The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-08-27
All Jay-birds must vi lit Hell on
trldayS.-OldM Maxim.

trdays.-Old Maxim.
Now. wnen i say tnat this shall be
n discussion of q phase of the uIVoruc
problem, please don't run away. We
arc at ones on divorce. Generally ii is
bad for the direct participants and
If anything, worse for those VINO are
compelled to gossip over the real
causes-not set out in the complaint
and, as the desert of the scandal, to
degenerate into Il. futile and exaspcr-
atIng discussion as to the problem
itself. Divorce, like other evils of its
class, is a pretcXt of sclfishness. That
is about all there is to it, and that is
quite enough. 1t is sufficient to
ground it in entertainments from
which it may not be ouSted. AT Its
core lies the worldold appeal of weak
ness to slough it's responsibilities. /,
is the temptation to cancel CONTRACT
entered into in good faith, and regard
less of its partial performance. Usual
~ it is complicated by children, born
before one party or the other, or both,
nave decided that the original agree
ment was d mistake 1t is nard OIL the
children, but nobody thinks of that III
any practical way. 1t is altogether q
selfish transaction. incidentally it Is
not that of a sportman. 1t is like maxi
ing a bet and then refusing to put up
the stakes, or, having placed them. to
dNOlu inc ISSUE OH II ~
man who would bet on an election ana
lose and then have the stakeholder
enjoined from paying over the moncS
to the winner on the ground that the
wager was illegai. would be oStraciSed.
n man, on the other hand, who mar
ries a wife, assumes the obligations OF
d parent and then cries quits with tht
help of the law is politely termed
''unfortunate" for that lacking the
stamina to stick by his contract, ne
has gained his hearts desire by rcVA-
dating it,
But the most hopeless sign of the
whole matter is the general recogni-
ton of the danger and an utterly va
riablc prescription for its cure. The
remedy lies all along the road from
the man who would fetter both par
ties wrist to bar for eternity to the
long haired crank who would inaugu-
rate a system of probative Wed-lock.
More entirely does the question seem
UnSolved because each person IN IN
community has an infallible doctrine;
aud because no two of these are exact
~ alike. When people pretend to fee
more than they do, difference is the
easiest nanufa cture in the world. And
that would seem to be the safety of the
divorce cstabliShment-that everybody
talks at once. That words are the W.
hicseS with which to conceal thought,
Is At ndIl-lEulIl, WITH TIC II utitlhl iicl'
applying full force to the average
philosopher on the question Of Wheth-
err lnatrimony should be considered
permanent disease or recurrent de-
bauch. For that, at the bottom aHC
in tho face of the unhappy issues of
immature contracts, is tho bruta
question involved when the doors of
the divorce court swing on their
slin-cs.
As to the actual causes of complaint.
eliminating those rare instances ~
cold blooded couples who come before
courts run for revenue only and calm
~ allege "incompatibilty of tempera-
ment,' it is usually the case that the
trouble all arises because one or the
other party has gone to the devil.
The law which has as NJ. White would
say. a fertile ability in gliding tho pill
puts up this old phrase in pleasant
packages, but tho truth remains.
Naturally the Devil i'm the case, when
he is not the Whiskey Devil. is the
Third Person Devil And as soon rs
that fact is established there is a n1er1
ry enforcement, the person who has
sought third devil goes almost in
Variably to fourth and the "in1urer
party" after brief course of interest
in playing the role of broken hearted
saint, takes a fifth imp into the circle.
children become deyilish-and the
Devil is to pay. Most generally he gets
his dues.
Now the bright particular remedy
to be here SGT forth with only the pre-
ee7t of incident is this: that the jury
find invariably for the plaintiff and al
the "a me time congratulate the de-
PENDANT Let it be made pla'h that
where one party goes 10 the devil. III,
other has started or is resonsible for
q shove along the way. A too-evident
goodness has lit many fires. Let pa
tent saint and jovial sinner find d
least o bond of sympathy in the COM
mon character of their reputation af
ter divorce and the. light of love MAJ
yet held out to burr amid the ashee
OF dream. But this is the when.
where and how:
1t was Friday morning in
Chapel Hill in the summer !
time. Those who know the place wiz |
recognize tho description. To those |
who cannot, it may only be said colby |
that there is n sort Of locality in the |
air lry which man could tell the |
place in the dark from the bracing |
tickle of it in his nostris; place |
where the eye runs into vistas of
green whether he looks up or down: /
a place where dawn comes in tC |
the accompaniment of choral SYM
r-torv - birds: where one feels alone
-Es giaI ~ his solitude. Thus it is !
~ avs at Chapel Hill in the
ssrIg mor E. If one does not have
% get az "A can lie and listen to the |
chanting sic of the birds in the |