Where Are the Wives?

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 580, 5 February 1929, Page 8

Where Are the Wives?

New Zealand Has More Husbands

WHEN times are good there are more husbands than wives in New Zealand; when the bad days arrive there is a surplus of wives. At first this appears strange, hut the explanation is as simple as it is irrefutable. The Government Statistician, who finds these things out. tells more than that. He shows that approximately 0.49 per cent, of the adult population of the Dominion are divorcees—a com munity to which Auckland contributes something like 200 annually.

Y'f the last return there were 258,251 husbands and 253,521 wives in the country, including those who describe themselves as being legally separated. The explanation of the disparity, which is considered to be a usual occurrence, is simply the greater mobility of the male. The husband frequently settles in a country first, and sends for his wife at a later date, and this Dominion, being an immigrant community, thus possesses a surplus of married males. This numerical superiority of husbands has been more pronounced during the past few years, because in the

period 1921-25 the country experienced the largest immigration move for over forty years. Apparent prosperity brought many people from overseas. Men left their wives on the other side Of the world, ajid sought their fortunes In a land which, they heard, was flowing with milk and honey. In adversity the reverse is shown. The dark days of Industrial depression in 1891 and 1896 brought immigration to a standstill, and emigration among married men showed a tendency to go up. Then there was a superabundance of wives. Such was the position also In 1916, when the loss of thousands of the country’s young men in the war again upset the balance. Since 1921 the married men have increased by 32,180 and married women by 31,511. It is not of great social importance —though it is of statistical value—to record that there is a singularly large number of unmarried men on the West Coast of the South Island, and the reverse in the Canterbury Province. Nor does it greatly affect the general observer to learn that Westland and Otago are popular residential areas for

widows, and that Marlborough is comparatively shunned by them. It is well to know, however, that in Auckland and Wellington there is a higher proportion of legally-separated and divorced people than in any other district in the Dominion. If these two cities provide unhappy marital domiciles, the Statistician gives no reason for them. It is not his job to discern reasons for nuptial infelicity. He merely denotes tendencies and substantiates them with convincing figures JUDGES BUSY In a few days the jydges in the Supreme Court at Auckland wiil be expected to deal with trom 40 to 60 divorce cases —this is the quarterly average in this city, if the machinery of the law is working smoothly these applications might be disposed of in one day; if there are troublesome features, several days might be occupied in disentangling the skeins of domestic unhappiness. At one sitting during las.: year two judges were working at high pressure throughout the whole of one morning, and at the stroke of 1 p.m. their day’s work comprised something like 50 broken marriage bonds. In New’ Zealand to-day there are nearly 3,000 divorced men and over 2,000 divorced women, while a steady increase in this separated community is being shown as the effect of the divorce legislation of recent years spreads its influence. Some grounds for divorce have been modified, but in the main the amending legislation has produced the effect of widening the field. Much of the reluctance to become involved in divorce proceedings has been swept aside by the easier conditions, and as the appearance of only one party in court is necessary, mutual acquiesence is sometimes all that is necessary to sever the ties. RELUCTANT TO MARRY In Auckland —and, in fact, throughout the country—the tendency has been for women petitioners in divorce to outnumber the men, but in the past few months there has been revealed a decided increase in the number of petitions by husbands. Again, the Statistician does not seek a reason. Figures indicate that New Zealanders in the main do not display an inclination to marry until a comparatively late age, the girls generally, entering the married state earlier than men. There is a lowering of the age in recent returns, however, and it seems that a swing of the pendulum in favour of early marriages might be foreshadowed by these signs. Conjugal conditions, mixed as they are with the problems of separation, divorce and racial influence, are becoming daily a more important entity in the social life of the Dominion. Eventually—how soon cannot be determined now—they must be the subject ! of special investigation to determine the causes of these tendencies.