El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-24

H OF long ago [ had an interview
with distinguished jurist who
tries so many divorce cases that
he IS known as the. Divorce Judge" In
speaking Of the many causes OF domes-
tic infeHcity that led people into MS
court this wise and kindly man said;
In my opinion one Of the chlet
causes Of friction between husbands
and wives is the Indebtedness OF the
bargain they make when they get
married. and / believe that nothing
would do more to prevent divorce than
an ironbound contract. written out IN
resounding legal pnarse by la"y ef'
that both parties would be required to
sign before taking out license 10
marry.
seIost people have 10 have things
visualized before them. ana me 80
that they had contracted 10 peILoIln
certain specified duties ana 20 re-
spect certain obligations Dy name
would make them a thOusanoLolo mo- z
binding on the ordinary man , eilI
man than is the marriage ceremony llIi:3
which has an air OF dealing Win 6lll-
lering generalltles- .t
For instance, man promises 49,
all my worldly goods / thee ena-'.
when he marries his wife, but IL oOesn
make him feel that he has got 20 hdnd
her over regular allowance OF money
half as much as II would III ne liau
signed a definite contract to give her
SO a week A woman sWears al lne
altar to love honor AID obey ner nus
band. but that doesn't Keep ner lLStl
leupeckinE him nearly as Huc1 - -
would III she had signed cOnIracI NOT
10 deliver curtain lectures every ulne
he was an hour late for dinner, or
wanted to go downtown 10 see man
Most Important.
..ararriage is the most important
thing in the world to both men ana
women. Nothing else that they under
take has such Tar reaching consequences
10 id In nothing else is 1t SO vital that
they shall make no mistake OF JuoB-
ment and that they fshan sa1eE ua 4l
every point. yet there Is no otnst sle2
In life that people take so bllndly ana
with so little regard for consequences
III two men wanted TO 80 into part
nership they would look Up each oth-
much money each had and what credit,
and they would make definite ar
raRgement beforehand about what work
each was TO do and what part o. tlle
profits each was to have. Nothing
would be left to chance. and they would
start out at least on good working
+.But when q man and woman enter
into the most important partnership in
the world they don't take the trouble
TO find out a thing about each other-
nor to settle what eaCn IS 20 40 NOR
what each IS to expect from the other
nor what part of the profits Of the firm
each is to receive. Is 1t any wonder that
SO many matrimonial firms thus loosely
orEanized end IN bankruptcy
Believe me. the marriage contract IS
the remedy for the divorce evil People
VIII object on the ground that II does
away with romance. but there isn't
much romance left any way, after five
years of matrimOny. and there would
be deal Of comfort in
home where the husband and VIE were
both living up to the bargain they hao
made before they were married
7 feel sure that the divorce Judge
IS right and that nothing would 40
more TO insure domestic peace ana
happiness than for a man and women
to have a definite understanding before
they were married as to the duties and
obligations they were undertaking.
Friction Over Money.
For example, there is nothing that
there is quite as much friction ABOUT IN
The average household as there is about
money. The majority OF men reIuse
to give their wives any regular allow
ance, and the women Writhe ana cnaIe
under the injustice that makes them
have to 90 Ike beggars to their nus
bands for every cent they need TOT
household expenses. All OF this could
be avoided II there had been a mar
rage contract in which it was spec1fl-
cally stated what part OF his income
man should hand over to his wife
The inlaw problem Is another con-