Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-09-07
THE DIVORCE QUESTION.
AN TERESTiNG ARTICLE ON
THE MATTER.
Rev. W. F. Lloyd Writes the First of
Series of Letters Concerning 1t.
H's Views of Divorce.


first of q series of letters by Rev. W. F.
Lloyd, pastor of the First Methodist church
of this city, on the subject of The Family
Its Importance ana It's Peril In these
papers Mr.. Lloyd will discuss the subject
OF divorce il the United States, showing
the extent and increase of the evil, and sug-
costing remedies therefor. The increase Of
divorces has been so great for a few years
past that thoughtful men everywhere have
become alarmed, so much so that congress
was induced to order an Investigation. The
report made TO congress will furnish facts
and statistics for Mr.. Lloyds letter. In
addition to the home question there are
other dangers that threaten the family, and
they will also be discussed:
TIE FAMILY-ITs IMPORTANCE AND ITS
PERIL.
There is great need that some competent
person write L book on the family. Such q
book, properly written, discussing thor
oughly every phase of the subject, and
then widely read, would bring manifold
blessings 10 numerous homes, and would DC
Of untold worth 10 numbers OF our citizens.
The literature o. this subject IS, for the
most part, yet 70 be written. II is an invit-
ing field of tina first Importance, and has
heretofore been strangely neglected by
many who deserve 10 be called reformers,
and who are fond Of studying problems IN
economies and craftsmanship.
This writer does not by any means feel
equal 10 the task of treating the subject in
dicatcl by the headlines above in anything
like the style that lis importance deserves.
His hope IS simply BY series of short
papers to call public attention to some Of
the CRYING evils and dangers that beset the
family, and in consequence the nation, be-
lieving that if an interest can be aroused,
however small at first, IL will crow until
something of lasting benefit viii be accom-
plished.
The object of our study in these papers
will be the simple family of our Christian
civilization. IL may DC well to begin with L
definition. a prominent writer has said,
tine essentials of this family are one man
and one woman united in wedlock, together
with their children. Other persons may be
connected with them by ties of kindred or
Of service, or this SIMPLEST form OF the
family may become fragment through the
losses Of death" in what follows we shall
deal with the simple, ideal family, which
we mold TO be the true family of nature and
our Christian civilization.
II will be well for US to get n the outset,
in some tOicrable degree, Il clear idea of the
Importance Of the family. To say that the
family IS the basis OF all our Institutions,
civil, social, political and religious, is but
TO state Z truth well known TO every student
of history and the growth of ideas a re
cent writer says: The family is histori-
Cally the germ of all other social ntstitu-
lions. The history of the rise and growth
of religious institutions gives large place TO
their development from the family. Politi-
cal NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., community, town,
city, state, natiOn-haVe come out Of the
family as the oak springs from the acorn.
The early and later history of property IS
intimately connected with that OF the
family. and the whole modern industrial
system is largely an expansion from Tie DO
nestle industrial order, and profoundly
-. = Il ! teE,.. -
institutions are no exception TO the rule.
Al the great modern social Institutions
have primarily drawn their life from the
family" Professor II. B. Adams of Johns
Hopkins, who has been 4 great student Of
social institutions III this country, says:
The family, Oldest of institutions, perpetu-
ally rcproduces the ethical history OF
man. and continually reConstructs the con-
stitu1on Of society. All students Of SOciUl-
ogy Should grasp this radical truth. and
should also remember that the school and
college. town and city, state and nation are,
after all, but modified types OF family in
stitutiOns, and that study of the individual
elements Of social and political life Is 4 true
method OF advancing sociology and politics.
in general" Laurens =. Hickok, in his
Moral Science, says: The family is the
most important institution in the social be-
lug If any community. 1t is in many re
speCts the foundation OF the state, and the
source OF that nurture and discipline which
is 70 prepare for he duties of this life and
the retribGtious Of eternity The familyis
itself a distinct, organic community. hay
lag within itself its own separate rights,
wants and interests, its own authority,
polIty and duty; ana society IS not so much
an aggregation Of individuals as a compost
ton Of many distinct families of blended
sympathies and dependencies"
These quotations are sufficient to show
q
family as the basis of all our systems ana
institutions. If this were all it would still
be well 10 look closely after every interest
connected with the family. But it is not
all. for we find that the importance Of the
relation which the family Sustains TO society
is immensely heightened by the fact that it
IS the training school for society. Not only
do all our institutions, social, civil pol teal
and religious have their basis in the family,
but it IS in the family that the members Of
The other institutions receive their training
tor the places they are TO nil. 50 that the
type of our systems and institutions and
the character of the citizens OF the state is
determined by the customs and habits Of
the families OF the land. The child that is
trai ed to obedience to rightful authority
II the family and TO purity in life and re !
spCcJ for the rights of others, mdnifeSts !
these same traits is citizen Of state when |
manhood IS reached and the right to COM |
nand is transferred from the parents TO |
the state. The same principle, with its !
runs in all the avenues and asso- |
Citations of life The child that is allowed !
10 ROW up without having the prin- |
ciple of obedience thoroughly instllcd |
into it in the parental home |
will yield an unwilling obedience to the |
state of which il is citizen, and Will De |
foremost in fomenting discord and resisting !
and that, too, on very slight pre- |
text. When we remem DER that society is