The Fee System as a Social Force. 
223 
procuring of divorces a lucrative practice to second-rate attor¬ 
neys. What is the result? A large number of lawyers are 
anxious to prosecute divorces, and stand ready to undertake a 
prosecution as soon as any woman has told her tale of woe. 
Divorce agencies are established in large cities which advertise 
that they can guarantee a divorce in so and so many months. The 
wife deposits nothing, pays for nothing;they take their pay out of 
the court money collected from the husband. Is it to be wondered 
at that the number of divorces increases so very rapidly? As a re¬ 
sult of a little family quarrel the wife in a fit of anger resolves 
that she can not and will not endure it, so she rushes to a law¬ 
yer who immediately institutes proceedings; which of itself does 
not tend to conciliate either party. A divorce results not 
from any actual cruelty or oppression, but from some little mis¬ 
understanding, some little domestic storm which would have 
blown over but for the existence of the court money to tempt a 
divorce lawyer. If the attorney would always sacrifice his own 
gain for the welfare of the parties, and advise them to delay 
and yield differences, all might be well. But human nature 
cannot be changed; it must be guided so as to serve for the wel¬ 
fare of society instead of against it. Take away, if possible, 
each incentive which impels people to act contrary to social 
welfare, and replace it with another which will utilize selfish¬ 
ness in the interests of society. There can be no doubt but 
that the granting of court money and the consequent ease with 
which divorces can be obtained, is responsible for the breaking 
up of hundreds of homes which had not outlived their useful¬ 
ness, homes which, after the little unpleasantness was forgot¬ 
ten, might have been real hearthstones in the true sense of the 
word. 
But, it is urged, court money is absolutely essential to secure 
the proper protection of woman against oppression. If no court 
money were granted, she would not be able to secure counsel, 
and would be absolutely at the mercy of her tyrant husband, 
who is usually pictured as a drunken brute who misuses and 
abuses his wife in every possible way. This is by no means a 
typical case. As a rule, it is people in prosperous circum¬ 
stances who are applicants for divorce, and the wife would us- 
