Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-04-27

lions will hes, subserve the interests, first OF
society; secondly, of the children; ana last
ly, of the parties themselves
The arguments bearing on the question oil
liberal or of restricted divorce are
very nicely balanced Where by law mar
riago is indissolublc, or where 100
great obstacles are thrown in the way OF its
dis olulion, the discontinued parties are IKE
" either TO abscond, or 10 defy law and &c
liriou, and sink into lairint immoTaliiy'
This presents the least injurious phase COM
pcllcd to continue n hated union, they may
cndcavor to cast off their burden by crlme'or
seek revenge by brutal treatment of the inno-
cen, standing in the way.
On the other hand the Knowledge ON the
mart of married persons that they may easily,
or for slight causes, dissolve their relation,
tends to make all marital differences lrrccon-
ciablc. But if il be known that no divorce
will be allowed for any cause that nothing
| l,u, an oiTcnse of the most serious character
can be male the ground for it. and that only
at great cost in money and in social ignoml-
nv. quarrcls will be settled and modas u
pead discovered. This is the Chief argument
AGAINST liberal divorces. In Illinois divorces
a riHcul0 are granted for adultery, extreme
and repcatcd cruelty. .dcscrlion, haOtual
drunkenness, and felony. Judge Jameson
then compares the statistics of divorce in IL
linois with those in various parts of New
England, and finds that they fall below the
latter. When it is considered, he says, that
Vermont is an old state, with a fixed popu-
lation of nearly pure American descent, the
ratio of one divorce to every ii marriages.
in 1873, indicates much greater lax.
;ty in its divorce laws than prevails liz Hi
nois
In respect to the nativity and the busi-
ness and social standing of the parl''s
to divorce suits rs believed that large
majority consists Of freshly arrived immi-
grants from Europe and from other States.
No business or profession fails to contribute
its quota TO the throng seeking divorces, but
the number Of so-callcl professional men Is
not large. The bulk consists of working
men, mechanics, runners for commercial
houses, clerks, saloon keepers, actors gam
blers, farmers aud other classes of rather OBJ
scure men. Boarding house life is especially
fatal to pcrmaIence of the marital relation,
perhaps because in it wives are commonly
left without employment and fall ready
prey to sinister influences.
n,tth fac
relates TO the rightful causes of divorce. II
is conceded by all codes that permit divorce
at all that adultery is sufficient cause.
Looking alone 10 the consequences, is aiui-
terry, by whomsoever committed, deserving
of greater condemnation than extreme cruel
ty, which, if repeated is made the ground OF
divorce From the nature OF the case, cruel
ty is commonly exercised by the husband
upon the wife. Such conduct indicates
temper Incompatible with the marital reia-
ton, and while it may inilct Il less poignant
mental distress than the scripturai cause,
adultery it ought not to be permitted, on any
erns to continue. Consider also, the case
of desertion. The typical case of deserioH
is that Of WORKOUT, heart-broken mother
left bv her wretch of husband TO struggle
against poverty, alone, with his children. In
many cases the deserving husband has re-
turned after his wife, by years of struggle,
has acquired little home and Il comfortable
support for his children, and quartered him
self upon her The great extent of our coun-
try aud the migratory habits of our people
make these the cOmmoncst of all the his
tories of domestic misery in Our courts.
One more cause to which we shall refer
is that Of habitual drunkenness. In the
present state of our laws there may be muc!
drinking Of spiritupus liquors without legally
endanserip5 the status of marriage While
demanding the production of the technical
evidence required by law, no judge, passing
upon cases Of thst kind, can .. ought to over
look the terrible evidence Of physiogical fact
exhibited in the swollen face, the shaking
hands, and the tainted breath. No such
man ought to Ike allowed to become the faith
er of any womans children.
The best good therefore, OF the wife, of
the children and of the public demands that
some divorces shall be granted for nom
scriptural causes. But when this is said,
all has been said that can be truthfully said
in favor of liberal divorces as they are grant
ed in Illinois. 1t is our firm conviction that,
if the truth could be ascertaned, ut least
two-thirds, perhaps four-iilths, Of The ia
cases Of divorce during the past year in Chi |
cogo either were fraudulent in fact, or, with
a reasonably concilatory temper on the part
Of the couples divorced. and under suili |
GENTLY stringent legal conditions. were avoid |
able or preventable. There is, beyond ques-
ti0n fraud in the inception of many cases +;
If some divorces on all the
grounds stated ought to be granted, and if.
as the laws are, there are vast numbers that
ought not to be granted, what shall be done
to remedy the evil 2 The answer is, the
must he so modified as to reduce
fraud and collision to q minimum ; the con-
sequences Of decree must be made TO the
guilty party highly punitory, and the public
sentiment in regard to divorces must be cor
rccted. So much touching the notice and
defence. Besides these changes, there should
be one in the consequences OF DEGREES of d.
vorce to the offending parties. To permit both
divorced parties to marry again is 10 place
/, premium upon the commission of the of.
'enccs by law made the grounds of divorce.
In cases of desertion, it should be provided
hat, if the complainant be a wife, the court
hould have power to grant the divorce,
,r, at her option. to continue the case, to
wait her application for requisiton to
Compel her husband TO return and resume
he performance of his marital duties. Tina,
his schcmn of lcrislnlinn Mnnll involve a