Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1902 — THE DIVORCE LAWS. [ARTICLE]

THE DIVORCE LAWS.

Of Indiana Will Come In . For A Revision. The reform of the divorce laws of the state of Indiana will in all probability be one of the problems that will be presented to the coming session of the state legislature for solution, together with a reform in the administration of the divorce statues by the courts. Bills looking to reform in this matter will be introduced and it is likely that some legislation will be effected. It is considered that the number of causes now contained in the statues for which divorces may be granted is too large and that the courts now go outside of the strict letter of the statute and grant divorces on flimsy pretexts. It will be the object of new causes for which, decrees may be granted and to restrict the courts so that they will be campelled-to follow the statutes more closely. Said a state legislator while discussing the divorce problem: “There has been feeling for years that Indiana has gone too far in the matter of easy divorce and from time to time there have been legislative enactments which were intended to check a tendency which was felt to be casting a stain upon the state at large, but recent statistics have emphasized the necessity for more drastic measures, and the coming legislature will be asked to take some action.

"The statutes now allow divorces for any one of seven different causes and the record, if the statutes were adhered to, would be bad enough at best, but there has grown up in practice in the courts a rule that while requiring the statutes to be conformed to in the complaint, still permits the proofs to vary radically and thus divorces are granted for causes which are not found on the statutes at all. , “The idea that seems to prevail in the courts is that if the husband and wife do not get along together, it is better for society that they should be legally separated, and the result is appeal to the courts to sever the bonds that are only occasionally irksome and to heal differences that but for the ease with which a divorce may be secured, would be overcome in the home, and publicity to the' world would be avoided.”