ssoluble union, but divorce
represents the protest of the individual against the inharmonious
relations he ignorantly or thoughtlessly has assumed.

Even those who are the loudest in their condemnation of divorce could
not sanction marriage under certain conditions. I wonder if these people
know that many of the divorces that are granted under the head of
cruelty really are granted because one of the parties has contracted one
of the loathsome black plagues. No humane person could condemn a woman
for refusing to live with a man and take the almost certain risk of
contracting a disease that would mean her death or mutilation, or for
refusing to bear children that would come into the world an object of
disgust and horror or which would die before being born. Some of these
reformers say, "Let her live separately from him but not marry again."
That would be condemning an innocent woman to a childless life because
she had been so unfortunate as to become bound to a dissipated man.

Another underlying but often unknown factor in many of the divorce cases
is sterility. In some states the law says this is a just cause for
divorce, because the future of the nation depends on the production of
children. Because a woman, in her ignorance, has married a man who is
incapable of producing healthy offspring, due to his having "sown his
wild oats," should not be a reason why she should be condemned to forego
the pleasures of motherhood. Because a man has married a woman who is
sterile or who selfishly refuses to bear children should not be a reason
why he should be denied an heir.

Again, it is unfair to the future generation to compel mismated couples
to live together. Children brought into the world under such conditions
are bequeathed a heritage that will have a demoralizing effect upon
their whole after life. Children, who every day hear quarrels and
strife between those they should honor, lose something of the beauty of
life; they become hardened and quarrelsome. Of course these divorces
must not be granted promiscuously; for in bringing children into the
world, parents assume an obligation that cannot be neglected. In
considering a separation, the parents' first thought should be, "What is
best for my children?" The duty to the children should be settled first.
Then the question comes, "What is my duty to my wife or my husband?" for
the act of making any contract imposes certain obligations. The
individual circumstances must se