DIVORCE FIGURES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1876, 9 October 1913, Page 8

DIVORCE FIGURES.

DOMINION AND OTHER STATES. The Government Statistician, in the ' advance sheets of the New Zealand Official Year Book for 1913, discusses and analyses tho divorce figures of the Dominion for the last, decade. The petitions for divorce in 1912 under the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act, says the report, wero 274 in number, being 48 more than those for 1911; 222 decrees for dissolution of marriage were granted. The proceedings under the Act for the year 1912 were as _ follow: —Petitions 274, decrees 222, judicial separation granted 2. Nullity of marriage: Petitions 4, decrees 4. Eestitution of Conjugal rights: nil. In the year 1897 tlhore was one application for restitution of conjugal rights, but it was not till somo_ years later that this means of establishing a ground for divorce was resorted to with frequency. As before stated ; disobedience of an order for restitution is no longer a ground of petition for dissolution of marriage. The Act of 1898 lias evidently operated m the direction of increasing largely the number of petitions and decrees for dissolution of marriago or judicial separation. The proportion of petitions and deorees for dissolution of marriage to the number of marriages was up till 1898 higher in New Zealand than in England and AVales, but lower than in New South Wales or Victoria. The full effect of the' operation of the now law in New Zealand is now, however, being experienced. As early as 1889 an Act was passed in Victoria, to allow of divorces being granted for wilful desertion, habitual drunkenness with oruelty or neglect, imprisonment under certain circumstances of either party, and misconduct on tho part of the husband. Mus multiplication of the causes for divorce has largely increased tho proportion of decrees in that Stato. An Act of similar tenor was passed in New South Wales in 1892, and brought into working in August of that year, under which, and an amending Act of 1893, the law has bee.l altered in the direction of increasing tho grounds for decrees. The divorces in New South Wales and Victoria-since the divorce law has been altered in this direction are as under. With these are. given tho figures for New Zealand 1 under the old law up to 1898, and according to the Act of ,1898 up to 1911. The figures for New South Wales tend to show that on altering tho law there was a large accumulatio l of cases to get rid of, which increased the number of decrees to a degree which was not subsequently maintained. Tho divorce figures- for New South Wales unci-Victoria appearing in the table are taken from official publications of those States.

North Otago is suffering at the brcsetit timo from a. small plague of fleas (says the North OTago Times"). It is supposed that the recent moist weather lias had some effect on their increase. Whatever it is, fleas can bo found in most -unaccountable places, and there are a good many of them. Some years ago the Upper Waikato was visited by a plague of fleas that settled down on the land far thicker than tho African or South American locust.

New South Noir Year Wales Victoria Zealand 1893 ... 306 85 25 1894 ... 313 81 20 1895 ... 301 . 85 18 1896 ... 234 106 36 1897 ... 246 117 33 1898 ... 229 '87 31 1899 ... 205 105 46 1900 ... 217 93 85 1901 ... 208 83 101 1902 239 109 90 1903 ... 183 101 124 1904 ... 215 140 99 1905 ,.. 182 136 114 1906 loo 123 125 1907 151 134 147 1908 206 151 171 1909 ... 284 138 163 1910 ... 251 140 154 1911 „. 211 161