a
TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 5, 1922
1 VO PC
Bench and Bar Claim Public
Sentiment Is With Easy
Separations.
r
V
Datlea III Suit for Divorce.
Beetle 1020, Ortmi Lai In any suit for the dissolution of the
marriage contract, or to have the same declared void, the state Is to
be deemed a party defendant, and the party plaintiff In such suit shall
cause the summons to be served upon the district-attorney of the
district within which the suit is commenced, or his duly appointed
deputy, at least ten days before the term at which the .defendant is
required to appear and answer. It shall be the duty of such district
attorney, so far as may be necessary to prevent fraud and collusion
in such suit, to control the proceedings on the part of the defense, and
la m the erfeaaant doea mot appear therela, or defend against the
aaae la Kooa faith, to asake a drfrue therela ea behalf of the state.
BY DeWITT HARRY.
THE ideal ol true marriage is the
union of one man and one wom
an until death shall part. The
aJ armlet Inclines to class divorce
with the greatest evils that threaten
America. Be that as It may, the ob
ject of this article is not to draw
any conclusions, merely to state the
true facta of divorce conditions as
they exist in Portland and Oregon at
the beginning of the year 1922.
The report of the census bu
reau covering; the vital statistics
of the United States ranks Oregon
aecond in the ratio column, with one
divorce to every 2-52 marriages.
Whether this ratio has changed since
cannot be ascertained at this time,
but In the city of Portland the 1921
ratio was one divorce to every 2.27
marriages. In explanation of this it
is pointed out that many marriages
performed in Vancouver. Wash., are
trought here for dissolution. On the
other hand near-by counties such as
Clackamas and Columbia blame their
surplus of divorces over marri.rVel
on Portland.
I'artlaaa Marrtaare-Dlverve Table
far
Mar- Dlvor.
Hatte. ca
Jsnuarr 25S 1.14
K!ruary 1.M .S7
lrch 1 2 l is
April 2 --- 1
Mv .75
Jutif SSMI 4
Ju.y 2.21 Vd
AlKUM 2.-IH l.ttt
ipt -ntbr ................... 1.10
uiobr 2-44
N'lTMitw ................... S'.1 Ill
ltt!iitr 2.t4 101
Tolale as.S 12.63
Ruio for city of Portland, one divorce
for each 2.27 marrls
Few persons are aware that the
state la a party to every divorce suit.
riTorce la not a simple contract. It
cannot be likened to a transaction
uch aa the swapping of a second
hand auto. It ia of such vital Impor
tance that tha state forces tha par
ties thereto to tret permission before
(retting married and after marriage
the relationship created cannot, pre
sumably, be terminated at the will of
either of the parties thereto. For
the reason that the social relations
are of such importance, that many
property rights are concerned and
that children may become wards of
the state aa a result of the severance
Oi" this relationship, the state inter
venes. Way back In 1862 the law
now on the statute books was passed.
It provides that it is the duty of the
"district attorney, so far as may be
necessary to prevent fraud or col
lusion . . . and in case the de
fendant does not appear therein, to
make a defense on behalf of the
state."
Beach Handicapped ia Trials.
Of course under present conditions
it is Impossible for the district at
torneys of this state to attempt to
investigate the many divorce cases
filed in their districts. The present
procedure is for a deputy from the
district attorney's office to be pres
ent In the courtroom 'while the di
vorce cases are being heard to com
ply with the law. He never Inter
venes for the reason that he is not
familiar with the cases. One of the
circuit Judges pointed out that there
was plenty of law in this state to
prevent any abuse if such is the case
where divorces are concerned, but
the fault was that many of the laws
were not enforced or lay idle. He
held that if the section quoted with
this article, viz- No. 1020, Oregon
lavs, was enforced, some remedy
might be at hand. To enforce this
section It would be necessary to in
crease the district attorney's staffs
by providing them with an additional
deputy whose duties would be to at
tend to tha divorce complaints and
investigate them aa fully aa possible.
On the day when the picture were
taken that accompany this article the
presiding Judge heard and granted 23
default divorces. All that he did was
to put the final tamp on the cases
that had already been fully settled
before they were brought into court.
His might be termed the final cre
mation act for the marriage. The
parties concerned had settled all.
their affairs out of court and agreed
to dissolve the marriage. The prop
erty rights were adjusted and they
had also agreed on the custody of
any children. Here enters the state
on one of its duties that are seem
ingly neglected in present procedure,
for the rights of these minor chil
dren would Beem to be entitled to the
most careful guardianship.
Just a few observations from an
analysis of a number of cases as
placed in the files. Eighty-five per
cent of the plaintiffs are women.
This does not mean by far that they
are in the right in thia proportion
but merely that they have been given
the right to sue by the defendant.
In 45 per cent of th6 cases the par
ties concerned were acquainted for
but from 3 to. &0 days before their
marriage. The women plaintiffs vary
in age from 16 to 90 years and. the
complaints seem to break about 50
50 between cruel and inhuman treat
ment and desertion.
The plaintiffs are. of very race,
creed and nationality. Ten per cent
of the cases are annulments. While
there are always certain evidences of
agreement among the principals and
collusion undoubtedly exists in a
goodly proportion of the cases and
the element of perjury is most cer
tainly present, there Is little chance
of proving any of this on account of
the limited opportunities on the part
of the authorities for investigation.
Theorising admittedly will not-cure
the divorce evil, if evil it be. Re
formers with their panaceas err in
their ignorance of the practical. The
fault, say the judges who are unques
tionably the most familiar with con
ditions, Jies not in the lax adminis
tration of justice but in the lack of
public sentiment to back up the
courts. Short acquaintance and im
pulsive marriages cause most of the
trouble. In comtating divorcee the
difficulty would seem to be far deeper
than the courts or the district attor
neys are concerned. It would seem
to lie in the public conscience. The
best the courts can do is to enforce
the laws and the Judges whose duty
it ia to try divorce cases frequently
suffer . from misapplied criticism,
when it should be the duty of the
public to eee that, if the laws 9re
w .wi if V- j v ; -"A U vtyr, I
'II ' -3i f II
" If ' i " .ri4H If
not stringent enough, ttey are gTive publicity to extremely damaging
amended or changed. allegations, charges that are not sub-
The reform elements are too prone stantiatea in court. However, it must
to draw oonclusiona, aver the men admitted that in many marriages
entrusted with the duty of enforcing present- day viewpoint iftthat the
the laws or interpreting them. These relation can be terminated at any
men who are identified with the' ad- tlm
ministration of Justice would have it Advertising- "Sells" Separations.
that conditions are no worse ere u tit dlvorce department?"
than in other sections of the country v "
but that public sentiment i not Back. trwrnt Inquiry at the court
ing up the courts and that the mar- house, People come there Inquiring
rlage ties are looked on too lightly, about divorces, thinking that they are
The man In the streets considers to be had for the asking, and wanting
marriage and divorce as a purely to be separated the same day. One
personal matter. If any two people woman came in from a suburban dls
find themselves unhappy or think- trict. She had been reading of the
themselves mismated, let them ee"p- jjt 0f default decrees granted the
arate and hunt new partners, ha day before while at breakfast with
argues. After thif, in logical ae- ner husband. He had a habit of
queries would come the aecond and quarreling in the morning and this
the third and other separations. Pir gay became particularly incensed
vorca provides far more widows and when his wife upset the coffee pot
widowers for' remarriage than does tn high dudgeon she left the house to
death, and the grass-widows remarry cet a divorce and at the courthouse
in greater proportion than do the was anirry when she could not get it
the same day.
Divorce, on account of the persist-
men. Instances of half a dozen re
marriages are hot uncommon.
Another abuse that Judge Robert ent publicity that it obtains, is no-
Tucker, presiding in the circuit court, questionably "sold" to many persons
brought out was the detailed state- In much the same manner that a man-
ments usually made in 'complaints ufacturer disposes of his wares. Con-
and given the public. Years ago stant appearance of stories telling of
when divorce was a novelty there the ease with which divorces are
was a good deal of news value in gained unquestionably tempts others
the average complaint. - Now, unless to venture. Were It possible to prose-
the persons are exceptionally promin
ent or the details way out of the ordl-
cute some of those responsible for
perjury and falsehood, as well as un
itary, the mere filing of a complaint lawful practices in the obtaining of
is not worth more than a few words, marriage licenses, as well as in the
For example, when Judge Taylor divorce courts, there might be some
granted 23 divorces in one day lately, additional check on wrongful mar
The Oregonlan printed but 150 words nages on accqunt of the deterrent
about the story. Yet in divorce com- effect punishment might , have. En
plaints, plaintiffs often are able to forcement of the law is the aim of
bench ana bar, and the attorneys of
this state are unquestionably willing
to do their utmost to assist in get
ting action from laws, such as Sec
tion 1020, that are lying dormant.
Though there may be instances of
attorneys who take advantage of the
law in obtaining divorces and some
practitioners may even stoop to mal
practice in some ways, the bar ia
practically a unit in hearty accord
with any measures that would tend
to eurib divorce activities.
Two years ago Portland got a hard
Jolt from the divorce mill when the
yearly statistics showed 1615 divorces
to B-997 marriages, or a ratio of one
divorce to every 1.88 marriages. Of
the 1616 divorces this year but 122 of
the defendants took the trouble of
appearing in court to fight the
charge against them. Divorced people
remarrying thia year made up one
third of the persons joined in wedlock-
and the average age of the
bridegrooms was 24 years and of the
brides 22.
It was during the last six months
of 1819 that Circuit Judge William
N. Catena set what has never been
challenged s a world's record when
he heard 38 divorce cases in one hour
and 64 minutes or at tha rata of three
minueg per divorce. In his six months
as presiding . judge in 1919 Judge
Gatens granted 835 divorce decrees.
However, with the start of the new
year, the divorce rate tumbled. In
190, with Circuit Judge John Mc
Court presiding, there were but 311
divorce suits filed during the first
three months, a decline of 25 per cent
over the last quarter of 1919.
Based on one of the latest reports
of the United States census bureau
that analyzes vital statistics is the
following table of the ratio of di
vorces and marriages in the different
states of the union As these figures
were compiled from the statistics of
several years ago there is doubtless
gome change:
Mar
Divorce, riages.
1. Nevada 1 1.64
2L Oregon '. 1 2.62
a. Washington 1 4.01
4. Idaho 1 4.81
5. Wyoming 1 .5.34
6. Oklahoma 1 5.40
7. Montana 1 5.46
8. California 1 5.54
0. Arizona .............1 5.02
10. Indiana 1 5.84
11. Texas , 1 6 .16
12. Missouri 1 6.88
13. New Hampshire , 1 6.40
14. Arkansas 1 6.56
15. Jim 1 6.&0
16. Ohio 1 6 81
17. Kansas '. 1 6.S3
18. Illinois ,.1 7.26
10. -Michigan 1 7.52
20. Utah 1 7.61
21. Nebraska- 1 7.6S
22. Kentucky .1 7.77
23. Colorado 1 8.63
24. New Mexico 1 8.66
25. Florida 1 8.73
28. Rhode Island. 1 9.14
27. Maine 1 9.36
28. South Dakota 1 9.54
23. Tennessee 1 9.62
SO. Delaware 1 9.70
31. North Dakota 1 - 10.24
33. Wisconsin ........! 10.63
83. Alaibajma 1
84i. Virginia 1
85. Minnesota 1
86. Vermont 1
87. Mississippi 1
SS. Louisiana ...1
SO. Pennsylvania 1
40. Massachusetts 1
11-18
11.80
11.65
12.59
12.63
13.48
14.46
14.71
Though state computation of the
number of marriages and divorces
for 1921 has not as yet been made,
some districts have completed their
figures. The Portland figures are'
subject to one phase of analysis that
must not be passed over, and that is
the influence of Vancouver, Wash., on
the local situation. The existence of
a health examination law as one. of
the marriage preliminaries in Oregon
causes an exodus to Vancouver for
licenses., Washington also permits
the marriage of persons of different
races, a practice discouraged in Ore
go n. The Washington marriage
license laws are very liberally Inter
preted with the additional result that
many persons looked on as minors in
this state, or who would have diffi
culty in proving their status as able
to act for themselves legally, or to
produce sufficient proof of legal per
mission, are readily granted licenses
across the Columbia. .The result is
the formation of many unhappy mar
riages in Vancouver and the conse
quent divorce proceedings are fre
quently brought in Portland, serving
to increase the ratio here, as while
Portland gets the divorce business it
fails to get the credit for the mar
riage license.
On the other hand, many couples
living in this city, when break-up
day comes undoubtedly go to some
nearby county to avoid publicity.
This tends to make a very mixed
situation, for friends of presumably
happily married couples are amazed
to find that they no longer are wed.
Just recently a veteran of the Spanish-American
war, who had been on a
visit to California for several months,
returned to Portland and found his
ex-wife at their former home occupy
ing a chamber with another man.
The former husband killed both the
divorced wife and her lover, and yet
holds firm in his statements that he
did not know she had obtained a
divorce, that he was not served with
the papers, was only gone a short
time and killed the man and woman
when he thought that the marriage
ties were being violated They had
been married for a number of years.
One of the nearest counties to
Portland is Columbia, with St. Helens
as the county seat, a few miles down
the river. Here was one place where
Cupid got a knockout blow in 1921,
for while but 73 couples got marriage
licenses there were 167 divorces of
which but ten were for residents of
the county. This Is nearly three
divorces for each marriage. In
Clackamas county, adjoining Mult
nomah to the south, there were 91
miore divorces than marriages laeA yewr.