Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-11-01
Sometbino About Divorces

There has been an alarming increase in
the number of divorce suits in this cOun-
try, especially in the Northern States, in
the last few years. This divorce question
has become exceedingly troublesome,
! owing to the diversity of laws, and the
ease with which parties obtain divorces
in some States, without publicity-in
many instances the opposite party not
knowing of the existence of the suit until
the divorce has been granted. In the
effort to correct these evils some States
declared certain kinds of divorces, pro-
cured in other States, TO be illegal, and
this led to additional confusion.
In Maine the annual number of divorces
has increased 80 per cent. in the last 20
years, there being 5s7 last year. In New
/ Hampshire there were 314 in 1882, against
107 in 1860. Massachusetts granted 900 in
1852. while u years before she only scored
243. Connecticut granted only IA divorces
in 1S49, while in 1880 she managed to dis
solve 445 nuptial ties. Rhode island in
creased her number from 49, in 1869 to POI
in 1882. New England takes the lead in
this matter, but several other sections
follow pretty closely. In Chicago there
has been 1 divorce to every Is marriages;
but san Francisco goes away ahead of all
other cities, and last year the ratio of
marriage ties dissolved by the court
reached the astonishing figures of l in 81.
If divorces only affected the immediate
parties they would not be such a serious
matter, but there are nearly always ques-
lions relative to property or children, and
the decentralization of society, which have
caused the subject to be watched and dis
cussed by those having the true interests
and good Of the country and pOsterity at
heart.
During the recent session of the Episco-
pal Convention in Philadelphia meeting
was held under the auspices Of the New
England Divorce Reform League to dis
cuss this subject. The decision arrived
at was that the great increase in the
number Of divorces was principally owing
to lax legislation, and that the most i'm
portant means of preventing them was
arbitration or discussion. 1t was pro-
posed that the ministers of the Presbyte-
Tian church should, like the Catholics, re-
fuse to marry divorced people, and that
an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States be proposed limiting the
grounds of divorce. The last, Of course,
will not be considered seriously by the
country, for the fundamental law of the
/ land should not be loaded down with a
multiplicity of mere domestic regulations.
/ The first proposition is a better one-for
in some States divorces are granted on
very trivial grounds.
The divorce evil is growing in the South,
and the cooperation of the better classes
Of the whole country, as well as New
England, will be needed for its suppress
sion or diminutiOn. 1t would be mani
fest wrong to prohibit divorces entirely
in fact, the evil is not TO be cOmbatted by
legislation alone; it must be met by a
better education Of the social and moral
sensibilities of the people.
The grounds on which divorces are
granted should be, as nearly as possible,
uniform in the different States, as well as
the proceedings by which they are OBJ
tanned. But the point to be more strictly
guarded than any other is the opening of
the courts to nOn-resldents.
In some cities there are lawyers who
make a speciality of securing divorces for
non-residents, not even requiring their
attendance at court; and if they are not
checked they will soon have shops where
ready-made divorces can be had, war
ranted to nit any party who can pay the
fees.