The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1907-12-05
ADVISES AGAINST
HASTY WEDDINGS.
Judge Dennis, Baltimore, Comments
on Causes Leading 10 Divorces.

press and pulpit do not pay enough
attention to the question of mar
riage. He believes that an ounce
of prevention is worth pound Of
cure; that if people were wisely
advised before marriage they would
not keep the divorce courts SO
busy afterward.
In his cosy Office in the Court
house Judge Dennis discussed the
question of marriage and divorce.
"The divorce laws are all right"
he said. There is no necessity
for altering them. The trouble
about marriage is that so many
people go into it without giving it
proper consideration They ought
to be advised on the subject by
the pulpit and the press. We do
not want more divorce laws; we
want more common sense advice
about matrimony."
"What is the leading cause of
divorce, Judge?" he was asked.
THE many imperfections of
human nature, " he said promptly.
"You cannot asCribe the general
failings of matrimony to any
specific cause. Here's a poor
fellow, for instance, who makes
dollar or so a day. He comes
home SOME evening and the dinner
isn't just right, and there's a
quarrel. The upshot of it is that
he clears out and leaves the wife
to shift for herself. 1t makes no
difference to him. Perhaps he'll
get a job in some other city; any
place where he has Job is home
to him. Well, his wife ought to
be allowed to divorce him and
marry some fellow who'll take care
of her-that is, if she wants to-.
AS it is, she's neither maid, widow
nor wife. The point is that the
couple went into the married state
headlong, without duly consider
ing the fact that marriage is
bond for life They hadn't been
advised on the subject. If they
had they probably wouldn't have
been married in the first place.
This is where the pulpit ought to
come in. Preachers ought to talk
more about these questions; so
ought the newspapers.
"As matter of fact the news
papers pay more attention to the
exploitation Of divorce scandals
than they do to advising people
about being married. And it does
a great deal Of harm. Some half
baked intellects see these long
accounts of the marital troubles of
prominent people, and finally they
begin to think that they'll have to
get a divorce, too, in order to be
in the swim.
"Do you think, Judge, that
poverty causes much of the divorce
courts business?"
1T is responsible for some. But
understand me, l do not mean to
say that poor people ought not to
be married I do mean to say
that they ought to consider it
carefully before taking so serious
a step, just as rich people should
do"
LAS 1 say" remarked the
Judge, "the divorce laws in Mary
land are entirely sufficient. We
don't want any changes. What
we do want is more thought on
the subject by the educators of
the people"
who are the most to blame for
dlvorce-men or women"
Lord bless you, that question
cannot be answered by any general
statement. Humanity isn't per-
feet; it's full of imperfections, and
trouble is bound to come when two
people settle dcwn to live the re-
mainder of their natural lives to-
gether. 1t makes no difference
which side is to blame. AS a
matter of fact, 1 suppose one side
is as often at fault as the other.
The point is that trouble does