Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1905-11-09

divorces SrauIeu III the OullGu CtdteS
in those years. In 1857, 9937 divorces
were granted, while in 1886 25,535 di-
vorces were granted, making an in
crease Of 157 per cent. The increase Of
population was sixty per cent. during
the same period.
In 1867 Ohio granted sol divorces,
and in 1900 the State granted 3217
divorces-one to every eleveso marriages
solemnized in the State. Indiana
granted, in 1867, 1896 divorces, and in
1900, 4599-one divorce to every six
marriages solemnized in the State.
Only short time ago the papers were
telling of woman in Indiana who
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 40 divorces, and in 1900
granted 241S divorces-one divorce to
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 total Of 20,111 divorces, while in
the same year the United States grant
ed 23,472 divorces-an excess over all
other countries In the Christian world
Of 1851. 1913 Ff
Forty-five States and several Terri
tories have various and conflicting
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.' It was published in q recent
journal that divorces were granted in
Chicago for the following causes: Snor-
ing, cold feet, eating with knife, IN
sisting upon going to bed in his 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 offers
$4,000, the United Kingdom showing
475 and the German Empire COTS for
the same time. Fora period of twenty
years in Maryland the rate of marriage
to divorce was 61.94. Massachusetts,
averaged 31.28 to every divorce.
Some Of the popular theories are that
divorce is due to the conflicting and in
/ 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 765 were to parties
married in New York, while OF the
! 2S9,546 couples whose place Of mar
riage was ascertained, 231 1867 were di-
| vorced in the same State in which they
| had been married.
| Third-A fatal danger. The attack
] upon the integrity of the family is al
| unmitigated evil and crime against
! social order, which can only result III
| 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. Ihe
laws as to family life were loose; dl'
vorce became epidemic, and the empire
went down in ruin and disgrace. Tue
Reign Of Terror in France folloWed the
establishpent Of a law that marriage
could be dissolved merely by appllca'
cation; 10000 divorces were granted in
Paris in one year, and during the same
period $4,000 outcast children were car
ried into founding hospitals and near
! " 10000 newborn babies We're taken
! out Of the sewers of the city and from
the secret places by the police. Ihe
| indescribable horrors Of those times i
is impossible to picture. and who viii
| say that directly or indirectly the vlo'
| lation Of the sanctity Of the marriage
state and the purity of the family life
did not contribute largely toward thoss
days of terror? The rejection OF the
Bible, the denial Of God and the desc
Grafton Of the home yielded bitter fruit
the taste Of which still fingers in the
mouth Of France, and lessons writer