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Show ,,Bya9 Ex-Editor. The frsquency with which divorce case arise In out c mrta at the present time must attract the attention of the old settler of tho Territory, It being In suoh striking ojntrail In this respect with former limes. A stringer, read-log read-log the newspapers, might draw wrong conclusions concerning the state of society so-ciety bore; for numerous divorces are not creditable tisny community, A careful oxuinlnatlou of Iho application for divorce, bowiver, reveals the fact that the groat nj rliy of them are mido by ix-oplo who have recently come to the Terrlt ry. There was a time when nlvantage could be takm of one of the 'statutes of the Terril ry and dlvorcu could Ii obtalnel wllh compiuallvo eaae. Many t era ni availed themselves of tho opportunity thus ellbrded, and enmeheru for the solo purposo of obtaining ob-taining divorces, hut aa soon as public attention was called to the abuses and wrongs likely to to doue tu Innocent unities bv thn oDeratlon of thla lax statute, the Legislative Assembly at Us first meeting therenlter changed the oljecllonab'elsw an 1 threw around It the proper lifeguards. There Is no good reason to supote, therefore, that thu applicants fordlvorce Incur courts In theau days have romo to Utah for the purpose of securing a dissolution of the Iwnda of matrimony. The Influsnco cf the Church of Jesus Christ of I,lter-day rliluts haa alwoya been opposed to divorces. Members Mem-bers of the Church have been urged to be eeclally cireful In forming alliances alli-ances with the opposite sex, because when formed according to Chuioh teachings, they are uot Intended to endure for time alone but for time and all eternity. A iicrednesi Is thereby Imparled to mirrlsges such ns Is not felt among the members of other cburchisor of other communities. The numbers of the Church are, nud have been, taught that It Is their privilege tonsk the l.orl for direct guidance guid-ance In nil intttere, and, at mar-rlnge mar-rlnge la so Impjrtant ail act, and so deeply all.cla human hapilnesr, Ihey havo been especially urged tu setk divine guldacie beforo entering that stale, or even beforo entering luto any contract with one ef the oilier sex with n view to matrimony. The object of nil thla care. In giving tbeav teachings teach-ings has beunlo mike marriages India-solublo India-solublo as far as jasslblo nnd to obvlnto the necessity of eeittratlona nnd divorces. di-vorces. ThuUIVct of theae teachings upon the twople can, perhaps, be best Judged by the results. 1 feel sure that Invettlgntlod will prove that among the Latter-day Balnta theru has been but n comparatively small perrentage of divorces, (.specially when thu fuct Is taken Into consideration that lu former days it was nn easy matter for nny dissatisfied woman to obtain a divorce-President divorce-President Vouug, broad minded, far-seeing, far-seeing, Inspired man tbut he wns, early tercelicd that If meu had the privilege of taking more than one wilu thu opportunity for divorce should le made very liberal for women. If this should be retused to that sex, marriage might Lecome to them In some Instances In-stances an Intolerable and cruel bond-ngn. bond-ngn. It wss understood, therefore, from the beginning of tho settlement of Bslt Lake Valley that women had the utmost liberty to change tholr condition con-dition If they were dissatisfied and unhappy in the family relationship. It might be thought that the granting of such freedom lodlssolvethemarriage tlo would bu attended with disastrous consequences in the I realilug up of family circles aud the Introducing of general disorder. Hut to tho credit of the women o.' the Lattor-day Halnta bo it said, no bad ellects followed. If the granting of thla freedom had any elNct ll was to make women more contented with their lot. They knew they had lrfect liberty and could exercise an unfettered choloe, nud overy galling feeling of ilofendence was removed. re-moved. They felt that their relationship relation-ship lo their husbands was that ol confidence con-fidence and love. The liberty of dlvorco thus ijronUil placed them on a nearer equality to man; It was also an appeal to their honor, an evidence that they could bo trusted; and must nobly did they show by their conduct that this confidence was not misplaced. With them liberty never degenerated Intollcouse. Though every u Ifo lu thu land knew that If the mnJeup her mind to bo separated from her busbaud, after the teachers of the Church had exhausted their ellorts to reconolle her to her condition nnd to make peace botweon her and her partner, part-ner, a divorce could be easily obtained, yot very few women ever look advantage of the opportunity thu. ollerod, Innsoolcly where religious Influence Influen-ce did not prevail, nud where thero was uot a high conception entertained of the sacred neas of thu marriage covenant, cove-nant, such an experiment, would have beou attended, it la qultu prubable, with very bad contcqusLCea. Impure peoi le woul 1 have taken advantage of tuch an easy mode of breaking up their marriages aud would have formed now connections; great abuses would eloubtlem have prevailed, nud the worst feature's ef "freo love"would havo bee u witue ssed. In n recent artlclu on divorces in Prune, which nppeirs In the ,lrth Amirk in J'evkia from thu pen of M. Alfred Naquut, a membur of tho Kronen chamber of doputlot, It Is stated that, while hu would favor Ihu rouioval uf every obsta cle that la In tbo way of divorce If it were In lih. power to do so taking Into consideration the degree of enlightenment of clvlllted countries In general, and of his own country In particular, he thinks Ilia divorce law passed in France In 1581 Is all that could be expected. He, therefore, favora restrictions being ptaoed upon divorces, It being dangerous, according lo his view, to make them too easy. Uuo can Imagine what fearful results would be likely to follow, In n country like France, the throwing down of all barriers In the way of divorce; In fret, In very few communities could suoh an experiment be ventured upon without with-out it nelug followed by the disrupting of thu most binding and sacrel ties nnd the breaking up of numerous family circles. There are some curious' facts brciljhl to llfht by stalls Helens concernlnj divorce. M. Jacques) Hertlllou, the head of the Paris bureau of statistics, basettabllihuj In n iliclslvo manner, It Is said, that the number of families which are dltunllod by divorce Is quite InJependeut of the legislation ol Hie country, there being an extraordinary extraordi-nary variation In the number of se ar atlona wheru the laws regarding divorces di-vorces are the same. Fur example, though Hie law la Ihe same throughout BwltZfrlaud, there la great dltlereuce In tho number of divorces III the different dif-ferent cautons of that republic-Ill republic-Ill certAln cautons far Instance, lloneva, Hale and Zurich its. Hallos provu that nu enormous number of dlvorcesoccur, while ether cantons, such as Url, do nut oiler a tingle cose. Tnls difference Is very remarkable nud It would bo Interesting to trace the causes Iherefur. It must bo due largely to local Influence; probably lax morality mor-ality and a low appreciation of Hie sacrednesa ol Ihu marriage covenant contribute to these limit,; or, perhaps, per-haps, as different religions prevail In IhedlUerent cantons, that may have some Inlliieuca upon divorces; for It Is well known that the Catholic church slruauuualy opposes dlvories. Hut religion re-ligion cauoot bu thu cause of Iho variations varia-tions which occur in Bcandlnavls. Vet accordlug to this gentleman's statistics serious variations do uccur In that region. Thu lawa governing divorces are about the sunu lu Den mark, Bweden and Norway, and the (coploarons near alike ns lotslble In race, customs nnd religion; but hu assorts that onu of these nations abounds lu separated family circles, while In the other two there nre almust none. Thu Lutheran religion being the dominant religion lu each of thtsu thrtu nations, their customs being alike nnd their racu being almost, If not quite, Identical, wo are left to eon lecture lec-ture us to Hie cause of this dlllercnce In tho number of separated family circles. As 1 bare, stated, divorces wcro very few among tho Latter-day Saints; this, In fact, is the cose today. There Is a way by which the number of illvcicesnmoug members of the Church can at leost Lo approximately ascertained. ascer-tained. Whllu thu Church cannot grant legal divorces, members lu good standing do notconalder the union of hutbmd und wife ns completely ells, solved until action Is taken lu tho case by tlie enrlhly head ef thu Church, he holding the authority "lo bind on earth nnd It Is bound In heaven and to loose on earth and It Is looted lu heaven;" therefore, what is known as an cccleslastlcsl dlvorco Is sought for. Without such a divorce no divorced woman could bu sealed, or married, lu a Tcmt le lo another an-other man. lly thla means, then, a very good Idea cau be obtained of the number of separations that have taken plan, among tho Latter-day Balnta durlug the past forty-flvu ear. And It la very gratifying tu know that they have been far from numerous. This Is ns It should Lc. The fewer divorces the belter. Thu truth Is, tbnt if every barrier In tho way of dlvorcu were removed, and men nud women were left as freo as iostlble, there ought not lo be one more dlvorco among tho Loiter-day Loiter-day Bitnts, wllh lite training Ihey have had, than thero would bo with all tho restrictions arouud them wliloh thu laws now provide. Bearatlon should only occur when there are reasons rea-sons which uako It Imjieratlve for the welfare nud happiness ol the wife nnd children. Undoubtedly thero nre Instances In-stances when such a stop la absolutely nccehaary. Hut to teu persons take eucli a step for light nnd trivial causes lsluexpreulbly painful tu all right-minded right-minded people; fur then tho consequences consequen-ces to all concerned are likely tube most serious: nud In such cases every pusslblo Intluenco should be used to check thu disposition to lly to divorce. Thu young peoplo of our filth thould be Impressed with the Imporlanceol not making hasty and Inconsiderate marriages. It la a step which should uot be lakou without serious and I raycrful consideration, for It is n step that, for good or evil, la attended with thu most wlde.reaihlug elleolt. Others may niako light of marriage and weloomu dlvorcu us an easy way of breaking Its tends; but Latter-day Halnta should net the world nn example of fidelity In their marriage relations and In maintaining a high standard of virtue nnd purity, |
