The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1909-07-08
DIVORCE AS CENSUS SHOWS Il
An Error to Assume That the Cure o,
Drift is In Legislation.
From the Century.

The census figures dissipate many
false impressions. 1t is often assumed
that many couples separate precfpi-
lately before they have given marriage
before separation exceeds six and one
half years, and is not diminishing
Since more than half the couples live
together above our years, while in the
majority of cases the duration Of mar
riage exceeded seven years, 1t would
be rash to surmise that people are
forming risky and unstable unions in
full view of their easy dissolution.
Nor Is divorce usually sought in or
der to remarry. In Connecticut during
a period Of years, the number Of d.
vorced persons married was about 40
per cent of the number divorced in the
same time. In Rhode Island, from 1885
to 1896, the proportion was only rs
per cent. Remarriage is one of those
cases In which,, as DR.. Johnson puts 1t
hope triumphs over experience and
it is not all certain that the rate for
divorced persons much exceeds that
for widows and widowers II the same
age. Certainly the restrictions that
many states are imposing on remar-
riage do not seem to affect appreciably
the divorce rate.
1t is doubtful If one divorce in &c
is obtained by migrating to a liberal
state. A divorce colony at Sioux
Falls or Cheyenne obscures the fact
that divorce has descended among the
plain people, few of whom a afford
to seek relief outside their own state
1t is to suppose that the
explanation and cure Of the drift to-
ward divorce is to be found in legisla-
ton. twenty a ago Professor VIII
cox, on The basis of the most rigid In
S~estigatlons, declared, The immedi-
ate, direct and measurable influence
Of legislation is subsidiary. unimpor-
tant, almost imperceptible." DIR. Dixie
the secretary of the National League
for the Protection of the Family, said:
The direct influence of lax laws IL
producing the great increase Of divorce
in the last 40 years is relatively small
Moreover, the tendency of legislation
for the last 20 years has been decided
ly in the direction of greater strin.
gency.
The failing grip of the legal insti.
tuition need not entail a corresponding
abandonment of the hallowed ideal OF
marriage as a lifelong union. If thu
iron clamp be loosed, it does not fol-
low that the silken cor is weaker. Al
though in So years the resort to di.
yorce has become three times as FREE
quen, there is little to show thai cou.
pies are taking the vows of Wedlock
with any other desire or expectation
than union till death. MOI can we con.
clude that wronged spouses are les.
faithful than formerly to this ideal
The loveless couples Of the good ole
times" appear to have been held to-.
gether by public opinion, religious or
dinance, ignorance of a remedy, the
expense Of divorce or the wife's econ.
omic helplc5sness, rather than by 9
heroic fidelity to an ideal.
In 19 cases of out 20 the marriage
purports to be shattered by some
fragrant wrong, such as adultery, cru.
city, drunkenness, desertion, impris-
onment for crime or neglect to provide
Nevertheless the growth OF divorce
cannot be taken as a sure sign of in.
creasing ~depravity on the part OF hus..
bands or wives. Often the cause
that figures in the record is a screeI
for some deep seated irritant. Physi.
clans declare that many marital trou.
bles have their roots in the ,patholog.
Of sex, and do not argue moral fault
on the part Of either spouse.