A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 3 of 3Howard, George Elliott
History
A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 3 of 3
Howard, George Elliott
Families; Marriage -- History
divorce, whereas New York has many; and if states sanctioning a
wider range of causes were selected for comparison, the result might
be changed, though scarcely to any wide extent.
[768] BERTILLON, _op. cit._, 20-28, 88-102; WRIGHT, _Report_, 150.
[769] See table in WRIGHT, _Report_, 145.
[770] See the table in BOTTET, _La famille_, 47 ff. His figures
do not agree with those quoted from WRIGHT'S _Report_: According
to his table, 3,010 separations were granted in 1883; 3,790
separations and divorces in 1884; 4,640 in 1885; 6,270 in 1886;
7,983 in 1887; and 7,430 in 1888. Compare KELLER, "Divorces in
France," _Procds. of the Am. Stat. Assoc._, I, 469 ff., who
summarizes TURQUAN, _Résultats statistiques de cinq années de
divorce_. See also "Divorce: from a French Point of View," _North
Am. Rev._, CLV, 721-30, by NAQUET, author of the law of 1884; and
the vigorous criticism of BRUN, "Divorce Made Easy," _ibid._,
CLVII, 11-17. In 1897, 7,460 divorces were decreed; while in
1900 there were only 7,157; DIKE, _Rep. of the Nat. League for
Protection of the Family_ (1903), 11.
[771] WILLCOX, _The Divorce Problem_, 37, 38.
[772] _Ibid._ (2d ed.), 45, 46; WRIGHT, _Report_, 148, 169.
Commissioner Wright has attempted to discover the general influence
of legislation by examining every change in the laws during
twenty years in connection with the divorce statistics. Often a
sudden increase, and occasionally a slight decrease, in the rate
is observed without any alteration in the statutes. In fourteen
instances, however, he believes it "quite apparent that the lines of
statistics are curved in accordance with laws enacted just previous
to the curves."[773] The changes effected by these laws are of many
kinds, including the addition and repeal of causes and various
alterations in the procedure, some of them complex. But under
careful scrutiny in some instances the statistics reveal no certain
causal relation between the change in the divorce rate and the
antecedent change in the statute. Indeed, in the light of Professor
Willcox's detailed criticism of the figures, four of Mr. Wright's
test cases must be rejected, so far as evidence afforded by the
statistics is concerned;[774] four or five others show considerable
influence of legislation; while in the rest that influence is
slight, temporary, or questionable.[775] Contrary to the popular
opinion, restrictions upon the remarriage of divorced persons would
not affect in a large degree the divorce rate, although only foreign
statistics are available to test the point. These show that within
the first two or three years after dissolution of marriage divorced
men are not much more inclined to remarry than are widowers, while
during the same period a considerably greater number of divorced
women than widows renew the nuptial ties.[776] With an increasing
rate, which does not advance uniformly, it is perhaps impossible
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