Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-01-05

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4. !. ! + 49, 81. ~
believe. probably materially decrease
the number of divorces granted, and
thus might act as a deterrent with
others contemplating such actions"
\ Judge Curtis d. Wilbur said he be-
| lieved the court never gets at the true
| facts in divorce cases.
ut is seldom both sides are repre-
scented. and although 7 do my utmost
bv probing to discover the truth in
| these actions, I feel satisfied that the
actual circumstances leading to the
| bringing of the actions are hidden
Most of the suits are brought by wo-
| men, and when a woman says her nus
band has left her without cause, with
out saying a word, I believe there must
be some grounds for believing other
| wise.
THE causes leading to divorce are
mainly intemperance and a low stand
ard of morality"
Judge Frederick w Houser believes
the laws are sufficiently stringent.
''There should, however" he said, be
a more rigid enforcement of the laws.
A more careful investigation in each
case should be made Persons having
the least difficulty sometimes seek the
divorce courts, and even a brief inquiry
outside the court room might result In
the denial % decree.
Both Parties Present
r have frequently continued cases
of this kind until the defendant could
be found and brought into court, and
the result has been the refusal OF a
decree or the granting of one to the
defendant"
Judge w. p. James expressed the
opinion that there was ample room Tor
Improvement in the laws governing
divorce.
"Hasty marriages between persons
whose acouaintanceship has been
short" he said, lis one of the reasons
leading to divorce. Many persons
marry too young. While it is dinicuit
to set a proper age at which men ana
women should marry, it has been my
observation that early marriages are
not to be commended.
1.-THE divorce laws, believe should be
more stringent and should have the same
effect where the marriage ties are dis
regarded in criminal cases. The laws as
they now stand, believe, are being en-
forced as strictly as possible.
Taking into consideration the great
increase in om population in Los Angeles
and the number of different nationalities
and temperaments represented, DO not
believe divorces have greatly increased.
All large cities show an increase in these
cases with the increase in population"
BIames Intemperance
Judge Charles Monroe declared his be-
lief that the two principal causes for d.
vorce actions were intemperance and de-
sertion He, however. declined to enter
into a discussion of a remedy for the evil
Rev. F. Dewitt Talmage of the First
Presbyterian said; ITO my mind the
chief cause of the divorce evil is the ten
dency of the families of today to find
their enjoyment away from the home.
"There was a time when the highest
pleasure and honor a man or woman
could have was to stay within the four
walls of his or her own house; but now
the children in order to be educated,
must be sent to dancing school, and wo-
men in order - be intellectual have to
join their Browning clubs, and men have
to be everywhere except by their own
firesides after supper.
I'm olden times, when a mother wanted
to give reception she gave 1t in her own
house. and was proud when her own
daughter could sing in the parlor; but
now it is necessary to hire a hall and
give a german or to entertain with a
box party at the theater and late sup
per at night ] am old fashioned enough
to believe that the best companions on
earth for a man are his own children
and the most intellectual place for wo
man is her own home; and as long as peo-
pie in their young married life continue
TO find their happiness outside their own
firesides just so long are they heading
toward domestic ,trouble-and that means
the divorce court
"A man or woman can get intoxicated
with false ideas of enjoyment as well as
the sot can get drunk on liquor"
Rev Hugh K. Walker, Emmanuel Pres
byterian: There are two aspects to this
question, the legal and the moral. The
first fault lies with the tebhnicalities that
modify our divorce law and which make
it possible for people within our borders
to obtain divorces too easily Our law Is
too lax. In states where the divorce laws
are more stringent the percentage of d.
vorces is not so large.
"Then, too, California has a changing
population, and these nomads furnish a
great proportion of the material for our
divorce courts. Touching the moral side |
of the question is the general decay of
ideals In regard to the sanctity of the
marriage relation, many looking upon 1t |
merely as a civil contract.
1.-The remedy lies in improved legisla- |
ton, such as national divorce law; ire
mendous pressure looking toward the
raising of public sentiment in regard to |
the sanctity Of marriage. and the preach
ing of the highest ideals of the gospel;
also more difficulty in securing marriag, |
licenses would lower the number of ap |
pncations for divorce. But believe that |
the number of happy marriages is much |
greater than me would suppose from n
glance at the divorce records, for it is
only the unhappiness about which one
hears, and attention is never called to
the thousands of happy homes that lie all
around us.
I'm the years that have lived in Los
Angeles i have married at least 1000
couples and the minority of unhappy mar
riages is so small as to be hardly recog.
nizable 7"
win A. Knighten of the Union Method
list church and California representative
on the National INSTRUMENTATION Com
on Divorce: THE first cause Of