.\pparcntly more divorces in this country 4lecur in families where there are very few or no chil dren. and at the other extreme, where children are very numerous. The latter fact is due prob ably to the desertion 1 y fathers of large families among the lower classes, tine or two States check this by statutes making culpable neglect ti support one's family a misdemeanor.
European figures are also instructive. Di Norces or separations-the latter ellietly in C'ath olie countries-are as follows: Belgium granted 130 in 1867. and 717 in 1898, or 1 to 74 mar ring•s eel(li•Ited in the latter year; Denmark, 479 in 1871, and 577 in 1Stil : France, 2151 in isi;7, and in Isg2. In 1885. the first full year under the law of 189,4, there were fI2-15. and 74110 in 1897. and 7179 in 1890. England and \Vales 41 1311 in 1567, and 395 in 1591 ; :12 in 181;7. and of; in 155C. The (:er 111.111 E1111.1/1• entire granted 3942 in IRS]. and in 1897: Prussia granted 2320 in Ns]. and 33ils; p..841; flavari.i granted 270 in 18117. and 305 in 1891; Saxony, :391; in 1867, and 935 in 1803: Baden. 10 in 1867. ;iii41 143 in 1886; )lam burg, 145 in 1880. and 2•7 in 188t1; Wiirttem berg, 04 in 1867, .nul 153 in 1892. In Italy the intoem•nt fluctuated a good deal from year to year. hut there is no inarked change as a whole. In 1891 there were 501 In the Nether lands there were 133 divorces hi 18117, and 47-1 in 189•. Norway granted :13 in 1870. and 71 in 1890. Sweden granted 12S in 18117, and 316 in 1592. Itunninia granted 270 in 1871. and 762 in 1890. Switzerland. iu -ix cantons. granted 190 in 18117, and 2S7 in 1875. The next year, under the uniform Federal law, the same can tons granted 444. and 390 in 1880. In the entire emintry, under a uniform law. there were 1102 in 1870; 1030 for each of the two following years; there Were less 0011 !I00 on the average until 1890. when they ruse to 1058. being 1015 in 1898. The ratio to marriage is generally about 1 to •2, being the highest of any country in Europe, and about the same as in :\lassitehusetts. in Ilussia there Were 892 divorces in 1Sti7. and 11911 in 1555, among the Orthodox; 147 in 1807, among those of the Evangelical .1,1igsburg l'onfession. and Igg in 1880, Ali divorces in Poland numbered 1113 in 18117, and :315 in IS8(1. three-fourths of these were among Jews.
1)ivorees in Canada are very few. there being only 135 in the 21 years ending ISS8. (if these, 91 were granted in Nova Scotia and New- Bruns wielc, where the courts and not the legislative bodies have jurisdiction of the subject. In Aus tralia there Were 1Io in 1890, and 340 in 1810i, a more liberal Inv affecting New South \Vales in later years. New Zealand granted 16 in 18'84, and 25 in 1593. In the city and province of linclios Ayres there were 2139 cations for separation in the 10 prior to of which only IIS were granted. In Japan the divorces for several years are about one-third the marriages. Until recently public law there exercised no control over marriage and divorce, these left to the families immediately con cerned. As a rule the divorce rale in the United
States is several times greater than in Europe. There are courts of divorce in all of the nearly three thousand counties in the United States, ex cept in Smith Carolina and single divorce court exists in 1:11gland; one in each of the twenty-eight judicial districts of Iler many : while there is one in each of the seventy nine departments of France. The presence of sev• oral statutory grounds for divorce and their phraseology. rather than the technical number of eallseS. and the practice of the, courts in regard to their interpretation, affect the number grant ed. The prevailing local sentiment is probably a still more influential factor in determining the number.
\Vitt' exceptions litre and there. changes toward greater laxity in legislation are now almost never inade. The trend is in the direction of greater stringency. 'lids appears- in the removal of the 'omnibus elause'-that giving general discretion lo the courts to act beyond the definitive ,tatutes - from the of Connectient and other States: in the raising of the period of residency frolli three or six months to one or more years in several states and all the Territories: in quiring a period of -ix months or more to vene between the granting of the decree and its issue to the and in striking out all grounds for divorce in the Di.triet of Columbia except one. The imperial law of 1900 in tier many reduces the eauses to about four. it pre vents the abuse of desertion by requiring. before a decree is granted. a preliminary snit for the restitution of conjugal rights, and allow- a year for the accomplishment of this object. Improved marriage laws have also helped in the matter of divorce.
UNIFOInt LAWS. The problem of uniformity took on a new aspect on the appearance of the Oovernment report of ISS9 and the dis cussion that preceded and followed. Tlie value of national legislation, under constitutional amendment. in restricting the numlwr of divorces, it was then seen, might be very small. The ob stacles in the way of getting three-fourths of the States to consent to it, and of enforcing it in localities where public sentiment would be hos tile, appeared very great. Then the transfer of the care of marriage and divorce to the Federal authorities or to State regulation under Federal p•ovision. on of and the like, and upon our present system of di vision of powers between the Federal and State governments. open many serious and difficult questions. Consequently. most thoughtful stu dents of the problem have felt that the present experiment. in which thirty-four States and Ter ritories arc already represented, of trying to se cure uniformity by enacting the hills their corn missionaries on Uniformity prepare and recom mend. should have fair trial as the better way at present of either gaining, all that can be accom plished or of preparing for the constitutional amendment itself, should that be found necessary.