The farmer and mechanic., 1907-02-12

for no other and would ii not be bet
Tor TO keep in touch with ANA be gov
cIned by divine teaching. in cvc- :
thing-in the divorce business, espe-
cially?
am afraid the Legislature has
done 4 very unwise thing in passing
q bin that not only ignores the law Of
Christ, in the matter of divorces, but
legalizes adultery.
Christ said: M pses. because Of the
hardness of your hearts suffered YOU
to put away your wives. but. from tAe
beginning it was not So. And / say
unto You. Whosoever shah put away
his wife except il be for fornication,
ami shall marry another committcth
adultery. And. whose marlieth her
hich is put away. dot. commit adUl-
terry"
Now one Of two things is true: the
Sermon on the Mount is fable and
Therefore not the teaching of the son
Of God; or, if il be the Word Of God,
spoken by his Son. then the Legsia-
ture of North Carolina mas unfortu-
uately placed itself on record, in Op-
position to the teachings Of Christ. by
lcgali2ing what he expressly says IS
fOrnicatiOn, and that too. just be-
cause ii may be there are some cou-
pies in the state. of social pr Jmincnce,
who want to b" divorced. 70 accom-
mOdate them the Legislature, whose
business it is or ought to be. to care
for the morals Of the people, by en-
acting such laws as viii be in accord
with divine teachings has proclaimed
to the world, by its enactment. that,
any couple, unto whom q child has
not been born, may, if the parties 50
choose, live apart ten years ana then
marry again.
Let us see how that will work
Mr.. \ and Miss Il marry In few
months, or perhaps few weeks, the
wife sees an old sweetheart with
whom she used to be il, love before
Mr.. y wooed and won her. and the
old flame is rellindled. She begins 10
NOPE and be slouchy and cross in tho
, presence of her husband and wo1't
eat turnip salad, collards nor cabbage
turns UP her nose at beef steak, fried
chicken, ham and eggs and oysters
and takes no interest in housekeep-
ing but is constantly talking about
the good time she had before she was
married. The husband likewise secs
! his old flame still unmarried who is
just as pretty and taStily dressed
and quite as Fascinating as she ever
was. if not little more so. and ne
sees such a contrast between her win
nino ways and his Wifc's lack of tid-
ness and concern for him he Just
| knows in his heart there must be
| burst up. Both are then in fine hu-
| NOR to eXasperate each other. and
knowing that the law allows divorces
they begin the work of making life
as uncomfortable as possible, eacn
| having divorce in view: and Of course
they soon arrive at point where sep
, arat ton must take place. The young
wife says she didn't think she was
marrying a hog wh5n she married
him. and as she don't like to live with
a hog. shes going back to her daddy;
and the husband retorts by saying
! he didn't know he was marrying an
ash cat when he took her + or better
or for worse and he don't care q
"drat' how soon she goes.
so, there they are separated, and as
soon as ten years go by they may
marry again: though God says botn
they and those whom they marry viii
then be living in adultery. VIII the
, matter stop where it is? | am afraid
not. If. two years hence. some prom
inent lawyer who may have in hand
the case of a man and woman Who
are serving out the ton years proba-
ton, should come before the Legis-
lature, he might, Ey Il little lobbying,
get a bill passed reducing the ten
years to five, and the legislatures
what its, right hand was doing.
was the ease, it. seems. when
the present bill went through the
I House. Two years after. in the in
terest Of some special case the i've
J years of probation might be reduced
, 10 two. ana the nsxt Legislature fol-
lowing precedents. would be sure 70
bring it down to one year. Then
wouldn't the country be filled with
3duItorerS. sure enough?
All you married folks, who have no
children can start the divorce busi-
ness. at once if you so desire, With
the almost absolute certainty that fu-
! ture legislatures will finally strike out
, the ten year probation and fix it SO
as 10 give parties only one year of
separation-just long enough to fix up
/ for another marriage.
It is q sad condition of things, when
a great State must be put in the atli-
, tude of Iesislating adversely to the
teaching of Christ. just to please some
J people who got mad ten years ago and
/ are still in pout. OF course neither
! can marry, if what Christ said be true,