Evening star., 1943-03-15
This NeW>Found
Freedom May
Ruin Homes
Increase in Divorce
Sh0w LIQUIDATION
OF Standards
BY Dorothy Dix

oilc VI Tie unexpected Dy-prOGuCLS
OF the war Is the increase in divorce,
which has reached an all-time high
even for this country where swap
ping husband and wives may be said
to be a national pastime. And the
reason given for this is the finan-
cial independence women have
achieved through doing war work
Apparently, just as thousands of
women are buying themselves now
the hne clothes and jewelry they
have longed for all their lives but
could never afford before, so other
thousands OF women are spending
their money in freeing themselves
from miserable marriages that they
had to endure because they were de-
pendent upon the husbands who
mistreated and abused them.
1t is, of course, sad and sordid
thing that the most sacred relation
ship that can exist between men and
women has price tag upon it, but,
alas, such is the case. None OF the
major sins blight so many mar
riages as does the financial problem
and when a bride and bridegroom
begin arguing over the division of
the pay envelope, the honeymoon is
over. Love can take many \ hard
knock and still come up smiling,
but when a husband begins asking
his wife what she did with that
quarter he gave her week before
last, or a wife commences dealing
out carfare to her husband, it has
gotten a knockout blow which 1t
never survives.
Before marriage a starry-eyed
couple think that nothing but love
matters, And the man honestly be-
lieves that it will be a JOY and a
privilege to work and support An
gelina and the little Angles and that
he won't mind resigning from his
clubs and not having custom made
shirts any more and riding In a Sec
ond hand car. And Angelina is sure
that basement bargains will look
like snappy little models If she wears
them for loves sake.
But when the first fine rapture Is
past and the husband sees all of his
hard earned money, on which he
could have such a good time, going
Tor groceries and beauty treatments
and having Sally's teeth straightened
and Tommy's adenoids out, and the
wife realizes that she is lust a
domestic servant who works for her
keep, 1t is no wonder that so often
they ask themselves what price mar
rlage, and figure out that it isn't
worth what is costs.
The situation is a difficult one for
both parties because, unless the
husband is a heel he can't walk off
and leave the woman he has sworn
TO love and cherish and endow with
all his worldly goods fat. She is
dependent on him and so he has to
stick to it whether he likes. 1t or not
And the wife has to endure her
marriage, no matter what sort of a
martyrdom it is, because her hus-
band is her meal ticket.
At least that has been the set,1p
Tor ages, but not now. The war
mas opened the door of opportunity
to millions Of women who never
dreamed that they had any money!
making ability. They have found
that they have unsupported talents
and skills, and that they can make
wages that look to them like
fortunes, And so they are snappinp
the marriage bonds that had CALLED
them so long and are getting a new
halr bob and some swanky clothes
and a divorce and are mailing a
For Rent" sign on their homes
Today is a grand spree for both
husbands and wives, for If the wife
IS free of the husband for whom
she has lost her taste, he is equally
Tree OF her, for no man has to sup
port a sed-supporting wife. But
what sort of headache they will
nave tomorrow, nobody knows. For
you NEEDLE with INT when vou
upset the customs and conventions
that civilization has evolved through
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