The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-11-02
RAPID GROWTH OF DIVORCE.
More Husbands Than Wives Apply
for Complete Dissolution.

for Complete Dissolution.
The growth of divorce in England, as
in the United States, has grown so
rapidly, says the London Mail, that 1t
is causing uneasiness to those who are
concerned in the moral health of the
nation. 1t is now AZ years since the
divorce court was constituted Before
Jan 1, 1858, complete dissolution of
marriage could only be effected by act
of parliament, and consequently 1t was
a privilege enjoyed by the very rich
alone.
In the first year of the courts exist
ence 1t had to deal with 326 petitions.
Fewer applications for release from the
marriage tie were made during the
second and third years; in the fourth
year, 1861, low water mark was
reached, the petitions numbering 236.
From that date up to the present
time there has been a continuous rise,
but marked as in the progress OF trade,
or emigration, or any other ahair
measured by statistics, by frequent re-
missions.
The judicial statistics, published this
year, only go to 1908, and they show
that in 1902 the highest point was
touched. In that year there were a to-
tai of ,05O petitions for dissolution OF
marriage, judicial separation, nullity,
restitution of conjugal rights, etc.
The South African war acted as a
disturbing factor. Many members of
the class among whom divorce is most
common were away, and, therefore, un-
able to take action. Thus the petitions
fell by nearly 100 in each of the first
two years of the war, and rose when
the war came to an end.
The acts of 1S7S 1886 and 1895 en-
dowed the poor with some of the privi-
leges of the well-to-do, and here there
is real occasion for alarm on the score
of morality. Any wife proving deser-
ton, refusal to maintain her, or ag-
gravated assault, on the part of her
husband, can obtain a separation order
which carries a weekly payment for her
maintenance at the discretion of the
magistrate.
While husband and wife are parted
forever, the divorce is not complete.
Marriage with another would be big
amy. There is only one moral safe
guard-the maintenance order is re-
voked on proof of misconduct. The
situation created is certainly hazard
Gus.
Many curious facts are revealed by
the judicial statistics. For instance,
judicial separation is going out of fash
ion. Some people who cannot live hap
PLY together are disinclined to resort
to measures for complete dissolution Of
the marriage and remain content with
judicial separation, the old a mensa
ct thoro. But the number has fallen II
per cent since 1858. 1t is the wives
who keep it up. In 1903 the applicants
for judicial separation comprised Sc
wives and only four husbands.
More husbands than wives apply for
complete dissolution. This is a curl
GUS fact, for it is true of other coun-
tries also where equal facilities are Of
fered to the two sexes. The change in
the status of women is shown, how
ever, by a tendency in this difference
to disappear.
remarkable fact is that the in
crease of divorces corresponds with an
older marrying age. People marry
later in life now than formerly, and
apparently with less judgment as to
compatibility.
But more remarkable is the length Of
time husband and wives take to find
each other out so to speak Taking
the average of five years (1S9S-19O3),
nearly half the petitions were filed by
people who had been married from ten
to twenty years.