Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1907-01-26
EUils of Easy Diuorce.
Margaret Sa 1gster's Opinion One of the Most I'm
por. ant Questions of lhs Day Chi dren Suffer
When Family Ties Are Broken

for suffering when they are forced
out OF the sweet and safe seclusion
OF a sheltered home. and are too
early thrust under the lime-llght of
publicity. They are often reticent
and hide their real thought and con-
lectures from those around them but
when they live in an atmosphere
teeming with suspicion and distrust.
when servants gossip mysteriously
within their hearing. and people
about them talk In hushed whispers.
they grow too early familiar with the
language of the scandal. The faint
of evil stains the purity OF their souls.
Il ,axen seems at times as IL curse
descended from mother to daughter
and father to son. when divorce on
foolish and capricious grounds Is
granted in family. There are in
stances on record and to be seen in
the smart society OF America at this
period, in which the mother, the
daughter and the granddaughter OF a
single line have successfully discov-
cred that permanence in marriage was
for them impossible. and have made
a wreck of their homes in conse-
quence.
No matter on whom the blame may
rest. those who really bear the bur
den and the shame, IL shame there
be. are the sons and daughters. Not
merely while they are in the nursery
and the schoolroom. but later. when
the youth is approaching manhood
and the girl in her beauty and sweet
ness begins her life in society. do,
the shadows meet around them No
sensitive girl can be entirely con-
tented and satisfied IL her father and
mother are living apart. II she must
visit one by permission or by stealth.
or IL she have the strange anomaly OF
a stepfather or stepmother who has
taken the place Of living parent
Where marriage is looked upon as
sacramental and the church refuses
its sanction 60 the marriage OF those
who are divorced there Is cOnsidera-
ton for the welfare OF children IN
known when marriage Is regarded
merely as a civil contract that may
be dissolved II sufficient pressure be
brought TO bear on the situation.
The root meaning OF sacrament is
fidelity TO an OATH and people need
not be either religious or devout TO
under stand sacramento Obligation to-
ward the family. n religious and de-
vout. It Is difficult 10 see how they
can accept marriage except as Il
wears sacrednoss. partakes OF the ma
ture Of covenant and is. in a word.
sacramentaL
In Marion Crawfords recently pub
lished novel a Lady OF Rome" there
is shown with consummate skill the
possibility of setting the solemnity and
the rermancncc OF marriage over pas
sion. dissension and mistrust. Peo-
pie may not be happy in marriage.
they may even. as In this noble story.
be extremely wretchod. but they may
behave with courtesy. forbearance and
dignity. and they may set far in the
foreground the welfare and the fu-
ture successes In life OF a child.
Children come into the world bv no
voliton OF their own. No human be-
ms is consulted beforehand as to his
Willingness TO accept the joys and sor-
rows OF this chequered existence
Once a child is here. the first duty of
the family is 20 the child. The real
sufferers in easy divorce are not the
parents. but the children.
Copyright, 1906. by Joseph Z. BowlesD