Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1895-02-22
THE AMERICAN DIV0RcE.
st. Paul Globe.

1k1S AN 1SANA - Az ~ OAA ~ L.
St Paul Globe
A few days ago the district court
of Ramsey county granted a di'
vorce to a woman who had been
married but six weeks. We Amer
leans assert with great pride that
ours is the country of the home
and fireside, and firmly believe
that morality in Europe is in a
putrid state But had this occurred
in any nation of the old world, il
would have created sensation
In St. Paul the newspapers gave il
a mere paragraph, and nobody
stopped to read it the second time,
1t may be that in this particular
case the woman was united to a
drunken brute, who bestowed upon
her kicks instead Of support; but
nobody took any time to inquire
about that, or, in fact, to give a
second thought to the case. The
calendar of the district court just
closed contained eighteen divorce
cases. And yet Minnesota is not
considered loose upon the divorce
question. 1t certainly is not in
comparison with South Dakota,
Michigan and many other states.
In South Dakota divorce-seeker
gains a standing in court after liv-
ing in the state three months, and
mere incompatibility of temper is
sufficient ground for the proceeding.
As result thousands of people
flock to that state, remain the re-
quired time, secure their DEGREES
and return to their true homes. A
husband in St. Paul becomes in
fatuated with another woman, tells
his wife he has big business deal
in South Dakota which may de-
tain him several months. The
wife waits patiently for his return,
and when the expected time draws
nigh prepares loving reception
for him. Then the terrible news
breaks upon her that he is no
longer hers. The home and fire.
side are desolated. and left in a
gloom which will never rise.
1t is folly to say that the security
of the marriage relation lies in love,
for if that were true lovers would
continue devoted to each other
without the nuptial tie. In France,
where the marriage ceremony is
very commonly ignored. it is found
that not one per cent of those who
live together without wedlock re-
main long together. Nor is this
practice in France INDUCED in only
by low people. A very large per
cent Of the intelligent. industrious
and honest element resort to it.
1t is popularity asserted in this
country that those who seek di-
vorces are mismated. If this were
true, considering the vast number
Of divorces which are granted daily
in the United States, it would tend
most strongly to show that mar
riage is failure. If it is 30 diff
cult for men and women to become
mated satisfactorily, marriage must
be in the way, instead of pro-
moter Of our social hoppiness. But
it is not true.
The experience of mankind has
proved conclusively that the bond |
of marriage is necessary to hold |
the parties together through all
the freaks Of feeling to which cir
cumstance gives rise. A trif1ing
misunderstanding is suppressed by /
the tie; without the tie it would
have grown to an insurmountable |
barrier.
A very large per cent Of our di-
vorce seekers act through a perfect
understanding with the parties con-
cerned. In these cases it is almost
invariably the wife who applies for
the decree. The husband says to
the wife, You apply for divorce
and I'll not resist" In states
where incompatibility of temper is
a ground, this is very easy trans
action. If the marriage tie is to be |
severed SO easily, why haveit at all? |
Americans are led astray on the
subject Of divorce by a sentiment |
Of chivalry. The man who abuses
woman is despised. Many women
are united to drunken and un-
worthy husbands, and the chival- /
rous sentiment has led us to easy +
divorce laws for the protection Of
such. But we have gone too far.
It is time the people were arous-
ed to the fact that our divorce laws
are cultivating lechery, and lead
ing to the destruction of our fire.
sides and social organization. and
that the time is rapidly approach
ing when the legitimacy of con-
siderable portion Of the rising gen