The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-12-31
HUSBAND DEsERr1oH.

HUSBAND DEsERTIo1.
Some Interesting Facts About nj.
vorces from Statistics.
The militant suffragette glared-
then she smiled grimly. The NJ. 8.
had. just learned. from glancing over
the Census Bureaus statistics. that 105
per cent Of the divorces granted to
men we're for the cruelty Of their
wives.
False" was the comment that GO
eompanied the glare.
Serves 'em right" went with the
grim SMILE
Whether the last was note of sym.
patty for the men who achieved men,
bership in the ex-husbands' club or for
the women whose cruel treatment led
to the legal change Of condition, the
suhragette did not say. As for the
Census Bureau, that department Of
state Is soulless affair, dealing only
with facts and figures as 1t finds
them. and 1t Is no use abusing the btu
reau for showing up American men
and women in such q poor marital
light before the world.
1t really is sad story, though.
Fancy the Census Bureau finding out
that the pathetic story of the deserted
wife whose husband has gone to parts
unknown, leaving her to slave for the
home alone, is losing a great deal of
its force by reason of the fact that
more wives are deserving husbands
than husbands are deserving wives.
The figures, cold and convincing, COM
piled by reliable statisticians, cannot
be argued with; they record the fact
that of divorces obtained by the
American man for the desertion Of his
wife the percentage Is 494, while the
figures for the desertion of the wife by
the husband are only 1876. Well may
the militant suffragette smile grimly.
It looks as though the American wife
were becoming a more Independent
creature than the American husband.
For this last development there is
reason that is obvious to any one. The
girl Of the present day is as well able
to earn her living as her husband. If
marriage proves a failure in her
she has only to tell her unsatisfactory
husband that she has resolved to sup
port herself and live apart from him.
and he knows well that he can no
longer hold over her head the club Of
poverty because of the loss of his earn
ings. She can support herself these
days.
But about that cruelty charge. It
sounds almost incredible, but here are
again the Census Bureaus indisputa-
BILE figures to show that reviewing the
causes for divorces during the past
forty years it has been discovered that
the legal separation of husband and
wife in consequence of the cruel treat
ment of the husband by the wife has
increased 1908 per cent. No less than
1O5 of the divorces granted to men
during the period reviewed by the bu-
reau were for cruelty on the part OF
the wife.
AS to the form that this cruelty to
the poor husband takes, the Census
Bureau is silent It is not the business
of the statistical department to delve
as deep as that into causes. But 1t
surely must have been sufficiently
cruel type of cruelty to induce an
American judge to grant a divorce to
the injured husband. Now that our
girls are being systematically trained
in the gymnastic class room at the
school house and the anaemic woman
is becoming rarity, 1t behooves the
American husband to practice diplo-
macy in the home or take lessons In
the art of lodging rolling pins and
broom handles.
But with her increased ability to
chastise her husband, as shown by the
Census Bureaus figures, there has
also come, it is really too bad to have
to record. an increase in vice that
has been considered one peculiarly be-
longing to men-that of drinking to
excess. The figures show that the In
crease of drunkenness among women,
as shown by the divorces granted for
this cause, is 5545 per cent. In fact,
this reason for divorce comes second
in the list, according to the census sta
tistics.
The men have still little the best OF
it in the race for divorce on the alco-
hol line, for, while the increase among
women has been recorded as 554.5 per-
cent. the drunkenness Of husbands has
increased 699.9 per cent.
It is appalling to note that in the
United States 70 divorces are annually
granted to every 100000 Of population
To the same number Of persons Ire
land annually grants less than 1. Eng
land 2, Italy 8, Austria 1, Scotland 4.
Germany Is, France %, Switzerland 81
and Japan 215. Switzerland, with .
ratio of 90, comes next to the United
States, but this country wins by q
huva majority in the general run.