Omaha daily bee., 1888-10-14
MARRIED MARTYRD0M
A French Reformer Expounds
Rather Startling Doctrines.
WEDDING A NECESSARY EVIL.
Mutual Love Should Form the Only
Bond of Union.
AN IDEAL STATE OF SOCIETY.
1t Can Alone Exist Where Marital
Conventionalities Are Removed.
THE DIVORCE LAW OF FRANCE.
THE DIVORCE LAW OF FRANCE
How Its Practical Operation Leads to
Absurdities and In,justice-The
Legislators Quarrel and
the Public Suffers.
From a French Standpoint.


tCOpprigM 1883 by James Gordon Bcnnet1
PARIS Oct. l3.- New York Herald Gable
Special to THE BEE. is marriage failure
in Francel This was the text of an inter
esting conversation had few days since
with Senator Alfred Naquet in his apart
ments in the Rue de Moscow. He knows as
much about marriages as any man in France.
A great part of his life has been spent in the
contemplation of this institution. He has
studied it deeply both as philosopher and
husband. He has written about it and suf-
fered for his writings. He has thundered
forth his ideas on the subject before legisla.
tors and triumphed by his eloquence. In 1869
he was condemned TO four months imprison-
meut and fined 500 francs for book which
he wrote upon marriage. In 1854 his name
was sounded abroad as the author of the
present divorce laws which came to France
as gracious relief NJ Naquet, therefore
knowing all about marriage, said:
AS young mar. held most extreme views
as to the relations of the sex. | was far
from being a sensualist but on high philo-
sophical grounds l became convinced that
marriage as an institution was harmful and
contrary to the interests of mankind.
maintained that love was the only tie which
should hold any man to any woman. If love
existed marriage was supertluous. If it was
absent marriage became blasphemy. There
fore in all cases l argued that marriage was
without merit / published these IDEAS and
then was forced to flee from the storm they
stirred up. l have grown older
since then, and more conservative. | see
now that marriage, like law and religion,
must exist because the world is evil. In an
ideal state of society there would be neither
churches or courts nor wedding bonds be-
cause there would be no lying nor strife nor
deceit, but we must take things as they are
and protect our rights against those who
would wrong us. l believe in marriage,
then as l do IN armies, at the same time
hating the necessity which make them both
indispensable.
AS to marriage being failure in France,
that is whether it really protects the weak
against fraud and so promotes happiness In
the family and society, / reply, mar
riage, as its indissolubility is under
stood by the Catholic church, is GER
tanly not success in this country
my long and bitter struggle to obtain proper
divorce laws for France testities to my pro-
found contempt for the system which would
compel a man and u woman to live under the
same roof, although their hearts were filed
with mutual hate and revulsion and which
would force two sucn unhappy victims either
to pass their days in the happiness of celibacy
or create for themselves exterior and clan
destine relations to the serious prejudice of
notoriety. Happily this atrocious and un-
natural marriage exists no longer in our
midst. If there are still martyrs to an alb
surd and mschievous superstition, their
| martyrdom is voluntary. Coming then to
marriage as it is, marriage accompanied by
divorce, let us look at its workings to-day in
France. The hostile criticism which
was called forth four years ago by
| the divorce laws with which
| my name is associated, has entirely died out.
| No one complains of the practical working
| of these laws and no one dreams of burden
| ing France again with the horrible marriage
| yoke which the Catholic church invented.
| Divorce has become an integral part of our
| social life. A few days ago l met NJ. Jules
| Simon, one of the most relentless opponents
| to my project, and man who more than
| anyone else is responsible for the faults
| which crept into the law as it was finally
| passed. He said to me in his earnest way:
! ''Well, NJ Naquet, l must admit that the
| divorce laws have not yet done the harm
: which | believed inevitable. / do not doubt
| that the evil will declares itself later on, but
| so far am agreeably Disappointed Tha
| is high testimony. But the marriage reform
| which was commenced in 1854, is still incom
| plete. Article $40 of the civil code contain!
the following passage: when the separation
| of bodies shall have lasted three years the
| decree of separation may be changed into
| decree of divorce upon the demand of one o
the two persons interested in the suit
| That provision constitutes one of the mo ST
| serious dangers to the success of the mar
riage institution in France. The whole
trouble results from the two words "ma,
be" which, according to all ideas of wisdom
aud justice, should read "shall be-" ALLOW
me to explain. When the divorce laws wer,
passed it was needed in consideration of tn,
large Catholic element in the country, tina
the party bringing the action should be fre
to sue for absolute divorce or for simple sep
aratou from the defendant This con
dition of separation, which is sane
toned by the church, does not, o.
course, nullify the marriage ties. 1t wa
argued at that time that not only person
whose religious convictions We're against di
vorce, but others would apply for separation
in the hope that reconciliation may be ult
mately effected. However, inasmuch as thi
hope might in many cases. prove groundless
it was decided that if, after a separation o
hIee years, either party desired an absolut
rupture, a decree of separation might b
transformed into decree of divorce Thi
was a most equitable provision, since, in tn
original suit, proofs which were sufficient +
establish separation would have equally es
tablished divorce had the offended party S
formulated his demand.
But now comes the absurdity Article 81
instead of rendering the transformatio
from separation to divorce, an unquestioI
able right of the interested parties and dc
pending solely upon their personal wishes
the conservative element in the senat,
headed by NJ Jules Simon succeeded
making this transformation dependant apo