Divorce in European Countries

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 21, 26 May 1904, Page 5

Divorce in European Countries

The well-informed correspondent, who writes over the pen-name of ' Ex-Attache 'in several American magazines, contributes the following particulars regarding divorce to a New York newspaper :—: — At a moment when the growth in the number of divorces in this country has assumed such alarming proportions that Churches of the most diverse denominations are uniting for the purpose of combating an evil that is becoming more and more of a menace to the American home it is interesting to find an enlightened and progressive nation of the Old World refusing to permit its introduction within its borders. The former Prime Minister of Italy, Signor Zanardelli, a professed atheist, had, in fulfilment of pledges given to his Masonic friends, presented to the national legislature a Bill providing for the addition of laws of divorce to the code, in which statutes of .this character have until now been conspicuous by their absence. But so fierce was the opposition which the projected measure excited throughout the length and breadth of the kingdom that the late Cabinet never ventured to submit the matter to an actual vote ; and now it is learned that the new Giolitti administration, although representing the ultra radical element in the Chambers, has definitely withdrawn the Divorce Bill from its programme, ' in deference,' it is explained, the Overwhelming Sentiment Against the Proposed Law. 1 That this action on the part of the Government in the matter is final is shown by the announcement that Signor Nathan has been led thereby to resign the Grand Mastership of Italian Freemasonry. The latter, as in France, devotes its energies to politics, and especially to warring upon religion and its ministers, differing in this respect from the craft in America and in Great Britain. Indeed the Freemasons of the Latin countries of Europe have little in common with their brethren in the United States, all allusion to the name of the Great Architect of tihe Universe, which figures so prominently in the ritual of the Order here, having been eliminated from that of the lodges in Italy and France where atheism is the order of the day. The Grand Orient of Italy had adopted the project of a law of divorce as a means of attack upon the Church, rather than as a measure necessary to the people, and the Grand Master had so prominently identified himself therewith that now, on the announcement that it has been thrown overboard by the most radical administration that has ever held office in Italy, lie has no other alternative but to resign. That Italy is the better for the absence of any law of divorce on its code is conclusively shown by the fact that, according to the official records of the year 1901, the entire demands for that judicial separation between husband and wife which is admitted by the law of the land did not exceed 1800 for twelve months— that is to say a proportion of 6 for every 100,000 inhabitants. Of these more than half were withdrawn, and the entire number of separations granted m the courts in 1901 amounted to 728, which is an average of one and a fraction for every 10,000 families. Of 728 separations 444 were arranged by mutual consent between husband and wife, while less than 100 were based on infidelity and desertion. Figures such as these are far more convincing than any words could be as to the lack of any popular desire in Italy for the enactment of divorce laws. The statistics show A Similar Condition of Affairs in Spain and in Portugal, the only other countries in the world where laws of divorce do not exist. The average demands for separation and the proportion of the latter to 1 the number of marriages are pretty much the same in Spain and Portugal as in Italy, and when one compares these returns with the appalling Quantity

of divorces that are granted each year in the United States, every divorce meaning the destruction of a home, one is forced to come to the conclusion that, after aJll, the Italians, the Spaniards, and the Portuguese are wise in declining to adopt a series of laws which tend to impair the family principle, which is the elementary basis of patriotism. In Austria a very curious state of affairs exists with regard to divdrces. The laws providing for the latter are of an extremely restricted nature, as they only permit the courts to grant divorces to Protestants and Jews. Catholics as such have no legal redress in the nature of divorce either in Austria or in Hungary, and if a Catholic couple wish for a divorce they must both of them become converts either to Protestantism or to Judaism before the courts will declare themselves comipetent to deal with their cases and to grant them a full-fledged divorce.

In England,

during all the earlier part of the reign of Queen Victoria, divorces were far more difficult to obtain than they are to-day. In fact, the dissolution of a marriage entailed so much trouble and, above all, so much expense, that it was only the very rich who could afford to indulge in such a luxury. And these were in a measlure discouraged therefrom by the attitude of Queen Victoria, who up to ten or fifteen years before her death declined to receive at conirt any woman who had figured in a divorce case. But when by means of Acts of Parliament divorce was brought within the reach of the masses and ceased to be restricted to the wealthy, public opinion, which until then had supported the Qiueen in the stand which she had taken, became more lax, and even took the ground that, since divorce was authorised by the law of the land, it should be recognised and tolerated as such by both the Church and the Crown. It was in deference to this sentiment that the Queen toward the last became more lenient towards divorcees, several of whom were received at court, while others still were admitted to the honors of private presentation. This naturally helped to still further remove the prejudice against divorce, and to-day there remains but little of the old-time rigor formerly manifested toward women

Who had Figured in Divorce Cases.

It is the same in Germany, in France, in Scandinavia, and in Switzerland. On the Continent, indeed, divorces are so frequent among the reigning houses that it would be almost a matter of impassibility to adhere to any rule of barring divorcees from court or to maintain the social ostracism to which divorcees were formerly subjected. Of course, it may be said that in this royalty has merely drifted along with the tide of popular sentiment. But it is impossible to refrain from the belief that if rulers of the Old World had adhered to their former principles and set their faces against those who had courted publicity and aired their matrimonial woes in the courts, divorce would be less fashionable and, in consequence thereof, less frequent than it is nowadays in all the monarchical countries of the Old World save those which are free from this danger—namely, Spain, Portugal and, in a minor degree, Austria-Hungary and Russia.