The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1908-10-27
he SUGGESTED REMEDIES
In Half a Century, He Predicted in a
Lecture Last Night, There'll Be
One Divorce for Every Two
Marriages

away" Prof. Charles A. Ellwood of
the University of Missouri made this
statement last night in his lecture on
Problems of the American Home" in
the Y. w c. \. rooms, 1924 Baltimore
avenue. His audience was composed
entirely of women. Startling figures
about divorce were given.
The basis for this remarkable
statement is the divorce statistics"
Prof Ellweod continued. Statistics
show the American family is the most
unstable family on earth. In 1885.
Congress passed law providing for
the collection of divorce statistics.
This showed that in 1856. there were
sos divorces granted in England; c.
100 in France: $500 In Germany, and
23,i00 In the United States. The di-
vorces in the United States that year
were more than all other nations COM
| bined.
Plainly, from the lecturers stand
poimt all problems of the American
home are conferred in the divorce
| question. "Tha most fundamental ot
all problems, is the problem of the
home or the family" he said in BE-.
ginning. "The family reproduces not
only the individuals OF society, but
the present tendency continuing It Is
a question whether the American fam
lily can continue to exist"
To carry out his comparisons AMI
in order to form a logical ratio, Prof.
Ellwood also cited the following fig
ures on divorces granted in 1900;
England. 52s; France 1000; Germany
500, United tSates, $4,000.
Statistics show" he said, that IN
the first 20 year period-fronl 1867
to 1SS6-divorces increased more than
twice as fast as the pol2lltioh. Did
| they continue to increase in he same
proportion between 1887 and 1906? !
/ am sorry to say that they not only
continued, but increased three times
as fast as the population. Population
/ in this period increa ied less then 81
per cent while divorces increased 80
| per cent.
"By this raatio II is now easy to
compute that by 1850, one-fourth OF
all American marriages will result in
| divorces and by the end of this cen
tury one divorce for every two mar.
riages will be the result.
Divorces are more characteristic OF
cities having more Ghan 100000 in
habitants. the lecturer declared. lie
explained that this is due to crowded
conditions. absence of children and
lack of real homes. Crowded apart
ments are not the best places in
which to promulgate domestic felicity
one reason for the number of divorces
in cities, he stated. And here Kansas
City was reminded that it has nc
rights to "holier than thou" senti
ment.
Kansas City in 1903 according tt
United States statistics, had the dis
tinoion of being the third city in thu
country In the matter of divorces
Here there VISA one divorce for ever!
four marriages that year. San Fran
cisco had one divorce for every thre,
marriages.
The increase of divorces in Americj
was compared to the disintegration o
the Roman empire. by the time hal
mis- centuryhas passed America will
be just as decadent as the latter day
of Rome" he predicted.
Then the lecturer began a Iogica
analysis of the problem. He first too
up the classes most effected by d
vorce with these results:
"Childless couples, four times a
much as those who have children
, city jewellers, twice as much as thos
who live in outlying districts. TIL
, child win always be a cohesive force,
y he said. Parental instincts ar
stronged than sex attractions.
Y The vice prevalent in cities wa
discussed at length
There is something radically wron
with American character" he al
nounced, THE individualism of Amer
can people is the cause OF this divorC
tendency The American is self a
sertive and too often does as I
pleases."
Because twothiIds OF the numb'
r OF divorces are granteb on petition