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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 75

Increase in the Number of Divorces

Increase in the Number of Divorces.

[unclear: Of] all the illogical and absurd arguments against the extension of the liberty of divorce that which is based on the increasing of the number of divorces seems to me the most absurd. The whole object of such an amendment of the law is to afford increased grounds and facilities for obtaining divorce. The question is, not whether the number of divorces would be increased, but whether the evils that render divorce necessary would bs thereby increased in number. In Scotland, for example, the number of divorces is much larger in proportion to the population than it is in New Zealand. But it is notorious that in New Zealand, as in the other colonies, wife dssertion is exceedingly common, and it necessarily follows that, if desertion were made a ground of dissolution, page 6 the number of divorces would increase. But no one who takes the trouble to think would suggest that in such circumstances the increase of the number of divorces would be a valid objection to the proposed change in the law. On the contrary, to anyone Looking at the subject without theological prepossessions, and just as one would regard any other social problem, the greater the number of divorces that would ensue, the greater would appear the necessity for the change. Marriage is but an means to a end; in case of desertion for three years the marriage has ceastd to serve that end, and to allow divorce in such a case is simply to recognise that fact, not to cause it; and surely all the arguments in favour of marriage as a means of promoting happiness tell in favour of setting the innocent spouse free from a bondage which in many cases is the most galling that the mind of man can conceive.

So unreal and self-contradictory are the notions of many persons on this subject that it is not an uncommon thing to hear the same people who are so fond of dwelling open the increase in the number of divorces that would ensue upon any relaxation of the law argue that, after all, the number of cases in which marriage is a failure is very small. It is difficult to imagine anything more galling to the victims of our irrational divorce law than hearing those who have the good fortune to be happily wedded apeak in this light-hearted way on a subject of such dire import to so many of their Less fortunate fellow-cratures, whose lives have been blighted by unhappy marriages. To such, luckless ones what terrible irony must appear all the talk about marriages being made in Heaven, the sanctity of the home, the sacrednees of the family, and the danger of impairing the sanctity of home-life by discrediting the doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage! That a considerable proportion of marriages is of this kind we alt know, and to keep so many men and women in a false position, and in a condition that inclines to immorality, is surely a heavy price to pay for the peace of mind of those who, having no discomfort themselves, take a pleasure in thinking that the marriage bond is indissoluble.