Evening star., 1925-01-04
DRIVE ON DIVORCE
is DUE THIS YEAR
Uniform Law Is Aim of Re-
formerS-Want Marriage
Made More Difficult.
BY ROBERT #. SMALL.

The year 1925 will be marked by
a new drive on the part of some of the
reform organizations making their
headquarters here for uniform divorce
, laws throughout the country
Students Of the divorce problem
have reached the conclusion that one
; of the surest methods of dealing with
the evil is. first of all, to make mar
riage far more difficult than it is to-
day. Modern young people take up
matrimony in too light a vein, it has
been found. They feel secure in the
belief that if a mistake is made, it
VIII be easy enough TO get divorce
and start all over again.
The many marital affairs of movie
. stars and other actors and actresses
have had their effect upon youthful
minds, for both boys and girls fol-
low the careers of the bright lights
OF the screen as worshippers at their
shriues.
ScoTerS Change Attitude.
Some years ago there was an in
clInation everywhere to laugh at
George Bernard Shaws proposal that
marriage be made a. difficult in the
future as divorces and that divorces
be made as easy as marriages. To-
day the first part of the Shavian idea
Is being adopted by some of the most
profound thinkers Of the country
DR.. s. ?. Brooks, president of Baylor
University, Waco, Tex, is out with
the suggestion that the marriage
laws of all the States be so arranged
as to require the publication of an
engagement for one year before the
wedding can occur. DIR. Brooks also
marry until they reach % years of
age The limit for girls he would
fix at 10 years.
Hitch Is Seen.
To the argument that the delay
between publication of the engage
hcut and the actual performance of
th' Wedding ceremony might result
Ia many broken romanceS answer is
made that it is better for these diff
ferences to arise before marriage
rather than soon afterward. 1t is
also argued that where a young
couple is threatened with separation
during the year following announce
ment of their engagement, due to the
prospective bridegroom being ordered
TO some foreign post of duty or
similar contingency, it would be both
unfair and unwise not to permit their
marriage so that the two might go
away together. Such cases are ex-
ccedingly rare, it is answered. and
the general good expected to be ac-
Complished by the enforced wait be-
tween engagement and marriage
would more than offset the few hard
ships which might be entailed
Making marriage more difficult is
about as far as the reformers care to
follow Mr.. G. B. Shaw They do not
subscribe to his theory of easy di-
vorCe, by which either party to a
marriage contract might be released
as the result of a simple request for
freedom, and the payment of a small
fee to a notary or perhaps a police
ma gistrate. The idea in the new
movement is that with marriage
made more difficult, stricter divorce
laws could be made effective.
Laws Called Absurd.
The existing laws in some States
are held to be both ridiculous and
absurd. There is cited the case, for
. instance. of the wife who applied for
divorce because of extreme and un-
usual cruelty. When the cruelty was
inquired into it was found to con-
sst of the failure of the husband
to take his wife to the movies for
q period of two years.
The tumble in personal relations
which the divergent laws of the va
rious States bring about from time
to time has been evidenced by the
case of the woman who has just OBJ
tanned Il divorce, according to her
own ideas, from a husband who was
married five years ago to his second
wife, acting on divorce obtain ed
by himself in Paris. Thousands of di-
Vorces and second marriages are legal
in one State and not in another
The problem is big one, but there
is hope here that 1925 will bring 1t
. a least step or two nearer a solu-
ton. .......-
! Icnnrrirht 1no1