Norwich bulletin., 1914-02-05
No Remarriage
 of the Divorced
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
 TO PROHIBIT IT.
INTRODUCED IN SENATE
Author of Proposed Reform Declares There Has Been an Alarming h.
 crease of Divorces in This Country.

Washington, Feb 4-Divorce with the right to renlarry would be prohib- ited forever in the United States and in all places under the nations juris- dicti9n by an amendment to the fed eral Constitution proposed in the sen ate today by Senator Ransden of Louisiana Enactment of uniform marriage laws for all states and ter ritories. with provision for separation without permission to remarry. would be directed by the amendment
 With the states of the union grant ing more than twice as many divorces as all the rest of ChriStendom com bined. Senator Ransdell told his col leagues that the time had come for the nation itself to put down this menace to the chief bulwark of society, the Aome-the maker of good citizens and the model on which every wise government is founoed."
 Alarming Increase of Divorces.
 The remedy by constitutional prohi- bition is drastic" said the senator, but the malady is so fatal that noth- ing short of it will prove efficacious- In the United States divorce is spread ing with alarming rapidity. It has permeated every walk of life and. is prevalent among every class of people The total number of divorces granted in 1867 was 9,937, or 27 per 10000 population. Forty years later, in 1S06, there were 72.062 divorces, or S6 per 100, 900; thus in actual numbers there were more than seven times as many divorces granted in 1906 as in 1867. or allowing for the increased population, divorce had increased 319 per cent
 If divorces multiply at the same rate in the future as in the past-and there is every indication that they will increase faster-then before the mid dle of this century we will have an nually in the United States 275 di vorces per 100000 population, or one divorce for every five marriages Some Countries Prohibit Divorce.
 If the United States were to write in the constitution an amendment prohibiting absolute divorce, it would not be taking such a radical step as might at first be thought. but would be following a beaten path. Our own state of South Carolina-all honor to ner-forbids divorce. It is absolutely prohibited in Italy, Spain and to two- thirds of the population of Austria Hungary, while the Latin American lie, Brazil Peru, Chile and others have similar laws
 'N nile many excellent people are divorced. and some of them make new homes the inevitable trend of divorce Is to break up many more homes than it builds up and to materially reduce the number of children. When mar riage is dissolved the true home ceases to exist; the parents and the children are separated, and the sweet ties that bind father and mother to their off, spring. and to each other, are broken forever.
 Take Warning from Rome.
 AS long as the Romans of old look ed upon marriage as sacred, and held the sanctity of the home inyiolate, their arms were invuIherable and Rome became mistress of the world. But with the accumulation of colossal wealth came great laxity of morals; marriage became a jest, and child bearing a useless burden. The luxuri- ous Romans lost all respect for female chastity; the heroic virtues of their early years were forgotten, and the empire fell. the victim of luxury and disregard for the binding effects of marriage.
 Shall not the United States take warning from Rome's example7"