Helena weekly herald., 1889-11-14
Is DIVORCE WRONGe
Extracts From a Discussion in the
North American Review for
November.
ROBERT G. INGERsOLL

ROBERT G. INGERsoLL.
The good home is the unit of the good
government. The hearthstone is the cor
nerstone of civilization. Society is not
interested in the preservation of hateful
homes, of homes where husbands and
wives are selfish, cold and cruel 1t is not
to the interest of society that good women
should be enslaved, that they should live
in fear, or that they should become mothers
by husbands whom they hate. Homes
should be filled with kind and generous
fathers, with true and loving mothers; and
when they are 80 filled, the world will be
civilized Intelligence will rock the cradle;
Justice will cit in the courts; wisdom in the
legislative halls; and above all and over
all, like the dome OF heaven, will be the
spirit of liberty. Although marriage Is
the most important and the most sacred
contract that human beings can make, suli
when that contract has been violated,
courts should have the power
TO declare it mil and void upon
such conditions as may be just.
AS a rule, the woman dowers the husband
with her youth, her beauty, her love-with
all she has; and from this contract certain
ly the husband should never be released,
unless the wife has broken the conditions
of the contract. Divorces should be pub
lie. precisely as the marriage should be
sclemniz Every marriage should be
known, and there should be witnesses, to
the end that the character of the contract
entered into should be undeTstood; the
IL ha md nd
the same is true Of divorces. The cOndl-
tions should be determined, the properly
should be divided by a court of equity, and
the custody of the children given under
| regulations prescribed. Men and women
are not viTtuOus by law. Law does not OF
itself create virtue, nor is il the foundation
or fountain of love. Law should protect
virtue, and law should protect the wife, if
she has kept her contract, and the hus-
| band If he has fulfilled his. ..
BISHOP HENRY c. POTTER.
| The effect of divorce upon the integrity
of the family is too obvious to require stat
| ing. As the father and mother are the
heads of the family, their separation must
| inevitably destroy the common family life.
On the other hand 1t is often cOntended
| that the destruction has been already com
pleted, and that a divorce is only the legal
recognition OF what has already taken
place; "the integrity of the family" can
| scarcely remain when either father or a
mother, or both, are living in violation OF
| the law on which that integrity rests. The
question may be asked whether the absO-
tute prohibition Of divorce would con-
tribute to the moral purity of society. 1t
is difficult to answer such question, be-
| cause ANYTHING on the subject must be
comparatively worthless until verified by
| experience. 1t is quite certain that the
prohibition of divorce never prevents illicit
sexual connections, as was abundantly
proved when divorce in England was put
within the reach of persons who were not
able to afford the expense of special act
of Parliament. 1t is, indeed, 80 palpable a
fact that any amount OF evidence or argu-
ment is wholly superfuous.
CARDINAL GIBBONS.
The facility and frequency of divorce,
and It's lamentsble consequences, are now
a-days calling much attention to measures
of divorce reform" How can divorce
reform be best secured?" it may be asked
Believing as l do, that divorce is evil, l
also believe that its reformation and its
death must be simultaneous. 1t should
cease to be. Divorce, as we know it, be-
gan when marriage was removed from the
domain of the church divorce shall cease
when the old order shall be restored. Will
this ever come to pass? Perhaps Scatter
many days. Meanwhile, something might
be done-something should be dOne-tO
lessen the evils of divorce. Our present
divorce legislation must be presumed to be
such as the majority Of the people wish it.
A first step, therefore, in the way of "di
vorce reform" should be the creation of q
more healthy public sentiment on this
question Then will follow measures thai
will do good in proportion to their strin-
gency. A few practical suggestions as to
the salient features of remedial divorce leg
islation may not be out of place. Persons
seeking at the hands of the civil law RELIEF
in matrimonial troubles should have the
right to ask for divorce a Uinculo, or sim
pie separation mensa ct MOrO, as they may
elect The number of legally ly-recOgnized
grounds for divorce should be lessened, and
"noiseless" divorces forbidden. Rapid
transit" facilities for passing through di
vOrce courts should be cut off, and divOrcs
agencies" should be suppressed. Tht
plaintiff in q divorce case should be {
bonafide resident of the judicial district il
which his petition is filed, and in every
divorce case the legal representatives of thu
State should appear for the defendant, and
by all means, the right of remarriage afte
divorce should be restricted. If divorce
cannot be legislated out of existence, let, a
least, its power for evil be diminished.