INCREASE IN DIVORCE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 9 August 1928, Page 4

INCREASE IN DIVORCE.

VL, Alt MIN G STATISTICS

C: X. FRN IN NEW SOUTH WALES

The tlivor.-e statistics for New b'outli Wales are, to say the least, alarming, and it is not any wonder that thoise (,vh.> tliinn about such matters are .showing great concern. The latest figures show that there is one divorce or every ten marriages celebrated in e .Mate, and the Divorce Court is so congested that an additional Judge has been appointed to assist the two judges, ’writes the Sydney correspondent of the Auckland “Herald.” The three Judges are faced with a suflicient number of cases to keep them o copied continuously every day for three or four months. And even so, resh petitions are being filed every rlay. On top of this comes a suggestion that divorce should be made even note easy than it is, and one newspaper has praised the New Zealand provisions relating to desertion and has urged their adoption here. It is safe to say that the Government is unlikely t > further facilitate divorce. The Rev. D. E. Brandt, of the Chalmers Presbyterian Church, expresses the opinion that the divorce laws are i farce. “What is tho good of beating wound tho bush,” he declared, “or putting our heads in the sand to get a wav from tho facts. The reason for the increase in divorce is* plain for everyone to see.. In many instances pet pie marry, not because they ha ve any great love for each other, but behim; marriage is convenient and suits them. "When the novelty is worn off url the parties find that they are not suited, friction begins, and one of the parties begins to wander. And in tho wandering the evitable ‘somebody else’ comes into the picture. Then selfrestraint is thrown to the winds. I am ot one to keep people together when thev arc totally unstated, but, as a .-•arson, my opinion is that our divorce laws are too lax, and ought to be htrued. It’ a cure is to bo found it will come only by -setting up a. higher ideal of marriage.” '< !,~ J?ov. Hugh Baton, of St. Ste,oven's Presbyterian Church, takes a .. ider view. “Wc need not kick oursehcs and imagine figures,’’ he said. >•!'i orce’is on the increase in England mid in America. The principal reason r..,i* the increase is the lack of . home t-iining for the young, and the waul o' ! real'religion. Young people have much liberty'. And when they settle down to married life, with its cx-,.-ting conditions, they kick against restraint.” „ The Tier H. C. Foreman, oi the Central Methodist Mission, said: “The r hnrdi .views with alarm the increase divorces. Such increase, measured h • percentages, must he regarded as a loo: sen inct of the great sanctions ot; c. and a repudiation of the ideals of duty. Tt is undoubtedly due to a breakdown o r religious authority. late tends to become materialised and pwfin. -ind the only true remedy is a rc> ival of religion.