Evening star., 1922-11-21
Would Make Marriage as Well as
n;vorce More Difficult.

.yrhe crucial objection to poilticai
:,.;,;as for women has always been,
the Cedar Rapids Gazette reminos U.S.
.haoretical danger to the tradl-
.;o,s of home life" Now women
are planning to do something lot ehe
,rotec,ion of the home and the s'ao-
;,;z;re of our social life that men
GLOVE never would do and II thes
succeed "they will justify their right
IN the ballot" The plan referred 10
;s the movement sponsored py the
General Federation OF Women eiupS
for uniform marriage ana divorce
laws throughout the forty-eieh.
states by means OF a constltutiohai
amendment, if necessary. by whlcn
ho,h marriage and divorce Will De
10 more difficult" With the gen.
eral purpose OF the club women ana
on the whole. with their program
editors are in hearty sympathy, al
though there is divergence OF opin-
ion as to the best way 10 accomplish
that purpose.
That such legislation as is proposed
'.wou!d mark decided advance in the
welfare of society," the Green bay
Press Gazette is certain. and 1t agrees
with the ST. Paul Dispatch that that
great organization of women conld
not undertake a better work within
the scope Of it's purposes. and is en-
titled to the most respectful con-
sideration by the national and state
legislative bodies" for the end toward
which it is working 'is greatly to be
desired"
The need of uniformity in laws
nryor nd RI 70
ais apparent says the Albany News.
for while such legislation has always
been the province of the states them
selves they have. as the Jackson
Citizen Patriot puts it. "functioned
badly" The result. the Muncie Star
most as many codes as there are
states" and these codes. the Kansas
City Times adds. "are about as far
apart" as can be imagined. "the varia-
tions running all the way from South
Carolina, which grants divorce on no
grounds. to Nevada, which grants 1t
on practically any cause the human
mind can conceive
Laws regulating marriage and
divorce should be uniform through
out the United States" declares the
Grand Rapids Herald. because con-
ditions with which they deal are prac-
tically uniform" AS the Philadelphia
no essential difference in human
nature or in personal character be-
tween the inhabitants Of the sea-
boards or the inland reaches of Amer
lea to justify so many different sets
of warning regulations with regard
to marriage and divorce"
So far as marriage regulation Is
concerned. the proposed legislation.
the Appleton (Wis) Post Crescent
points out, would prevent hasty and
foolish marriages" through the "re-
quired public notice or publication
wedding" scheme which the Grand
Rapids Herald believes would make
impossible "the existence Of Crown
Point Indiana's famous Gretna
Green) or similar quick marriage
centers in the United States" when
tinues. it is too often found that
there is a direct relationship between
hasty and ill-considered marriage and
divorce" To this the Kalamazoo
Gazette adds that physicians. social
workers and observers generally have
for years conceded that the ease with
which marriage may be contracted
constitutes a basic problem, to which
can be traced many of the perplexing
social questions of the present day."
The federation's plan is merely one
to take the folly out of marriage" as
the Akron Beacon Journal sees it,
and "it simply had to come" If the
idea is adopted there will be mo
more elopements. not SO much
romance and rasmess," but more
golden weddings"
Divorce. under the program pro-
posed by the organized women. would
be granted for "infidelity. fhcurable
insanity, abandonment for one year,
cruel and inhuman treatment, or con-
viction of an infamous crime" A
divorce granted in any state would
be valid in all states. and mo di-
vorced person would be eligible to
remarry within one year." These regu-
lations, III carried out nationally"
the Indianapolis Star thinks, should
go a long way toward improving
present conditions" but If the pro-
posal hinges on getting an amend
ment to the federal Constitution 1t is
not likely to have very smooth sail
posed to surrendering their jurisdfc-
ton over the question of marriage
and divorce" the Oklahoma City Ok
lahoman suggests, in which event "a
strong effort should be made to OBJ
tain the enactment Of uniform mar
riage and divorce laws by the various
state legislatures"
But, in the opinion OF the Philadel-
phia Evening Ledger, 'the country
has had enough of constitutional
amending for the present. The cleo
= general dissatisfaction swith. CEN
traIixed authority and the theory un-
der which Congress was compelled
10 appear as q sort of moral police for
tho whole country. - Z n tha
1850