The sun., 1898-10-25
NEAR DANGEROUS GROUND
A Church Of State Back Of the
Movement for Uniform &
Divorce.
PROMINENT BISHOPS ADVISE IT
An Organization Has Been for Years
Working to Bring About an
Amendment to the C0nssi.
tuition OF the United
States.

|
Of the States by Constitutional amend
ment was sneaked through convention
held at Cleveland. Ohio, some years ago,
and carefully buried amid great mass
of literature concerning the transactions
of "lhe American Society for the Unifor-
nation of Divorce Laws"
In plain English this organization pro-
posed to have Congress recognize the
Protestant religion as the official relig-
ion or the United States, and the Protes-
tant Episcopal Church as the Church Of
the States," or words to that effect.
The project was clearly set forth in
the announcement Of the organization, but
for obvious reasons little was said about
the matter. but recent events seem to i'll
dlcate that much was done.
1t must be kept clearly in mind that
this Church OF the States" business has
Deen careTuily anu consistently kept III
the backgrOuiid l0r years, ana IL great cry
| fOr UNIFORM uivOrce laws has gone III.
lhe fAct renlhlns however, tnut the
men anu the organizations promoting tins
'uliifOrln uivUr.e amendment to tne
constitution OF The United states are
pieuged 10 the scheme TO recognize IL
Church OF the STATES The announce.
hlents of the organization prove TINS.
Now comes an expression OF opinion Oh
the part or church 0Ignilaries, VINO, Ui
course, refer Oniy to the uniform divorce
Jaw proposition. bishop fOtler ieaus the
way.
1t is very probable said Bishop Pot
ter, that the Bishops will send petit
ton to Congress asking that constitu-
tlonal amendment be submitted to the
| people, 30 as to bring about a uniform
ulvorce law. l believe the country Is ripe
TOR 1t, and certainly a question of such
fundamental social and moral importance
as THIS comMenuS Itself as worthy OF be-
ing made SUBJECT for incorporation ia
the Constitution Of the country. 1t IL
equally, il not more. vital to the growth
anu future or the nation tilan Il National
Bankruptcy law" n+
Other bishops have expressed their
views, as follows:
Bishop Whitehead. of Pittsburg-"A
uniform divorce law would contribute
vastly to the advancement of morality In
America. Inc law should recognize very
few causes for divorce, and it should
De stringently applied. The Church recog.
nlzes but one cause-adultery. In South
CAROLINA a divorce cannot be obtained
except for adultery. The result has been
excellent, SO far as the social life Of the
State is concerned A uniform law Of this
kind would tone up the whole country"
Bishop Dudley, OF kentucky-"Certain
ly, l would favor such law. 1t is the
only way in which to elevate the stand
ard of morality upon the question OF
marriage"
Bishop Graves, of Shanghai-"It would
put stop to the confusion between the
laws that prevail now. and that would
be II great step toward REFORM"
Bishop Atwill, of Missouri-"Indeed.
favor it. 1t would preserve the purity Of
the family
Bishop Tuttle, of Missouri-"Such
law would be a most excellent thing, theo-
retically. AS practical question thSs
States would have to abandon their SOW
ereign rights in the matter, and l doubt
if they would do it,"
Bishop Nichols, of California-"Until
the sentiment in this country changes
don't think it is practicable"
Bishop McI.aren. Of Chicago-"Yes, |
favor it because the Legislatures Of the
States are nine-tenths of them incOm-
petent to egisate on any subject. Past
legislation has been Il failure and unless
you iuppth W DS u hlhAStci you Aa'S ho
idea how contradictory are the laws on
the subject Divorce disintegrates the
family and destroys society. Therefore.
| would restrict the operation, or rather
spread, of such an agent OF evil by set
ting up a uniform law that would remove
chances for cOllusion or fraud.'
Bishop Gailor, OF Tennessee--"I am in
favor of national law. A law laid down
by the country would, to my mind, b.
safer and better than that enacted by
a. State; particularly on the question of
divorce"
Bishop Thompson, of Mississippi.
Decidedly l favor it, because l believe
in centralizatiOn Of government. l be-
lieve in one people and one law. think
it Il subject that Congress should take
hold of and Mt once. Down in my State
we have what is known as shotgun
law for unfaithful men or women, and it
works admirably, must confess.
When Il man prOwls around anOther's
home he does it with the knowledge that
he may get, and would deserve, II load
of shot"
Let there be no mistake in this mat
ter. These gentlemen refer only to uni
form divorce but the organization back
of this movement Is not especially inter-
ested in the divorce industry. The an
nOuncement Is plain on the subject. A
Church of the States" is back Of the
scheme. The interviews quoted above
are probably ''feelers" sent out to see
how the country" takes to the PROPOSE
ton.
KaoninD Old Stock