Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1910-03-06
SEPARATION AS AN INSURANCE
AGAINST DIVORCE.

The Bishop of London has directed
more attention to himself, and awak-
ened more discussion, by a recently
apparently harmless utterance of a
few sentences, than he has ever be-
fore succeeded in doing with all the
sermons he has ever preached or all
the addresses he has ever delivered
1t was brief allusion to the divorce
evil and means by which it might be
lessened. With all sincerity of heart,
and perhaps who knows what the bish-
ops marital experiences may have
been, from the depth of a heart full
of practical wisdom, the bishop re-
marked that in his opinion men and
women would live together more hap
PLY if every now and then they sepa-
rated for a fortnight, freeing the wo-
man from the cares of the household
and giving each party immunity from
the presence and idiosyncracies of the
other.
On this simple thought, cabled all
over the world, the critics have land
ed with both feet and both hands.
1t has been torn into shreds by those
condemning it and praised to the skies
as an oracular utterance by those
who regard it as almost Delphic in
its wisdom. But among the women
who are leaders in the club movement
in this country the bishops views
have been received with anything but
applause. To them the suggestion is
anything but an inspiration Here is
Miss de Revear, president of the New
York City Federation, denouncing it
as absolutely inadequate If a man
and wife do not get along we'll TO-
gether, she insists, two weeks of sep
aration is not going to make a bit of
difference in the final wind up of their
discussions. On the other hand, Mrs.
Clarence Burns, president of the Lit
tie Mothers Association, holds up her
hands in almost unutterable horror
at the good prelate's ideas Says she !:
81 think the remedy is wholly in
adequate for the disease. If a man and
his wife don't get on we'll together
two weeks apart isn't going to make
one bit of difference. It's going to
take a much longer time than that
if, indeed, time will do. any good at
all. In many cases it wouldn't. Some
times if the husband gets to- fault-ffnd-
ing and unreasonable it might do him
good to have his wife leave him for a
time to enjoy life without her. If a
wife begins to nag overmuch she
might learn to appreciate her bless
ings by judicious absence of a month
or so on his part. It's matter for
he individual family 10 work out No
General rule can be laid down"
The pesident of the New York City
Mothers Club absolutely ridiculed tho
idea, even if it did come from so en-
inent source. Her view of it was
terse, and American in style. Said
she:
81 think the bishop is dreadfully I'M
reasonable. | don't see what he could
have meant by such a thing. Women
ought not to leave their husbands
alone as long as two weeks unless it
is absolutely necessary. To my mind
the great cause of unhappiness in any
family is unfaithfullness or even
tendency in that direction. A thing
may not be open law breaking and
still break a WOman's heart"
The leading woman lawyer of the
metropolis also found little to approve
in the suggestion from across the wa
ter. AS she viewed it:
'The trouble with most married peo-
pie is not that they see too much of
each other, but that they see too lit
tie. In the stress of modern life the
man has work which engrosses much
OF his time and the woman has many
engagements where her husband can
not follow her. There is little dam
ger of their grating on each other
through an overplus of mutual COM
)anionship. Their vacation is the
one time when they can really enjoy
themselves. 1t seems to me that it
would be a very unhappy state of af-
FAIRS for them to feel compelled to
separate"
By the time the good bishop has
been belabored in this fashion from
all parts of the world, and perhaps
heard as well from the madam who
rules the episcopal palace in which,
by virtue of his office, he resides, he
may be led to ervise his theories and
promulgate a new method of keeping
people happy, whether they are tenn
peramentally unsuited for each other
or not.