The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-08-17
DIVORCE RECORD.
A MILLION BROKEN MARRIAGES
IN TWENTY YEARS. ~
Census department. diligently Gath
ering Statistics Which President
Roosevelt Will Employ.

/ NN~N~~~~S
Roosevelt Will Employ.
One million divorces, at least, wer,
} granted by the courts Of this country
during the past twenty years. Thi!
is an eBtimate bv the census bureau
and 1t Is 80 startling that 1t pro badly
will result in further important dis.
0ussiOn of the question of enaoting q
uniform divorce law In the various
States.
President Roosevelt, who has dis
cussed In his messages and other pub
lie utterances the general subject OF
Legislation bearing upon marriage and
divorce and has expressed himself
strongly In favor Of q uniform divorce
law, directed some time ago that the
census bureau institute an inou,ry
into the subject OF divorce No in
vestigation into social or economic
question made In many years Is re.
Rarded as more important to the peo
pie OF the country personally than
this one, now just fairly begun by
Director North and his corps of assie-
tants. 1t Is expected by the Presi.
dent that the statistics gathered by
the census bureau, together with the
legitimate deductions from them, will
demonstrate conc!usively the neces-
sity Of uniform divorce laws, and be
expects to use the figures to bring
abJut suoh q result.
The question has been considered
by the President with the ablest law.
yers Of the Senate and House OF Re.
presentatives. They have Concluded
practically that, at present, the Con,
gress lacks the constitutional p,wnr
to enact q divorce law which woulG
applicable In the States. The Pres.
dent hopes, therefore, to create b
sentiment In favor Of uniform leglsla
tton on the subject by the Legislatur.
es OF the various States or to obtain
from the people, through the Legisla.
lures, approval Of constitutional
amendment confering upon the Con
gress authority to regulate by law the
general matter Of marriage and
divorce.
The statistics to be collected and
compiled by the census bureau will
cover the twenty. year period from
1887 to 1906, inclusive. A similar in
vsstigation was made in 1886, cover.
Ing twenty. year period, and the
figures of the two periods are expeotad
to prove valuable for comparison. In
che period OF twenty years just pre-
ceding 1886. 484 $3.50 applications for
divorce were made to the courts and
328. ZIG OF them subsequently, were
granted, Figures alreaSy in the
hands Of Z Difeetor North, of e5 * cen !
sna b6g es s a 81 SS}ie sys Ee N ,fl
that, In the past twenty years, the
applications for divorce aggregated
nearly million and q half while the
divorce actually granted numbere d
more than million. Or course,
aven this alarming total does not in.
1lude all cases of the inielicity OF mar
riage, but only those which reached
the courts In spite OF the apprehen
sion of the paroles Of public scandal.
The inquiry will be conduc cd along
such lines as will make the resultant
figures and deductions valuable In the
preparation OF laws for the regu' alton
OF marriage and divorce. An effort
Will be made to collect tile statistics
practically simultaneously, az in the
case Of the taking Of the population
| OF the cour try. Special agents will
| be appointed in all parts OF country
to examine the records of the divorce
courts. La the. United States there
are nearly 5000 counties, all of which
probably have records in their courts
of divjrce applications. All details
| concerning each case will be collected
and tabulated with studious care.
Particular reference will be made to
| the number Of children affected by
the divorce cases and how they were
| affected, as these facts, 1t is believed,
will b0 potent In determining the &C
6ion OF the Legislatures in the pass
age OF laws.
When the investigation shall have
been concluded and the figures studied
carefully with view to presenting
In concrete form the result of the In.
quiry, the President will transmit
the report to the Congress, probably
accompanied by q special messag. In
that utterance to his views on the sub
| ject OF the action to be taken to correct
what is regarded by sociologists as
one OF the greatest evils Of o r time.