The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-12-07

| have been an increase over 1892. The same fact appeared in 1894. It has already been pointed ou that | two-thirds of those who get divorces are wives More wives seek divorce than formerly because of the greater industrial opportunity for women. When times are hard the opportunity to earn a living to some extent ceases and the family struggles along to- Gether. This theory receives peculiar confirmation in the fact that a rela- lively greater number of divoEqed women are engaged in gained occu- Isations, than of any other class. mar ried. or single. The number is 55 in every hundred
 Let us consider the figures relating to Connecticut in more detail The cities produced more divorces than the country, but not as many more as is popularly supposed. The relation was 52 to 50. This is about the average for the country.
 In 20 years. ending with 1906. there were 136, ,9s4 marrfag ges and 9,224 di- vorces. Of these, 2.536 persons were remarked. A third of those who wed- ded again did so in the same year that the divorce was granted
 The average annual number of di- vorces in 1870 based on ten year per- iod for each 100.0 900 of population was s4. In 1900 it had declined to 50.
 The period now under Consideration is the 20 years from 1887 to 1906 in-
 
 were granted. The wife was the ap- plicant in 6.494 cases and the husband in 2.730 cases. Desertion was the most frequent allegation and the husband deserted the wife about twice as often as the wife the husband. The total granted for adultery was 1.610. The wife was the petitioner in TIA cases on this ground ard the husband in s36 cases.
 Intemperance. which directly or in ire lr fG he nf .af divorces as a matter of census record end Is the actual cause of many more, was the ground in 1.4n cases. The wife was the petitioner in 1.279 of these cases The wife was the drunkard in 1892 In the 20 years preceding, this cause was less frequently named.
 Upon ground of intolerable cruelty 1,553 divorces were granted. The wo- man was adtudged the cruel part in but 50 cases.
 As in Connecticut, Assertion through, out the country is the most common ground for divorce. Of every hum dred divorces 3S are granted on this ground Adultery Is much more ire quently alleged by the husband than by the wife. and cruelty by the wife than by the husband Intemperance is five oR six times as often the fault of the husband as of the wife.
 The records. which are extraordinar- fly imperfect in this matter. show that 764 couples married in this State were divorced in some other State.
 Children are involved in about two out of every five cases. Children are more frequently involved where the wife is concerned than where the hus- band is concerned. This is taken to mean that the wife is more patient under the yoke.
 In 5S2 cases alimony was sought and In 313 cases it was granted. The GUS tody of the children was to the mother in an enormously large percentage of cases where children were involved.
 The decline of divorce in the State may be seen in several ways. By comparison with total population. By comparison with married population and by total number of divorces.
 As has been stated, in the 20 years from 1887 to 1906 the total number of divorces was 9.224. For the 20 years preceding when the population was much smaller the number was S.542.
 In 1870 the annual number of di- vorces per 100000 of married popula- ton had decreased from S4 to 50. The actual number granted annually has decreased in the past ten years from 1s1 per year to 456. This result must be largely attributed to the attitude of the Roman Catholic church relative to divorce and the increase of the Irish population. But a small part of it is attributable to the decrease in the number of marriages. which decrease in turn Is due to the fact that it Is more difficult to make a living now