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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 1911)
7 I , in;:: Vv r.::J ; nn3 ,'cction r 4. C 'If , v .. v ,- -LVv fOKTLAND, OKCGOH, SUNDAY WORMING, OCTOBER tf. Jlil i I What 3000 PhysiciaoSi Have to Sav on' The- ... V. Hidden 'Causes ' for Dissolyihe tHe Marriage T "" ,-- 4 r " ' --. n I: J iM-- '. ' ' ' i ! ' - ' ) 1 1 ! Y',v ' n ; . , sv J. o I L-'& t-j w -.-'. - - . - .. . s I -Mftt. .-'-'--sr-vV"; r .,.." ' -:v- v." v, '7 t L tk 4 iM rulu villi itsprwMiv i.mt- 1 Tie r) r MAJORITIES ulUh, in tome iniMacfs approjcheJ tk- un ' moiis, ihe aniVLirt rieth'd '.from 3000 American phyticUnt quntionrl 0 the real causes for divorce, hidden usually behind the Ufa! ones alleged, have'de'dared tAa ; " ;. ' , ,' - ' . ' .. v The great. ms ot divorces re due . ; to mirrUget that were Improper In the,. . fint place, and to thoe which develop unnatural conditions later. . ' , ' " Dread "of. child-bearinj. and aber- ' .radom of sex constitute the actual, al though unnamed, causes where statu tory grounds are not. alleged, ' - , , ; The existence of : aberrant ' coo-', . , . dltions ought , to be grounds for di ' voxc; and ; " w J-.' ;' Education in such aubjecti will, to a great extent, .overcome the evils of- Improper marriages 4 With these truly.startling 'opinio ns, , 4 , , he ou'tir'oKth of his ntimale. observation . , .... ( f 1-1 J if family .life in the United States t the- VAVVvTsTi X" I. 1 V ! V J 'v"C,- ' ; ViiS'Sichn has. like Daniel-come to' judg- . opinions embraced in the surprising iW that. divarte vrew into the acute tiroblenvtt nov Tr. JL:j.rr. -kjL:'i tm'tib. - i ts m modern social conditions- - ' nrm AsqftmAtirth.1 TXify iri ' aimore Jkan, grave ; com-y - : .The association, Mrl Leach has stated, is tjies , v"'r J mentors on a chapter ot '4m'erican jiteior:. ontgromn 01 ine wnvnu. cougreBsu u iaunU 'rnuU rwrilrA inA hv'tnanv tint tveh divorce laws: in: vv asningion ; ana irnuaaeipni previously mealed ana fty. many, not even , . ,1900 .IIe wftg am the-members of thcY , ; - iHDt,.w- . , j , , , .'congress who -contended tnat any attempt 'to, ; 'N ESOLTORY fashion, as one seusational - acting unTfonn divorce laws must be worse thir.. :-.fL.. ' nX '. - . . . v .1 11.1. ... J. ..i:.l-. flsnect alter another ot national divorce v xooiin-unui uie law couiq oe irameu ' in tme .scandal -has, been thrust upon the .people, ;v light, of data, well established, ..concerning the ?v . the views of ,somo individual physicians causes in which divorces originate.. These data . have teen heard- But the sober, .reflective judg- he undertook recently to secure, by calling into -. mcnt of the profession at large, although the' ihe court of public opinion the men of tho'pro . doctor is commonly known, to "share with the - f ess ion who are sometimes summone, 'as ex- , clergyman ibe secrets of every household, has ' perts, by courts of law. when -deciding difficult ' " not been expressed upon .the vital causes lying ascs of divorce. - ' . . v. tack of. the. increasing number of .pairs '-who Ilo-.was convinced that, behind - the ' usual 11 sre parted by the law. ; j ; , - i " legal grounds alleged, there must bo some hydra 1 The endeavor to obtain the information and 'headed evil wrecking lives "that, by 'every-rule - AT - m m . " m. rv - v m -w v m v t m ,r . .. r '.v a t . a. . , ;i.'nri;iw,.A "As sa sttory la fnrl fttr I sea rsxM to li erJt,i tlt a wr Hu!l jr Mflifta t lh dimrw rnVJ r iwrrl fistsrUy ttiM ef O rc&miMioe ef iat tittslory mslruaoaiij fte. I stould thst. If all tb ffttu r k&w. at eor thta os r ia tea wij t fe4 te U of iht chfK-tr. , "Net iafrsqtwBUy tha lstrrer Is eentth4 is enkr to aMvrtala lb Quikt sbJ ioit way to distort a eostrimonisl allisara hifh has beoeme iatoWrslU, rudka of the coo missioa of slststory effect. InJroJ. it 1 doubtful vbothor a slaplo vioUtion of th lav list s much la do la rtutixif dotztUe infelicity s bar many otbr tbicga. Hot owa vba a statutory offr&so has beta committed tbare U slways a rvsaon. DEEP 'tTUDY REQUIRED . "It is tbeoe condition, which inspire a de sir for a dissolution of tha marrtsf s, that lio at tb bottom of tbo divoroa q option, and they must b studied ia sn unprejudiced msnner b fore soy msterial progrrss can b sttsinod ia even onderstsnding this eUta of social phenom ena. It is not enough' when a husband leaves a virtuous wife to consort with bad women, or when a wife deserts a respectable husband for the embraces of soroo Beeu UrummeL to say that they are 'devilish' or 'moral depenerstrs,' Witches used to be eonsiderod accomplices of the devil, and rsligious fanatics ss the incarnation of the Holy Ghost We know Utter today. There was s rtsjonthoo, juaCja,tJWe i a-rea son now, but poopis did not understand it Tha Only excuse, it seems, that bss ever been needed to lay the responsibility for sn act upon God, or the devil is to hsve the cause outside of the rsnge of our own information. ("With a desire to either prove the error of my own views or to rstify them I preps rod a letter, which I sent to 8000 physicians. These letters were sddreesed to some of the leading physicisns in the United States, professors in medicsl institutions, suthor of medical works -and to' a much larger number of general prac titioners. I asked four questions. '"My first inquiry was: . 'What are the prin cipal causes for divorce! Court records show ' unfaithfulness, desertion, etc. But why. these! Are they not the results of unnatural marital conditions!' , - "I received in reply to these letters s much , larger number of answers - than , I . expected. Eighty-nine per cent of those who replied said , that the statutory grounds were, in their opinion, ' not the primary causes for divorce. The causes. ' agreed upon may be generslly expressed ss be ing 'improper marriages and unnatural marital conditions.' These conditions, it was stated, are ' often pathologies, snd the results of ignorance. VI I' li 'Cr I t d f indiscretion and inoorrect modes of living. The other 11 per cent did not answer the question, or rephed that they did not desire to express an opinion. . ' . . : , - . "My second inquiry west 'To wh-t extent do sexual aberrations, dread of child-bearing, im potency and disease enter into the formation , of a legal ground for divorce where they are not statutory grounds!' EDUCATION THE" CURE ' "Seventy-five per cent said they are grounds for divorce. in. very; many cases; 19 per cent thought not,;' though many admitted that they had had no' experience upon which to base their opinion ; 6 per cent ;s'aid that they thought they " ' had very little to'do'with causing divorce. " "My third inquiry ;was : 'Would education in sex subjects overcome the evils of improper marriages!' ' " ' , ' i: "Ninety-seven per cent thought that educa tion in these subjects would, to a great extent, pvercome ; the evila of improper marriages.' It must not be overlooked, however, that these phy sician consider that the best, cure for the evil of improper marriages is immediate divorce, so k that the matter of education, instead of slways removing the Condition which causes the desire , for a separation,, would .hasten it, .but without .'the' usual accompanying evil ' results which. are 1 inevitable where two persons attempt to live to- ; gether under such conditions.' Nineteen per cent did not seem to be so certain, for they quali- ' fied their answers; 3 per cent thought that edu- 1 cation would have very little effect. V- "My fourth " inquiry : was:- 'Would you ' recommend that the existence bf pathological ; and psychopathies! states, euch as accompany or Create abnormal sexual conditions; ,be made grounds for divorce ! That is, adjusting the laws so that a victim of such circumstances might I able to obtain a divorce without committing a ' crime a matrimonial offense-'-as is now usual' . required.' ' . "Ninety-two per cent -reeomnv -n ' ! t' '. ' existence of pathrT -ul" a" 1 j ; ; (COXTixurn'cv iN;:r:: I .'