Oxford Democrat., 1906-04-24
Judge Whitehouse on Divorce.

ing the divorce problem from com
mittee which is investigating the sub
ject, Judge VIM. P. Whitehouse of th'
Maine Supreme Court recently wrote {
letter embodying some of his views OF
the subject. The letter makes a valu
able contribution to the discussion o
the perplexing problem. 1t is In brie
as follows:
1--WE find that divorce is an institu
ton which has existed to greater OF
less degree in all ages; that freedom o.
divorce sometimes accompanies periods
of licentiousness and immortality, ant
sometimes not, that when it does 1t II
more the outcome than the cause Of ths
licentious tendencies of the period; thai
increase of divorce is not necessarily 9
symptom of degeneracy but may be the
result Of the changing condition In the
evolution of society and the progress oi
civilization; that divorce has largely in
creased in Europe during the last hall
century; but much more rapidly in this
country; that the chief causes of this
were ~ the evolution of the individual
and of women to position of equality
and independence, and (2) the breaking
away from the dogma Of the church as
to the indissolubility of marriage.
"We have further seen that freedom
of divorce should be restricted within
certain limits, since otherwise it would
mean polygamy, the disintegration OF
the family and an inferior civilization;
that the proper limits which the law
should fix to the right of divorce are
that when the conditions which make
monogamy desirable in general have
ceased to exist in a particular marriage,
or in other words, when a marriage has
proved an irremediable failure, the di-
vorce should be granted with the right
to remarry, otherwise not; that upon
some of the grounds of divorce allowed
in this and other states it may be OBJ
tanned for insufficient causes, practically
by mutual consent or in some cases the
will of either party; and finally that to
improve our existing laws and prevent
unnecessary divorce, the following
changes are desirable, namely:
"First, the passage of careful and uni
form marriage laws throughout all the
states, requiring licenses and declara-
tions of intentions, and prohibiting par-
riages before certain age and when
either party is physically defective.
Second, that provision is made for q
preliminary hearing similar to the inter-
view of reconciliation in France, in
every case for the purpose of effecting a
reconciliation.
"Third, that absolute divorce with the
right to remarry be allowed for the
cause of adultery and whenever the
court or jury shall be satisfied beyond
reasonable doubt that the parties can
no longer live together in harmony, and
it is for their best interests and those of
society that they should be divorced.
"Fourth, that these causes of divorce
together with two year bona fide resi-
dence clause be made uniform through
out all the states, and either by fed
eral law made possible by constitutional
amendment or by like laws in each state,
each state providing in the latter case
that divorce granted in any other state
shall be valid in the state in question.
"But after all, it must be remembered
that laws cannot change human nature,
reform bad husbands or make good
wives, legislate morality into criminals
or tenderness into brutes, and it is
chiefly through the education, moral
discipline, religious training and the
higher civilization that we must look
for such an evolution in the character
of humanity as will eventually make
marriage come in time to be In fact
what it is now in theory: for better or
worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness
and in health, till death do US part
in France an interview of recon-
ciliation is expressly required by the
code civil and the code of civil pro-
cedure on separation and divorce. Only
the two parties and the judge are pres
ent at this interview of reconciliation.
except that the judge may and some
times does have his clerk present. This
interview is considered privileged and
confidential and commentators upon
French law caution judges to be discreet
in guarding this confidence. No report
of the divorce suit is allowed to be made
in the public press under penalty of a
fine Of 100 to 200 francs.