The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-03-02
Other Side Of Divorce Problem.

II is seldom that government sta
tistics have been 80 thoroughly dis
cussed by both press and pulpit as has
been the case with the bulletin on di-
few weeks ago. The startling revela-
tions Of the figures have aroused in
tensified interest in one of the ma
tons greatest problems. Comment
which began upon the publication OF
the statistics still continues, and while
the advocates of greater restriction OF
divorce, even to the extent In some
cases of practical elimination from the
law books, are apparently In the ma
jority, yet there is a strong and vlgoT-
Gus minority of thinkers, both In the
pulpit and the press, who, while de-
ploring the evil effect of divorce upon
the home, yet see in its rapid increase
in this country distinct progress in
the direction of higher social ideals.
particularly in connection with the
status of women.
Distinguished rabbis, ministers and
publicists whose utterances challenge
the attention and thought of intelli-
gent people, constitute this minority
which defends divorce, and the mere
weight OF their names demands Ie-
spectful consideration OF their argu-
ments. And it Is evident that the d.
vorce evil, so called, is not the simple
problem the advocates of restriction
would have us believe. No such wide
spread social phenomenon ever is.
Rather, 1t is evidence of deep-seated
evolution that peryades the social or
ganism, making divorce not so much
the cause OF evil in itself as 1t is the
result of the inevitable readjustment
that follows changing sociological con-
ditions. Granting that divorce is a dis
ease, they argue, II Is an effort and
not a cause. and a wise physician
treats causes, If he would succeed.
Forbidding divorce by law, they as
sert, would not remove the evil which
causes divorce.
It is the history Of divorce that It
has increased just in proportion as the
status of woman in society has inn
! proved. There Is practically no di-
vorce where woman is a Chattel But
| where she Is the fTeest, where she has
won the recognition of her rights and
before the law is almost mans equal,
| there divorce increases coincidently
| with the change in her status. II is
/ significant that in the United States,
where women are probably the freest
in the world, nearer mems equals un-
der the law, and of rapidly increasing
Importance in industrial affairs, the
| divorce records show that in three
| fourths Of the cases women are the
applicants for divorce. In a way the
divorce law of today is woman's pro-
test against the medieval theory OF
mans absolute mastership, which per-
sists in many variant forms.
What the solution of the divorce
problem will be cannot be predicted
upon the present scanty data, and II
cannot be solved right until II is rec-
ognized that it is as much a sociologT-
cal as an ethical problem. Far-reach-
ing Investigation must precede any In
telligept attempt TO provide an ade-
quate remedy, and In the meantime
conservative opinion will wait until all
the facts are available. convinced that
there is. as usual, two sides to this
great question. and that both are wor-
thy of careful consideration. One
thing at least is evident. and that Is
that the manifest trend In the eyo-
luton of ethics today is toward one
single moral standard for man and
woman, for husband and wife. one
reads in vain the signs of the times.
If he sees II not.-WashingtoE Post