The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1911-09-29
ASATURDAY
GFEs@ NIGHT
\ SERMONS
By
sas,,,!R' NMnuElW.puUNsnn
THE MILLS OF THE DIVORCE GOD.

"Mr and Mrs. Pristine, allow me to
present my wife, Mrs. Gayburd." Con
fusion and perplexity play on the faces
of the Firstimes. Pardon me: should
have said the new Mrs. Guyburd.'
There's much laughter and congratula-
tons. at surely doesn't seem six
months since we entertained him and
the last Mrs. Gayburd. Time flies 40
quickly" says Mrs. Pristine. Sioux
Falls ?" asks her husband laconically.
One of the largest questions before
the American people today is that OF
divorce. Figures alarm. They vary
from Maine, with one divorce to six
marriages, TO the last government fig
ures with II national average of one In
twelve. Our nation leads In drink muir
der, suicide, divorce. We are nearing
where Rome was when the storm
broke, where France stood before the
reign OF terror The nations sky Is
dark and would be ominous were 1t not
for signs of better things.
Light and Shadow.
evil, or, rather, underestimate the
the other side. Houghton, the eminent
sociologist, says: american men and
women today hire their wives and hus-
bands as they do their horses and car
riages. When they are not suited they
dismiss one and hire another. Women
mostly think they can hire, tire and
To hni IN
der2 Sometimes. In theatrical circles,
most prolific In divorce, Mr.. Mat Good.
fellow may write CharminEly OF "Why
Beautiful Women Like to Marry Me"
In the smart set" where "afiinities"
come and go rapidly, among some heir
eSses who are put on the auction block
and sold to the highest bidder, and
among some milionaires who have
much money and no work. divorce Is
the correct thing, and that happy con-
summation with the taking on of n
new amour is heralded rs leading
news. But back of that is the ten hun
dred thousand happy men and women
who through poverty, sickness, Calam-
ity, are faithful to each other "till
death them do part" They form the
backbone of the great American repub-
lie. Feel thankful that you do not
live in the foul moral sewer, the nau-
seous mess, that constitutes the testl-
mony of cabby who carried milady up
the steps too drunk to walk and of the
sergeant in the red light district who
told Of the cScapades of Milford. The
devils meal is mostly bran that goes
as grist to the mills of the divorce god.
The Road to the Mill.
I believe in lawful divorce Just as
well as lawful marriage. But just as
long as the front door of marriage
stands wide open day and night the
back door of divorce will be left con
veniently aiar. 1t IS not only to di-
vorCc, but to marriage, that attention
should be turned. \ man anxious to
do" II rival, social clothes rack
craving the title of Mrs" before her
name, an anxious minded mamma the
pOcketbOOk of an Overworkcd papa,
are mighty important factors in many
marriages. AS a rule, fairly wise
normal marriage does not end in the
divorce court; the figures show that
1t is the hasty, impulsive, foolish mar
riageS that end on the rocks. A Penn
sylvania village stepped smilingly into
the limelight for recognition when a
young fellow took dare to propose to
strange girl visiting in the town.
She caught the spirit of the joke. They
applied for license; were married be-
fore midnight. 1t should he impos-
slble to marry without six weeks of
public announcement through pulpit
or press, There's a town in Delaware
where marriage is a local industry,
and another Jersey town until recently
was just as Infamous. We read daily
OF couples married by phone" in n
cage at circus, on a merry-go-round
at the picnic. on top OF the Ferris
wheel at the county fair-all sorts of
fantastic situations that furnish "fun"
for their friends. They are followed
by hail of rice, indecent suggestions,
old shoes and obscene postcards. It's
great Clark" surely, but it takes at
least three ounces to complete the
ceremony.
The Cure For the Cancer.
The viciousness of our present di-
vorce evil lies in lax divorce laws,
secrecy, quickness, larger number of
rauses Tor lack of causes) and permits
zion Of speedy remarriage. One west
ern judge announced he would grant
divorce to any couple three days after
filing. He was swamped with appli-
cations. Divorce should be at least
as public as marriage. Screening the
parties by n secret order, as n friendly
Judge did recently in New York city,
Is as scandNlous as the divorce while
you wait plan Of the western Judge.
Many shrink from publicity. The
newspaper is good policeman. OF
course matrimony develops friction =
with some well nigh intolerable, but
marriage presupposes patience and
forbearance. "Incompatibility'' is as
elastic as the most tickle conscience
needs or the occasion demands. Re
marriage forbidden within a year
would check the speed of lustful APP
plicants. Uniform laws would give
some legal safeguards. But way down
deep underneath must be n more sa-
cred view OF marriage, better home
training OF both men and women and
4