Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-07-10
D0r0h9
Dix
says
WHY DIVORCE INCREASES.
COPYRIGHT 1910 ~ I'VE WHEELER srNv'cNu ~

/
THE Adams divorce is a nine days
wonder among their friends and
acquaintances. Every one is dis
GUESSING it and nobody can understand
! It.
at must be Mrs. Adams fault" say
the men, "for a finer man. with higher
sense of honor, than Jack doesn't live"
You needn't tell us that Mrs. Adams
is to blame" cry the women, "for a
sweeter. tenderer, more loyal, or more
conscientious woman than Marian
Adams is, the good Lord never made"
And if. ever there was a love match
lit was theirs" exclaim the chorus Of
! their friends in unison. why, they
were simply mad about each other, and
how they could ever come to the part
ing of the ways is beyond our imagin-
ing
Their little world has never compre-
hended the real reason of the Adams
divorce. Perhaps the Adams them
selves do rot understand the true in
wardness of it, or know that in a way
they are the victims of their day and
geieration. and of the two forces that
so often oppose each other-heredity
and progress.
More particularly they are the vic
tins of the new feminist movement In
which the woman has gone forward into
n new world with different ideals.
different faith, another outlook from
that occupied by her grandmother
while the man has stayed still In the
very spot where his grandfather stood
and regards women from precisely the
lsame standpoint that his grandfather
did.
The story of the Adams divorce is
novel In three volumes. Let us read
lit.
Volume Sixty years ago Jonathan
Adams was married to Mary Brown
Jonathan was a good man. He loVeo
| his wife, and he meant to be gooo
husband. but his idea of what constituted
n good husband was identical with the
slave owners idea. of what constitutes
a good master. He thought he had done
his full duty by his wife when he saw
that she had enough to eat mouse
| to live in, and such clothes as ne con-
sidered proper to give her.
For the rest, he expected his wlIe
to bear his children, perform all the
duties of a perfectly trained upper
servant, be properly grateful TO MN
for all that he did for her, and to look
Iupon him as superior ana soulihe
creature whom she was glad to OBEY.
He never conceived of her as having
| anv life aDarr from his own, or think
| ing a thought that differed from MS
! And il never entered his mind 70 90
anything actively to make her happy.
| Mary Adams belonged to the same
| generation as her husband She had
! never seen a woman regarded as any
! thing but an inferior creature, whose
privilege it was to minister to the pleas
| ure of man, and so although she re-
! belled inwardly at the way she was
! treated, she accepted 1T with heroic pa
| thence as the inescapable lot of woman.
She got along in peace with her hus-
band because she bowed her head with
meekness to his iron rule, for it had
/ been bred in her that wife must sub
! nit to her husband.
Volume 2: Thirty years ago John
| Adams married Mamie Brown. John
| Adams eulogists were never weary of
saying that he was a chip off of the
old block, and a worthy son of his
worthy father, and 1t was true John
held to his fathers rigid code of hon
esty in his business dealings. He also
subscribed to his fathers views con-
corning women.
He treated his wife as he has always
seen his father treat his mother. He
had never seen his mother considered,
so he thought 1t quite unnecessary to
be consderate OF the feelings Of a mere
wife. or to take any pains to give her
pleasure. Her part in life was to bear
children, and make a man a comfortable
home.
I'm the head of this house." was
the phrase that was oftenest on his lips,
and he made of himself a domestic
tyrant before whom his wife and chill
dren trembled.
John belonged to his fathers genera
| ton domestically, but Mamie did not
belong to her mothers. generation. She
belonged to a generation of women who
had taken one step forward and who
had begun to revolt against the serf-