Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-27

has lifted the opinions Of people on the
marriage and divorce question out of
the realm of the uncertain and intan-
Sible and reduced the whole matter to
question of figures-cold. hard, I'M
compromising figures.
It's all told in d bulletin issued by
the census Office today
The first big uncontrovertible fact
that hits you in the face when you be-
gin to read this bulletin is that in the
twenty years between 1887 and 1907
there were in the United States nearly
one million marital failures-945. $50
divorces, to be absolutely accurate. And
OF course this doesn't take into account
to the courts.
One Marriage in Twelve Fails
And now the worst part of the whole
business is made apparent In that
same period there were 1889, 044
marriages in this country. ere are the
harsh. unpoetic words of Uncle Sam on
this question:
The available date indicate that not
less than one marriage in twelve is ul-
timateiy terminated by divorce
The most important fact in cOnnec-
ton with these figures and fact that
should make Americans sit up and
take notice is that in the year 1906 d.
vorces were increasing about three
times as fast as the population, while
in the decade between 1870 and 1880
they were increasing only about . "a
as fast The divorce rate for 100000
| population increased from 20 in 1870 to
| 81 In 1905 In the former years there
was one divorce in every $441, and in
| the latter one for every 1918.
Since it is only married people who
can become divorced. as the author of
| the census bulletin very naively re-
marks. a more significant rate is that
The rate per 100 900 married population
was 81 in 1870 and 200 in 1900.
This comparison indicates that di-
vorce is at present two and halt
| times as common, compared with the
| married population, as it was forty
| years ago. Four married couples out
| of every 1000 secure divorces annual
| ly, but this does not mean that only
| four marriages out of every 1000 ter
| inmate by divorce. The rate is continu
ously operative and comes far short of
| measuring the probability of ultimate
dicorce. which is for the twenty yea
period mentioned ! in every II, as al
ready stated.
Compared With other Countries.
Comparison of the divorce rates in this
country with those In other countries
| shows that here divorce is much more
prevalent.
Two-thirds Of the total number of d.
vorces granted in the twenty-year period
covered by this investigation were
granted to the wife.
without any reference to the question
of which party Is the more frequently
responsible for the marital unhappiness
that leads to divorce. it may be said that
the wife has a legal ground for divorce
more frequently than the husband: that
Is to say, there are certain we'll recog-
nized and comparatively common grounds
that are more readily applicable as
against the husband than as against the
wife. Notably there Is neglect to pro-
vide" or non-support. which. for the
husband seeking divorce, is hardly an
available ground. although the present
investigation found six cases in the state
of Utah in which the husband obtained
a divorce on that ground. Cruelty. al
though not infrequently the ground for
divorces granted to husbands. ~ more
generally existent as cause for the
wifes seeking divorce. Five divorces
for cruelty are granted to the wife for
every one granted to the husband.
Desertion Most Common Ground.
The most common single ground for
divorce is desertion. This accounts for
1913 per cent of all divorces (period 1887
to 1900: 49.4 per cent, or almost one-half
of those granted to the husband, and SO 5
per cent or one-third, of those granted to
the wife.
The next most important ground of
divorce is. for husbands. adultery, and
for wives, cruelty. Of the divorces
granted to husbands nss7 to 1906 oss
per cent were for adultery. and of those
granted to wives 27-5 per cent were for
cruelty. Only 10 per cent of the divorces
granted to wives were for adultery of the
husband. and 100 per cent of divorces
granted to husbands were for cruelty on
the part of the wife.
Drunkenness was the ground for divorce
in 90 per cent of the cases in which the
wife brought suit. and in IL per cent of
the cases in which the suit was brought
by the husband.
The above percentages represent those
cases in which the specified cause was
the sole ground on which the divorce was
granted. Very frequently, however
divorces are granted. not upon one ground
only but upon two or more in combina-
ton.
Highest in Montana.
The divorce rate per 100000 population
is given as highest in Montana. There
the rate is 167 per 1907 Colorado
comes next with 15S. New York and
New Jersey. with % each, have the lowest
rate. In the District of Columbia the rate
was SO to every 100000.
Alimony was demanded in IS per cent
of the divorces granted to the wife and
was granted in 1877 per cent. In other
words. three wives out of sixteen asked
for alimony. and two out of sixteen, or
one out of eight. obtained it. The pro-
portion of husbands who asked for ALI
mony was IS per cent, and the proper
ton obtaining it was = per cent
Average Married Life Ten Years.
The average duration of marriages
terminated by divorce is about ten years.
Sixty per cent, or three-ff last less
than ten years and 40 per cent last longer
Children were reported in 1913 per cent
of the total number Of divorced cases.
The proportion is much larger for d.
vorces granted to the wife than for di-
vorces granted to the husband. children
being present in 46S per cent of the
| former class of divorces and % per cent
| of the latter. A reason suggested for
this is that the children are usually as
signed by the court to the mother, and
! to her therefore. divorce does not imply
| separation from her children, while to the
| husband 1t involves a severance of the
parental as well as the martial relation.