The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-07


 So widely appalling has become the divorce evil in this country fnat tne nation and the state. with social or |isations and churches, are devising means for its decrease. One of the best remedies is found in bill drawn by Bernhard Rabbino of New fork. and which will be presented at the present session of the Legislature or that state. This bill provides flor s5ecial domestic relation court In which win be tried all cases arising from
 roubles between huSband and wife, all domestic questions that bear on the happiness and stability of the home. There is q greater number Of these eases than of cases taken to the children's courts. It is argued that these have no more place in police e1urts and before criminal court judges than had the cases Of children be fore the days of juvenile courts.
 Tn Manhattan and the Bronx alone. there are between 12,0oo and 15,0oo divorces granted annually. It is be- lieved by the author of the bfll that the number would be greatly dimin- ished If the cases could be heard be- fore court created especially for this purpose and so be robbed Of the noteriety and the distastefui publicity that comes with the hearing Of such eases under the present system. He |argues that such a court is of even more importance than the children's courts when it comes to question Iof the preservation of the family, Even as the children's courts, through their excellent probation system and the careful espionage of officers over dependents and delinauents. prevent further delinquency, SO would the do- |mestic relations courts prevent liti- |gation and otherwise safeguard the homes of the poor.
 The Buerau of the Census of the Department of Commerce snd Labor recently completed an exhaustive inc |quiry Into the number of divorces granted in the United States from the year 1887. when a similar census had been completed. to 1906. It went into the causes of these 1lvorces, the |sizss of the families involved. the social and industrial status of the Htigants. the diversity of state laws on the sub. . jeet. and other facts of general and specific relation to the question of divorce
 arhis census was begun On the first Of August 1seG land completed in about year. Three hundred experts were put In the field to gather the data. visiting the county seats of tho largest counties in each state and terr- Iitory of the United States. In the counties the county clerk collected the material under special contract with the census office. How big the task was. and how much time it took to cover the ground. can be inferred from the fact that at one time seventy five of the stan were at work In Chicago, and one of the osiiciaIs in charge spent six months in Milwaukee Supervising the work of c large stfr After the data had been collected the work of tabulating was done in the Washington officc. Half the report has already given the public. the re- suit of four months hard work
 In. 1870 the number of divorces per 100000 population was twenty.nine In 1905, the last year of an accurate census. the number was eigity-two per 100000, nearly three times as many divorees to the population as there had been thfrty-five years before. Pros perity. 1t seems. has very close re- 1ltion to divorce. whether increased riches with greater leisure and an. Urged industrlal activities of the na- tion breed the discontent or the fast living that leads many to divorce fs Ia question for discussion. At any rate. the average of divorces was great |ly lowered iu the i've years period be- tween 1899 and 1seS when there was 'a general business depression and d cry of hard times. Tn 1884 the marriage rate also decreased greatly, for both marrying and divor- ing were too expensive then. In the five years of prosperity following the year 1898 the increase in both marri- ges and divoFeee was great
 Under the laws in Athens of olden times. man could put away hts wife at his own pleasure. and she could leave him when she willed, without the consent of the magistrates. Con- ditions are very much the same in Ithe United St&fes today, except that the law. requires that some specific charge be brought by the one seeking wide range. trivial and grave, from the solemn enactment of .Tennessee's |legisIatuFp that q man. may divorce his wife If she refuse f0 live in the state with him. 10 New xorhss absolute. di- |vorce which is granted only on stA- tutory grounds. Even as the state Of South Caroiina requires no marriage license and keeps no record of marri- ages. 90 it grants no diyorees.
 Of ali the reasons given for divorce, the most common is desertion. Tn the period between 1887 and .1sse, ss.s percent of the divorces given were on these grounds. One-half the divofces asked by the husband .And one-third |of those by the wife, were for dAseFA tion. Cruelty has provoked an sn- crease of 2ss percent in the twenty year period that this unique census covers, five divorces being given wo- man. on :hese grounds. to one given man.
 A great argument for prohibition is
 ound in the figures that stand for divorce granted on the grounds of ltntemperance. In the period covered by the report there was 3s.61s dt- vorces granted with drunlgennesR as Ithe one and sole reason. Drunkenness. directly or indirectly. was responsible for One-fourth of the divorces given women in the time named. In com bination with other sauses drunken
 ness figures in a great percent of divorces, and in about One-sixth of
 these cases the husband has brought suit against the wife.
 Among the reasons that are common 10 both, men and women in their suits for divorce the violation of the seventh is the only one in which the number granted to the husband exceeds the number granted to the wife. In this report on this question the director of the census point out
 the fact that while this sin is condoned in man. 1t is rarely forgiven in wo-
 man and the dIffersnce in the figures
 may be accounted for. Public opinion Is too severe on the woman who sins.
 American laws re better. on this score
 than those of England. For while the
 English husband may seeure divorce on the ground of mere proof of his
 wife's guilt. the wife who seeks di-
 vorce must also prove cruelty in adii-