The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1911-04-07
Make DIVORCE FREE And
EASY AS MATRIhONY

| itSu anu hdS icuuCcu lhdI 6idNSss
problem Of existence to the following
epigrams and recommendations:
| 1. Make divorce as easy, as cheap
and as private as marriage.
2. Grant divorce at the request Of
either party, whether the other con-
sents or not; and admit no other
ground than the request which should
be made without stating any reasons.
8. Confine the power of dissolv-
ing marriage for misconduct to the
state acting on the petition Of the
kings proctor or other suitable
functionary, who may, however, be
moved by either party to intervene
in ordinary request cases, not to pre-
vent the divorce taking place, but to
enforce alimony If 1t be refused and
the case is one which needs 1t.
4. Make is impossible for marriage
to be used as punishment as it is
at present. Send the husband and
wife to penal servitude If you dis
approve of their conduct and want
to punish them; but do not send them
| Ddck 10 perpetual WeulOCk.
5. If, on the other hand. you think
a couple perfectly innocent and well
conducted, do not condemn them also
to perpetual wedlock against their
wills, thereby making the treatment
| or what you consider innocence on
both sides the same as the treatment
| of what you consider guilt on both
sides.
6. Place the work of a wife and
mother on the same footing as other
work: that is, on the footing of labor
worthy of its hire; and provide for
unemployment in it exactly as for
unemployment in shipbuilding or any
other recognized bread-winning trade.
Z. And take and deal with all the
consequences of these acts of justice
instead of letting yourself be fright
ened out of reason and good sense
by fear of consequences. We must
finally adapt our institutions to hui
man nature. In the long run our
present plan of trying to force hui
man nature into mould of existing
abuses. supersitions, and corrupt
interests, produces the explosive
forces that wreck civilization.
8. Never forget that If you leave
your law to judges and your religion
to bishops you will presently find
yourself without law or religion. II
you doubt this, ask any decent bishop
or Judge.
Home life as we understand it,
declares this sophisticated sage lis no
more natural to us than cage is to
cockatoo.
"Indissoluble marriage is an aca-
demic Pigment, advocated only by
celibates and by comfortably mar
ried people who imagine that if 9TH
er couples are uncomfortable it must
be their own fault, just as rich people
are apt TO imagine that if other peo-
pie are poor it serves them right.
There is always some means of dis
solution. The only question to be
considered is, What shall the condi-
tons of the dissolution be?
IF we adopt the common romantic
assumption that the object of mar
riage is bliss, then the very strongest
reason for dissolving marriage is
that it shall be disagreeable to one or
other or both of the parties. II we
accept the view that the object of
marriage is to provide for the produc-
ton and rearing of children, then
childlessness should be conclusive
reason for dissolution.
CAS- neither of these causes entities
married persons to divorce it is at
once clear that our marriage law is
not founded on either assumption.
What it. is really founded on is the
morality of the tenth commandment.
which English women will one day
succeed in obliterating from the walls
of our churches by refusing to enter
any building where they are publicly
classed with mans house. his OK and
his ass, as his purchased chattels.
''We must be reasonable in our do
nestle ideals do not think that life
at public school is altogether good
for boy any more than barrack life
is altogether good for a soldier. But
neither is home life altogether good.
Such good as it does, l should say, is
due to it's freedom from the very at
atmosphere is usually described as an
atmosphere IS usually described as an
atmosphere of love, and this definition
should be sufficient to put any sane
person on guard against it,
THE people who talk and write as
IL the highest attainable state is that
Of family stewing in love continu-
ously from the cradle to the grave can
hardly have given Eve minutes serious
consideration to SO outrageous prop
osition. They cannot have even made
up their minds as to what they mean
by love, for when they expatiate on
their thesis they are sometimes talk.
ing about kindness, and sometimes
about mere appetite. In either sense
they are equally far from the realities
of life.
mo healthy man or animal is occu-
pied with love In any sense for more
than very small fraction indeed of