THE DIVORCE LAW.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8510, 13 August 1907, Page 5

THE DIVORCE LAW.

DEPUTATION TO THE PREMIER. AN AMENDMENT PROMISED THIS SESSION. In Wellington, yesterday, a deputation consisting of His Grace Archbishop Redwood, Bishop Wallis, the Rev. P. W. Fairclough, and the Rev. J. J. North (Messrs Aitken, Laurenson, and Fisher, M.'s.H.R., were also present;, waited upon the Premier and the Attorney-General in regard to amending the divorce law of the colony. The Rev. P. W. Fairclough said the deputation regarded as a serious blemish on the reputation of the colony the use that was made of that section of the Act which made failure to comply with an order for restitution of conjugal rights a ground for divorce. That really made it possible for a divorce to take place within a year after marriage, and he thought there were cases in which that provision had greatly facilitated divorce, and as the section became i more widely known it was probable that a great deal more use would be made of it. Since the passing of the present Act the number of divorces had increased fourfold, and in 1905 eleven of the 126 divorces arose out of the restitution of conjugal rights provision, and nine of those eleven were from the Wellington district. Evidently this section had been made a short cut to divorce, and the deputation asked that disobedience of the order should not alter the term of desertion required to warrant a divorce being obtained. Bishop Wallis said that in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Church they never married anyone who had been divorced, but they were also anxious to prevent any increase in the number of divorces that were obtained. His Grace Archbishop Redwood said he was in sympathy with everything that would prevent the spread of divorce, and to make it as difficult as possible to obtain. The Rev. J. J. North said they found on enquiry that this law made New Zealand in the same position as the most unhappy of the American States. A man or woman could for £25 obtain a divorce in six months. He did not believe that Parliament ever intended such a state of things to obtain. The Hon. Dr. Findlay explained to the deputation, at the request of the Premier that the Act of 1898 was the first Act in which this section appeared, and there had been a certain amount of misapprehension as to its origin. The Premier, in replying said the matter was one that had engaged the attention of members of

Parliament for a considerable period, and he was bound to say, from what he knew had transpired, that he thought every member of the House of Representatives was more than surprised to find the condition in which the law was placed by the amending Act of 1898. The deputation might accept this from the Government, that it would submit legislation to remove what was admittedly a gross abuse of the divorce laws of the country, so as to ensure that this easy method, this short cut, to obtaining a divorce within six months should no longer continue. He thought that such a state of things was an outrage on the feelings of all classes of the people of this country, and in the interests of society, an amendment was required. He would undertake to see that the matter was fully considered by his colleagues, and when they had arrived at the best course to follow, he would submit legislation to the House this session.