The Washington herald., 1921-06-16
ONCE JUSTICE OF PEACE
HAS VIEWS ON MARRIAGE.

HAS VIEWS ON MARRIAGE.
'T have had considerable expert
ence with marriage, not from per-
sonal experience, but as specta-
tor" said w E. wortham, Wiscon-
sin. at the Ebbitt yes "rday. i at
one time was justice of the peace IN
a rural section of the Badger state
and had the opportunity OF observ-
ing people about to get married
and as a result i developed some
theories with respect to 1t that per-
haps would be considered some
what queer.
Did you ever ask yourself why
a man deliberately saddles upon
himself some one else's bill for the
remainder of his lifeT' asked Mr..
Wortham. There are troubles
enough that We must bear; why,
then. do we hunt for new cares to
place on our shoulders?"
"Of course. for one thing" con-
tinued Mr.. wortham, ''the addition
of new troubles provides an OPP
portunity for greater change or
troubles and the next best thing to
relief from a troubles is a change.
But that only partially answers our
question"
MARRY IN ORDER TO WIN
PERPETUAL ADMINISTRATION.
81 figure 1t out this way. All Of
us mortals. particularly the male
of the species, have the craving to
be important somebodies:' we like
to boast Of our achievements, how
ever trivial they really are SO
We go to our brethren and gloat over
our accomplishments, but they will
not listen. They bid us be of, II
they are disposed to be frank, and
IL they are anxious not to hurt our
feelings, they suddenly remember
that they have an engagement and
leave us while we are in the midst
of giving vent to our egotism.
so we males go for girls who
cast soft glapces and marvel how
wonderful We are. OF course, we
fall for 1t. 1T is sweet incense to
our nostrils. We become habituated
to II. So to obtain a steaey sup
ply of the fiattery we pay the cler-
gyman IS.
BUT. OF COURSE, THERE
ARE OTHER REASONS.
But of course" continued Mr..
Wortham. that does not entirely
answer the question. There are
other reasons, biological and psy-
Geological. but 1 believe the rea-
son I have outlined enters into the
proposition more than Is commonly
believed. There is a hint in il for
the wise young woman. IL she hap
pens to be on the trail of someone
to love. honor and obey"
Mr.. Wortham declared himself as
opposed to a national divorce law.
This Union was founded" he saId.
with the idea of each of these States
were to be free sovereignties-a
union of States that was the concept
entertained by the founders of our
country. We are, I believe, much to
our detriment, forgetting this and
initiating the wornout patterns of
Europe. We are seeking to obliter-
ate all differences between the
States and delesating all authority
to the national government.
This Is tendency we must COM
bat A national divorce law is mere
ly another link in this centraIizing
chain. States are now being dele
gated to the background, and one
who truly sympathizes with the
ideals of America can but lament
this tendency.
MANY REASONS AGAINST
NATIONAL DIVORCE LAW.
But, even barring this, why
should we have a national divorce
law? When we have found the best
solution for the divorce problem.
then perhaps we can apply it ma
tionally, but who will say that we
know the wisest solution. There
are those among US who are op-
posed to all divpree. Shall we adopt
their views as a national standard?
And going to the other extreme,
there are those who believe incom-
patibility is sufficient reason for di-
vorce. They declare 1t is best for
the husband and wife to go apart.
rather than to remain together in an
embattled state. They contend it is
not right to the child to allow IL to
dwell in an atmosphere where hus-
band and wife are in a state of hos
tility and bitterness. We forget,
too, that the more rigid the laws
are. the greater their liability to be
violated.
The answer to the question is not
as simple as some people imagine.
The present way of dealing with the
problem, 1 believe, is best.