RECORD YEAR

Hokitika Guardian, 7 January 1930, Page 6

RECORD YEAR

DIVORCES IN NEW SOUTH WALES. STARTLING FIGURES. SYDNEY, December 26. A divorce record for the Commonwealth is to the discredit of New South Wales. From February 17th to Decern her 20 this year, 1905 divorce petitions were lodged at the Supreme Court. The greatest preceding number of petitions, 1850, was lodged in 1928. Three judges were unable to cope with the rush, and as a result 800 cases have been held over, and will go to swell the number of divorces that must be dealt with next year. During the last twelve month there were about 20,000 marriages in New South Wales, and one authority has estimated that within the same period 7000 cases of disturbance of the marriage condition took place either* in the Divorce Court or as the result of some form of separation, private, or judical. These figures would suggest that one marriage in every three is doomed to end up on the rocks. This contention may be regarded as too cynical, but it is borne out to a very large extent by facts. In the first place the 1850 divorces must be taken as official, for the return was supplied by the Court itself, and those who mark the large number oi divorce cases that are recorded daily in the Press will probably be surprised that the number was so small, 'men in the Children’s Court 716 distinct orders were made against husbands who had not supported their wives and families, and in practically every case the husband and wife were living- apart. In addition many applications were withdrawn for various reasons—usually a- reconciliation was not the cause—and it is estimated that the total separations that same under the notice of the Court easily exceeded 1000. That was-for the city alone, so it is probable that in the whole of the State there are at least .3000 separations a year coming under the notice of the Children’s Court alone. These figures may lie doubled, but the number of maintenance cases that come liefore the courts, particularly in a time of industrial depression like that which has been experienced in the State, is remarkable. It is recorded of one street in the city that every women resident during the year just ended has applied to the Court for maintenance orders. The figures al- > ready quoted bring the total number of separations to close on 5000. A conservative estimate of 1000 must be added to cover those who have deeds of separation drawn up hv the legal fraternity, and' the total rises to 6000. Then there are those who live apart and sav and do nothing about it —say another 1000 couples. Hence the grand total of 7000 couples. .