, or uoH-Ho-aGu (
Catholics. divorces run mp to as high |
ratio as l divorce to every II marriages |
In Massachusetts. aud IN Connecticut to
l TO every g. In the New England
States alone !. .OOO families are brokenup
every year, and 1000 persons divorced.
While the laws protecting marriage have
been gradually weakened, facilities for
divorce extended, crimes against chas-
titv. morality, and decency have been
steadily increasing. In Massachusetts,,
from 1860 to 1870, during which time
divorces had increased p times. while
marriages had increased hardly t per
cent. and while all convictions for
crimes had increased hardly One-fifth,
crimes against chastity, morality, and
decency-iIthy crimes, loathsome infa-
nous crimes-had increased threefold.
'sThe thing aimed at by the prOmot-
ers of easy divorce Is not the relief of
persons unhappiIy Joined together; that
is secured under all Christian statutes.
In fact, divorce is of two kinds. There
Is a divorce which consists in the tenn
porary separation Of persons who cannot
live together in safety, they, however,
remaining man and wife. That is a
simple matter it works but little harm
it gives lust relief. If married persons
find it impossible to live together III
peace. # one be hard, cruel, brutal, dam
gerous. it Is right that the other should
be allowed to withdraw from the peril,
and that they should remain apart until
they come to a better mind. But that
simple and often necessary divorce
differs entirely from another kind, out
of which springs the poison, the wasting
shame. This is a divorce followed by a
new matrimonial alliance with some
other person. These two kinds of di-
vorce were always distinguished until
recently III the laws Of the State and of
the Church. Divorce with the privilege
of marrying again, divorce which abso-
uteIy separates the married, destroys
the home and throws the road open to
other alliances. UnquestiOnably, that Is
the point aimed at. in that divorce for
any cause shall carry with it the freedom
to marry again, and that the causes for
which divorce may be obtained shall be
made so numerous that anv married
couple may easily be parted under the
form and shadow Of law. The grounds
for granting such separations should be
numerous enough to accommodate all
desiring it, and, therefore, the point to
aim at now, in view of the end ultimately
to he attained is to make divorce so easy
that it Will become as common as mar
ridge itself; whereupon the legal pro-
ceedings will be given up as practically
unnece essary and mere bit of Journalism,
and license shall reign supreme.
"In Maine q divorce, full and absO-
Lutte. may, be granted, not merely for
any Of a long list Of specified causes,
but. adds the statute, by any Justice of
the Supreme Court whenever, in the ex-
ercise Of sound discretion, he deems it
reasonable and proper, conducive to do
mestic harmony. and consistent with the
peace and morality of society," Think of
thatl A divorce may be granted on any
ground approved as reasonable by a
Judge! Now, what viii they do when
it comes TO this, that Judges with such a
power may be placed in Office by the
vote of a people low in morals and honey
combed by irreligion and godlessness? ?
1t has been well pointed out, not long
since that when these things reach the
state toward which they are drifting,
when one marriage may be lightly set
aside and another entered into, when a
man can have vie after wife and q
woman husband after husband, getting
nd of each in turn 10y a system Of facile
divorce, we shall have reached the CON
dition Of the Mormon, with this sole DIFF