rmarck concludes the chapter on
marriage of his _Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas_ (vol.
ii, p. 398) with the statement that "when both husband and wife
desire to separate, it seems to many enlightened minds that the
State has no right to prevent them from dissolving the marriage
contract, provided the children are properly cared for; and that,
for the children, also, it is better to have the supervision of
one parent only than of two who cannot agree."

In France the leaders of the movement of social reform seem to be
almost, or quite, unanimous in believing that the next step in
regard to divorce is the establishment of divorce by mutual
consent. This was, for instance, the result reached in a
symposium to which thirty-one distinguished men and women
contributed. All were in favor of divorce by mutual consent; the
only exception was Madame Adam, who said she had reached a state
of skepticism with regard to political and social forms, but
admitted that for nearly half a century she had been a strong
advocate of divorce. A large number of the contributors were in
favor of divorce at the desire of one party only (_La Revue_,
March 1, 1901). In other countries, also, there is a growing
recognition that this solution of the question, with due
precautions to avoid any abuses to which it might otherwise be
liable, is the proper and inevitable solution.

As to the exact method by which divorce by mutual consent should
be effected, opinions differ, and the matter is likely to be
differently arranged in different countries. The Japanese plan
seems simple and judicious (see _ante_, p. 461). Paul and Victor
Margueritte (_Quelques Idees_, pp. 3 et seq.), while realizing
that the conflict of feeling in the matter of personal
associations involves decisions which are entirely outside the
competence of legal tribunals, recognize that such tribunals are
necessary in order to deal with the property of divorced persons,
and also, in the last resort, with the question of the care of
the children. They should not act in public. These writers
propose that each party should choose a representative, and that
these two should choose a third; and that this tribunal should
privately investigate, and if they agreed should register the
divorce, which should take place six or twelve months l