The Star. THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 1907. DIVORCE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9008, 15 August 1907, Page 2

The Star. THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 1907. DIVORCE.

Within the last fifty years a marked H cha-nge has come over the public mind in regard to .the sanctity.. of th_s masriage bond. For a century at Bom _ the '^M ordinarjsr m_a or woman was content to bear with the misfortune of an ill- ■ assorted marriage, especially if children ■ were born of it. There was a eepara- ■ tion, or the erring one levanted, and H remained away, but the aid of the Court ■ was not sought. In 1857 the Bri- ■ tish Divorce Court was established, and ■ up to that time from the Reformation, ■ there had been, only 317 divorces in ■ England. These were by Act 'of Par- ■ liament, then the only possible way, and H altogether too costly for ordinary peo- ,H pie. In Scotland there were by the ■ law 174 divorces. During the first year H of the new . tribunal's existence,' five ■ marriages were dissolved. But* since then the number of ; marriages dfcfcolved averaged, up to 1905', 683 per annum. H The French Republic also legalised M divorce, and in 1793-4 about 7000 max- ■ riages were dissolved in Paris, alone.. France, as i 6 known, had quite a nuniber of governmental changes after the Republic, -.nd under ihe successive authorities, divorce was alternately prohibited and sanctioned. Since its last sanction the French people have taken full advantage of the law, and in 1899 9053 divorces were granted and 2254 judicial separations. In the United Spates of America a divorce can be obtamed on very slight grounds, and,. owing to the large numher of 4ivorce_ that have taken place, a movement is now on foot, and has been for some time, to have 'the law co reformed aa to make divorce obtainable only on very grave grounds, and these indisputably established. In Australia" in 1888-9 the Parliaments of New South Wales and Victoria passed Bills" greatly facilitating divorce but these were vetoed by the Home authorities. x In New Zealand, divorce can be obtained on reasonable grounds, but the Act has one grave blot which renders -it liable to gross abuse. This blot has been pointed out to the Attorney-General, and tne probability is that it 'will be removed or at least modified the present session closee. Of the marriages dissolved under the existing . Act in New Zealand, 10 per cent have been granted for failure to comply with: an order of thai Court for the restitution of conjugal rights. A man or -woman has simply t<T leave the home and refuse to return to give tbe one left a plea for the restitution of conjugal rights,/ An order of '^H Court is obtained, and failure to pbey the order establishes a ground for divorce. In ordinary capes, it is necessary that desertion should have conturned for five years, but under this "restitution of conjugal rights " claus_ the term could be cut very much shorter, and the deputation to ths Attorney-General asked that five years should still be the minimum whether an order for restitution were made or not.; The clause complained of makes a collu* sivo divorce an easy matter, »nd removes altogether the necessity for prov-^ [ing misconduct of any kind. It wa. | quite time, before, the true nature of the clause became more widely known, that steps should be at once taken to close this avenue to the dissolution of the sacred bond. It is quite evident BH that Parliament had; no intention °?^^| opening, such an avenue, and it **^^H rather difficult to understand "why th *^H draughtsman blundered into the, mis-^^B take by which it was placed in its P^C^^H sent form upon the Statute Book- __________