The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-11-28
IN MARRIAGE THE WOMAN
 HAS ALL THEADVANTAGE

called woman's age by gallant men. the husband has only one claim on the wife, viz: that she shall not be actually un- faithful to him.
 Now to take away divorce entirely would clearly increase the danger of mar riage-would clearly add another cause Tor shrinking. That would be bad. Hap pily 1t is not seriously proposed.
 am not sure that a mere conviction of felony should in every case justify di- vorce.
 ieiony. especially one of violence. even alter a conviction, may command real puoic approval; may prove not moral opnqulty' but moral sternness. Each casa must stand on its own merits
 Mutuai consent is not enough for di- Voree. The sacredness of marriage de. Ihanos that its dissolution shall be at- tended by a judicial examination into h. causes maintained as justifying such d,s- solution.
 Abduction to drugs, habitual drunken ness or incurable insanity affords A nrs. sumption that the marriage relation should terminate. It would be hard n as- sert that this presumption Is always cor rect. It must be looked into
 So with what is vaguely called "ah,,s. ,, oeserton and refusal to support As for incompatibility of temper, that is a real Justification for divorce. But # Ia no, proven by one disagreement. nor b. twenty. In every marriage the wife has sharp corners that must be worn osp The husband has sharp corners. too
 If each is norman human being at triton does it's work, and at the end of ten years each is happier with the other than would be possible with anvbodv else
 The main risk of making divorce too easy Is that trivial clashes may be used to secure permanent separations and that the contemplation of divorce az easily possible will cause foolish discon. tent with the needful attrition while if is going on.
 The church should have nothing to do with divorce. It has a wide enough field of It's own without trying to dis solve civil contracts.
 Emphatically both parties should bs permitted to marry after a divorce, no matter for what cause that has been granted
 see no reason for preliminary sepa- ration for year or a month before divorce proceedings. The innocent party should always have the care of the chill dren, after an absolute divorce
 As for alimony, its acceptance can be condoned only by the necessity of car- Tho For ohfI spirit ought never to take 1t for herself and one who takes it after marrying another man is hatly a disgrace to her sex.
 I think at least half the discredit that attaches to a divorced woman in the public mind is due to this alimony con- sideration. If man is not good enough for me to live with he Is not good enough to pay me money. Self-depend- ence is much to be preferred
 True marriage is more than a mere partnership. Therefore the suggestion that there might be less unhappiness if both parties were self-suppcrting has little meaning.
 A real man hopes for and expects a family which will make self-support for HIS WiiC iApOS5lDlt DecduSe OI OLner duties more important. He doesn't want her to be 'self-supporting'' any more than she wants him to get his own din- her and undress the baby for bed. He wants her to be womanly She wants him to be manly. If each fills the bill there isn't much fear of divorce
 In conclusion let me remark that while our laws are truly a hodge-podge so far as they affect marriage and di- vorce, 1t Is easy to exaggerate the evils of the situation. Public opinion Is more powerful than law, and it keeps divorce within limits And this public opinion is about the same in South Carolina as in North Dakota.
 Take it all In all, matrimony is being vindicated in the vast majority of American families.