South Bend News-Times, Volume 37, Number 109, South Bend, St. Joseph County, 18 April 1920 — Page 17

J

Bend

News-Thles

SECOND. SECTION OUTH FEATURE, SOCIETY, WOMAN'S. THEATRICAL, AUTOMOBILE and EDITORIAL SECTION VOL. XXXVII, NO. 109 A N Kir SPA PH II FOR T7TH HOME WITH ALL TIIU LOCAL NKWS SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, SUNDAY, APRIL 18, 1920. DAT AND NIG ITT KI'LL LEASED wn:n TELDiUAPinc skiivict: PRICE SIX CENTS MENAGE OF DIVORCE IN ST COUN' rv Y I J ,1. 1 One Out of Every Three Suits Filed in Local Courts is Petition for Dissolution of the Marriage Bonds

JOSEPH

j r

Aw

Four Out of Everv Five Such Petitions Are Instituted by Women and "Cruelty" Is by far the Most Popular Charge A divorce s a, nure thing for attracting attention. In the phrase of Channtnn Pollock, It Is "sure fire iocum." A nwypapcr man knows he has something people will Tend when he prints the Ftory of a divorce. Many modern fiction writers display a Ftriklng fondness for beginning their novels at the point where they used to end them and the characters lived happily ever after. Itunning them around the triangle of love und divorce, their stories are finished with a narcotic olutlon eoothlni? to the reader's nerves and often It Is well that tho reader be lulled Into forgetfulness. Ulvorces not Infrequently figure In the plots of presently dramas. This tendency has been called a rather unhealthy symptom for the art. but. healthy or unhealthy. It Is quite a normal outgrowth of actual conilltons. Tho mirror of art Is at least reflecting life accurately. If not altogether wholesomely. DIVOUCKS ILKAIj facts. An examination of tho dockets in tho circuit clerk's office at the St. Joseph county court house Is ample proof that divorces are not merely confined to fiction, but belong to tho realm of facts. Divorces are a large fac'or In modern life and aro Increasing. Out of approximately C31 cai'es appearing on the dockets of the St. Joseph county circuit and superior courts during

the past fix months 2 6?, or more than a third, were divorce puits. Out of all the various other causes whereon men IlUgato a divorce suit was brought every time two others were Initiated. Over half of the cases filed In tho records of tho St. Jo?eph county superior court during the past four months were divorce suits, i:ot Including suits for separat maintenance. It is usually understood that to call a lawyer a divorce court lawyer Is to cast a reflection upon his professional repute, but as a matter of fact there are lew attorneys engaged In general practice who will not accept divorce cases. This, too, is to be expected both as a matter of dollars and cents and as a matter of principle. As a matter of dollars and cents becauso divorce suits ar? Increasing while raot other kinds of actions coming into court are on the wane. But what of principle? The same that would prompt a man to employ a competent physician through a hard fpell of sickness ought to prompt him to get a good attorney when ho takes such an Important Etep as that of getting a divorce. If a person happens to have a bad barber cut his hair no especial harm is done, but he in o.t certainly wants a first-class surgeon when his leg has to bo amputated. Any lawyer might be employed In an attempt o separate a ra.llroad, for Instance, from a few hundred dollars or a man from his debtors, but it is necessary that a more skillful counselor be, employed In the matter of being separated from enf's husband or wife, in order that no mistake bo made or Ill-timed advice given. A SKIUOUS AFFAIR. After nil, a divorce is a most serious affair, if one to accept tho time honored Idea th.it the family relation I the las!.? of civilized society. This principle ha been th ba-sie idea of juris-prudence for thousands of years in every place where civilization advanced far enough to have a system of laws. Hecords of ancient eivlllrations show that the founders of practically all considered the family rather than the Individual as the ur.lt of society, and the citizen participated In his government not Individually but as the representative of a family. This was so In tho beginning, though departures from this viewpoint be made now. If a tllvorce means the dissolution of a family surely then It Is not to be thought of lightly, but In the manner i: gainst which one Chicago Judge recently complained: "Marriage doesn't mean anything any more," Judge Joseph H. David cf the Cook county superior court is quoted as saying. "A divorce is no longer a stigma. It is an asct that seems to attract." The Judge blamed most of the divorces appear in in h!s court uron the "Idle women and women seeking . xcltement." woMF.v nuiNc; suits. To put the blame for divorces upon women is at least ur.gallant on tho part of a man. even If he be a judge, though It may be quite a masculine trait. Records In tho St. Joseph county clerk's office show that about 'four out of every five divorce suits are brought into court by the femade half of the partnership to be dissolved. Just why this N s. would make a long, long story, but a little reflection reveals that su'h is i.aturally to be expected. It Is said by person more familiar with the subject that the female cf the species registers conditions more quickly than the male. He fven yet may go out to a corner cigar store or bowling alley and forget hitroubles, but the won. an must hold the front lini against all onslaughts. Thvn, too. a real caue of action more frequently breaks out In the conduct cf the "Mr." than the "Mrs.", but it r.fvt r would be heard if the "Mrs." didn't come into court and tell the neighbors and the judge. Jut often as not, in the opinion of competent critics. the trouble starts out by th wife failing in some way to exerc; -e her feminine powers. charms and preregalives. It may .me to the surface in the life of either or both, but upon the woman devolves the terrible re.vponsibthty of making tilings at h nie should ci i s i:sv io riND. what they Su h ; i i.t' ts and fancies cue may gather lrom n perusal of the record of current divorce caes in sjr. Joseph- county, but .t tiiaj, the real heart cf the

matrimonial difficulties are hard to gather from charges and counter charges made in court. It Is almost safe to hazard that under present Indiana statutes almost any couple could find cause for divorce In the course cf a few years if they had a notion to. ' Cruel and inhuman treatment" covers a multitude of t-ins under current interpretations and might be construed as anything from wood alcohol on the breath to a kick on the shins. Tho petition for on divorce filed In tho courts alleged as a pivotal point in the reasons why divorce should be granted that husband had "dared her to get a divorce." A husband who had not taken out first

Unchecked Craze for Divorce Will Rock Nation to its Foundation and Turn World Into a Turkish Harem Views of South Bend Ministers and Lawyers

From close contact with humans at critical moments In their lives ministers of the gospel and counselors at law should be best able to form a worthy opinion upon the subject of divorce and the causes thereof. Dr. J. N. Greene of the First M. E. church calls its prevalence the symptoms of a deep-seated disease. "The deepest element of tragedy," Dr. Creme declares, "in the prevalent divorce evil is the complacency with which the evil is commonly viewed. That we are not shocked and aroused by tho prevaJence of the evil is evidence that we either fall to realize the moral and social effects of the evil, or else are so blunted in our sensibilities that we have no concern for those effects. A dlvorco case 13 merely a surface symptom of a deeper-seated disease. The disease Is the wreckage of a home, the most sacred Institution outside of heaven. That wreckage involves the destruction of domestic felicity and marital affection, which are essential to a stable and righteous society. In the last analysis the divorce question becomes a question of affection and honor between a man and a woman. "Where affection and honor are maintained there will be no occasion for divorce. "Where these are absent divorce Is probable. "The great problem Is that of safeguarding tie affections and maintaining honorable relationships between tho sexes. Those social practices which trifle with the affections and induce immoralities prior to marriage certainly pave the way for domestic unhappiness and divorce after marriage. The lav? of the harvest applies here. If wo Insist on sowing the seed wo must expect to reap the harvest." TRYING TO TU UN AVORL1) INTO TURKISH HAREM. Rev. Alfred Merrill Eells, D. D., of the Westminster Presbyterian church, bays: "The foundation of the church, nation and society is the home. Destroy that and tho superstructure will fall. Whether it Is the breaking down of moral standards resulting from the war or whether it is the effect of augmenting Influences predating thit event, yet the fact remains that there are agencies at work trying to turn thin world Into a Turkish harem. Cheap novels and lax enforcement of law are combining to nullify the saorednesw of tho family fireside. "Aside from private morals the effect is deplorable to the nation. The divorce Is too easy In the United States. We have 3.000 divorce courts and the United States grants nearly 15,000 divorces a year, while Canada grants only S00 a year. What is the result? Respect for the most sacred of all human Institutions is gone and with It goes respect for such things as law, governments and right- If the home is right the nation will be right and the church will be right. Pliny tells us that during the first 500 years of Roman history there were no divorces. Then Rome won its greatest glory. Then came luxury and divorces. And then Pome crumbled and fell. Kighty thousand divorces granted In one year In Faris preceded the worst revolution that ever convulsed France. If you would find the cause cf the growth of bolshevlsm, disregard of public welfare and national unrest look at the fast disappearing sanctity of the family fireside. "What Is the remedy? Only one. The religion of the Christ, who honored tho home, must be wrought into family life. Divorces must be made so hard that a name can never be erased from a marriage certificate until It Is chiseled on a tomb stone. Then when a person realizes that marriage Is a life relationship hasty matches will be a thing of the past, a divinely crowned love will predominate and the world will be safe." Rev. 1". S. Davis. D. D , draws similar conclusions to those of Dr. Eells and Dr. Greene. "The divorce question Is important" he says, "because it concerns the home. The home is the first and most Important institution. The home is the foundation of society. It is the fountain from which all other institutions flow. From the family have come our svhOQls. our churches, and our civic ideas. In America the family has always ben held in the highest regard. In a republic the family must be revered. In our .American historic certain family names stand out. We mention with pride the family names of Washington, l.ee. Adams. Jefferson. Hancock. Phillips and Beechcr. Thfse influences that have come cut of these families are felt in every phase of our national life. No other nation has exalted the family after the fashion if Amerika. When we think of the family we think of women and children. The history of the family id the history

naturalization papers aska for divorce, alleging that his wife called him a "dirty little Dutchman." She had also attacked him with a butcher knife. Another one of the husbands sought divorce on the grounds of cruel treatment because Iiis wlfo "drove him away from home with a dish pan." Still another man asked divorce because "his wife would gossip with the neighbors and neglect her own home." Records of the evidence In another case show that tho woman sought divorce from her husband on the grounds of cruel treatment received when she would not assist in the operation of a "blind tiger." Of an entirely different nature Is the grounds on

of women and children. Literature Is rich In the story of love that lays the foundation of the home. Rebekah and Isaac on tho first night of their married life fell down and prayed God that they might grow old together. That they might walk along the Journey of life hand in hand and help each other. That was the Ideal of the home. In all the great books a woman is always at the heart of the scene. BREAKS DOWN FAMILY. "History shows the society is a unit representing the union of two temperaments, the masculine that is fixed and unalterable; the feminine, with which the woman is stained through and through like crimson eet in the finest wool that cannot be washed out. Bex Is a fast color. God never intended that a man should be femlnnlzed or a woman made masculine. "There is great alarm today expressed, by writers who love their country at the threatened breakdown. One writer has pointed out that In the past few years there has sprung up 3,000 courts for the consideration of domestic troubles, and 16,000 divorces have been granted In a single year. Though In the same year only 800 divorces were granted in England and only 20 In Canada, The blackest part of the tragedy concerns the children. The ruined homes of this land are like the ruins left by an Invading army. SOME DIVORCE CAUSES. "What are the causes of these divorces? We can only give the answer of the courts. The courts tell us why they grant these divorces. First, man's faithlessness tops the list Second, non-support and a man's neglect of his children. Third, the cruelty of a man. A man who is a tyrant, brutal In speech until his children flee from their father. But the chief motive In tho vast majority of cases Is woman's dislike of lepers, physicaJ and moral. Think of this: In a certain city In a single year 1,500 babies were committed to homes for feeble minded. We can only imagine what lies back of tho unfortunate lives of those babies. We know that Sodom and Gomorrah, with their vile depravities were consumed by flames from heaven, and that perhaps this present-day race is to be consumed by the flames of disease. Either the men of his country must give up whisky, drugs and maintain a life of health, cleanliness, sobriety or tho home life of tho nation will collapse. CROWDED CONDITIONS MENACE. "The home life is threatened by the crowded conditions of our cities. Too close to each other. Familiarity breeds contempt but lack of privacy exposes to grave temptation. The Judge of tho divorce court says that the 'boarder' Is the cause of many a broken home. There Is no home life with etrangcra always around. There is necessity, no doubt at times to subrent but It should be done with the utmost precaution. Rooms but no house to rent. The old home with plenty of room is about gone. The art of arts Is how to live In a suit case. The great skill Is to keep house with a kitchen cabinet and a davenport. "I asked a couple whom I had Just married, where are you going to live? Well, wo don't knorr yet, we are going out to look for a room. That was a bad beginning. Other couples get married and expect to live with the old folks. That too, is a bad start Light house-keeping does not give the average young women enough to do to keep them out of mischief. "The high cost of living is having its affect on the home. Toung men get married and find that the cost of keeping two on a salary that he was hardly able to live on brings trouble. A young woman's wardrobe costs more than he ever dreamed. They try to solve it by living in a "room." There Is no home. A great number cf divorces are being granted for desertion. Too many young people treat marriage as a 'lark.' I married a young woman who chewed gum right through the service. No wonder that they got a divorce in a few months. Dislike for housework is another serious cause. Girls who work away from home don't like house work and don't like to stay home even when they get one. The moving picture is another cau.e cf divorce. Too much time to put in by 'roomers' takes them to movies. Tho moving picture show is bringing up more children than are the homes cf this city. THE CURE OF THE EVIL. "The cure of the divorce evil lies in a revival of a consciousness of the sacredness of the marriage bonds. The Bible teaches that thfcse two shall become one flesh. They are no longer two people, but on". So Intimate is the union that a man Is ready to forsake father and mother and the old home and cleave uoto

which one -wife seeks divorce when she alleges in the bill that "her husband was green with Jealousy and wild with envy." ,rWhen I dressed myself up in a becoming but modest manner," she further alleges, "he made insulting remarks about my appearance." The husband in thfa particular case filed a cross complaint In which he charges h!s matrimonial difficulties to love of bright llsht?, sill; clothes and dinners on the part of his wife. Another husband had a w'.fe w!th less refined taste, for he charges after she had been going out nights for some time he a.sked her he wherefore and she told him "to have a hell of a time." So the petty stories drag, distorted and grotesque

his wife. What hurts wife hurts husband, and what brings Joy to husband rejoices wife. It Is because of this eacredness that the only sin that the Bible recognizes as worthy of divorce is adultery. If the courts would take a little more of this teaching Into their decisions and make it a little harder to obtain divorces it would help very much. No man should be allowed to marry for two years after a divorce. Even moving picture artists ought to be compelled to observe such a law. And when they disgrace the American home a.s was done recently in a western state, they ought to be hissed from the screen by decent and home honoring people. Another help would be universal state lawn. Or a slmilnr law in all the states. Nevada ought not be allowed to annul what New York enacts. At any rate the homo must be preserved or the nation ca. not stand." EXTRAVAGANCE A CONTIUBUTING CAUSE. George Sands thinks extravagance and war-romance aro mainly to blame. - "Divorce like crime," he says, "we have always with us. Human nature has its frailties and its vices. However, litigation for divorce has increased rapidly In the past few years. It may safely be said that applications for divorce have increased four-fold in the past three or four years, not only here but throughout the country. This ii due to several things. "Extravagance Is one. "We have too many luxuries, too many amusements, and too little home life. A young couple marry. Furniture is bought on credit. The furniture cjid furnishings are probably better than they can afford. Then sickness comes. The debts grow. Tho husband grows worried and Irritable and then a violent quarrel lands them In the divorce court. Extravagance is our national sin. No man has the right to own a $2,(00 automobile unless he has accumulated $20,000 free from debt. Surely 10 per cent of a man's fortune is enough to have tied up in a luxury. "The in-laws are another reason. You, mother-iri-law and all the othcr-in-laws, attend strictly to your own business if you want that couple to be happy. RESULT OF WAR MARRIAGES. "Fully one-third of divorces now being filed are the result of war marriages. When the men of our an 'V and navy were called into service they underwent a peculiar p5ychological change. The entire order of their lives was changed. Going out, knowing not whether they would return, serious thoughts and reflections arose In their minds. They longed for a closer tie binding them to their home. Some tie that was all their own. And let it be remembered that the uniform his always been a magnet to the feminine eye. As a result thousands of marriages were entered into on short acquaintance. Neither party knew tho other's temperament, habits or character. After demobilization they attetipted to takeup their home life, only to find each other totaoy unsuited and uncongenial. Again the man traveled strange lands and cities, met other won.cn and forgot his wife. The wife sometimes grew lonely, sought the company of slackers and remembered her hero'husband only when she received her monthly allotment check. These are the contributing causes. The underlying cause Is lack of respect for the marriage tie. "Don't blame the law. The law Is not a teacher. The law does not say what you shall do but says what you shall not do. You can't make people honest, moral or righteous by law. Religion is the bulwark of civilization and society. A vast number of our people have no religious connection or conviction?. They have had little moral or religious training. Th-y do not look upon marriage as a sacred status. Marriage is the foundation of the state it is sacramental in character. A vast number of our people do not so regard it. Hence the many divorces." FROM A LAWYER'S POINT OF VIEW. Taking up the legal aspect of the question. ;.' .-'. A. Schock, deputy prosecuting attorney, has the following to say: "From what I have heard of domestic troubles ami the result of Investigations into conditions that surround hundreds of homes in the county. I bellow that patience is one of the greatest virtues that can be practiced by both husband and wife. The ;,v:k of it is probably the direct cause -f the ir.cornpatil.i:ity which exists in so many home-?. "The lack of patience by the husband with tbtired wife who has continued through the monotony of her domestic du'ies for w"--k? mont'rs and year--, and the sudden awakening of the wife uwi p-rlKi'

"Slacker" Romances, High Cost of Living and Liquor Are Among the Prominent Basic Causes for Present Domestic Difficulties. b.ts of human nature, for th most part, that destroy the life of families said by historians, philosophers and jurifts to be the foundaii-vi of clviliration from V. Uginning. divorces are on the increaye. Why? Thre.. tauses that might affect the marriage relation appear with renewed force within the last two yus. the war and war romances, prohibition, and the h'.rh m-t of livinir. Of the number of divorces within th la"', six- months about a dozen allied intoxication a." a contributing cause for divorce. One wife as late .'is tembfr alleged that her husband had I -n coming home intoxicated four nh'ht on? of the week f..r th last "0 years. Not more than a half a dozen app'ar to bare h the result of an army romance too ha-tily enacted, indeed there are so:i;e divorces asked by couples many of whom bad been married as long as M .:. pnie

as long os 20 years .md a few even :,) years or Slali.--tie more standing were soiii-rht to bo dissolved fr-oT.i Wnshlnctnn indicate that divorces sought i the ground cf failure n provide have doubb d within th last two years. l.oc.ii records do not show such an increre in this particular, but without doubt the high cost of living has cut an important i'.gure in the divorce courts. One lr, ai petitioner alleged: "When I did not give my wife all the money she wanted ."-he would Fay that she would get someone r. ho vou!d give it to her." This couple were married April 9. 1917. and thereby may hang another story. AN INTI.lt N AT I OX A Ij PI! AM A. Only one divorce affair appearing In local courts in six months made reading matter intrinsically of interest. It i th story of Tekla. Moses and Jacob. The first scene is laid In Itussia, where the latter two in their youth were rivals for Tekla's hand. T'pon reaching manhood Moses boarded an emigrant ship for Argentina and told Tekla that he ould soon send for her. Jacob took a ship for the United States and also told Tekla that he would send for her wh n he saved up enough money in the. land of promise across the sea , Hut Moses was the f.rs! to. send for the waiting girl and she boarded the r;et ship that .aibd for Argentina. Moses was waiting at the doc!; to meet hr and they lived happily not orr after, but for a litt! while. For fortune il i.ot shine upon them. They eaimht a steamer for the V. S. A., and eventually settled in Davenport.' la. Their little lauhtr Anift was six years of age, when one evening Tekla in t b-r old friend Jaeoh and took him home to visit the family and celebrate the ir.eetin;' of old-time fri'-nds. Jaco'. was taken into the heart of the family and he and .Moses went into buvine?-s lo-ttb'T. sm: ri.i:i:s with .iacois. Hut the erisis earn when J.o-oh'y m mory of h:? irst love overcame him an 1 1 prsu:.d-l Tekl.-i to i. where soon .after a nd p! if d in J ii. r. v, h n Tekla e x - run away with him to South '- their arrival they were arreste.l They were soon released howe plained that no minister between her and Moses. ad periorme.j th" o-p fioriv o .after their r lease she and Jacob were married. Moses, though, follov e, them h.th r a nd : aimed that Tekla w;ls his wife by common law. A lo.-.V, lawyer was employed. lie wrote a i'-ta-r to the Argentine embassy at Washington regarding the common law status in that country. A reply was received to the effect that commonlaw marriages were not recognized in that country- So Tekbt was Jacob's Jecal wife after all. Hut the divorce comes In at the denouement when Tekla decides that for the sake of her daughter, little Anita, she wants to return to Mop'- and so ho does when the three return to Davenport. A story ef simple Russian pea-sant it i hut onm full of dramatic force. How different this from the ?9 other divorce stories granted on charges e!a-iflrd 3 "cruel and inhuman treatment" or there are oth r things in life b:do keeping a hot t;dy and the children from e.i arr ii rv..', i. e. no: dances, arcl various other s-.t 's ' f fr;vo:.,-. : n u merit. In other words the wc-man and the man, 1 . have failed to rem.-! in t-i : pe.v. t--. It jj -,thT amusement and th- lighter thim., of hf. or ; hum-drum ex-terce. Wh. n one or th; oth-r f to keep par th'-re vi--; !:ii. i ii' i o 1 1 ; , . :' k y :. :i a . J Ue k of th.it th- re 'o- : ic,; pat; to their !iv o V i tt fix' h w;h .!! sojourn bei. CA h:ie m the com l' h o 'Here in the pr .s. tit in.- ;u'o? e w the prohiem-: thit ai- e'iim .i: ;n problems that un'f b fore there i thought of d:v vrc.. It is only wh'-r. thi:.: ive b--.r.c extreme thit the court is r--orte.i to. i vu -1 of th tt. for th great majority o! n. u ar.d v ' n v. ill r;---t reson to court b-tore they hae tr.- 1 'ory miin possible to r emain together. Hu: rurb.: i td; re Int i where pa tier.', e beeomes a .rtu- If a i. an v. ro to overlook the defects in los w:! temperament thM he does in his busines:.- partn rs hon l.fe would b ail ro5es providing th w -awww v. oui.i re-it i. r h':--l and with as much re?p and a- s.i" . u ;bl a strang'-r in hr home. Th:- :' -r- a ppi to those who are in o:npat;M;."

V