The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1910-03-03
UNDER THE LASH.
BY AN0Licus.


claims, something is radically
wrong with the Canadian divorce.
laws. In England, where similar
conditions prevail, Parliamentary
commission has been appointed to
inquire into the matter. As matter
OF fact, divorce neither hinders nor
helps immortality. Strict divorce
laws mean merely an increase in
the number of free unions. Let it
be admitted that the kind Of law.
which permits guilty husband to-
divorce an innocent wife by repre-
sensations which approach the,
borderIine of perjury is lndefensi-
BILE. Let it be further admitted
that to many believers divorce is q
thing impossible. Those who be-
lieve that marriage is holy sacra--
ment should be held to that be.
llef. But from legal point Of
view, where Church and State are
separated, marriage is a civil con-
Tract In essence. Hence, if nv
wife and L are neither of us ad-
herents of any faith precluding
such course, we certainly should
be permitted to terminate our con.
tract by mutual consent Similarly.
II one OF us fails to live up to the
obligations implied in the ontract.
the her should be able to force
an annulment. These are indis-
putable facts, granting the prima.
ry hypothesis. Now if the Church.
is truly disestablished, it is on this
basis that divorce laws should be
drawn. tn on this basis that thev
are drawn, but the trouble lies in the
lmperfection of their construction
and of their administration. Thus.
while in South Carolina divorce is
not permitted on any grounds
whatever, in other states the guilty
party may divorce the innocent on
a mere excuse. The life contract.
entered into through whim, is dis
solved in the same way and with
the same readiness. But divorce
or no divorce, morality remains at
he same mark, and it is note
worthy that the countries with the
strlctest laws are most plagued by
what is euphemistically termed
"the social evil" Such laws are
,umptuary; like prohibition, they
DO not prevent.
The UNION LABEL ON POETRY.
The announcement that an organ
ization Of New York's Hebrew
cards has been formed leads to a.
consideration whether Poets
Union would benefit t b e trade.
The chief business of union is
striking. If the Poets Union.
struck, would it be profitable to it.
or to the public? There must be-
demand for verse or it would not.
be printed; further, the demand
must exceed the supply or much
that gets into print would not get
there. The only trouble is that the,
average poet being an irresponsible
kind of an animal might not take
kindly to organization. HowcouId.
ones eye roll IN a fine frenzy if
one had to Consider the question
Of whether one was getting over
paid? How could one teach in
song what one learns in suffering,
If the instruction were to be reyis-
I'd by committee? Then again,
what shock to the aesthetic sys-
tenn would be caused by title as
follows: "The Overfraught ST.
lences. by Hudor Caloris. Strictly
Union-Made Goods But awe do
not patroniz4," list; that sounda
attractive. We do not patronize,
for instance, the World-Beater
Magazine, because they treat
man uscripts as pipe-lighters; We
do not patronize the Ellipse, be-
cause Mr.. Aloha Aswain was kicked
downstairs on the 18th inst; we do
not patronize the Too-Zuln. owing
to the bizarre decorations of the
editorial o fl ce-goId cuspidors
with ebony book jacks. But the fact