Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-19
marry another committeth adultery against
her" Mark, CHI x verse II.

the county OF Delaware, In that state. WAS
passed authorizing the governor to commu-
nicate with the governors of the several
states requesting them to cooperate In Ihe
assembling of congress of delegates tor
the purpose of examining. considering and
discussing the laws and decisions of the
several states upon the subject of divorce,
with a view to the adoption of draft TOR
the proposed general law which shall be
reported to the governors of all the states
for submission to the legislatures thereof,
with the object of securing as nearly as
may be possible uniform statutes upon the
matter of divorce throughout the nation
In obedience TO this direction the governor
of Pennsylvania invited the governors of the
other states of the Union to participate>by
the appointment OF delegates, and 1t is an
Indication of the widespread interest taken
in this subject that forty-two of the states.
as well as the District of Columbia are
represented in this convention now 50 aus
piciousiy opened.
But Two States Uninterested.
''Of the three states which are unrepre-
scented. one of them, South Carolina. does
not permit enforcement for any cause. and,
therefore, ii may be said with reasonable
accuracy that only two of the forty-fve
states have failed to indicate an apprecia-
ton of the significance of the movement
upon which you have embarked. 1t is be-
iieved that never before for any purpose.
governmental or otherwise. has an official
representation of so many states been gath
cred together in convention. When you
compare yourselves with the conventions
which brought about the adoption of the
Constitution and the creation of the gov
eminent of the United States. and recall
that at Annapolis in 1856 only five of th1r-
teen states We're represented, and that at
Philadelphia in 1881 two weeks after the
opening of the convention. only four of the
thirteen had appeared, you may well con-
graduate yourselves upon the promising
start which has been made.
"A FreEchman has truly written: 'C'est
lie premier pas qui coute' 1t is impossible
to overestimate the Importance of the topic
you have come together TO discuss. and to
do somewhat to formulate. for the reason
that it involves questions which concern
Individual happiness, and likewise lie at the
foundation of our state and national insti-
buttons All of the virtues have their in
spiration around the hearthStone- The SEN
timent which leads man to buffet with the
world for the protection and preservation
of the household when extended to wider
spheres becomes the patriotism which urges
him to sacrifice his comfort and even life,
If need be, to defend an endangered coun-
try. From that early time long ages ago
when the Shunamite woman invited to en-
JOY the luXurieS of the court of solomon,
proudly answered those who had come from
the king to tempt her, 4 dwell among mine
own people down to the recent period in
which j. Howard Payne wrote his heart
stirring song and Thomas Hovenden painted
his famous picture of the country boy leav-
ing mother and firesde to enter the world,
the home has typified whatever is dearest
and most valuable to man upon earth.
Home the Starting Point.
THE home is the starting point of all
municipal as well as national life. The
clans were made up in their origin of kins-
men. The authority of the ruler of coun-
try was but an extension of that of the
head of a household. When the Prince OF
Orange liberated his people from the con-
troll of Spain he became to them Father
William, and when Washington succeeded
in resisting the power of Great Britain,
the fond title was given him OF The Father
oC His Country The classes who had the
controlling influence in Rome were the pa
tIicians-the PaUes. When the modern
EIglishman or American. seeking to know
something of his origin and the surround
ings amid which his race history was writ
ten, goes back to the Rhine country whence
came the forefathers of both of them, he
finds almost every city and village designat-
ell a helm.
1T is fact full of significance and indi-
Gates that away back in the darkness OF
the past these daWning municipalities were
regarded as the homes of the organized peO-
pie as the house was the home of the fam
lily. The home, which is so essential a fac
tor in the development Of our national lite,
is the outcome of the relation of man ami
woman; 1t is the place where the woman
has her eXttence as a wife. and where the
children are born, nurtured and reared. FAC
titus, in Describing the Germans about the
time of the beginning of the Christian erl.
says: The matrimonial bond is nevertheless
strict an severe with them. " Almost
singly among barbarians they content item
selves with one Wife This proper apprecia-
ton Of The dignity of wOmanupol and true
conception of her place in the human econ
omy doubtless expresses what had even
then been G.. custom through unknown gen
erauons and had become an instinct of the
race.
Embodied in Standards.
1T is interviewer into our literature and
into all our processes OF thought. 1t has
become embodied in our standards, of ethics
and our laws. 1t has endured through all
the centuries which have elapsed since
Tacitus made his observations 1t has sur
vived through the ignorance and coarseness
of the dark ages, through the brutalities
and temptations which accompanied de-
structiye wars; through changes of policies
and government and emigratious across
seas to distant lands and climes; and now
in this advanced age, in our own country
IS threatened with destruction. In this
American republic we are in danger of I'M
dermining and uprOoting, little by little,
what has given shelter and health to so
many generations of SaXons and Normans
Germans and English. The eastern peoples
had Il different idea of wOmanhood and
they put it into practice The Civilizations
they established have CTumbled into the
uuSA At4E tN6Eullt tfttpiGS SiuH4y iIlLO
Europe polluted the Romans, and the power
OF Rome, broken by the indulgence of the
people in vices OF which laXity in the mari
tai relations was one Of the manifestations,
disappeared from the earth
The dissolution OF the marriage tie, which
at no very remote period rendered the reign
of q Tudor notorious and in more recent
days darkened the fame Of a Napoleon, has
now among us become so common as to be
regarded as an ordinary event, awakening
no comment and meeting with little or no
disapproval Divorce, by means OF the law,
which at one time could only be secured by
the interposition Of the whole sovereignty
through an act of parliament or of the leg
islature was, the efforts In this direc-
ton became more frequent given into the
jurisdiction of the courts. The courts in
turn embarrassed by the multiplicity of
causes, have in many instances delegated
divorce proceedings to the determination
of masters, who give hearings and reach
conclusions in the privacy of their offices.
The way 10 the breach of this most sacred
of human relations is thus rendered easy,
inexpensive and comparatively certain Of
success.
Speciality of Divorce.
And lurking in the shadow is the lawyer
making a speciality of divorce proceedings.
ready to tender his services to those whose
fancies have wandered away from their