Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-04-04
Well, before we yield to that cry, 1t us
find ont hnn,, ann,r IL L. r,nr

" oNtoiN WV yitiA u tAlit NJNs IL uc
find out how easy 1t Is now.
l a looked oyer the laws OF all the
states and / find that while in some
states IL is easier than in others, in
every state ii is easy. The State of III
inois, through its legislature, recites a
long list of proper cause for divorce,
and then closes up by giving to the
courts the right to make Il decree of di-
vorce in any case where they deem 1t
eXpedient. After that you are not sur
priScd at the announcement that in one
county OF the State of Illinois, in one
year, there were 3 divorces. If you
want TO know how easy it is, you have
only to look over the records of the
states. In the city Of San Francisco 333
divorces in one year; and in twenty
years in New England 10000. Is that
not easy enough?
If the same ratio continue-the ratio
Of multiplied divorce and multiplied
causes Of divorce-we are not far from
the time when our courts will have To
set apart whole days for application,
and all you will have to prove against
q man will be that he left his newSpa-
per in the middle Of the floor, and all
you will have to prove against a wo-
man will be that her husbands over
coat is ~buttonlesS. Causes of divorce
doubled in a Q ye~arS-doubled In
France. doubled in England and doub-
led In the United States. To show how
very easy it is, l have to tell you that
in the Western Reserve, Ohio, the pro-
portion of divorces 10 marriages cele-
brated is one to eleven; in Rhode Island
is one to thirteen; in Vermont, n TO
fourteen. Is not that easy enough?
| want you TO notice that frequency
of divorce always goes along with the
diSsolutencss of society. Rome for 500
years had not one case Of divorce.
Those were her days of glory and viz
tue. Then the reign of vice began, and
divorce became epidemic. If you want
to know how rapidly the empire went
down ask Gibbon.
What we want in this country and In
all lands Is that divorce be made more
and more difficult. Then people before
they enter the marriage relation will be
persuaded that there will probably be
no escape from it except through the
door of the sepulcher. Then they will
pause on the verge of that relation I'M
I'll they are fully satisfied that II IS best.
and that 1t is right, and that it Is hap
pieSt. Then we shall have no more
marriage in fun. Then men and women
win not enter the relation with b idea
1t is only a trial trip, and If they do not
like il they can get out at the first land
ing. Then this whole question Will be
taken out of the frivolous into the ire
mendous, and there will be no more
Joking about the blossoms in a brides
hair than about the cypress on a coffin.
What we want is that the congress OF
the United States change the national
constitution so that a law can be pass
ed which shall be uniform all over the
country. and what shall be right in n
state shall be right in all the states,
and what is wrong IN one state Will be
wrong in all the states.
How Is 1t now? If a party in the
marriage relation gets dissatisfied, 1t Is
only necessary to move to another state
TO achieve liberation from the domestic
tie. and divorce is effected SO easy that
the first one party knows Of II is by see
ing it in the newspaper that Rev. DIR.
Somebody. on March II, 1895, intro
duced in a new marriage relation a
member of the household, who went OH
on a pleasure excursion to Newport or
a business excursion to Chicago. Mar
ried at the brides II NO cards.
There are states of the Union when
practically put a premium upon the DIS
Indignation of the marriage relation,
| while there are other states, like our
own New York state, that had Tor a
long time the pre-eminent ldlocy OF
making marriage lawful at l. and Ia
years Of age.
The Congress of the United States
needs to move for a change or the
national Constitution, and then 10 APP
point a committeeman made up OF
single gentlemen, but OF men OF Fam
lilies. and their families in Washing
ton-who shall prepare a good, hon
est. righteous, comprehensive UNIFORM
law that will control everything from
| Sandy Hook to the Golden Horn.
That will put an end to brokerages
In maria GEES. That will send divorce
LAWYERS into a decent business. That
will set people agitated for many
years on the question OF how they
get away from each other to planning
how they can adjust themselves to
tn, more or less u~nfavorable circuln-
stances
More difficult divorces will put an
estoppel to a great extent upon q
riages as a fin lncial speculation.
There are men who go into h rela-
ton just as they 60 into Wall street
to purchase shares. The female to be
invited into the partnership OF we'd
lock is utterly unatt active and III dis-
position a suppress Isl Vesuvius. Ev-
| erybody knows 1t, but this masculine
| candidate for matrimonial orders.
Though the commercial agency or
through the country records, finds ont
how much estate is to be inherited,
and he calculates it. He thinks of
how long It will be before the old
man will die. and whether he car
stand the refractory temper antil nc
does die, and then he enters the rcla-
ton: for he says: IF ! can not stand
il, through the divorce law I'll back
out" That process is going on all
the time, and man enters the relation
without any moral principle, without
any affection, and II Is as much a mat
ter OF stock speculation as anything
that transpired yesterday In Union
Pacific, Illinois Central or Delaware
and Lackawanna.
Now, suppose a man understood as
a. h.