The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-06-12

To prove that the Methodist church
was on the right side of the question
ne would state that it was a law of
the church that no minister should
marry anyone that was divorced for
any cause bat the one mentioned in
the Bible,
Senator Henderson.
Senator John S. Henderson, of
Salisbury, made the final address. He
had never hesitated to stand up as
legislator in favor of what he be-
lieved to be the law of God and what
ought to be the law of the land.
Senator Henderson continued:
Divorce from the bonds of matri-
mony, for any cause occurring af-
ter marriage, is not known to the
common law In England, no such
divorce was allowed by statute until
the year 1857. In North Carolina,
divorces a vinculo were not allowed
by statute until 1914. After that date,
til the year 1895, when an absolute
divorce was allowed for abandonment
on the part either of husband or
wife. This law was re-enacted in 1899
and again in 1908. Even now, the
act is limited to abandonmentS oc-
curing prior to January l, 1903. The
abandonment and separation required
is two years, and the guilty party
is not allowed to marry again within
five years from the granting of the
divorce. Unfortunately, this restric-
ton is dead letter, for after a mar
riage is dissolved either party can go
to another State and be lawfully
married there; and such new mar
riage is then recognized as valid by
the laws of every other State North
Carolina included. Strange as it may
seem, verify believe that more mar
rfages have been dissolved in North
Carolina during the past five years
than there have been in the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
since the time of the Reformation. In
Ireland as in South Carolina, there
ARE no divorce courts and no divorces
and never have been. The divorce
evil is growing in the United States
with alarming rapidity. The condi-
ton of things in this respect is SO
revolving to the Christian conscience
that Christians of every name are
uniting all over the land to raise their
voices in protest, as we are doing
here tonight, against the continuance
of the evil, and to devise lawful means
for it's mitigation and extirpation. In
the year 1902, there were twice as
many divorces in the United States as
were granted in France and Germany
combined-theSe countries having a
larger population than the United
States. The figures for the United
States were about $1,000, contrasted
with 1T in England and &c in Can
ada The divorces annually granted
i'm Wake county exceed, l suppose,
the number for the whole Dominion
of Canada. Divorces are increasing
in the United States about three times
as fast as the population. In Great
Britain, divorces are very difficult to
obtain and until within the last few
years scarcely any were granted. In
the United States divorces are OBJ
tanned as easily as possible. A court
will ordinarily grant a divorce as
quickly as a pension is granted by the
Congress of the United States. The
lax divorce laws of North Carolina
are scandal to humanity and re-
proach to the civilization of any
Christian people. The marriage tie
is no longer considered a divine Or
dinance but merely matrimonial al
lance of convenience, entered into
lightly and dissolved at the whim and
pleasure of either party.
Church and State are separate and
distinct in the United States of Amer
lea; and the Christian religion, while
it is embraced by a very large ma
jority of the citizens of the Union in
every State, is not the law of the
land and never will be made so-but
that is no valid reason why the Chris
tian law of marriage should be abso-
lutely ignored and cOntemptuOuSly de-
rided by the laws of the State on the
same subject. In Difference to the
instincts and convictions of Christian
people, the State protects assemblies
4 1l. IL,
vides for the seemly observance of the
first day of the week commonly called
Sunday or the Lords Day. There are
equally good reasons why the Chris
tian law of marriage should be up
held by the State so far at least as
the vast majority of Christians agree
i'm maintaining what that law is.
know there are some variations of
opinion. Canon law recognizes no di-
vorces at all. The one cause permit
ted by the precept of Christ l do
not believe myself was intended to
refer to anything done after the mar
riage. 1 am Old-fashioned enough
to adhere to what seems to me to be
the plain meaning of the word; that
the one ground of divorce so men
toned was not permitted by Jesus
unless it occurred before the mar
riage, and it has been stated by very
word in the gospel, accoring to st.
Matthew, which is claimed to allow
an absolute divorce, for one cause
only is flexible to any Interpretation
that the wisdom of a legislator can
demand / thoroughly believe there
fore that those whom God hath joined
together in Holy matrimony, no man
and no law made by man should be
allowed to put asunder.' But, as a
legislator l would not insist upon my
own Interpretation and would only
ask the State to make it's law con-
form to the consciences and wishes of
the vast majority of it's Christian peo-
pie in regard to this question. The
present law as to abandonment should
be repealed at the earliest possible
moment and never re-enacted again
in any form. The liberty of divorce
by mutual consent-and that is what
the law means-is giving our State
a bad name at home and abroad-is
utterly demoraliZing in it's tendency
and is a just reproach to those who
make and to those who permit the
making of our laws. l do not con-
denim ill-assorted couples, who avail
themselves of the law to be freed
from unfortunate matrimonial alli-
~, l. W.