212 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



be less encouraged. Moreover, such a requirement is no restriction on 

 those who honestly desire to marry. 



Of late there has been quite a literature on the subject of divorce 

 from the biological point of view. These writers claim that children 

 should be bom in the best of family conditions and that if the husband 

 and wife can only tolerate each other and have no affection, it is for the 

 best interest of society to have them separate and remarry other and 

 more congenial persons. Thus, it is said, healthier children will be 

 bom. It has also been contended that the woman who is married to 

 an insane, epileptic or drunken husband, and who bears children by 

 him, commits a crime against society. .There is probably some truth 

 in this doctrine, but it seems that it is easily carried to great extremes. 

 Whether the evil to society from children bom in famiHes like those 

 described above is greater than the evil from children bom of parents on 

 whom the binding effect of the marriage tie is very slight may well be 

 questioned. From an evolutionary' point of view, it is not difficult to 

 believe that a society might be developed that would have but scant 

 regard for the marriage vows. 



The worst thing about the question of divorce in the United States is 

 the unsettled condition of pubhc sentiment in regard to it. At present 

 there is no agreement in regard to divorce in the laws of the various 

 states, nor is there much scientific study of the question. The practical 

 thing to be done is to ascertain some of the remedies that are likely to 

 be effective in checking reckless divorce and in creating a more sound 

 and healthy public sentiment concerning it. Rather than any specific 

 reform advocated to give immediate results, it seems that the remedies 

 are general and indirect. Some of the measures that will, perhaps, in the 

 long nm tend to lessen the number of divorces are the following: 



First, the growth of the romantic ideal. By this is meant that each 

 person shall be free to follow his own incHnations in the selection of a 

 husband or wife. A marriage is more apt to last longer if the parties to 

 it are allowed fuU freedom in the choice they make. Especially is this 

 true in a democratic society where the ideal of the pohtical system is the 

 opportunity for each individual to develop in his own way. Such being 

 the case, everything that increases the opportunities for young men and 



