The Irish standard., 1889-01-26
The EVIL OF DIVORCE.
The Practice Most Common and Spread
ing with Fearful Rapidity in
This Country.
LAWS THAT MAKE MARRIAGE
a Mere Matter of Oonvsnlenoe--Sacred
Ties Mads q Simple Partnership, to
be Easily Dissolved.

IA @Ao1o MdthVI VI OvAV oAlo10o"~ "~SeaoA o0
Ties Made Simple Partnership, to
be Easily Dissolved
The number Of divorces, says the Cath
olic Standard OF a late date, is lncreas-
ing with fearful rap1dity. The public
knows this in part, but does not even
suspect the extent of the evil. Re-
ports in our newspapers of divorce
cases in our courts zare common-so
common, indeed, that scarcely any at.
tention is paid to them. Yet not one
iii q thousand is reported. In every
State, with but one exception. tine
couxts are busily at work grinding
oRt legal divorces. Many OF these di-
vorce suits, even On legal grounds, are
coilusive and fraudulent.
The wicked practice has become SC
comsmon and the evils arising from it
are so patent that the judges Of the
courts. from time to time, raise their
voices III vain against it, and even
SUCH newspapers as the New York
Herald sound the note Of alarm. In a
recent issue it says:
SIN every State, in every city, divorce
mills are quietly, but effectually at
work, undermining the very founda-
tions Of our social fabric. X = The
eyiI easily hourishes under our many
diverse and conflicting natal laws.
y That the law governing mar
riage sEaould b9 the same for one couu-
try and ono people goes without saying.
In MANY States the grounds
for divorce are Sc numerous, and s0u2e
of them axe SO trivial, that the legal
obligations Of husband CT wife may
be thrown off at viii.
IA wife may be divorced without
knowing it, and for no wrong on her
part. DO you Doubt it? Here is all
aetual case, A man induced his wife
to 20 to Europe, representing that it
would be more economical for her to
live there, and that the advantages for
educating their daughter would he
greater. After she had gone he applied
for divorce and obtained it without
her knowledge or consent, and even
when they were in correspondence as
husband and wife. He then married
another woman.
Such laws make marriage mere
matter of convenience. The parties
are not bound for life, but during mu-
tual pia2 sure Either may sever the
relation at will. 4 condition that
makes the most sacred of ties 6 simple
partnership, to be dissolved Oh notice:
that dslnora}izes domestic life, that
wrongs innocent childhood, is more
than a disgrace TO our civilization. 1t
Is menace tc our national welfare, a
danger to our institutions.
The Herald then goes on to advocate
a uniform law of marriage and divorce,
and all amendment to the Consti-
tuition of the United States, authorizing
Congress to enact such law. This, the
Herald thinks, would remedy the evil.
There are grave objections to tampec.
ing with the Federal Constitution and
enlargening its scope. The tendency to
Capitalization in our Federal Govern
menj needs to be checked, not encovx-
aged by extending its power to sub
jects over which now it has no au-
thority. Tne great danger row is that,
one after another, the subjects which
belong exclusively to our respective
State Governments, will be absorbed by
the Federal Government, and our State
Governments be gradually stripped of
all real power.
Another objection, and very ser
ious one, ,,is that such an amendment"
inserted i'll the Federal Constitution,
would open the door to our Federal
Government interfering with many
other subjects closely connected with
which it is acknoWl-
edged lie entirely outside its scope and
domain,
But passing by these objections,
there is another which goes to the root
of the matter. It Is that such an
amendment would not reach the real
source of the evil. In some respects it
would encourage it by giving to the
legal divorces wider and seemingly
more solemn sanction.
1t might. perhaps, diminish some of
the consequential injuries and miseries
that result from legal divorces; might
restrict. perhaps, the number of al.
legged reasons, or causes, on which di-
vorce proceedings in our civil courts
could be instituted; might make the Oh
tanning divorces more difficult. and
render collusive and fraudulent di-
yorces less frequent.
But this would notsgo to the source
Of the evil. On the contrary, it would
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