THE INCREASE OF DIVORCE 207 



Some explanation of the high divorce rate in Japan may be found by 

 examining the grounds for divorce in that country. The following are 

 the causes for which the husband may obtain a divorce: (i) if the wife 

 is disobedient to her foster-parents, (2) if barren, (3) if hcentious, (4) if 

 jealous, (5) if diseased, (6) if she steals, (7) if she talks too much.^ It 

 is thus apparent that any married man may have a divorce at almost 

 any time according to the laws of Japan. 



There are also great fluctuations of the divorce rate in the American 

 states. In 1880 the number of marriages to one divorce was in Dela- 

 ware 5542, North CaroHna 3149, Louisiana 1630, Virginia 1743, New 

 York 1 1 52, Utah 219, Montana 180, Wyoming 173, Nevada 170, Colo- 

 rado 136. This ratio is also higher in cities than in rural districts or the 

 country as a whole. In the cities of Europe the rate is usually three 

 or four times as high as for the entire country. In Hamburg and Berhn 

 the rate is three and one-half times as great as for Germany.^ 



A higher divorce rate might be expected in the cities and the newer 

 states of the West.^ The restless and discontented are to be found in 

 these locahties where Hfe is more inviting to them than in older and 

 more settled regions. A more intense democracy is also found in the 

 newer states and this helps to swell the divorce rate there. 



It is in the newer countries that divorces are most numerous. Here 

 society is in a dynamic condition and the liberty of the individual is 

 most strongly emphasized. Hence the legal system allows easy divorce. 

 Spain forbids both divorce and legal separation. Italy has legal separa- 

 tion but no divorce. England grants separation or divorce for the 

 adultery of the wife, but only separation if it is the act of the husband. 



' Griffis, The Mikado's Empire, Vol. II, p. 557. 



' Report of the Commissioner of Labor, 1889, Marriage and Divorce, pp. 148, 1020 et seq. 



J The divorce rate in Japan is exceeded by the rate in certain counties of North Dakota. 



MARRIAGES TO 

 0^fE DIVORCE 



Japan 1886 2.67 



Cass County, N. D. (Fargo) 1895 2.76 



" " " " .' . 1896 1. 91 



" " " " 1897 1.89 



" " " " 1898 1. 71 



" " " " 1899 2.36 



" " " " 190.'; 18.39 



The decline in the rate is due to the law enacted in 1899 requiring twelve month's residence before appli- 

 cation for divorce. A still higher rate might possibly be shown for certain counties of South Dakota if figures 

 were available. Coulter, "Marriage and Divorce in North Dakota," American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 

 XII, No. 3, p. 411 (November, 1906). 



