The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-02-12

Senator Rison's bill has brough the divorce problem
acutey to the front in Virginia and people seethng
it, II question that ought to remain in the lime
light of legislation long enough only to send far to the
by decisive voteso far any laxer legislation is
concerned No question more vitality concerns every
citizen Of our State.
When our homes perish, civilization crumbles.
When fresides profaned social fabric tottcrs
to its fall and chaos Of pollution Is before The
word divorce used to be spoken Of not years ago in
proclaimed by many from the housetops with the abandon
Of utter shameleness Some say But suppose there
suppose awakens to find that marriage instead of,
blessing is curse and that he Is tied to vixen or
inoerabe scod and Jane Welsh type Of the smoking
and swearing wife. Or suppose there even worse
things? What thenf The answer on many lips is
There has been for generation or more in America
series Of definite assaults upon the purity and safety Of our
thirty years ago in our Eastern States by shorthared
women and long haired men Women who had apparently
never forgiven their Creator for not making them men.
and men with soft accent and meek demeanor who
equally dissatisfied that they could not don skirts and
bangs and sufficiently apologize for mascunitys The
rty Of the marriage TIE and rrdurr that lifelong and sacred
bond to dependence upon interest whms and caprice for
Love- but foul counterfeit ought to have substituted the
gracious word love to properly describe their real teachings
This crazy and vicious propaganda though frozen out by
the neglect and frown Of wholesome sentiment has left
its effects among and its seeds still spring up impaired
reverence for marriage and the home
Mormonism is another warning influence against our
homes More brazen, cunning more braggar than
ever unless checked, it viii extend its cancerous virus
throughout our civilization The South is to-day the
special object Of It's attack Chattanooga Tenn is said
to be headquarters for it's missionary" campaign and it's
workers are penetrating our Southern States arully
while they profess reverence for Christianity and claim
common heritage of faith with the evangelical churches
With this foul sewer pouring out the country the
purity of our home ideal is polluted.
The flood of shameless literature sent out sometimes
even by hitherto reputable publishers and the vicious
character OF many low grade plays and unsavoy theatres
other items in the court
What else can we expect II our people feed the
poisonous filth OF newsands and book and
hear marriage and coniuga infideity made the great
subject OF theatre jest than that lowered for
home and marriage win result? Even Spartan virtue of
thought is not proof against such repeated sights and
atmosphere
To these causes must be added the utter secuarizaton
OF marriage hasty and candestne marriages the ease
with which laws compel divorce the decreased rever
ence for all law and authority and the emphasis of in-
disiduaiism the dilated ego.
What has already been the result? In the last one third
OF the nineteenth century divorce in the United States
eaea arh rse o M ass e the This
written to prominent American, THE facts caused me
some alarm as to the future Of great country In
the North and West but the largest increase was in the
South Our nation Is outstrppng the world divorce
and crime and outstrippng its growth both these
Gladstone said again what every intelligent student Of
history knows THE future of the United States depends
G s aes divorces In ssS hs in the the
year and with about the population there were
46s divorces In the United States at that time there
200 divorce courts In all England there was only
divorce court. In New England there are granted
about 1000 divorces every year.
The United States Census Bulletin number Recovering
the years 1887 to 1905 published year startled the
world It found that marriage in every twelve in the
United States broken by divorce. In those twenty
there had been nearly million divorces in our
country And this number is increasing at a constantly
acceleratng speed No other country in the world even
approxmates such ratio There are one sixth more
divorces in the United States than in all other countries
of the Christian World combined If there ia no check in
forty marriage in four and in eight years one in
every two will be wrecked by divorce This not pleasant
reading to optimistic America And If the present
ratio is maintained by the end Of the twentieth century
the number Of separations Of marriage BY death will be
press telegram from New York declared not long ago