The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-03-13
A GREAT QUESTION DISCUSSED.

Loose Divorce Laws Undermining so
ciety-A National Evil.
To the Editor.
Not withstanding that this Is an age OF
reform the American people seem Obvious
or Indifferent to certain national evils
which have assumed character ana pro-
portion that make them matters Tor gray
est alarm. Many of our states are des-
tined to become infamous in the history
of the nation, for the laxity of their mar
rage laws and the ease and facility with
which divorces are obtained. recent cir
cular, issued by a South Dakota lawyer
to his colleagues in New York, placing
premium on divorce, so to speak, Wouio
seem to indicate that the large proportion
Of lawyers among legislators use the leg1s-
lative function in this connection for the
emolument of the legal profession.
Whether this be true or not, the evil Is
with us and calls for earnest agitation un-
til public sentiment is strong enough to
demand the enactment of stringent and
righteous laws. Those who have no scru-
pies about setting aside Christs decree,
what God hath Joined let no man put
asunder," can scarcely fail to see what
our shockingly liberal statutes must ultl-
mately end in such a reign OF immortality
as in times past frequently disgraced the
annals Of European nations. Matters per-
tanning to the tariff or the single tax have
to do with our material welfare only; laws
concerning marriage and divorce, as they
now exist are a blow at the home and
family, an institution of divine origin, the
very foundation upon which the whole SO
cial fabric rests.
There was a time when the legal separa-
ton of married people difficult as
it was disreputable; today 1t is as easy as
ma rriage, and almost as respectable.
There is something radically wrong in
our laws when a pair of undisciplined
children, fresh from the high school. can
the line into an adjoining state and
marry, just for a holiday, with the full
assurance that they can have the bond
broken and the privilege of trying it over
again. Yet instances of this kind are so
common as scarcely to excite comment
1t is as if our children were inquiring.
with frightful levlty, us marriage
joker while we grow irritated because
certain writer's of fiction continue to pro-
pound the question, rs marriage fail
ure?' In the spirit Of the first query lies
the answer to the second.
1t should not be possible for persons with
no visible means of support to marry; the
material welfare of the family should not
depend on chance in the beginning at least.
Laws regulating marriages should aim to
prevent the pfOpOSdIlOn, through MARRIAGE,
of vice and crime and certain forms of dis
ease. They should aim to prevent mere
children from entering upon this sacred
relationship without the knowledge and
consent of parents or guardians, without
any adequate understanding of the nature
of the bond; and only the crudest ideas
concerning the duties and responsibilities
involved in the married state. Legal separ-
alton is the logical sequence of hasty and
injudicious marriages, and, until there is
some Improvement in the statutes regulat-
ing marriage, legislation against divorce
will be of little avail
1 do not forget that civil law can never
take the place of moral in preventing acts
Of deliberate folly or vice and crime, or
that book of loose statutes there is
something wrong in the heart of the peo-
pie, in our family life and the training of
our youth. I know full we'll that quite as
many Of these unhappy alliances are the
result of marriages of policy conven-
fence, of youthful ndiscretion. We
need laws that would make divorce ex-
tremely difficult for the one class, and
marriage for the other; and for both ethi-
cal training from youth up The orthodox
churches might aid materially in this re-
form by uniting with the Roman Catholic
and Episcopal in refusing to sanction mar
riages between divorced persons.
MRS. THOMAS STANFORD
Kandiyohi, MINI.