The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-01-12
JANUARY II, 1922.
A GRAIN OF COMFORT

This is the season of annual reports,
and 50 atistics abound upon every conceiv-
able sopic The briefest scrutiny of press
dispatches the first week of the new year
disclOses the fact that the 1927 crop of di-
vorces in most places was considerably
lighter than in 1920 There is justification
for optimism if one believes as the
preacher would have us believe, that the
true index to our moral health is to be
found in the unity, peace and concord
abiding at the freside.
Tuaemuch as all values are relative
tPrttr,sor Einstein,) there may be some
grain of comfort to the cynic in cOntem-
plating the fact that there were fewer
marriages in 1921 than in the proceeding
year. and so perhaps the world, relatively
speaking, is no nearer heaven than ever.
The statistics coming from so many diff
ferent cities and communities invariably
point to our mounting morals in 1921.
Whether this condition continues is an
other question. But just now we have
good reason 70 brag of our righteousness,
az least until the next crop of statistics
crops out. $751;
The figures on the whole are somewhat
battling. In some cases it would appear
that the divorce evil was a blessing,
of ali manner of legal home-wrecking-
absolute divorce. legal separation and
annulment-puzzle the statistics hunter.
However. the fact remains that activities
of divorce courts in most places through
out the country underwent a sharp slump.
In a measure this may have been due to
the fact THAT the courts are looking into
evidence offered in divorce trials rather
more sharply than formerly.
The remarkably large proportion of
cases that were uncontested provided an
other interesting sidelight on domestic
infelicity of today, or of last year rather.
So many diverse elements unite to pro-
vide the melancholy spectacle of married
persons repenting Mt leisure that the task
of appraisal of the justice of claims and
counter claims for marital relief becomes
difficult Plenty of wonderful opportuni-
ties for the amateur statistican abound.
Perhaps it is easier to explain the fewer
weddings on the grounds of industrial de-
preston and falling off of hasty war
time weddings. In other words, person
contemplating marriage these days goes
in for a bit of stOck-taking and profound
contemplation of things as they are and
as they may or may not be following the
ceremony before releasing his or her
clutch on the existing state of personal
affairs
The stencil of the notorious Stillman
case is with us yet The year 1921 passed
| it along to 1922. The Stillman press a.
gents continue to provide the public with
/ the latest opinions of the StilIman chill
| dren as to the relative merits of their
parents. The principals themselves are
not in the least aversc to giving out lengthy
and detailed sketches of themselves
and each other and their intimate rela
tons In this case at least the granting
of divorce to either of the principals
no matter what the evidence, would be 8
blessing to the PUBLIC in general. In cast
a decree is refused for any reason, and tn,
action remains unsettled divorce evil
would be the proper term by which Il
characterize the whole disgusting affair
The Stokes divorce case perhaps is MOI
quite so malodorous, so far. And yet i
has possibilities in that direction.
Il However, for the most part the re