The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-11-02

married was O.5. In 1900 it was OF.
According to the census Of 1900 there
were 2457 divorced women in the
United States under the age or twenty,
and 1915 divorced women between
twenty and twenty-five years OF age.
South Carolina is the only State IN
the Union which grants no divorce.
New York is the only State in the
Union which proposes to grant divorces
only on Scriptural grounds; yet New
York grants, annually, more than
thousand divorces.
Illinois gives a fair illustration OF
the laws Of almost all the States. Al
ter reciting q long list Of grounds upon
which q divorce may be granted, the
law concludes by empowering the court
to grant divorce upon any plea which
it thinks justiiable.
The Western States, in ORDER 10 III
crease their population, are MAKING
open and shameless bids for those dls-
satisfied with the married state 10 come
TO them and have it dissolved.
Statistics given by the Chicago Dan!
News Almanac, 1903, show the follow-
ing number of divorces granted In lead
ing cities Of our country in 1901:
Providence, 321; Cincinnati. 4Oo; Bos-
ton 4O6: Cleveland. Asa; Philadelphia.
492: st. Louis. 5II3: New York. 81; san
Francisco, SAG; Chicago, 1908.
The statistics of Carroll d. Wright
Commissioner of Labor, for twenty
wears from 1867 to 1886, show 32S.ilZ
| divorces granted in the United States
in those years. In 1867, 9937 divorces
were granted, while in 1886 2o,o3o ul-
yorces were granted, making an IN.
! crease of 157 per cent. The increase OF
nonulation was sixty per cent. during
the same period.
In 1861 Ohio granted 901 divorces.
| and in 1900 the State granted 3Zl'
divorces-one to every eleven marriages
solemnized in the State. Indiana
granted. in 1867, 1906 divorces, ana III
| 1900. 4599-one divorce to every SIX
marriages solemnized III the STATE.
| Only short time ago the papers were
| telling Of q woman in INDIANA "no
had eight living husbands, from whom
She had been divorced, and this same
woman was then preparing to be mar
ried to the ninth victim. Michigan IN
| 1867 granted 449 divorces, and IN l9Oo
granted 241S divorces-one divorce 10
every eleven marriages solemniZed IN
| the State.
A table of divorces in the Christian
world in 1885, as given in Studies IN
History. Economics and Public Law
| issued by Columbia University, gives
the following interesting fact: Canada.
Great Britain and Ireland, france
Italy. Switzerland, Belgium, Holland,
Denmark, Sweden, Germany. Austria,
Roumania, Russia and Australia grant
| ed q total of 2O,111 divorces, while In
| the same year the United States grant.
ed 23.412 divorces-an excess over an
other countries In the Christian worid
of 1861.
Forty-five States and several Terri
| tories have various and confiicting
laws. and more than 5000 courts have
jurisdiction of divorce cases. A
learned essayist says Of our legislation
that it presents the largest and strang-
est.and perhaps the saddest experiment
in the sphere Of family laws which
free. self-governing countries have ever
tried" 1t was published in recent
journal that divorces were granted IN
| Chicago for the following causes: Snor-
ing. cold feet. eating with knife, ~
sisting upon going to bed in MS over
coat and boots. smoking cigarettes
| failure as cook.
During recent years divorce has de-
veloped into an industry in the United
States, the legal profession and the
bench have done much to encourage
this terrible traffic.
For 6211 divorces in France In a
given period, the United States oners
o.. 900. the United Kingdom showing
475 and the German Empire COTS Tor
the same time. For period Of twenty
years in Maryland the rate OF marriage
to divorce was 6194. Massachusetts
syera ged 31.2S to every divorce.
Some Of the popular theories are that
divorce is due to the conflicting and IL
harmonious statutes Of various states.
Thus as Colonel Wright, in his report,
informs us, it is the belief that persons
residing in the State Of New York,
| where the law Is strict, are in the habit
of seeking divorces in Rhode Island.
But the statistics show that OF 4462
divorces granted in Rhode Island only
ninety.seven were to parties married
in New York. and of 6O20 granted in
PENNSYLVANIA, only T65 were to. parties
married in New York, while OF the
2S0,546 couples whose place OF mar
riage was ascertained. 231 1857 were d.
yorced in the same State in which they
| had been married.
Third-A fatal danger. The attack
upon the. integrity OF the family is an
unmitigated evil and crime against
social order, which can only result In
the destruction Of all that is purest,
noblest and best in the world. Here
we find the secret cause Of the decline
and fall of the Roman Empire. The
laws as to family life were loose; d.
yorce became epidemic. and the empire
went down in ruin and disgrace. The
Reign of Terror in France followed the
establishment of law that marriage
could be dissolved merely by applica-
cation: 10000 divorces were granted In
Paris in one year, cnd during the same
period $4,000 OutcaSt children were car
rici into founding hospitals and near
ly 10000 newborn babies were taken
out of the sewers of the city and from
the secret places by the police. The
indcscribable horrors Of those times it
IS impossible to picture. and who will
say that directly or indirectly the vio-
laiiou of the sancIity Of the marriage
safe and the purity Of the family life
G:d not contribute largely toward those
DAYS of terror? The rejection OF the
Bible, the denial Of God and the desc
Grafton of the home yielded bitter fruit,
.ba +,Sta Of which still fingers in the