The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-11-26
THE MARITAL TIE
The Laws of Different
States Compared.
How Many Have Made the Severance
of the Nuptial Bond More Diff
cult Within the Last
Few Years.
BY FRED Il. WARREN.

Philadelphia. Pa, Nov. 24.-The
marked increase made in the number
of divorces applied for and granted
in the courts of North Carolina during
the past three or four years leads to
the question of divorce legislation and
the Improvement in the marriage and
divorce laws of the last twenty years,
and of the service of the National
League for the Protection of the fam
lily in bringing this about. Prof Geo.
Il. Howard. of the League. has COM
piled a very interesting summary of
II recent legislation which tends to
lake harder the severance of mari
al ties
''The term of residence in a State or
arritOry before an applicant can sue
or divorce" said Professor Howard
I a brief chat, has been raised from
inety days in North Dakota. South
Dakota and Oklahoma from six
lonths in Arizona, California ana
Ieorgia to one wear. except that in
South Dakota the term is six months
unless the defendant is a nonresident.
New Jersey requires three years if the
onense is adultery.
Virginia prescribes one years resi-
dence in the county where one of the
parties lives. Delaware forbids divorce
to all non-residents unless the cause
for which a divorce is sought is also
statutory cause in the State of form
er residence. Colorado Connecticut and
Vermont add to their provisions notice
to nonresident defendants Missouri
and probably one or two other States.
make stricter regulations regarding
domicile. Maine alone has made. the
conditions for the divorce of parties
coming into the State q little easier.
Delaware has. by a constitutional
amendment, transferred the power to
grant divorces from the Legislature
to the courts. Indiana, New Jersey
and Rhode Island have provided for
limited divorces.
Divorce for Insanity.
Arizona has abolished its 'omni-
bus clause. Florida, Idaho, Utah and
Washington have added insanity to
their legal grounds for divorce but
generally under careful safeguards
with the single exception of Florida.
Arkansas and North Dakota have re-
moved this clause from their statutes.
The District of Columbia has reduced
its four causes to one-adultery-
while Colorado has added felony.
Pennsylvania and Texas restrict their
provision for divorce to crime. The
applicant who has obtained a limited
divorce in Louisiana can now apply
to have it made absolute in one year:
but the defendant cannot do so unto
after two years. Massachusetts, has
added the excessive use of opium AMI
other drugs to it's list of causes for
iivorce.
Restriction on the re-marriage of
divorced persons have been made in
two ways-either by making all de-
crees nisi or operative after six months
or year, or by positive prohibition
of re-marriage for one or more years.
no in
MIA, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mime
sofa Missouri Montana, Nebraska,
North Carolina, North Dakota and
Wisconsin.
advertising to procure divorces has
been made illegal in California, In
diana, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana.
Ohio and Washington. The States at
tOrneys have been required to appear
in cases where no other defense is made
or i'm all cases in Colorado, Idaho, In
diana, Michigan, Oregon and Wash
iIgtOn,
New England Laws Best.
THE six New England States have
all been perfecting their systems for
'he collection and publication of mar
riaee ard divorce statistics, Maine
having begun the work within the
period and New Hampshire carrying it
back TO 1858.
Indiana ana Michigan nave now
Joined Ohio in this work in the Mid
die West. Colorado and Pennsylvania
now require the insertion of the date
and cause of the divorce in the mar
riage license of ali divorced persons
who re-marry, and Connecticut re-
Quires the fact of divorce to be stated
in the new marriage certificate.
Within a period of twenty years
Congress has enacted a uniform mar
liage law for all the territories and
made the term of residence in them
one year before "A divorce can Ne OBJ
tanned. 1t has provided the report on
marriage and divorce i'm the United
States and Europe giving the laws and
the statistics for twenty years. Thir-
ry-five States have created commits
sions on uniform legislation which are
preparing q bill on uniform procedure
i'm divorce cases.