Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-02-13
The Problem Of Divorce Reform.

inc Pr0DIcm OF DIVORCE heIOIm.
| To social reformers and others who
deplore the lax!ty and the conflicting
provisions Of the divorce laws Of vari
ors stat s. the present tendency toward
! practical revision OF those statutes
il exceedingly encouraging. This move
ment is pcrcept!ble in perhaps half the
states Of the Union, including our own.
| In some it has taken form in bills
which are already receiving Legislative
consideration, IN cthers il is the subject
Of earnest popular agitation. and in
nearly all sections Of the country there
Is a vigorous growth Of reform scnti-
! mcnt. The purpose Of these efforts IS
partly to provide better protection Tor
prevent the fraud and injustice now 50
, frequently committed in litigations Of
this character and partly to eradicate
the atrocious scandals which have
arisen from the operation Of crude and
Inadequate laws. and which have had
no exceptional Illustration in the re-
fusal OF Justice Dickey Of New York.
TO admit the validity Of Dakota di-
vorce.
The divorce record OF the United
States. as summed up in recent issue
Of the New York Mail and Express.
is a reproach to society. The divorces
granted every year in this country
married couples. In contrast with this
showing IL IL interesting TO place the
record Of Ontario. In that province
where divorces are obtainable only by
special act Of Parliament. the average
Of divorces to each 100 900 married
couples 81 only 1t. The experience Of
New South Wales is no less suggestive.
That colony Is Inhabited almost exclu-
sively by people Of British birth or
average Of divorces per year was only
-G.i 70 each 100000 of married couples.
In 1892 Ia "as PASSED which grant
ID u far wider liberty in the matter of
divorce than had ever been known be
fore. and the results Of this act are
positively startling. 1t appears from the
official record that from 1873 TO 1892 in
elusive the courts Of the colony recciv-
ea only 726 applications for divorce.
but that since the present law was
passed. in 1892. providing far greater
freedom in such cases the applications
have risen TO the significant total Of
2il9.
The conditions which have followed
the passage OF this unwise law are re-
voting. The moral sense of the colony
has been perverted. and there is official
Information to show that vice and i'm
morality are as widespread and as
monstrous in character in New South
Wales as in the most populous cities Of
the old nations Of Europe. The case
with which divorces may be obtained
has impaired the integrity of the mar
riage relation. belittled the influence OF
domestic institutions and poisoned the
conscience of the people.
Without a radical reform of our
divorce laws we shall witness in some
degree the decay Of domestic virtue
here that has taken place in New South
Wales. The conflict between the di-
ns
secrecy and ease with which separa-
tions may be obtained are constant
temptations to fraud and injustice. our
greatest need is a uniform code of di-
vorce laws. Whether this is to be got
by turning over the institutions of mar
riage and divorce to federal regulation
the states would surrender their powers
over such matters TO the national gov
ernment. The necessary relief from
this menacing evil is more likely to
come through the action of the states
| themselves, which. by prescribing more
stringent restrictions upon the grant
ward common methods of procedure,
may ultimately evolve a uniform sys-
TEN of laws for cases of this character.
The present tendency-and il is a pow
erful one-is undeniably in this direc-
ton.