The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-03-27

per in the middle of the floor, and all
YOU will have to prove against wo-
mon will be that her husbands over
coat is buttonless. Causes of divorce
double in few years-doubled
IN France, doubled in England
and doubled in the United States.
To show how very easy it is l
have TO tell YOU that in western re-
serve. Ohio, the proportion of divorces
to marriages celebrated is to II, IN
Rhode Island is to Is, in Vermont l
to H. Is not that easy enough:
I want You to notice that frequency
of divoce always goes along with the
dissoluteness Of society. Rome for 7oo
years had not one case of divoce.
Those We're her days of glory and vlr-
tue. Then the reign OF vice began,
and divorce became epidemic. If you
want to know how rapidly the empire
went down. asked Gibbon.
What we want in this country and
in all lands is that divorce be made
more and more difficult. Then peo.
pie before they enter that 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 rela-
ton until they are fully satisfied that
it is best. and that it is right, and that
it is happiest. Then we shall have no
more marriage in fun. Then men and
women will not enterthe relation with
the idea it is only trial trip, and if
they do not like it they can get out at
the first landing. Then this whole
question will be taken out of the frivol-
Gus into the tremendous, and there
will be no more joking about the bios
SONS in brides hair than about the
cypress on coffin.
What we want is that the congress
Of the United States change thenation-
al constitution so that law can be
passed which shall be uniform all over
the country, and what shall be ght
in one state shall be right in all the
states, and what is wrong in one state
will be wrong in allthe states.
How is it now. If a party in the
marriage relation gets dissatisfied, it 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
it is by seeing in the newspaper that
Rev. Dr.. Somebody on March II, 1895,
introduced in a new marriage relation
a member of the household who went
Oft on pleasure excursion to Newport
or a business excursion to Chicago.
Married at the brides house. No
cards. There are states ~of the Union
which practically put premium upon
the disintegration of the marriage re!a-
ton, while there are other states, like
our own New York state, that had for
long time the pre- eminent ldlocy OF
making marriage lawful at y and Il
years Of age.
The congress Of the United States
needs to move for change of the ma
tional constitution and then to appoint
a committee made up of single
gentlemen, but of men of families, and
their families in Washington-who
shall prepare good, honest, rlghte-
Gus. comprehensive uniform law that
viii control everything from Sandy
Hook to the Golden Horn. That will
put an endto brokerages in marriages.
That will send divorce lawyers into a
decent business. That will set people
agitated for many years on the ques-
ton Of how shall they get away from
each other to planning how they can
adjust themselves to the more or less
unfavorable circumstances.
More difficult divorce will put an
estoppel to a great extent upon mar
riaee as financial speculation. There
are men who 60 into the relation just
as they 90 into Wall street to purchase
shares. The female TO be invited into
the partnership of wedlock Is utterly
unattractive and in disposition a sup
pressed Vesuvius. Everybody knows
it, but this masculine candidate for
orders, through the COM
mercial agency or through the county
records, finds out how much estate is
to be inherited, and he calculates 1t.
He thinks out how long it will be be-
fore the old man will die and whether
he can stand the refractory temper un-
til he does die, and then he enters the
relation, for he says, eff I cannot stand
it, then through the divorce law Eli
back out" That process is going on
all the time, and men enter the rela-
ton without any moral principle,
without any affection, and it IS as
much matter of stock speculation as
that transpired yesterday in
Union Pacific, Illinois Central or Della
ware and Lacka wanna.
Now, suppose a man understood, as
he ought to understand, that If he
goes into that relation there is no pos
sibility of his getting out or no prob
ability, he would be more slow to put
his neck in the yoke. He would say to
himself, Rather than a Caribbean
whirlwind, with a whole fleet of ship
ping in its arms, give me a zephyr Oft
fields of sunshine and gardens of peace.
Rigorous divorce law will also him
der women from the fatal M stake of
men to reform them. If
young man by 25 years of age or 80
years of age has the habit of strong
drink and fixed on him, he is as cer-
tainly bound for drunkard's grave
as that train starting out from Grand
Central depot at Soclock tomorrow
is bound for Albany The
train may not reach Albany, for it
may be thrown from the track. The
young man may not reach a drunk
ards grave, for something may throw
him off the iron track of evil habit.
but the probability is that the train
that starts tomorrow morning at s
o'clock for Albany will get there, and
the probability is that the young man
who has the habit of strong drink fixed
of him before 25 or 80 years of age will
arrive at drunkard's grave. She
knows he drinks, although he tries to
hide it by chewing cloves. Everybody |
knows he drinks. Parents warn, |
and friends warn. She will
L 1 80 !